Sometimes the best way to break into a new career or industry is to do the work for free.

Adam Rogers did this when he decided to pivot his teaching career into marketing. All he asked for in return was a testimonial or a reference for his resume. Over a year, he built up his portfolio and he landed a full-time content marketing role at Kayako. Today, Adam does content marketing for Shopify.

We caught up with him recently to discuss his journey.

Show Notes:

0:40 - How Adam got started in content marketing.

4:06 - Building up a portfolio when you’re just starting out.

8:24 - How to spot red flags as a freelancer to ensure you’re not taken advantage of by a client.

12:45 - From intern to manager in less than a year at Kayako.  

16:35 - Learning from other content marketers and advocating for yourself.

22:27 - Why good content marketing can make the rest of your marketing more sustainable. 

26:20 - Adam shares how content marketing looks in his current role with Shopify. 

32:01 - The strategy of republishing.

34:20 - How to handle link building and spammy backlink requests. 

38:24 - Leveling up your content marketing.

42:40 - Thanks for listening! Be on the lookout for next week’s episode. If you have questions or suggestions, you can find us on Twitter @growthmachine__.

Links:

Boston Content Podcast (0:58)

Kayako (3:29)

Shopify (17:08)

Zendesk (17:15)

Freshdesk (17:24)

Groove HQ (17:26)

Sumo (17:54)

NerdWallet (31:13)

Find us on Twitter:

Adam: @AdamRogersUK

Amanda: @amandanat

Growth Machine: @growthmachine__

Twitter Mentions