March has been … full of changes. Well, that’s putting it really mildly.
First, I started a new job. It was a big step because I was retiring my journalist’s tags and putting on a digital marketer’s hat. After 15 years in the business, I walked away from the world of page layouts and newspaper print to enter one with social media, websites and digital analytics.
So I no longer call myself a journalist but a Content Strategist. And you’re wondering - content strategist? What the heck is that?
Here’s an admission. Content Strategy is an industry fond of jargon, and as a former journalist who hates anything that gets in the way of simple copy, I’m not a fan. Just think of me as the person in charge of content - videos, blog posts, web pages, social media posts. Things like that.
I was sad to leave journalism and my good friends, but I’m excited to embrace this new path. It’s one that I’ve been dreaming of since 2015, when I took up the CIM Digital Marketing diploma. So far I’m learning a tonne and enjoying everything I’m doing.
But if that wasn’t enough, I moved house. It was just across town, but it felt like I was moving countries. Maybe because I’ve lived in my former neighbourhood since I was 16 and loved it to bits. I didn’t think I’d like any other city except Subang Jaya. But it turns out I was wrong - my new place is just as interesting, if not more vibrant.
What I’m watching
Here’s a great sci-fi show about time-travellers from … Spain?
The unique thing about the show’s premise, besides being Spain-focused, is that these time travellers are from different times in history. Some are from the 15th century, 18th century, others from our current time. They all work for Spain’s secretive ministry of time that has been around for centuries. The ministry uses a magical tunnel of rooms that send agents to various spots in time.
Although the idea of time agents from different times of history was fascinating, I found it hard to believe at times. If I was a progressive, 19th century woman who stumbled on the 21st century, I’d wanna stay there forever. Also, won’t I be a tad freaked out with being plucked out from my comfortable life to suddenly be face danger every day as an agent of a secretive, time-travelling “ministry”? And how is it that I can be so confident in fighting jumping time just after being recruited?
The show glossed over this too quickly. It would have been nicer and more realistic to show the characters struggling more with the crazy change in their lives. Still, I’m enjoying the heck out of it. It’s just refreshing to watch sci-fi that is not American for once!
What I’m reading & learning
Content Strategy books. So many content strategy books. I read, of course, Kristina Halvorson’s classic Content Strategy for the Web, The Web Content Strategist’s Bible by Richard Sheffield and The Content Strategy Toolkit by Meghan Casey.
Content Strategy for the Web is for those who go, “Huh? What the heck is content strategy?”
Sheffield’s book is for writers who are thinking, “Are there more interesting things for writers to do than write copy? Is there a more digital role?” He says yes, and shows you how.
But Casey’s book was the one I thumbed through the most. While Halvorson’s and Sheffield’s books are great primers for the industry, Casey’s books gave me tools and strategies to do the tasks. I would say it’s the most useful Content Strategy book I’ve come across.
Understandably, fiction reading has fallen by the wayside, with me only finishing one romance novel compared to my usual six for the month. Still, I managed to finish ex-FBI agent John Douglas’ memoir, Mindhunter, where he talks about how he began his work profiling serial killers. That book literally gave me nightmares - I admire Douglas for being able to bear the load of his crushing occupation. I would’ve gone kaka a long time ago.