How to figure out my new role as a Growth Marketer

Feeling ‘in over your head’ with your new Growth Marketing role?  Starting any new job is stressful AF-  starting a new Growth role is next level.

Why next level you may ask?  IYKYK, if you don’t it’s because generally companies expect a lot from any role that has Growth attached.

No offense startup industry, but some of the job postings out there are completely cray cray!

But hey!  You already know this because you are here reading this post.

Let’s cut to the chase and help you to feel confident moving into your new Growth roll and more importantly, keep your sanity.

Start a Journal

No, not a Dear Diary type of journal but more so a daily log.  You’ve got a lot of stuff swimming around in that brain of yours, so get it down on paper – preferably the electric kind 😉

Ugh I hate that I am saying to use an online doc over paper, but in this case you will want to be able to ctrl+f and find keywords easily.

There is no need to over complicate this with fancy Notion templates or paying for a Journal app.  Use a Google Doc or even your Notes will do just fine for this.  Our JTBD here is to get things out of our brain and to put them somewhere else that we can go back to and see what the hell we were thinking and/or doing.

I suggest for each day to have Dump section and then a Recap section.  Do not mix the two.  One is reality and one is not.  Of course at some point your Dumps may become a reality (🤣 can I really pull this off?  Are you chuckling a bit?) but until that day, those ideas stay in La La Land.  Maybe you might want to call your ‘idea’ section La La Land instead of a synonym for 💩.

During these early days of your role, write as much as you want in the (brain) Dump section, but only write in the Recap section at the end of each day.  This is where the truth goes.  What you actually did during the day.  Not what you wanted to do during the day.  The truth can hurt, but perhaps seeing the reality of what you accomplished as opposed to the billion thoughts running around in your head will help you to focus tomorrow.

Make To-Do lists

Be realistic with your daily to-do list and be sure to hold yourself accountable to what you set out to do by carrying it over to the next day, ice-boxing it or killing it for good.

I’m personally a HUGE fan of a 1-2-3 list.  That’s all I’m looking at right now.  3 things.  There are ten billion things in the ice-box, but I ain’t thinking about those.  I am only focusing on the 3 things attainable things I have set my sets on for the near future.

And you guessed it!  I’m only looking at 1 thing at a time.

Until that particular task is crossed off- you aren’t thinking about the next thing on the list.

Get help

Whether you have a team around you or you are solo- an outside perspective from someone who has been there and done that is invaluable.  

But who will you ask for advice from?  It’s kind of awkward for some folks to put themselves out there and be all vulnerable and stuff.  Ask a random on LinkedIn?  Your cousin’s year-round-vest-wearing boyfriend who works in a San Francisco startup?

There are tons of people who have been in your shoes and know that it sucks having such lofty expectations as the new kid on the block.  They may have flashbacks to being asked to “get the Pirate metric thingy sorted by the end of the day”, so in turn are super eager to help newbies like yourself avoid the trauma.

We have done the leg work and found said people who genuinely want to help.  Actually, we didn’t find them- they found us and applied to become Growth Mentors.  We get close to 300 applications a month and bring on around 20 or so each month.  In case you are interested- here’s more on our vetting process.

A huge thing we look for is that they are friendly people who give off that, “I wanna help” vibe.  If they have a super impressive track record, but are someone you wouldn’t enjoy having a chat with at a party- they aren’t a good for GrowthMentor.  We put a huge emphasis on our community feeling like a secure place where there is no such thing as a dumb question.

Back to you getting help.  It starts here…

Invest in yourself

GrowthMentor is a paid community.  A very reasonable paid community based on other options out there such as hiring a 1:1 career coach.  Yikes!  What would that run you?

With GrowthMentor Pro membership you get unlimited calls with the mentors listed as free.  You are in Growth, so you like numbers.  The average Pro user does 5 calls a month on average taking their entire membership span into consideration.  We’ve seen sprinters come in and manage to do 20+ calls in one month’s time, but you then have to question if they were actually taking action on the advice given by mentors or just enjoying talking to smart folks from all around the world.  The ball is really in your court in regard to how many calls you do.

With the Light membership you get 3 calls per month at a much lower rate.

Start out with the Light plan and see if it’s a good fit for you and you can always upgrade if you find that you are really enjoying the calls and want to up the limit.  You even get a prorated discount if you upgrade and you can do it all right in your billing section with a few clicks.

If you feel comfortable asking your company to pay for your membership – by all means, try that!  Here’s a PDF to help with the ask.

We’ve had members tell us that they don’t want their company to know they are using GrowthMentor because it makes them look like they aren’t qualified.  I won’t go on a rant about anyone who thinks asking for an outside perspective is a bad idea, but that’s just ridiculous.  I’m not saying YOU are ridiculous, I’m saying if your boss feels that way, they are ridiculous.  Anyway, I digress.  If you don’t want your company knowing and you want to pay for yourself – you won’t be alone, others are in the same boat.

