10 things I learned working for Articulate Marketing

This is a guest post from Andrew, one of my two summer interns this year.

Over the past three weeks, I have had the pleasure of working as a summer intern with Articulate Marketing. The work has been varied and I have been involved with numerous projects, ranging from website and blog analysis, to writing and the naming of a new service.

With about one week left to go, I’ve written up a list of the top 10 things – in no particular order – that I learned when working with Matthew and Articulate Marketing.

1. The importance of proof reading.
   My first task with Articulate was proofreading of a case study. Matthew gave me some great tips on how to proofread and left me to get on with it. This is definitely a skill that I will be developing further by utilising what I’ve learnt to proofread my own writing more effectively.
2. The Economist Style Guide is a bit like a bible.
   Matthew was kind enough to send me a copy of The Economist Style Guide. It is a great book that will be invaluable both when writing for business and completing university essays!
3. Overcommunicate.
   During the internship, I have been working remotely from sunny (or not) Edinburgh. Initially I was wary of sending Matthew too many emails and cluttering up his inbox unnecessarily, but I also wanted to be in contact often enough in case something I was doing wasn’t quite what he had intended. One of the most valuable things that I have learnt is that people prefer lots of updates, to none at all.
4. Skype makes the world go round.
   Carrying on with the communications idea; Skype is a fantastic resource. I’ve been using Skype since my business partner moved to Beijing about two years ago and have never looked back. However having spent time working with Matthew, I have only just realised how much more efficient businesses would be if everybody simply used Skype. The combination of call and IM abilities could really change how companies communicate massively.
5. The best way to listen in to a conference call is…
   To mute your own microphone, and carry on typing (or scrawling on pieces of paper)! Don’t get me wrong, I am very grateful for the opportunity to listen in on conference calls with some of the huge multinationals that Articulate works with and finding out more about how they do business, but eventually you do find your mind straying back to the work sitting open on your desktop.
6. Good research = successful project.
   I think I have discovered the secret of Articulate Marketing’s success! Every single business and marketing decision made is backed up by very comprehensive research. I was lucky enough to be involved in a variety of research projects, including planning, website analysis and blog research. Looking for a list of the web’s top 100 business blogs, and having read through the better part of 200 sites as background information for the launch of a new SMB blog.
7. Most websites are not very good.
   One of my tasks with Articulate Marketing was to create a brief for the upcoming redesign of their website. As part of this, I did a significant website analysis of competitor sites and the Articulate site itself. If most of the competitor sites I looked at had bothered doing any form of analysis, I don’t think they would have ended up with the rubbish that is their “face to the world”. (I suppose you could say the same of the Articulate site in its current state however.) [Steady now! Matthew]
8. Every domain name you want to buy has already been bought…
   And is probably being squatted. Now I knew this already. I hold enough domain names personally (and indeed squat on a few) to have a good working knowledge of how difficult it can be to buy a .com worth anything at all. But you have no idea how frustrated I was getting at 11pm at night attempting to find domain names for a new project that Articulate is looking to launch. Even after a big bowl of ice cream and summer berries with chocolate sauce I was still hugely annoyed.
9. Large corporations…
   Do sort of fit the corporate caricature image. However I have found that although the corporations Articulate works with are, well, corporations; when working with them, you’re still very much working with real people. In every conference call I listened on I was welcomed most warmly in to, even the one I dialled late in to after various technology issues! This experience has taught me that it is about understanding how the organisation operates and the goals that they pursue, and working within that framework that gets things done. But they are still kinda large and corporate, although it would be fascinating to try working in that environment at some point.
10. Time Management
    If you work from home, one of the most crucial skills to develop is time management. Aside from having the discipline to settle down and “get on with it” rather than watching the World Cup, you generally don’t want to spend every evening working through something that you should have done earlier. Fortunately, I don’t particularly enjoy watching football, and tend to be away from my desk in the evenings; so pretty much worked “office hours”. Admittedly, I did take every opportunity to bring the laptop in to the garden and lounge in the sun while working, but that’s a different matter!

Overall I’ve had a rather good time! The work has been varied and Matthew has offered some great advice throughout, both about the projects that I’ve been working on, and about business and marketing generally. If there is another internship available in the future I would definitely recommend applying. You’ll learn and lot, and probably have a lot of fun as well!

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Related posts:

1. Summer Internship at Articulate Marketing
2. It doesn’t matter how good your marketing is if…you don’t know why it’s working
3. Free Articulate Seminars: learn, share, drink tea
4. Websites I looked at when designing Articulate Marketing’s
5. Study finds working at work improves productivity

Tagged as: Interns