The story started
About Kemi's Experience!
Hey hey hey!
My name is Kemi and I’m a Content Writer at Pearl Lemon Group. I had a brief stint as Head of Content, but more of that later.
I write about SEO, lead generation, digital marketing, and the occasional blog review. I’m about as well-rounded as you can get.
How did I end up as a Content Writer at Pearl Lemon Group? Grab some snacks and a soft drink, it’s gonna be a long story…
My Path To Pearl Lemon Group
Before joining the Pearl Lemon Group team, I was a university graduate trying to find my footing in the professional world. I hoped to use the knowledge I gained from my degree to good use, but unfortunately, things didn’t work out that way.
I jumped from job to job, all the while trying to establish a writing career. I didn’t know where to start – I wasn’t sure where to pitch to, what to say in my pitch, what I should put on my CV, none of that.
Since I graduated, I’ve had a host of different jobs, from tour guide to nanny. I’ve also done my fair share of travelling to places like Singapore, New Zealand, and Peru
Eventually, I chose to go freelance because it was on my mind for a long time, and I finally decided to go for it. My line of thought was “Sh*t, I don’t have anything to lose, I might as well TRY.”
And of course I don’t need to mention the COVID-19 pandemic that has held the world hostage for the better part of two years. As stories of people being made unemployed by the pandemic hit the mainstream, I thought “If people are losing their jobs in this pandemic, what chance do I have to land my dream job?”
After doing freelance for a while, I landed a job as a copywriter – funnily enough, I got that job through a freelancer platform I joined at the height of the pandemic in mid-2020. I felt so proud of myself, and I vowed to stick it through and show them why they hired me.
Too bad it didn’t work out like that.
I was unceremoniously let go from the copywriting job not long after I started. I felt like a failure and a f*ck up. I felt like I couldn’t do anything right.
It was then that I decided to change course and do a digital marketing course that was advertised on YouTube. In the course, I was advised to seek internships in digital marketing as a way to gain experience.
I was on Cheggs when I saw a posting for Pearl Lemon Group. Initially, I wanted to do the digital marketing partnership, but the Content Writer role caught my eye.
I applied for the Content Writer role, got in touch with Noemi, went through the interview process, and then did a trial week.
The trial week was the easiest part; the most anxiety-inducing part is when I waited a whole weekend to see if I made it onto the team.
Turns out I did!
Now that my life story is out of the way, let me tell you how my first week went.
My First Week
Since I already went through the trial week, my first week wasn’t too much of a shock. I knew what was expected of me in terms of the writing tasks, such as the type of writing format, word count and weekly word target.
I spent my first week getting my feet wet and learning more about the company. I also started attending the weekly meetings where we are encouraged to begin the meetings with small talk. This helps to break the ice and establish familiarity with the team.
Whatsapp is the main mode of communication for team members. It sounds strange on the outside looking in, but it actually works out quite well. It’s what makes Pearl lemon Group unlike any company I’ve worked for.
The first week, I had to take my laptop for repairs, so I wasn’t able to write while it was in repairs. Fortunately, it was fixed without a hitch, and I was able to get back to doing what I do best – learning and writing.
I learned to use Clockify to clock in and out of work. I found it simple to use – you add the hours you spent doing certain tasks on a workday, then you put in the number of hours you spent working.
I found it so useful that I installed the app on my phone – so that it would be easier to clock in and out without sitting at my laptop all day.
My First Month
March 2021 was a preview of what was to come. I learned to use all sorts of tools like Grammarly, GoCopy, Page Optimizer Pro, Frase, and more.
I also learned how to write guest posts for eternal clients, blog posts for Pearl Lemon Group’s many internal sites like Pearl Lemon Properties, and did occasional tasks assigned to me by Federica for SERPWizz.
There was also a writing training held that month hosted by Dee. Before the training, we would send him blog posts we’d written that week for him to look at and give us feedback. This set the tone for following the Pearl Lemon Group guidelines for writing content; guidelines I still follow religiously to this day.
During this month, I got a lot of support and encouragement from Pearl, the then-Head of Content. If you’re reading this Pearl, I want to say thank you for encouraging me to be the best writer and for seeing my potential!
My Second Month
April 2021 was more or less the same as March. Except I signed up to do 10 review blogs for various software tools. I wrote reviews for Shutterstock, Apploye, Gravitec, and more.
So I was writing guest posts, blog posts for the internal sites, and 10 review blogs. Sounds crazy, right?
With the review blogs, I tried out these tools so I would have a point of reference for my reviews. It also helped me share my opinion on whether these products were effective.
I don’t know how I got it done, but I did.
I continued working on SERPWizz tasks, and even did some warm-up email tasks assigned to me by Akhila.
Now onto May….
Third Month And Beyond
May was all about keeping up the momentum from the last two months. In late-May, I was approached by Lydia to write blog posts for SendKoala. She was writing the blogs as well, so I think it was 50 blog posts between us.
I was mostly writing blog posts about cold emailing and lead generation – I still occasionally write blogs for SendKoala. And I enjoy it.
It was a sh*t ton of work, but somehow I got through it.
June and July were pretty uneventful – by then, I knew what was expected of me, and I delivered accordingly.
I was given a new email address in June, but got my original one back after becoming Head of Content. The switchover was a lot to deal with.
In late-July, I had a brief taste of leadership and responsibility as the Head of Content. I was in charge of assigning internal sites to writers, editing their blog posts for plagiarism, doing keyword research, and hosting meetings. It was fun for a while, but I stepped down because I wanted to get back to writing.
Above all, I’m enjoying my time at Pearl Lemon Group because I’m learning a lot of things that will help me in my career. I hope that once I finish, there will be all sorts of doors open to me, and I intend to walk through these doors confidently.
I’m eternally grateful to Dee and the team for bringing out my potential and cultivating an environment for me to thrive.