How the Universe Helped to Make Me a Digital Marketing Intern
Kehte hain agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho … to puri kainaat usse tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai.
“Waah, waah, kya dialogue hai!”
Since the time Deepak announced the 2nd internship program, this dialogue has been popping up in my mind.
I had first watched Om Shanti Om way back in 2007 I think. I was swept away when Shahrukh Khan had delivered this incredible dialogue in his characteristic flamboyant style. This remains one of my favorite dialogues from this movie to date.
The essence of this is that “if you desire something deeply from the heart … then the whole universe will work to get you that.” Paulo Coelho also mentions this in his international bestseller “Alchemist” which I had read some years ago.
I have always been a firm believer that we achieve what we truly desire. When the time is right, things will unfold. The pieces of the jigsaw will fall into place. Opportunities and people come into our life magically. Now it up to us to recognize this and take action.
What has this got to do with DigitalDeepak’s internship program? Hold your horses guys, getting to that.
I am Bhamini Manjesh. An MBA by education and content writer and budding digital marketer by choice.
During my MBA, if someone had told me that I would enter marketing, I would have laughed at them. While 28 out of the 30 students in my class opted for Marketing, I chose Finance.
The reason was I was not comfortable selling. I thought that marketing was not for me.
Fast forward to 2018.
I had an established career in a field other than marketing, of course. Everything was going right. But I was restless. The routine nature and lack of creativity and growth in my job were brain-numbing.🤦♀️ I wanted a career that gave me freedom.
When you reach middle-age, you feel that time is slipping by. There is an urgency to do the things you want. As the saying goes “You regret the things you don’t do more than the things you do.”
I wanted to explore new avenues. And what did I do? Yes, you guessed it right. I googled it, of course.
Google chacha came to my rescue (what would I do without you Google😍). A few searches later, I came across digital marketing. “Oh no, not marketing,” cried my inner self. But my curiosity got the better of me. What is the harm in reading about it, I thought? So instead of hitting the back button, I read on.
My fear of marketing quickly evaporated. I realized that marketing was evolving. Through digital marketing, you could connect and market to your audience without hard-core selling.
I quickly took the plunge. I attended a course in digital marketing and content writing. I started working as a content writer. Every day I was writing about digital marketing concepts but not practically applying them.
The desire to gain practical expertise filled my mind continually. I needed that one push to get started.
And then it happened. Deepak announced the internship program. It was as if the universe had opened up the doors for me🙏. My desire and opportunity had come together.
I did not have to wait for the next “Janam” like Shahrukh Khan to get what I desired. I grabbed the opportunity and enrolled in the second batch of the internship.
The Carrot and Stick Approach
Why did I enroll for a course by Deepak Kanakaraju?
He is one of the top digital marketers in the country. He is a thought leader and has been inspiring people across all fields and age groups to make a foray into digital marketing. Deepak has the uncanny ability to make complicated digital marketing concepts simple. Enrolling for this internship was a no-brainer.
This internship program is perhaps the only program today where you can learn and earn at the same time. In fact, those ready to put in the hard work can end up earning more than the investment. This program has the right blend of the carrot and the stick to motivate the interns to finish the program. And I needed both.
Internship Ka Shubharambh
February 25th, 2020, 9 p.m.
I had an idea of what to expect as I had talked to my friends who were part of the internship batch 1. But to be there with 500+ other interns was an entirely different feeling.
Deepak came online (wearing his favorite gray sweatshirt, God! I had seen him in this so many times, HaHa😊). In his usual calm and collected manner, he welcomed all of us. He explained how the program is structured, goals, outcomes, and what he expects from us, interns.
Learn the Why
Deepak drilled down how having a goal and a plan is crucial for success.
“A person with a goal and a plan is going to beat even an intelligent person without a goal and a plan.” — Warren Buffet.
The goals for this internship program broadly encompass:
· Developing communication skills to help us excel in all areas of life
· Improve the skill of sales to sell ourselves and our products better.
· Identify what we want to become, a digital marketing consultant, business owner, blogger, video maker, affiliate marketer, agency owner, online trainer, and so on.
Key Takeaway: Always have a goal and a plan
Getting Into the Right Mindset
“Be a marketer first to become a good digital marketer,” says Deepak.
The communication medium has changed, but the way to communicate, human psychology, and how you solve people’s problems have remained the same. So learn this life skill that will sustain you throughout your life.
Key Takeaway: Marketing fundamentals remain the same even though the marketing mediums change.
Find the Gold
Deepak now got down to what he termed as “finding the gold.” He gave us clarity on how wealth was ever-expanding. Every solution to a need gave rise to more needs. I ended up committing to earning 1 Cr in 3 years. He showed us the math of how this can be done.
Key Takeaway: Wealth is expanding. Find your niche and focus on becoming a market leader in that niche.
