One wakes up one day and decides to start a career in advertising. Is it like that?
Ask a group of toddlers what they want to do when the grow up. Few will tell you they are interested in advertising. When you asked me when I was little, I did not know what to become. I wanted it all. When you ask me today, I still do not know, but somehow I find myself writing promotions so I thought it would be suitable to spend some words on it on my personal homepage.
Let me tell you how I get to the point were people are actually paying me to write stuff for them.
As a student I accepted many temporary, low educated jobs to be able to pay the bills. And when I say many, I mean a lot of different industries were I entered the workroom floor as a minimum wage worker. This way I got to observe how businesses operate. I think I had more one day jobs than Donald Duck.
In the meanwhile I learned about developing websites and Search Engine Optimization. I created a small business around that using techniques such as affiliate marketing and Google Adsense. That is where my interest in digital marketing grew.
I have always had a strong analytical view of organizations. It took a Master’s Study on Sustainable Business Development to strengthen my capacities and to be able to either become a business consultant, or have my own thriving business. After that, early 2017, I found the UpWork platform to be suitable for acquiring freelance jobs. At first I focused on web development, but soon I found advertizing to be more rewarding.
I am not going to pretend to be an Advertising Guru. I am learning every single day. At this stage, I am absorbing knowledge that is available to everyone who is willing to invest in a few books. I try to implement what is known to work, and run hard tests for results.
It is much like fishing. To catch something, you must either know – or find out – were the fish are.
After that, you Drop a Line, and Catch a Lead.
Jeroen Houdijk
Santa Cruz, Bolivia – June 2018
