Project Outline: Learning Operations and Marketing Tools

Considering my personal portfolio is virtually bare at this point, one primary goal I had coming into Praxis was to work on creating some tangible projects that highlight different skills that will be valued by any business partner. Now that I’ve decided to dive into operations, these different programs could give me an edge at a potential bp just by having a wide range of proficiencies.

Here’s what I will accomplish this month:

• I will present a 5-10 minute video that exhibits a clear understanding of various newly learned skills of the 3 respective programs.
• I will create and publish a Facebook Ad for the Willmar Assembly of God Church.
• I will create and send out a Mailchimp Email Marketing Campaign for the Willmar Assembly of God Church.
• I will have a “weekly update” blog post that details and reflects on each week and displays a secure understanding of the tools.

Here’s how I’ve laid out the workload:

• Week 1: After a week of project deliberation, I have (clearly) made final decisions concerning the tools I will be presenting knowledge of and have signed up for the free/demo version of each. To prepare for the video production element of this project, I also spent time refamiliarizing myself with iMovie, where I will be producing/editing the videos.
• Week 2: By the end of this week, I will have become familiar with Zapier and curated a “Top 5” list of “zaps” (the shortcuts Zapier provides) that I believe can save any startup company time and stress. I will have a completed video that shows how to set up these “zaps” and how it can help save time, along with a “weekly update” blog post that reflects on the past week. 
• Week 3: By the end of this week, I will have become proficient at Hubspot CRM, with a focus on their marketing dashboard, specifically Facebook ad creation. I will be creating a Facebook advertisement for a Vacation Bible School event at the Willmar Assemblies of God church. I will have a completed video that briefly covers the Hubspot interface, and provides a walkthrough of creating a Facebook ad. The video will be accompanied by the “weekly update” blog post that reflects on the previous week. 
• Week 4: By the end of this week I will have become proficient at Mailchimp and email campaign creation. In order to get more practice with Mailchimp, I will be creating an email campaign for the Willmar Assemblies of God church. For my portfolio, I will have a finished email and a completed video that will walkthrough beginner email campaign creation. The videos will be accompanied by the “weekly update” blog post that reflects on the workload of the previous week.

Although my desired area of focus professionally is operations and this project was originally geared to feature skills in that domain, creating both a Facebook ad and an email campaign will also provide a good amount of experience in marketing and content creation – thankfully, one can never acquire too much knowledge and experience. In addition to learning new “hard” skills, for this month, I have made it a point to focus on the process just as much as the end result. I aspire to prove to myself that when I tackle a task, I possess both the skills and the ambition to see it completed in its entirety.

What could slip me up along the way?

I envision my biggest challenge this month being simply the copious amounts of grunt work that comes with a project of this nature. I could potentially see having to reset my mind’s framework each week as I tackle a new software being a difficult part of this project, as learning the ins and outs of the different programs could prove to be time-consuming.

Here’s why I’m confident I’ll be successful:

I would highlight my ability to learn quickly as my most important asset for this project. While I have limited technical experience, I have a proven work record that has proven that I can succeed in a new setting or upon undertaking a new task, and I’m confident in my ability to withstand any obstacles or challenges and continue working towards the goals I’ve set for myself.