When I was growing up, I knew my career goal was to be an Editor-in-Chief at Conde Nast—running my own newly created arts and entertainment title. I formed that career goal sometime around junior high school, inspired by my Sassy and Vogue magazine subscriptions and my alternative music-loving, mail-art-creating international pen pals.

Fast-forward to graduating from college at the top of my magazine journalism class, only to find out that it was nearly impossible to find a full-time magazine job, especially in San Francisco.

Quickly, I applied those same skills to what was then broadly defined as marketing communications, which typically involved managing email, publications, websites, executive communications, and thought leadership.

I eventually landed a job with plenty of room to grow my marketing skills and advance in my career.

Several years into the role, our marketing leader had all the people leaders take the Clifton Strengths Finder strengths assessment to help us all understand our complementary work styles and help us do our best work.

I wasn't surprised by my top five strengths:

• Input
• Achiever
• Intellection
• Relator
• Learner

I liked that I finally had a new vocabulary that I could use to express myself to my peers. When pushed to make a decision in a meeting without all the facts at hand, I now had the language and the empowerment to instead give a deadline by which I'd make a decision, which was not going to be right now. Thank you very much.

However, I was surprised to see these skills within the framework of four talent domains: strategic thinking, relationship building, influencing, and executing.

Three of my strengths fell within the strategic realm (which is not a surprise to anyone I've worked with), with one each in relationship building and executing. In addition to not having any of my top 5 strengths in the influencing realm, that was the area with my lowest-scored strengths: Woo and Self-Assurance.

Oof!

I'd always felt I had a deficit when it came to what we referred to as "managing up" and that I was a bit of a square page in a round matrixed organization hole. But I loved the variety in my daily work and the people I worked with.

Taking this assessment and understanding what I was really good at, and what I'd need to either improve upon or learn to manage around to advance in my career on this team was a wake-up call. And, it caused me to reevaluate my career goals.

I decided then that my ultimate goal was to be the leader of my own agency or consultancy, where I could use my strengths to the fullest and make a difference while doing the things I loved most.

While I took in-house roles on the path to opening my consultancy, I was always transparent about my long-term goals with my teams and my colleagues. And I encouraged them to consider taking the assessment, too (and no, I'm not an affiliate, just a raving fan) to help them plan their own career development roadmap.

I strongly suspect that if I hadn't taken the assessment and internalized what it meant for my career, I wouldn't be sitting here in my home office in Sacramento writing this newsletter, with my bulldog snoring away at my feet.

While introspection is a good start when it comes to evaluating your strengths and setting your professional development goals, it can be helpful to seek out an external perspective, whether it's an assessment, a career coach, or getting frank feedback from your peers and direct reports.

It just might change your life.

Coming Up on #ContentChat

Content Chat is my weekly LinkedIn Live video chat focused on sharing expertise and ideas amongst the content marketing community. Join the conversation on Mondays at noon Pacific / 3 p.m. Eastern. RSVP for our upcoming conversations by clicking the chat date below to get a reminder and to access the chat.

• ​TODAY, on #ContentChat, I’m joined by Todd Jones, owner of Copyflight, to explore what marketers can learn about great storytelling from pro wrestling. We’ll explore why storytelling is so important for crafting engaging brand messages and discuss examples and lessons from pro wrestling to help you tap into emotions to create better content.

Coming up on #ContentChat, I’m excited to be joined by the following guests to dig into a range of content marketing topics:

• July 15, Maureen Jann​
• July 22, Molly St. Louis​
• July 29, Mike Petchenik​
• Aug. 5, TBD—want the slot? Pitch us your topic!
• Aug. 12, Carlos Abler​

Get Involved with #ContentChat

• Do you have questions you’d like us to answer during #ContentChat?
  ​Reply to this email or join us on Mondays to ask them live!
• #ContentChat is now on Meetup!
  ​Join our community Meetup page to connect, learn, and share best practices in content strategy, management, and marketing with fellow #ContentChat members.
• ​Want #ContentChat on your calendar?
  ​Use this link to follow our calendar so you never miss a chat.
• We're booking guests for Q3 2024—send us your pitch!
  ​Are you a content marketing practitioner, author, or consultant interested in being a guest for an upcoming edition of #ContentChat? We’d love to hear your topic pitch via our Content Chat guest submission form​

Content Marketing + Related Jobs

​Senior Manager/Director of Technical Content Marketing, Aerospike.
AeroSpike developed a real-time data platform that powers mission-critical applications for customers like PayPal, Verizon Media, and Wayfair. The company seeks a content marketing lead to join its product marketing team and play a pivotal role in creating deep technical content that educates and engages data architects, engineers, and DevOps teams. This role is based in Mountain View, CA.

