It all started a couple of months ago when I was looking for a job as a front-end developer. I had some basic skills, and I just wanted to start working with the skills I had, paid or unpaid. I couldn’t find the right opportunities. Even unpaid internships were hard to come by.

I was interested in digital marketing, so I learned a little about WordPress, Google Ads, and Google Analytics. Along the way, I stumbled on a forum where someone was talking about how they gained experience in digital marketing, and how they were able to find a job with the experience they had gained.

And this is how I found Acadium.

Looking for and finding clients is one of the hardest tasks for a freelancer or someone who wants to gain real-world experience in any field.

Acadium is a platform where small businesses can connect with motivated individuals who are looking to gain real-world experience in digital marketing apprenticeships. 

Once both sides find a match, apprentices are required to work for the business. They work on pre-determined tasks for at least 10 hours per week (or on a mutually-agreed schedule or timeline) for a 3-month term.

I liked the idea, so I signed up, created my profile, and started looking for businesses that needed help with their websites. I knew WordPress, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and that was enough to find someone who needed help with front-end web development. 

After 1 month, a business owner contacted me to build a website for them, and my professional journey in digital marketing began.

When people think about freelancing, they think it’s only the hard skills that matter. This type of thinking is limiting. For instance, communication skills are often more important, especially when working online, as you should understand the tasks and be able to provide a solution to the problems they are facing and be able to explain that in a way that is easy to understand for the non-technical people you are working with.

It was challenging, but seeing how an idea can be converted into a functional website, or doing something from scratch and building on it to the point where you see users using what you built… it’s an amazing feeling!

As I started gaining confidence in my skills and knowledge I felt more and more comfortable offering helpful advice and guidance to the business to further improve their website. This led to additional projects and opportunities that have helped me grow. 

We still work together to this day,

While working with this business owner, I got contacted by another one through the platform to work on their website, which was an online store selling paintings. The project included adding E-commerce functionalities and payment methods.

As it was my first time working on an E-commerce store, I learned how to add products, modify stocks, and make filters so the user can choose the right product. through that experience, I now understand more about the E-commerce world, and how I can help other businesses with their online stores.

Conclusion

So if you want to learn and gain experience in digital marketing, then I recommend you to use Acadium, where you will be connected with a business to work with them and gain experience that you can put on your resume and show employers that you have real-world experience.

You can check it out here.

If want help building a website or even a redesign for your site, I’ll be more than happy to help, you can contact me on LinkedIn or the form here on the site.