When I first started as an Intern at Media Link, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Coming from an English background, I had no experience in marketing or advertising before joining the Media Link team. Prior to Media Link, I was seeking internships with publishers and literary magazines. I reached out to Natalie upon a recommendation from a mutual contact and client of hers because she had expressed that Natalie really needed help with writing. I decided I might be able to provide some assistance and from there Natalie accepted me as an intern.
At first, I was tasked with managing Natalie’s social media accounts, which was a new experience for me. I hardly posted on my own Facebook account, so the idea of managing a business’s account was rather daunting. Despite my lack of experience, Natalie and her team were very patient and showed me the ropes. I was soon developing social media content for a few of her clients. I learned that in order to write good social media content, you have to really understand the perspective of the client you’re representing. Eventually, as I developed my skills with social media, Natalie gave me more clients and accounts to manage.
Natalie also put me in charge of developing Eblast content for both the Media Link family of accounts (Media Link, Media Link Software, and QC PastPort) as well as a few outside clients. This form was also new to me, but a little more comfortable with longer form writing. These assignments really helped me to better understand Media Link and its sister companies as well as have the opportunity to manage accounts independently. I also frequently wrote longform blogs for Media Link and Media Link Software.
After four months, Natalie offered me a promotion from Intern to Marketing Assistant and I accepted. I became responsible for assisting her with important projects related to news releases and more clients in need of social media content. I learned to juggle these extra responsibilities with those I was already handling with social media, blogs, and Eblasts. This was definitely a lesson in time-management as a lot of this work was extremely time sensitive. I often had to step back and reprioritize my tasks on the spot as new assignments came in. Being a full-time student, I was used to deadlines, but I was not used to projects popping up without notice; this took some getting used to.
Through my work with Media Link, I have learned more than I ever expected in just a few short months. I have learned so much about marketing and how it interconnects with the publishing world that I am trying to break into. I feel the skills I have learned with social media management, short and longform writing, and maintaining client relationships will translate well into any of my future positions. Overall, I am so grateful to Natalie for giving me the opportunity to work on her team. I appreciate that she took the time to teach me and did so with so much grace the entire time. She is truly someone I have come to look up to.
