#179 How to Build a Marketing Portfolio With No Experience

Interactive Transcript

spk_0 Marketing grilies. Are you currently on the job hunt for a entry level marketing job? If you are

spk_0 the final admission season for Sky Society Accelerator, which is our digital marketing boot camp

spk_0 for women, starts September 30th and missions is only open for I think just about eight or ten days.

spk_0 We don't do this very often and this is our very last class of the year, which is so crazy. It's for our

spk_0 fall class that begins in October. If you have been thinking about applying, if you are currently

spk_0 on the job search, if you're looking for more marketing experience, more mentorship, definitely

spk_0 check it out and join the wait list. You have to apply and there's an admissions process and it

spk_0 starts September 30th. So don't miss out. Again, this is our very last class of the year. There's no

spk_0 more classes in 2025 after this one. So join the wait list. Good luck in the admissions process.

spk_0 And I hope to see you in our fall class. Welcome to Marketing Gurley by Sky Society. I'm your host

spk_0 Natalie Peters and this is the podcast for Marketing Gurley's building their dream career.

spk_0 Each week I'm diving deep with relatable and dreamy guests who show you what actually matters

spk_0 when it comes to starting and accelerating your marketing career. So you can make your dream job,

spk_0 your real job. Let's make it happen.

spk_0 Hi Marketing Gurley's. Welcome back to another episode of Marketing Gurley by Sky Society.

spk_0 Today I am chatting with me myself and I had I'm going to go through how to build a marketing

spk_0 portfolio when you don't have any marketing experience. So this episode is for my marketing

spk_0 Gurley's that are aspiring marketing Gurley's and maybe you're seeing the beautiful marketing

spk_0 portfolios we share from our accelerator graduates and you want to build one like that. But you are

spk_0 like I have absolutely nothing to put inside of it. Where do I even start? So that's what I'm talking

spk_0 about today. Everything I talk about today is going to be things that you can do for free to build

spk_0 marketing experience and build your marketing portfolio without any marketing experience.

spk_0 Now I feel like I would be remiss to say that the only paid resources Sky Society has

spk_0 for our entire community are around building marketing experience. So if you are looking for

spk_0 extra help or support I'm going to give you a step-by-step in today's episode of stuff you can

spk_0 do for free because that is absolutely an option. But also I encourage you to check out our two paid

spk_0 programs we have around this. The first is very light it's called campaign studio it used to

spk_0 be called marketing experience lab and it is where you can build marketing projects for your favorite

spk_0 brands. So we have tons of canvas templates for brands like Topicals, Road, Chamberlain coffee,

spk_0 Skins, Spotify and you can pretend like you are there in Sloan to marketing manager their social

spk_0 media manager their email manager and do mock campaigns for them and that is so great to build

spk_0 in your portfolio they look so gorgeous the templates are so meticulously detailed to match the

spk_0 brand like I don't even know how many hours when into building all of that it is light in the

spk_0 sense that it's really easy to use however so much went into those templates and there's also

spk_0 like video step-by-step module and how to use those. So that is one option the other option is we

spk_0 have Sky Society Excellulator this is what we are most known for it is our eight week live digital

spk_0 marketing bootcamp with an experience-based curriculum. So the way that you learn is you have a lesson

spk_0 in an area of marketing you then get a marketing campaign as your assignment and you get trained in a

spk_0 software tool to execute that campaign for your quote unquote assignment. So all these assignments

spk_0 are marketing campaigns so you will learn about SEO for example you'll do a whole lesson on it

spk_0 you'll then get trained in Sam Rass which is a really powerful SEO tool and you will use that

spk_0 SEO tool to do keyword research and then you will write and publish a SEO blog post on said keyword

spk_0 and we do that across SEO email influencers social media PR brand marketing there's so many different

spk_0 areas that we cover and then that's the whole first half of the Excellulator and then the second half

spk_0 is all about using that experience to help you build your personal brand so building your

spk_0 marketing portfolio your resume your LinkedIn interview prep salary negotiation all of the really

spk_0 awesome things there so definitely check out Sky Society Excellulator that is application only I think

spk_0 it's wait list right now and we only have one more class left in 2025 so as you're interested in that

spk_0 definitely go join the wait list all right so now getting into today's topic so if for whatever

spk_0 reason you weren't accepted in Disgrace's 80 Excellulator or you couldn't do it for any reason or any

spk_0 of our our programs because I would say those are definitely really geared towards solving this problem

spk_0 but if you need to do this right now for free immediately today how could you build your marketing

spk_0 portfolio with no marketing experience okay so the very first thing that I would do is I would text

spk_0 and call every single person in my network and ask if any of them had a side hustle that they

spk_0 were doing that they needed free marketing help for that is correct I would work for free for anybody

spk_0 that I knew in my network to try to build up my first round of marketing experience if you were

spk_0 starting from scratch you got to work for free okay there can be ways around this but honestly I

spk_0 feel like this is the easiest way if I had an aunt that made jewelry I would text her and be like hey