Economics Matters
Unexpected and interesting learning was about economics. Deepak wanted us to understand the environment in which we operated.
Points to note were:
· The average age of a country affects its economy. A country having an average age between 25 to 50 sees the maximum growth as this is the segment that spends more. India is going to witness the next economic boom.
· How debt can enhance the circulation of wealth/cash in a country, and why debt is necessary for the growth of the economy.
· Recession is not a bad thing and need not be dreaded. Businesses that deliver value will always sustain.
Key Takeaways: Understand the economy and develop a business that provides value.
Ace the Skill of Communication
The core of marketing is effective communication. Deepak emphasized that the skill of communication is vital to selling both ourselves and our products and services.
Some tips for improving communication skills were:
· Read a lot (30 minutes a day)
· Listen to podcasts (30 minutes a day)
· Watch English sitcoms
· Watch standup comedy to learn the culture and local slang
· Write a lot (500 words a day)
Key Takeaway: Communication skills are invaluable to a marketer, and we need to develop it.
Future of Digital Marketing
Deepak addressed the question of the future of digital marketing and put to rest the fears that digital marketing may cease to exist in the future.
Some noteworthy points were:
· Digital Marketing will not die because marketing will not die.
· As needs arise, products and services will develop to provide a solution. We need ways to market them.
· The world is moving towards digital.
· Consumer behavior is changing.
· Marketing + Technology = Digital marketing
· Digital marketing is simply a better way to do marketing.
Key Takeaway: Digital marketing is the newer and better way of marketing and is here to stay.
Finding the Niche
Knowing where to compete is one mantra of success. Deepak talked about how there are many niches available, and that we should narrow down to a niche to stand a chance to become the market leader. He talked about concentrating on the niche and rendering relevant solutions to the audience in that area.
Some tips for selecting a niche were:
· It should be a blend of passion, skill, and market opportunity.
· Passion will motivate you to keep doing it, and you enjoy it. Eventually, you will get more skilled at it.
· The three major niches are health, money, and relationships.
Key Takeaway: Find the sweet spot where passion, talent, and market demand overlap to find a narrow niche.
How to Find Market Demand
The best of products will not sell if there is no market demand. Deepak says you need to validate that a market exists. Identify the problem and provide a solution.
Some resources to identify what your market is looking for:
· Use Google autosuggest
· AnswerThePublic.com and other keyword tools
· Go through Amazon reviews
· Talk to customers
· Look for pre and post products/services of other products
· Scratch your itch (look into your interests or your needs)
Key Takeaway: Check the market demand before developing a product or service
Personal Branding
Many of us face the problem of putting ourselves out there. Perhaps, it is the fear of judgment or failure to connect with our audience. Deepak explained why building a personal brand is important.
“The best known will always beat the best,” remarks Deepak.
We should stop trying to fit in and show our true personality through content. He says find your tribe with your unique vibe.
Significant tips to remember:
· Don’t hesitate to put out content that shows your unique personality.
· Publish content in different formats
· People want to interact with people and not brands.
· A personal brand helps grow your business
· You will find your unique audience who echo your thoughts
Key Takeaway: Stop trying to fit in. Stay unique and put out content, and your tribe will find you.
Integrated Approach to Marketing
Deepak gave us his mantra for a successful digital marketing strategy. He explained how integrated marketing works and why so many other strategies fail. He talked about building a relationship before marketing to a customer.
Some lessons to remember:
· Content marketing is the center of integrated digital marketing
· Use content to drive traffic to your website from social media, search engines, emails
· Complement with paid advertising
· The final stage after establishing a relationship with the audience is to sell
Key Takeaway: To be successful in digital marketing, you need to use an integrated approach.
How the Funnel Works
Deepak elucidated how he uses the funnel to bring in his customers. He also shared with us his mind map that gave us deep insights into strategies that work.
Steps in the funnel:
· Publish free content to create brand awareness in different formats
· Automate the funnel
· Audience building to get their details like email, phone number, etc.
· Engage the audience to build a relationship
· Start generating revenue
· Build brand ambassadors
Key Takeaway: Using a funnel can successfully convert prospects to customers.
Assignment Time
Finally, Deepak announced the assignment. We had to write a 500–2000 word article on our key learnings from the first internship class. Now it was time to pull up my socks and get to work. After all, I wanted to be in the top 100.
At the end of a solid 2 hours, I was happy that I had made the right choice in joining the internship by DigitalDeepak. I had learned some actionable steps that would help me kick-start my digital marketing learning. Deepak introduced us to the Golden Triangle of learning — Learn, Do, Teach. I am sure by the end of the internship, I would have done all three.
This writing assignment was part of the internship program.
This was only the beginning, and I look forward to learning more. Like Shahrukh says “picture abhi baki hai mere dost😉.”
I would love to hear your thoughts on this write up so please do comment and let me know. And if you are a Shahrukh fan like me, tali bajana mat bhulna.
