Internet Marketing As A Career: Where to Start?

Internet marketing is becoming exponentially important to just about every business entity that exists in the modern day world.  However, pursuing a career in internet marketing can be surprisingly difficult given the ever-growing prevalence of it. Many colleges offer a course, or perhaps a handful of courses , related to internet marketing, but is that enough to impress a potential employer, especially when most employers are also looking for experience in the field?

Unless you’re fortunate enough to be able to attend a school that offers an internet marketing degree, you’re likely on your own for educating yourself and you’re certainly on your own for creating your own experience in this field.

Internet Marketing Experience: How to Get It

Focus on what I just said: “creating your own experience”. For myself and many of my peers in the field of internet marketing, that’s exactly how we established our career tracks: by creating our own internet marketing experience. We self-studied from webinars, white papers, and e-books published by industry authorities such as Hubspot and MarketingProfs. We read the works of the social media greats, such as Chris Brogan, Seth Godin, and Scott Stratten. We internalized every word, and then hit the ground running – often without “permission” from anyone.

We created our own internet marketing strategies and initiatives, either for our existing employers or for our own personal causes, or both. We experimented with different internet marketing theories, seeing what worked and what didn’t. We made mistakes. Lots of mistakes. And learned A TON from them. Then we created our own theories, which sometimes turned into trends that got mimicked by others. (Side note: Imitation is the highest form of flattery, so if you’ve got someone copying your internet marketing ideas, don’t get angry…it means YOU’RE DOING IT RIGHT).

My Internet Marketing Career Path

My internet marketing career path wasn’t created for me by a degree program (although I do highly recommend getting an MBA in Marketing to set you apart from others in the field), and it wasn’t directly created for me by an employer either (although having an employer that allowed me to experiment certainly did help).  My internet marketing career path was first and foremost created by me, plain and simple. I decided that I wanted it, and I was the one who put it in motion. I created websites for my personal causes, my employers, my friends…anyone who would let me. I obsessively self-taught and experimented until I was blue in the face. I made mistakes, and learned from them. And it paid off big time.

How To Pursue A Career in Internet Marketing

If you’re interested in a career in internet marketing, consider a B.S. or M.B.A. in traditional marketing, but focus just as hard on self-educating and learning internet marketing from the leaders in the industry. There is a plethora of free and highly educational internet marketing content out there if you’re willing to look for it.

Then, as Nike says, “Just Do It”. Start NOW. Create a website for a personal cause, or knock your bosses’ socks off by designing an internet marketing plan or campaign for them.  Do both. Then make mistakes. Make lots of mistakes. Try different internet marketing theories. See what works, and see what crashes and burns.  That’s what experience is comprised of: learning from your mistakes. Create your own experience, and you’ll be on course for a successful career in internet marketing.

Internet Marketers: Please Share Your Advice!

Do you work in internet marketing? If so, please share your valuable career advice in the comments below. With the lack of formal education in the field, it is important for those of us who work in internet marketing to act as mentors to those who show an interest in the career we love.

Learn Internet Marketing From Me

Check out my Learn Internet Marketing page to browse through the educational materials and opportunities that I’ve put together.

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Pam Aungst

President & Chief Web Traffic Controller at Pam Ann Marketing

Pam Ann Aungst, M.B.A., President of Pam Ann Marketing, LLC, is widely recognized as an expert in search engine optimization (SEO). A self-proclaimed “geek”, Pam began studying computer programming at 6 years old, started creating websites in 1997 and has been working professionally in the field of e-commerce since 2005. Referred to by Sprout Social as a “Twitter Success Story,” she harnessed the power of social media to launch her own agency in 2011. Pam has been interviewed by publications such as Internet Retailer magazine, regularly publishes articles in top internet marketing news sources, and speaks on topics such as SEO and social media. Click here to read her full bio.

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