ASK GORICK ANYTHING
“My market is dead. Where and how do I pivot?”
Have a career question? Ask me here.
Subscriber’s question:
“Content marketing is dead. Should I quit tech? If so, what am I supposed to do that makes enough money to live the life I just spent 20 years working for?
I have data to support this. Worked for a public tech company for 5 years, pivoting, hunger games-ing it, protecting my direct reports, only to have us all let go a year ago. For this past year that I have been unemployed, I ran a series of A/B tests to see if I could pivot out of my past role (content). My conclusion is that "transferrable skills" are not valued and too risky to use company budgets on. Meaning, if I tried to apply for PMM roles, sales enablement or anything relevant, I was told I don't have enough experience. I don't want to lie on my resume either. I have bartered for rebranding services, career coaching with NO results. Imagine endless carousels of tech friends giving conflicting advice, chalking it up to a "bad job market" or it being my resume, my LinkedIn, my website...etc(insert anything). Happy to provide a read out of my data if you can actually help me.”
— “Taylor” from San Francisco, CA
Gorick’s response:
Hi “Taylor”,
You’re definitely not alone. It’s a really, really tough market out there, especially for mid-career professionals like you.
I don’t think it’s time to give up. I do, however, think we need to take a broader view of what the world needs and what you have to offer.
Let’s jump in.
“Is content marketing dead?”
No, I don’t think content marketing is dead.
Maybe “content marketing” in the form of mindlessly posting updates on social media, publishing blog posts, or releasing corporate white papers is over, but the process of strategically creating the right “content” for “marketing” is more important than ever.
Consider this: every business is ultimately fighting a game of relevance.
There’s only one company in the world that can release a product and have the entire world pay attention—and that’s Apple. Every other company has to fight to be remembered. This is where marketing comes in.
- If you’re a law firm, you need to market your expertise and track record to attract clients.
- If you’re a startup, you need to market your differentiation and social proof to attract customers, investors, and employees.
- If you’re a college, you need to market your reputation and outcomes to attract students, employers, and donors.
And with every organization now in the content creation game (or at least aware of it enough to have FOMO—a fear of missing out), every organization needs content. And marketing. (Maybe just not traditional “content marketing.”)
“Should I quit tech?”
Maybe. Maybe not! It all depends on how you define “tech.”*
Either way, I would take a step back and ask myself 3 questions:
- “Who would be impressed with my background?”
- “Who has a vested interest in or a budget line item for what I can do?”
- “Who would want to work with or advocate for me again?”
*Everyone is either a tech company these days—or trying to be a tech company. I mean, if The Economist can have a headline like this, the “tech company” moniker has lost all meaning these days:
I digress. Here are 3 fill-in-the-blank scripts that will help you answer the 3 questions I posed above—and hopefully help you make your pivot.
1. To figure out, “Who’d be impressed with my background?”
Try filling in these blanks:
“If I told [these other big innovative companies] that I launched/built/did/led [these big things] for [this big innovative company], they’d probably be like, Meh… we can do better, but if I told [(A) these smaller / more traditional / less tech savvy companies, (B) these companies that are trying to play catch-up to what we did, or (C) these consultancies or agencies that do this work across clients], they’d probably be like, OMG, we want to operate at that level! (and would totally treat me like a first-class citizen)—so let me try to sell myself to these organizations instead.”
E.g., “If I told Salesforce that I launched ServiceNow’s case study page, they’d probably be like, Meh… we can do better, but if I told these select AmLaw 200 law firms that still have old school websites with few client stories, they’d probably be like, OMG, we want to operate at that level! (and would totally treat me like a first-class citizen)—so let me try to sell myself to these organizations instead.”
2. To figure out, “Who has a vested interest in or budget line item for what I can do?”
Try filling in these blanks:
“If I can help [(A) these smaller / more traditional / less tech savvy companies, (B) these companies that are trying to play catch-up to what we did, or (C) these consultancies or agencies that do this work across clients] launch/build/do [these big things] too, I should try to reach [this senior leader who’d care most] because it would help them [achieve these goals] or consider [this department or team] because they’d be the ones who’d have budget for work like mine.”
E.g., “If I can help these select AmLaw 200 law firms that still have old school websites with few client stories launch a ServiceNow-style case study portfolio, I should try to reach this Chief Marketing Officer or this Managing Partner because it would help them secure more clients and compete more effectively against these other firms with better case studies and because they’d be the ones who’d have budget for work like mine.”
C. To figure out, “Who’d want to work with or advocate for me again?”
Try filling in these blanks:
“[These former sponsors, mentors, colleagues, direct reports, clients, and vendors] had a good working relationship with me and would probably want to work with me again, so let me see what they’re up to, contact them, and let them know that I’m on the market (and would love to reconnect if either they or someone else they know is hiring).”
E.g., “Steve my former boss, Jenny my former client, and Diane my former sponsor had a good working relationship with me and would probably want to work with me again, so let me see what they’re up to, contact them, and let them know that I’m on the market (and would love to reconnect if either they or someone else they know is hiring).”
There is, of course, a lot more to a successful job search, but I hope these strategies start giving you some momentum again!
See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,
Gorick
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