English as a second language teachers have been hit particularly hard by the Pandemic. I was really surprised by Cameron’s pivot into an entirely new career. I asked him if I could retell his story as it could help other ESL teachers around the world.
Hi, I’m Cameron and I worked in Japan as a Business English Teacher from 2000-2008 in Toyota City, where Toyota Motor Corporation is headquartered.
I had the most wonderful experience while there; I got married to a local, we had two beautiful daughters and I met so many talented people and went to so many interesting places.
However, it was always my intention to return back to my native country of Australia, once the girls were old enough for schooling.
So, the plan was to find a job I could do in Australia that would allow me to start before I even got back but then later allow us to travel to Japan whenever we wanted for however long we wanted. After sifting through the job boards I virtually gave up on my dream but then I read my first ever ebook on something that looked perfect, placing ads on a then little search engine called Google. That was 17 years ago and I’ve never looked back.
Things have changed greatly since then, I now place ads not just on Google but also sites you may know (ha!) such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Linkedin, Twitter, Pinterest and even Bing!
Even though the technology has changed dramatically, the same principles remain:
1. Choose an Audience to Target
2. Choose Your Keywords/Placement
3. Create Your Ad
4. Choose a Landing Page to Send the Audience to
5. Review the Data and Optimize
Although I already had a business background, I found my ESL skills and knowledge gave me a greater edge over others placing ads. You see, just like teaching conversational English to students, for best results, with ads you have to adapt your language to each audience ie. those reading your ads or landing page copy. You see each audience is different, they have different levels of awareness of the product/service and are motivated to take action by different phrases and Calls to Action etc. English Teachers are always thinking of ways to say the same thing a different way and the beauty is we can split audiences and test different wording to see what works the best.
The other great thing about this industry is that you’ll never be out of a job, as there’s always new audiences, new keywords/placements and new copy to test.
OK, Sounds Great! How can I get started?
That ebook I mentioned is long out of date but if you’re looking for the most up-to-date and best training on the market I highly suggest Adskills Jumpstart program. It’s created by Online Ad Veterans to train people to be qualified as Ad Buyers. A career I think Language teachers are particularly suited for!
How do I check it out?
There is a great letter here which explains all the details of the certification and more importantly help you figure out if this is something you could be suited for. I do like the fact you can work from anywhere as a media buyer which will be really nice when travel opens up again!
Jumpstart 2.0 Media Certification Program
Also, if you end up signing up for the Jumpstart program, I will send you something which really helps me stay organized as a media buyer. When I was in Japan I learned about the Toyota production system and a really powerful time management system called Kanban. I’ll send you a copy of my Kanban for Media Buyers course which will really help you stay organized for when you get your first job as a junior ad-buyer. Send your receipt to [email protected] and I’ll send you the course!
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