spk_0 I'm really trying to build my marketing portfolio I know that you have this jewelry brand I would

spk_0 love to help you for free of course on your social media or if you had a friend's boyfriend who

spk_0 was selling like some supplement company I would ask him if he needed to help with his email

spk_0 marketing or his influencer I would try to get not just social experience because social experience

spk_0 is easy easier to get I would try to kind of get social influencer email website design anything

spk_0 that you can get your hands on and really just try to work for whoever you can okay if you're like

spk_0 well I don't know if anybody in my immediate circle has a side hustle honestly they probably do

spk_0 okay most people now I feel like have some sort of side hustle and maybe if nobody in your immediate

spk_0 friend group has a side hustle they might know someone who has a side hustle I guarantee you actually

spk_0 that they know somebody that has a side hustle all right and you can ask them okay hey tell your

spk_0 friends hey I'm really looking to build up my marketing portfolio right now do you guys know

spk_0 anybody who would want some free marketing help okay and this is how you're gonna get that first

spk_0 layer that first round of marketing experience and my and then you're gonna pitch yourself okay you're

spk_0 gonna say hey I can help you with your social and you have to just move quickly the biggest thing

spk_0 that I see happen is someone will be like oh yeah I'm gonna help my boyfriend's mom with her

spk_0 here in Cavaliyama do for socials but it takes like three months to get up and running or to

spk_0 like you like you've done anything that's portfolio worthy so you really want to just try and move

spk_0 as quickly as possible because that's usually what I see happen and then it takes a really long

spk_0 time to build up experience that's meaningful so that would be my advice to you number one is to

spk_0 look at anybody in your network and see who you can work for for free number two okay option number

spk_0 two is the work for yourself all right that can look like one starting to freelance work which

spk_0 you're kind of doing in that first example or two be a content creator yourself so I'm going to

spk_0 post content on social you don't need to have followers to create content that is worthy of your

spk_0 marketing portfolio the more you start to create content for yourself two things are gonna happen

spk_0 number one you're gonna get better at it okay you might think you're good but I promise you

spk_0 you are nowhere as good as you will be 50 videos from now 100 videos from now the more you create

spk_0 the better you get trust me as someone who was in a lot of podcasts episode someone who

spk_0 has in a lot of take talk videos someone who has designed a lot of stuff in Canva even when I

spk_0 thought I was good I look back six months later a year later I'm like oh my gosh I have improved

spk_0 so much okay just by the practice of making this content you will get better at it and the second

spk_0 thing is you actually have content that you've created in your portfolio that you could showcase

spk_0 all right it can be unboxings of products that you purchased it can be reviews of products that

spk_0 you've purchased it can be make a story time you can really show employers like hey I'm really

spk_0 comfortable in front of the camera hey I'm really good at editing and cat cat hey hi I'm really

spk_0 aesthetic when it comes to filming content you don't need to have likes followers that can come

spk_0 and hopefully it does but don't let that be a reason that you feel shy to show it shy to start

spk_0 there's a setting on TikTok where you can make sure that your videos don't get shown to your friends

spk_0 if you're worried about that but really it's gonna help you so much if you can I think it's great

spk_0 if you can put yourself in front of the camera I just show employers that you are comfortable with

spk_0 that because a lot of them want to hire people for social media that are and if you're not

spk_0 comfortable in front of the camera that's totally fine too there's so many types of content that

spk_0 you can film that you don't have to be in front of the camera for all right to me that is very

spk_0 low-hanging fruit that everybody has access to and these first two things are completely free to do

spk_0 they cost no money at all they are awesome options and a great way to get started all right a third

spk_0 I'll do we'll do a third and final for today's episode there are a lot of different ways I've

spk_0 talked about getting marketing experience but honestly the third and this is the ways that I

spk_0 feel like are most effective in the eyes of employers the third would be to start a blog and I

spk_0 know that sounds like a little bit of maybe an outdated idea like blogs were really big maybe 10

spk_0 years ago but the reason I say start a blog is because as a marketer writing is one of the most

spk_0 important skills you have in your toolbox being a good writer is such a valued skill for

spk_0 marketers because if you are a good writer you can write social media captions you could write

spk_0 email copy you could write website copy you can write ad copy right I can put you in so many

spk_0 different places being a good writer is such a great great skill set to have and the more you write

spk_0 the better you're going to get at it and also it's such a great thing to show employers that hey I

spk_0 really want to apply and get this marketing job and I'm not like everybody else who's just

spk_0 applying for jobs I'm actually working every single day on getting better at being a better

spk_0 communicator a better copywriter a better marketer and I'm doing something on the side that 99% of

spk_0 people are not it is also completely free to start a blog actually LinkedIn has a feature where you

spk_0 have your LinkedIn or you can have your blog posts featured on LinkedIn have like your own little

spk_0 feed of your LinkedIn blog posts and that's completely free to do you could also create just like a

spk_0 free website on any website folder most of them have like free versions and you can do it there

spk_0 but it is very easy to do and again it's just a great way to show that you are doing something

