Question

Topic: Student Questions

Broke Masters Student, Where Is The Money Dammit?

Posted by Anonymous on 6/4/2008 at 10:59 AM ET 25 Points
I am a masters student in marketing management, all this theory is really not getting me anywhere. I want to start making some money with my knowledge, maybe start a small business, freelance work or is there something else out there that i keep missing..

Guys am I the only student feeling this way? If not where is the money?
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  • Posted by Levon on 6/4/2008 at 4:18 PM Accepted
    The money comes with practical experience. The more experience you have the more marketing skills you have and the higher rate you can charge. Theoretically this is how marketing works. The one thing that they don’t teach you in business school is that "...your only worth what you can negotiate and get in writing" – my dad taught me this at the University of Life.

    -Levon
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 6/6/2008 at 8:59 AM Accepted
    People give you money in exchange what you can do for them. Right now, you have book knowledge. What people want are things that work for them. You need to learn these things, based on your life experience (and learning).

    Is there a hobby or activity you love? If so, start a business around it. The lessons you'll learn will be from the real-world school, and useful to anything you do in your future.
  • Posted by clpsf on 6/7/2008 at 2:00 PM Accepted
    The sad part is that you also need money to start a business. If you don't have sufficient money on which to live and to carry your business for at least 6 months, then I wouldn't recommend that you start a business right now.

    As has already been mentioned, you must get work experience first. Get a job, even if it's part-time and even if it's not for the hourly rate you believe you deserve, but try to get it with a big name outfit. Where you worked previously will be a big selling point when you start your own business or when you move to another employer. Document the significant things you do in your work so that you can build a beefy CV. Strike up useful relationships with the people you meet in the course of your work. Foster them. You're going to be calling on them in the future and in your line of work, who you know counts for a lot. You'll want to establish long-term relationships with advertising publishers, the people who will decide how much to charge you. Establish relationships with service providers, like designers, photographers, etc. And market yourself in a way that distinguishes you from everyone else in the workplace and elsewhere. You should have the theory by now to know all about strategic positioning. It works for self-positioning too. While you're doing all this, you'll also be making that elusive money, and since you'll need a bundle to strike out on your own -- should that still be your goal -- you can start saving now. One thing's for sure, you're not going to get money if you're not in the workplace.

    One thing I figured out for myself is that THE most important thing about going to university isn't the theory you learn (although certainly, that's important, as is the prestige of the university you attend), but the people you meet. Your fellow students are the movers and shakers of the future (as you are to them). Establishing really good, enduring relationships with the people you meet at school (including your professors) may be the best thing you do for yourself. Don't limit yourself to only business majors. In your work life, I guarantee you that you will someday need to reach out to a successful friend who is now a captain of business, or a Supreme Court judge, or even just in middle management at a huge corporation, and vice versa. This is especially important for marketers because in this line of work, "who you know" is definitely a plus.

    Good luck to you!




  • Posted by clpsf on 6/7/2008 at 2:21 PM Member
    I forgot to mention that if you're not working at all, you can also get valuable experience by interning through your school's internship program (but of course, I know you know about this, but I thought you'd like to hear a real little case study. We took in a promising and responsible young visual design intern when she started her last year of undergraduate studies. She got her feet wet with us and when she graduated, we hired her full time. We trained her and upgraded her skills so that she is now, in only her second year of experience as a designer, more capable than the 5-year designers we interview. There's a lot to be said for real experience.

    On another note, you might be able to do your own "interning," but for a reasonable fee. Remember that you're untested and (I assume) you have no experience and no contacts in the marketing world that can be of great benefit to clients. The point of this is to remind you to not expect to develop new business if you expect to be paid like more experienced marketers. There are a number of well-funded startups that would likely be able to use your marketing knowledge to help them to develop a marketing plan and to help structure it. You can build a little business (with online presence) around this and start getting to know people and to establish relationships.

    There are small companies on a path to success, in business for two or three years, who need marketing assistance, but they can't afford the high priced marketing companies, or they want to do a certain amount of legwork in-house to save money, and then go to the bigger marketers.

    Your job will be to find these companies and to sell yourself and your ideas to them, based on you making a little money and they getting more value for their money, while building a relationship with you, which can lead to bigger and better things.

    If you stop to think about what you can do, I'm sure you can come up with some more ideas of what you can offer. As I said, market yourself.


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