The career silent years
Is anyone out there? An ecomm marketing idea and tips on sounding more confident.
Hello and happy new year 💫 I hope Christmas treated you well and that you’re entering 2025 feeling refreshed rather than drained. We spent both days at home this year and it’s honestly the most relaxed and enjoyable Christmas I think I’ve had? Perhaps I’m just a homebody, but not having to pack the kids (and dog) into the car and drive from house to house made for a refreshing change. Even hosting for 15 on Boxing Day felt surprisingly easy (M&S ready-made goose fat potatoes for the win).
Of course, with the entry into the new year came a sleuth of, mostly enjoyable, 2024 reflections and 2025 goals including the popular trope seen here of “my vision board vs what I manifested”.
Which, if I’m honest, made me feel a bit rubbish. Because while 2024 saw me do many things which have felt like personal achievements, professionally it’s been a year for standing still.
If I’m even more honest, “career” for me right now looks like trying to do an excellent standard of work for my clients, while also being a fulltime Mum. It means navigating work tasks in pockets of time which can sometimes be as short as 20 or 30 minutes. Where a “big” win is when I can find childcare help for all the calls I have that week.
And at the end of the month when I send my invoices out, I breath a huge sigh of relief. Not because I hit a big number or launched something new, but because I simply survived another month juggling work and home.
I’ve always believed that not every year has to be a “growth” year (which really means change). That it’s okay to have maintenance years where you neither climb nor side swing, but remain calmly where you are doing the great things you’re already known for.
But I’m not even sure these are maintenance years for me right now. It’s more like they are career silent years.
Years where I’m still working, but not shouting about it. Where I’m deep in work but not thinking deeply about where my work might take me.
Case in point: I haven’t posted on my work Instagram in some time and it’s not even a time thing. For the first time ever, I don’t feel like I have anything to say.
In December I started working on a new project and once again found myself embedded in a smart, forward thinking marketing team. The other day they told me how they got ChatGTP to start recommending their product in its results. Something which usually I would have rushed to Instagram to discuss. It didn’t even cross my mind until just now.
Perhaps (like most things) it’s simply a stage.
But it makes me wonder; how many of us are in the career silent years right now? And if you also find yourself, with not much to say, after years of having plenty, do you feel a bit adrift too?
Yours, writing this while the baby sleeps,
Beth
Links & things to share 💡
Heard of health website Healf? I recently returned something to them and they offered me either a refund, or I could have my refund + an extra £5 if I had it in the form of a gift voucher. As it’s a site I shop on regularly I took the gift voucher but thought what a smart marketing idea!
I adore friend of the newsletter Bianca Bass’ post here on six simple phrases to make you feel more confident. I regularly rewrite my own messages to remove things like “just” and “I think” so having a formal resource of reminders has been invaluable
I’ve seen a few Instagram accounts recently achieve 20-30% growth by having a strategy that focuses on being found by new audiences via the Explore page (primarily using Reels). If account growth is your aim this year I recommend this great refresher on what the Explore page is, and how it prioritises content.
I agree with this post on why AI won’t replace SaaS - and the same applies for most use cases. I actually think the most interesting thing about AI agents is how people are using it as a search engine i.e. instead of Google to research, learn or even buy. THAT seems like the use case we should be focusing on IMO….
Thanks for being here ❤️
Hi I’m Beth 👋 a freelance marketer who helps manage and execute marketing for startups and growing businesses 🚀.
I’m currently working part-time around two small children and love writing this newsletter to share thoughts on marketing, business and freelancing whenever I can.
You can find out more about what I do on My website or Built by Content.