I think I spent almost 30 years chasing the wrong dream.
I used to think I was born to be a Marketer. I have worked in marketing since I graduated from design school in 1990. Marketing graphic designer, marketing production artist, marketing copywriter, marketing illustrator, marketing photographer, marketing strategist, marketing print production manager. I worked hard to sharpen my skills and become a better marketer, and I liked a lot of the work, but it never felt like the whole picture.
Then, around the time my kids started school, there was also all this educational stuff I did as a hobby. It combined my deep curiosity, my ability to explain things clearly and simply, my desire to help others, and all my design and writing skills. It was irresistible, but was I really a teacher? I built some things, tutored, trained, taught some workshops and even a college class, but I wasn't able to make sense of what it meant, other than it was irresistible to me.
On August 15, 2018, almost 22 years after creating my first teaching tool (the High Performance Learning workbook), I had a revelation.
Then, around the time my kids started school, there was also all this educational stuff I did as a hobby. It combined my deep curiosity, my ability to explain things clearly and simply, my desire to help others, and all my design and writing skills. It was irresistible, but was I really a teacher? I built some things, tutored, trained, taught some workshops and even a college class, but I wasn't able to make sense of what it meant, other than it was irresistible to me.
On August 15, 2018, almost 22 years after creating my first teaching tool (the High Performance Learning workbook), I had a revelation.
I think I'm actually an Instructional Designer.
Well, not in the "I have a degree in Instructional Design and build and administer advanced corporate training initiatives" kinda way. It's much less formalized than that, but it's at the very core of who I am.
I love to make things to help people understand something quickly and easily.
I'm compelled to make things that simplify learning a useful skill that has long-term value. I've been building them for decades. One-pagers, workshops, lunch-and-learns, training classes, diagrams, systems, tips, tools, instructions, maps, signs, metaphors, models, programs, explanations, summaries. I love them all.
So, what does that have to do with what I love (and don't love) about marketing? I think I'm finally able to articulate it.
I have to begin with something I think is worth knowing.
It has to be a great product, or valuable idea. It eats me up inside to create marketing for something of mediocre quality or value that only sells through promotions, exaggerations, hyperbole, half-truths, or manufactured urgency. It bothers me to use my skills to convince someone to buy something they don't really want or need just to make the sale, knowing they could likely have buyer's remorse later. However, if it's something of quality, of proven value that I really believe will be a great choice for the right person, I'm a tireless salesman.
I'm more excited about what the other person could gain than what I could gain.
My marketing style is based on simplification, awareness and transparency so a potential customer can quickly and easily decide if it's right for them (or not), and also feel good about finding and buying it, both now and later. It just has to be a product I believe in, because if I don't feel good about it, then I don't want to try to make someone else feel good about it.
This is why I've been drawn to marketing. It's not the selling, per se. It simply has the best set of tools I've found for telling people about something worth knowing. Great Product or Service + Audience + Writing + Design + Illustration + Photography. When do I get excited about marketing? When I have developed (or know of) something of quality and proven value that I deeply believe is worth knowing for a lot of people. Then I am literally compelled to make them aware that it exists and show them truthfully why it might really be great for their situation. It's like trying to hold ping pong balls under water - they will just keep fighting their way to the surface until I share them.
My creative output is primarily practical, not artistic.
Without realizing it, Marketing formed the base of my Instructional Design skillset, and then enabled it to grow and develop.
I love to make things to help people understand something quickly and easily.
I'm compelled to make things that simplify learning a useful skill that has long-term value. I've been building them for decades. One-pagers, workshops, lunch-and-learns, training classes, diagrams, systems, tips, tools, instructions, maps, signs, metaphors, models, programs, explanations, summaries. I love them all.
So, what does that have to do with what I love (and don't love) about marketing? I think I'm finally able to articulate it.
I have to begin with something I think is worth knowing.
It has to be a great product, or valuable idea. It eats me up inside to create marketing for something of mediocre quality or value that only sells through promotions, exaggerations, hyperbole, half-truths, or manufactured urgency. It bothers me to use my skills to convince someone to buy something they don't really want or need just to make the sale, knowing they could likely have buyer's remorse later. However, if it's something of quality, of proven value that I really believe will be a great choice for the right person, I'm a tireless salesman.
I'm more excited about what the other person could gain than what I could gain.
My marketing style is based on simplification, awareness and transparency so a potential customer can quickly and easily decide if it's right for them (or not), and also feel good about finding and buying it, both now and later. It just has to be a product I believe in, because if I don't feel good about it, then I don't want to try to make someone else feel good about it.
This is why I've been drawn to marketing. It's not the selling, per se. It simply has the best set of tools I've found for telling people about something worth knowing. Great Product or Service + Audience + Writing + Design + Illustration + Photography. When do I get excited about marketing? When I have developed (or know of) something of quality and proven value that I deeply believe is worth knowing for a lot of people. Then I am literally compelled to make them aware that it exists and show them truthfully why it might really be great for their situation. It's like trying to hold ping pong balls under water - they will just keep fighting their way to the surface until I share them.
My creative output is primarily practical, not artistic.
Without realizing it, Marketing formed the base of my Instructional Design skillset, and then enabled it to grow and develop.
- It began with my Visual Communication Design tools of typography, color, layout, illustration, hierarchy, and gestalt.
- I then layered on Content Creation tools like researching, outlining, metaphor, writing, summarizing, and presenting.
- Lastly, I added Learning tools like mnemonics, hourglass structure, spaced repetition, interaction, play, progression, and reward.
Career, round 3
Following this Instructional Design revelation, will I continue to do traditional marketing work? Absolutely.
I spent 14 years as a full-time graphic designer. As of 2018, I will have spent 14 years as a full-time print buyer, and part-time designer. I'm now preparing to spend as much time as I can in my next 14+ years using more of my skills every day, developing my instructional design (and other) products, and getting them out to the world. If all goes well, I'll help a lot of people, and eventually might be able to change my passion from a hobby to a living. Who knows, I might even be able to find a full-time job related to this work (instructional, informational, infographic, wayfinding, visual systems). But even if it only remains a side gig, it will still be worth every moment I spend on it.
I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I finally know what I want to be when I grow up. :)
- Retirement - I have this crazy idea I could actually retire someday, and I am very fortunate to have had a stable marketing job that covered my regular expenses with some left over to gradually move towards that dream. With almost 30 years of experience, staying in corporate marketing seems like my best dependable income option, and I'm pretty good at it.
- Stability - My marketing jobs provided the stability to support my vital instructional design work. Vital? All I know is that without that outlet to learn and create and share and help, I would wither and die. So if nothing else, it's vital to me.
- Friendly Neighborhood Designerman - I've gotten to help family, friends, and (very) small businesses market themselves or just have easy access to a professional graphic designer, writer, and marketing strategist, and I love being able to do that work.
I spent 14 years as a full-time graphic designer. As of 2018, I will have spent 14 years as a full-time print buyer, and part-time designer. I'm now preparing to spend as much time as I can in my next 14+ years using more of my skills every day, developing my instructional design (and other) products, and getting them out to the world. If all goes well, I'll help a lot of people, and eventually might be able to change my passion from a hobby to a living. Who knows, I might even be able to find a full-time job related to this work (instructional, informational, infographic, wayfinding, visual systems). But even if it only remains a side gig, it will still be worth every moment I spend on it.
I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I finally know what I want to be when I grow up. :)
Some of what's to come...
|
|
|
|
|