Digital Marketing Specialist @ Feeding Canadian Kids with Masoud Farsi
Masoud and Blair discuss what it’s like to work as a marketing team of 1 in a charity organization, how not knowing what he wanted to do was important for Masoud’s job search; and, why a mindset of “Enjoying what you’re doing, rather than doing what you enjoy” can be important for your career.
In his year one, Masoud Farsi is working as a Digital Marketing Specialist at Feeding Canadian Kids, a charity that’s working to fill the dinner gap by providing healthy meals to hungry children. Some of the things that Masoud and Blair discuss include what it’s like to work as a marketing team of 1 in a charity organization, how not knowing what he wanted to do was important for Masoud’s job search; and, why a mindset of “Enjoying what you’re doing, rather than doing what you enjoy” can be important for your career.
About Masoud Farsi
(He keeps it minimal with his bio 😆)
I do advertising.
During work hours, I promote businesses.
Other times, I promote “life”.
Interested in the former? Let’s talk marketing, advertising, PPC, platforms, campaigns and stuff.
Interested in the latter, visit my blog at https://masoudfarsi.blogspot.com/
The Highlights and Hottest Takes 🔥
How Masoud Got the Job
It started as a 4-month internship in the Digital Media Marketing postgraduate program at George Brown College. Masoud “jumped in” and ultimately created his own job based on his initiative during the internship.
Mistake Made
To many social networks, too few resources. Trying to use multiple social networks with limited dedicated resources as a marketing team of one person.
Lesson Learned
Make the most of the moment. Focus on trying to “Enjoy what you’re doing, rather than doing what you enjoy.”
Pro Tip
Small organizations can give you big benefit for personal development. Smaller organizations don’t always know what they specifically want for marketing, so they’re exploring themselves. It will challenge your strategic thinking and priority setting as a digital marketer. You’ll be forced to demonstrate leadership if you’re comfortable with ambiguity and taking charge.
Segments
Masoud's Year 1ne @ Feeding Canadian Kids | 0:58-14:58
Feeding Canadian Kids helps 1.2 million children in Canada with food insecurity by providing them with nourishing dinners. Main goals for marketing are to generate awareness and raise funds from donations.
Masoud's the only person working in marketing communication, so they rely on volunteers to help implement tactics…which has high turnover. Typical day-to-day as Digital Marketing Specialist includes: optimizing the marketing plan, outlining marketing communication programs to be done, monitoring tactical implementation, finding and managing volunteers, doing analysis and reporting.
On how to generate donations from individuals:
“We’re asking people for money but not giving them anything tangible. The target market needs to relate to the cause otherwise they won’t donate to it.”
Getting to Day 1ne: The Job Search | 14:59-27:59
The role at Feeding Canadian Kids started as a 4-month internship, which was part of Digital Media Marketing postgraduate program at George Brown College. Masoud “jumped in” and did a digital marketing audit that provided recommendations for how to evolve their marketing communication–he created his own job based on his initiative during the internship.
Masoud’s job search took longer because he was exploring many things:
“I knew I wanted to learn. I wanted breadth of digital marketing, not depth in one area. Other folks know exactly what they wanted to do in digital marketing, but that wasn’t the case for me.”
Smaller organizations don’t always know what they specifically want for marketing, so they’re also exploring themselves. Masoud was ready for ambiguity and communicated this to potential employers:
“I know a little bit about many things, I want to find a space to try this out.”
The ambiguity (and messiness) was a match on both sides between Feeding Canadian Kids and Masoud.
Things I've Learned in Year 1ne | 28:00-33:15
Masoud tries to make the most of the moment–any moment–to see how it goes:
“Enjoy what you’re doing, rather than doing what you enjoy. Sometimes you don’t like something because you don’t know how to do it or because it seems difficult; but if you give it a try it might become enjoyable.”
Re(Sources)
- Connect with Masoud Farsi: LinkedIn | Instagram | Website
- Brands/organizations: Feeding Canadian Kids | George Brown College
- Marketing and media tools: Google Analytics | Google Ad Grants for Not-for-Profits | Google Trends | Go Fund Me
- Connect with The Year 1ne’s host Blair Smith: LinkedIn | Website
Credits
- Created and Produced by Blair Smith
- Hosted by Blair Smith
- Mixed and Mastered by Ray Harripaul
Sponsor(s)
N/A for this episode...Interested in being a sponsor of The Year 1ne's Show? Drop us a line via email 😀
