Changing Careers in my 30’s — The 3rd Hint the Universe Shined Upon Me

Photo by JOHN TOWNER on Unsplash

I was still finding my purpose in life after shutting down my business.

I needed some direction of what to do next to make money in something that I’m remotely interested and good at doing.

I had 2 hints from the Universe before. Today is my third one.

A job ad was posted on a Facebook Group on the 10th of March.

Title: Sales & Marketing Manager, salary RM 8,000 a month. Pretty good I think, alright I got my ‘Digital Marketer’ CV saved on my desktop, ready to go.

But first, I had to check out their website. What on earth is this company doing? It seems like they are into corporate training.

I applied anyways and the admin lady called me the next day to set up an interview tomorrow. It was quick.

10th March, 11:30 am as agreed in the email, I met the CEO in the meeting room.

QUESTION 1:

He asked me, where do I see myself in 5 years.

ANSWER 1: I think I know why people ask me this question. I said I want to have my own company within 5 years from now. I’m not sure what I will be doing, but I’ll have my own thing for sure. My answer passed the test (I think).

QUESTION 2:

Where do you think Marketing will be heading in the coming future?

ANSWER 2: I said, everyone is moving towards Digital Marketing. I told him that some newer Millenial companies don’t even have a sales team anymore. The sales process has been replaced almost all to their website and with Inbound Content Marketing (blogs and YouTube).

He agrees and have tried cold calling telemarketers don’t do as well as cold emailing.

He already has several sales agents and salespeople working freelance with him that is paid handsomely in shared profit for each project delivered.

Sales team has a min sales target each month. A couple of thousand RM

After explaining all that, he asked me point-blank:

QUESTION 3:

“This is my organization, where do you think I fit in?”

ANSWER 3: I took a deep breath knowing full well I don’t belong as a salesperson. I told him that my strengths are in Digital Marketing, especially in Copywriting.

I gave him some examples:

1. I told him that his website copywriting is not clear. I’m not sure what the website is all about at first glance & the copywriting is too wordy and seems like a non-native English speaker had written the copy for the website(he outsourced all the “Digital Marketing” to India at RM 500 a month. It’s been 6 months, haven't seen any ROI he claims).
2. I told him that there are too many stock photos on the website and it’s too impersonal. It looks like a website from the early 2000’s. He agrees with my input.
3. I told him to Google a few keywords that my article ranked the first page on Google. He was especially impressed with my “Cafes to do work in KL” (it’s even autocompleted now. That article resonates with him because he can relate having to meet a log of clients all the time at cafes.

So I told him, these are my strengths. I can rank websites on Google by effective copywriting in long-form blogs. I showed him how helpful my articles are and that’s why Google thinks my content is the most helpful for that specific query and therefore chooses to rank me.

Then when I told him this, he though for a few seconds, and told me that he had another business venture.

The new venture core business is still formal education and self-development but aimed for children.

He told me how can you help me with this venture? Are you interested in a partnership? Shares?

Gulp…. OK here’s how I can help you: I can help you to make a simple responsive website.

I can help you write at least 30 articles at a pace of 3 articles a week.

After this, when you need to update your content every month or so, my services will be on a freelance basis.

At which point also, we can review my involvement in your business.

He’s like: “OK, come up with a package and quote & let me know”.

Wow, this could be my very first freelance gig!

Moral of the Story

1. Changing careers is tough. But you need to quickly find your Ikigai through 1/3 sitting down with a pen & paper & 2/3 actually executing to see what works.
2. If you’re a freelancer, you need to find creative ways to find your ideal client.
3. Life is never a straight line. Never lose sight of the end goal and enjoy the ride.