Take Action

Insert all those motivational talks on Spotify and quotes on Instagram that tell you to seize the day, yada yada yada.

In order to take action and get things moving, you need to pick one area that you want to tackle first.

Here’s a fun activity to decide what to focus on.  Copy/Paste everything from your Dumps and make a word cloud or put it all in ChatGPT.  See what sticks out as the most commonly mentioned topic.  Go with that.

Let’s say it’s CRO.

You’ll start with searching the area of expertise and then any additional filters that you want.  I like to get my calls in during the morning, so I filtered by Time Available as well.

WARNING ⚠️  Browsing Mentors can trigger ‘Shiny Object Syndrome’.  While you are scrolling through the mentors, your mind will go to wonderful hypothetical scenarios of you and a mentor running through a field of daisies while talking through all Data Science.  STOP.

If you see your Data Science soulmate, simply add them to a list so you can book a call with them later on about that.

Book a 1:1 Call

You’ve filtered to your hearts content and you are ready to book a call with a mentor.  All of the mentors have their own availabilities set and their next available time does show on their profile so you can keep that in mind while browsing.

What to discuss during the call

I will share this reminder again.  The number one thing that can derail a great mentor ship call is a mentee who is all over the place.  GrowthMentor was designed for you to speak with different mentors about different topics, hence the unlimited calls and various expertise filters.

1. Prepare Specific Questions: Tailor your questions to your main objective. If you’re tackling customer engagement, for instance, you might ask, “What strategies have proven most effective in enhancing customer engagement in my industry?”
2. Ask for Real-World Examples: Gain insights from the mentor’s experience by asking, “Can you share an instance from your career where you successfully navigated a similar challenge?”
3. Seek Actionable Advice: Aim for practical suggestions. For example, “What are the immediate steps I can take to improve my current process?”
4. Request Feedback on Your Ideas: If you have specific strategies or solutions in mind, seek the mentor’s perspective with questions like, “How do you think my approach to X will work in the current market scenario?”
5. Explore Resources and Tools: Mentors can often suggest useful tools or reading material. Don’t hesitate to ask, “Are there any resources or tools you would recommend for someone in my position?”

TAKE NOTES!  You can revisit all of your session notes on your Dashboard https://app.growthmentor.com/notes 

Rinse and Repeat

That was fun, wasn’t it?  Leave your mentor some feedback on your call and maybe it will show up on the Wall of Love❤️

Now you need to implement what you have discussed and see what happens.  And since you are a growth marketer, we know that you won’t just be sitting around and waiting for results- you’ve got tons of other things to do.

Should you book a mentorship call for everything?  Nope!  You should book calls when you’ve done everything that you can on your own and then you either hit a wall OR want to run it by someone one else to make sure you are on the right path.

The people who get the most long term benefit from GrowthMentor are those who make a habit with booking calls.

A fun hack we learned from a member is that he has a recurring reminder on every Tuesday to book 1 call for that week about whatever is stressing him out the most.  Even if it’s venting frustrations about your horrible boss.  He’s booked calls for 18 months in a row!

Get involved with the community

The 1:1 calls are the best part about GrowthMentor in the opinion of many- but the community Q&As and networking opportunities take a close 2nd place.  The Slack community will be a great place for you to turn to with random questions that don’t require a 30 min scheduled call.  It’s also a good place for you to lurk in the shadows and passively learn from conundrums other people are facing.

Check out our City Squads and see if your City has a GM micro-community https://app.growthmentor.com/cities 

GrowthMentor City Squad in Lisbon Portugal

Even if you just passing through a city, it’s worth joining just to get some advice from locals.

Here’s a quick summary to help you settle in with your new role and maintain your sanity:

1. Journaling for Clarity: Keep an electronic journal. Use it to dump your daily thoughts and do a reality check in your recap section. This separation helps in differentiating between mere ideas and actionable plans.
2. Realistic To-Do Lists: Focus on achievable goals. Start with a 1-2-3 list, tackling one task at a time to maintain focus and productivity.
3. Seeking Mentorship: Don’t hesitate to reach out for help. GrowthMentor has a community of experienced mentors ready to share their wisdom and guide you through your challenges.
4. Investing in Yourself: Consider starting with the Light plan on GrowthMentor. It offers a cost-effective way to access valuable mentorship and gradually increase your engagement as you find your footing.
5. Taking Action and Community Involvement: Apply the advice you receive and make a habit of booking calls for ongoing support. Also, engage with the GrowthMentor community for additional insights and networking opportunities.

Remember, the key to thriving in your new role is staying open to learning and being proactive in seeking guidance. With GrowthMentor, you have a wealth of resources at your fingertips, so make the most of them and start making strides in your Growth Marketing career.