​Senior Content Marketing Manager, Palo Alto Networks.
​Palo Alto Networks is a cybersecurity partner for many of the world’s leading brands. Its team is hiring a senior content marketing manager to lead efforts to craft compelling stories across the entire funnel. Responsibilities include taking charge of the strategic direction and execution of content initiatives, collaborating with experts, and evaluating content performance. This role is based in Santa Clara, CA.

​AI Content Marketing Manager, AMD.
​AMD is a leading provider of products that accelerate next-generation computing experiences in data centers, AI, PCs, gaming, and more. The company is looking for a detail-oriented content marketer who can convey AI concepts through engaging and accessible content. The role involves crafting AI-focused thought leadership content spanning blogs, speeches, reports, and long-form and short-form content. This role is based in Austin, TX.

​Director, Content Marketing, Riskified.
​Riskified empowers businesses to grow e-commerce sales with guaranteed protection against chargebacks and fraud-fighting capabilities. Its team is seeking a director of content marketing to collaborate with the product marketing, demand gen, field marketing, and data insights teams to develop a content marketing strategy, roadmap, themes, and editorial calendar. This hybrid role is based in NYC.

​Senior Strategist, Content Marketing, Industry Dive.
​Industry Dive is a leading business journalism company that reaches 13M+ decision-makers across 26 publications. Its content marketing division, studioID, is hiring a senior strategist to partner with brands across financial services, healthcare, technology, and lifestyle. The role involves delivering insights-backed strategies for clients and conducting research to develop content programs. This role is remote, with offices in D.C., NYC, London, and Dhaka. [Full disclosure: I’ve written for a number of B2B clients through studioID.]

Send Us Your Content Jobs!

If you have a content marketing contract position, full-time job, or freelancer opportunity, reply to this email and let us know. We are always happy to share jobs with the community at no cost.

ICYMI

​How To Write Effective Social Media Guidelines That Protect Your Brand.
​Employees can be some of your best brand advocates on social media… unless they are scared about repercussions if they post the wrong thing. Every brand needs social media guidelines that, at a minimum, give employees guardrails for their content. My recently updated CMI article explains everything you should include in your guidelines, including examples to inspire your approach.

​Nominations Open: 2024 Women in Content Marketing Awards (WICMAs).
​Masthead and CMI’s WICMAs are open for nominations until August 2. This long-running program is a fantastic celebration of the outstanding work of women in content marketing, including categories for rising stars, freelance excellence, and AI innovators. Nominate the content marketing women in your life who are making a big impact—and don’t be afraid to throw your hat in the ring!

​Unlocking Content Marketing’s Potential.
​At its best, your content can be a distinct experience for customers that helps earn their trust and gives them confidence in their purchase. So, what does it take to accomplish that? My friend and Impact founder Andy Seibert joined me for a recent #ContentChat to share our secrets for unlocking content marketing’s potential. Read the recap to hear us reflect on how content marketing has evolved in recent years and rave about our favorite tools and content opportunities.

​State of the Consumer 2024: What’s Now and What’s Next.
​How has the shaky global economy changed consumer spending? New research from McKinsey reveals nine trends defining the consumer market, including shoppers' increasing openness to exploring new brands and the fact that sustainability claims are less impactful when deciding between products.

​How Content Marketing Drives Business Results.
​Scaling your content marketing success requires aligning content to your organizational goals. Obviously, this is much easier said than done once you consider the myriad places you can start. Chloe Thompson and I share our advice in this #ContentChat recap to help you determine where you can make the most significant impact. It was a lively discussion that you don’t want to miss!

​The Use of Generative AI by B2B Firms [Infographic].
​A new Bain & Company survey of 1,064 B2B executives found that many companies are dabbling in generative AI, but few are fully committing. Dig into the data with this infographic via MarketingProfs, which shows the top three generative AI use cases and tips for getting the most from your deployment.

​Make These 8 LinkedIn Profile Edits to Support Your Thought Leadership Goals.
​LinkedIn can be one of the most powerful social media channels for developing your personal brand and building thought leadership. However, many professionals need to do more to optimize a few critical areas that can significantly scale their success on the platform. In this new post, Alek on my team explains our approach for how you can showcase your expertise on LinkedIn, and shares eight profile elements you should review today.

Until next time, stay safe and be well!

Cheers,

Erika

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​Erika Heald, Founder & Chief Content Officer​
​Erika Heald Marketing Consulting​
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LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/erikaheald​
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/misserikasf/
​Threads: @MisserikaSF​​
​YouTube: @ErikaHeald​