Learn to Work Remotely with Digital Marketing

Learn to Work Remotely with Digital Marketing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer break is full of opportunities. It’s fairly common for students to seek internships or to study abroad. Some students opt for a fun summer job and complete a course or two at Western.

Last summer, I decided I was going to do it all and then some.  Taking a summer course was the best decision I could have made that summer and for my future.

At the end of spring quarter 2019, I was offered a position to help my professor facilitate a study abroad program in Costa Rica centered around entrepreneurship. This was an experience I could not pass up. However, I was conflicted that I would only be there for 3 weeks and would not have much else to do the rest of the summer besides work at my campus job.

I decided, why not take a marketing course to keep me on track and occupied for the rest of the quarter. I signed up for Mark Staton's Digital Marketing class, which I heard through the student grape vine is the most sought-after marketing elective.

Flexibility

What's amazing about summer courses is they are 7 weeks. This meant I would be able to break up my summer and have the flexibility to work a bit and possibly travel.

At the time, Mark Staton’s Digital Marketing course was also almost fully digital. I had a single week that overlapped with class beginning and my last week in Costa Rica. What made it possible for me to complete the course in Costa Rica was that Mark posts all the assignments to his blog on LinkedIn. Along the theme of blog posts, those were our assignments each week. Lectures were also recorded so as I rode the bus to different locations in Costa Rica each day, I'd listen to Mark and the class discussion from the day before. 

One of my favorite memories of being in Costa Rica was writing a blog about Google Analytics on the side of the freeway because traffic had stopped due to the roads being blocked by local protests.

Apply your skills in real time

When I got back to Washington and began to attend class, I hadn’t missed a beat! I was up to date, I had already published two articles and finished my Google Analytics exam.

As I settled back into Bellingham life attending class and working in the Admissions Office, I received a message on LinkedIn. A nurse who had a skin care business saw my blogs. She looked through my profile and was drawn to my skills and experience. She asked me if I wanted to intern for her and create an ecommerce website so she could sell her cosmetic products.

With no internship for the summer, I jumped on the opportunity and agreed to build her website. If I had not taken Digital Marketing, I would not have found an internship for the summer.

Be a valuable candidate for internships

As I worked through Digital Marketing, I was able to apply my skills right away to my internship. I also learned Mark only teaches this course in the Spring and Summer so by taking it in the summer I was better equipped to qualify for internships. Given that our world has turned digital, the skills learned in Digital Marketing were more relevant to companies than other marketing courses.

The day after my last class, I found a cheap ticket to Iceland, packed my bags and headed off to enjoy island life for two weeks. While I was there I finished up my internship working in cafes, hostels and in my glamorous car camping situation, all while being able to explore the beauty of Iceland and learn how to solo travel.

If I have any advice for students on how to approach your summer, it would be to have fun! As a marketing student, you should know how to recreate content. I encourage you to do this with your summer. Maximize your experiences, re-purpose them to help you grow professionally and when you love what you do you’ll never work a day. Digital Marketing prepared me to work as a digital nomad in today’s world where many of us are working remotely.