spk_0 that most people are not and you are working on a skill that is arguably one of the most important

spk_0 skills for marketers is being an effective communicator and being a good writer so that is

spk_0 something that I would do today to get marketing experience all right so let's say you do

spk_0 all three of those one of the three two of the three and you're starting to build a little bit of

spk_0 experience now what how do you go about building your marketing portfolio so then I would go

spk_0 straight to canba canba is also free a lot of the marketing portfolios you see sky society share

spk_0 our websites that are built on canba that is because we pay for our students to have access to the

spk_0 paid version of canba and then we also design most of the portfolios that you see from our students are

spk_0 from our own canva templates that we've designed for marketing portfolios so just know that that's

spk_0 how those girls have those be websites if you have a paid canva or you want to upgrade your canva

spk_0 to a paid canva then you can make yours a website however I want to stick to today's podcast

spk_0 episode about what you can do for free so what you can do for free any canva to free canva count

spk_0 is do a presentation okay a presentation portfolio I would make your portfolio no more than 10 slides

spk_0 especially if this experience isn't genuine work experience yet because you haven't

spk_0 been paid for it there's no reason it needs to be more than 10 slides okay I feel like I've said

spk_0 this multiple times in past episode but I have seen very long portfolios I am not reading very

spk_0 long portfolios I do not have time for that neither do hiring managers so I think 10 is a sweet spot

spk_0 okay I think it's a great length you're gonna make your first slide a cover slide the second

spk_0 slide and about me and you can do the third slide a table of contents you're gonna make the last

spk_0 slide a contact or the can contact you and that leaves you seven slides in the middle to talk

spk_0 about your experience okay you can dedicate each slide to a type of marketing experience so

spk_0 one side can talk about social media one side can talk about influencer marketing one side can

spk_0 talk about email marketing and that's what you'll see from our accelerator students or if you want

spk_0 you can categorize it by company so maybe you'll give two slides to your anstulery business and

spk_0 then you'll give two slides to your own UGC content that you created for TikTok and then you'll give

spk_0 two slides to your blog post so you can break it up however you want but make sure you've got a

spk_0 clear structure to it and then you're going to include examples from the work that you've done

spk_0 screenshots videos actual visuals okay your portfolio is meant to be visual and then for the written

spk_0 part of it you're going to talk about the results of the work that you've done so if you launched

spk_0 your anst social media accounts what was the month of a month follower growth what was her average

spk_0 occasion proposed metrics like that are going to be super impactful and super helpful in allowing

spk_0 your portfolio to stand out be effective and be noticed all right and now you've gone from

spk_0 no marketing experience and no marketing portfolio to having marketing experience and having a 101

spk_0 version of your marketing portfolio all right so that is the formula that I would use if I was

spk_0 starting today and I had no marketing experience and I wanted to get marketing experience to build

spk_0 my marketing portfolio and I wanted to do it all entirely for free I think this is the best option

spk_0 one of the best options I see a lot of people talk about different things on TikTok but when I

spk_0 think about what's actually feasible and what is actually the easiest for you to do right now

spk_0 sitting at home in your bed those are the three that I would pick okay there are more I made

spk_0 other podcasts about other areas and waste to build marketing experience however those are the

spk_0 three that I feel like are the most feasible and how you can have turned out into your marketing portfolio

spk_0 so I hope you found today's I hope you found today's episode helpful I will be back next week

spk_0 with a very special guest but for today's episode I wanted to kind of keep it pretty actionable

spk_0 pretty to the point and I think that's all I've got for you girls today so I will see you next

spk_0 Tuesday if you aren't already in the Sky Society Woman and Marketing LinkedIn group there are

spk_0 30,000 other marketing grilies in that LinkedIn group we post portfolio inspo in there as well to

spk_0 make sure you check that out and I will see you next week for another episode of marketing early thank

spk_0 you for listening to Marketing Gurley by Sky Society if you haven't already you want to join our

spk_0 private LinkedIn group for women in marketing where thousands of women in marketing are connecting

spk_0 and growing together also make sure you follow us on Instagram and TikTok to stay up to date with

spk_0 all things marketing girly and Sky Society and if you are currently looking to start your career

spk_0 in marketing or you're on the job and need some help definitely check out Sky Society accelerator

spk_0 a live digital marketing bootcamp exclusively for women and if you enjoyed this episode please leave

spk_0 us a review and we will see you next Tuesday for another episode of Marketing Gurley

#179 How to Build a Marketing Portfolio With No Experience

Interactive Transcript

Topics Covered

Related Episodes

584 - The 4 Fundamentals of Lasting Change: Start today and change your life with Molly Claire

Manifest Space: Intuitive Machines CEO on $800 Million Deal and Building a Lunar Communications Network 11/7/25

Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend: November 7th, 2025

What’s Up THIS WEEK: ChatGPT HUGE Change! 🐦 Threads Catching Up. 📊 3rd Grade Level Marketing Works! | Ep. 425

Share Episode