Career Changes: A Personal Experience
If I’ve learned anything during this pandemic, it’s that life skills, which transcend job role, function, or industry, are crucial for survival. Before 2020 who would have guessed that anything could stop or impede the food industry? Or halt travel? Or bring the hospitality industry to its knees?
I certainly never expected it.
For much of this year, I’ve felt as if I was heading towards a car accident in slow motion. What was worse was that there was no way to prepare or brace for impact. Not. A. Good. Feeling.
But rather than moan and complain (because really who does that help?) I spent a large portion of this period trying to upskill in areas that will always bring in income, no matter the situation.
So if there’s ever another pandemic during my lifetime (dear God, I pray not) or some kind of economic catastrophe, I will always be able to support myself and my family. I looked at my skills — writing, my passions — helping people, and asked myself how can I make a living from this?
I came up with Copywriting. With copywriting I can use my writing skills to help people make decisions that affect nearly every area of their lives, be it making purchases from an online store to choosing to donate to a Not For Profit organization to choosing to seek mental health care. All companies with an online presence utilize copywriting.
Why CXL Institute?
There are so many copywriting courses. So. Many. Honestly, I feel like I’ve tried at least half and googled the other half.
I’ve been busy with one online training or the other looking for the training answer that would help me achieve my goals, which is to gain skills that will allow me to always have an income.
Perhaps the programs weren’t as in-depth as they needed to be or the training assumed I already had some knowledge on the subject matter or I was just confused as to the direction I should head in. Either way, I was reluctant to start another program. It had gotten to the point where I couldn’t even tell anyone I had started yet another training because I could literally feel them restraining their eyes from rolling.
So, when I stumbled upon the CXL Institute, my walls of defense were up. But going through the outline for the Conversion Optimization mini degree I was forced to conclude that the course was well thought out. I could follow the learning progression and see how it would take me from a newbie to a Conversion Copywriter.
I could see that the course wasn’t just another copywriting or writing course. It goes step-by-step through the entire copywriting cycle. Their emphasis on psychology sold me completely. I’ve always been interested in studying why people do the things that they do. Now I’d learn why people buy the things that they buy.
It looks like I’ve found what I’ve been searching for with the CXL Institute. So I decided to give it a whirl. One more can’t training can’t hurt. Right?
Week 1
Have you ever noticed that just when you decide to be serious about something, that’s when life happens? Distractions came from all over the place. It seemed like work and family had a meeting and agreed to pull me in different directions.
I was determined to be dedicated and focused on the Conversion Optimization mini degree. I’ll spend two hours every day on it, I said. I’ll put in an additional ten hours over the weekend I promised.
That did not happen.
On top of that, as I was delving into the material I realized that it was far more in-depth and robust than I originally thought. On the one hand that’s great, I’ll definitely know my onions by the time I’m finished. On the other hand, I felt I was already behind from day 1. It’s been an uphill battle trying to catch up ever since.
Aside from the material I was able to cover this week: Intro to CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) and Best Practices, I also went through the supplemental reading. The questions raised in the modules, the supplemental reading helped answer.
This brings up the question, if I had read all the supplemental reading suggested during my undergrad would I have understood some of my courses better? I can’t believe that I’m just learning this 15 years after graduating.
While the course outline gives an idea of the duration of some of the modules, I feel they are severally underestimated. That or I’m just really slow or I need to stop wasting time on the supplemental reading and start speeding through the material.
I’m reluctant to skip the additional reading because I want to understand the material, so I can be an expert after I’m through. But now I’m stressed because I’m afraid I’ll never catch up.
I’m hopeful that the remaining modules will be shorter or because I understand a little more I can move a bit faster. Fingers crossed.
Interesting Stuff I’ve Picked Up
Since I can’t tell friends and family that I’ve embarked on another training program and since I can’t see you rolling your eyes while reading this, I can share the interesting things that I’ve learned so far.
I never knew the amount of research and effort that goes into the organization of information on websites. I’m blown away but the sheer amount of thought and testing that goes into things like buttons on a page or eCommerce category pages.
Before I thought you know, you’d sit down and arrange information in a logical manner that allows visitors to access the information that they need. But, what seems logical to me, might not be logical to everyone else. So we test.
I was also a little surprised at how much the prospect of research and testing appealed to me. I never knew I was such a science geek. But there’s just something about testing your hypothesis (that is an educated guess) to prove or disprove your assumptions that just appeals to me.
If that much time and effort go into testing, the likelihood that you’ll make the wrong decision will be greatly reduced, thereby improving your conversion rate (I’m so proud, I’ve already started using the lingo). And I think that’s the part that I find intriguing, the possibility of reducing errors.
Since I already feel like I’m behind, I’ve got to head back to studying. I’ve got a lot of ground to cover. But I’ll be posting all about my experience to keep me focused and because I know how difficult it is to restrain yourself from rolling your eyes (I’m hoping to save my family from that stress).
I’m excited to be on this journey. I feel like I’ve finally found the right path.
