How can I get marketing experience?

[wnbmt]

I'm a full time software developer that REALLY wants to learn marketing. How can I do this?

I can't really quit my job, and I don't want to come up and build a crappy product idea to peddle on the internet. My ideal situation would be to help out a growth team on the side. Would this be a viable option?

[CyberFonic]

Marketing what? Real estate? Software? websites? Each requires a different approach, etc.

In my experience, you could benefit from reading a solid textbook on the topic. But more importantly you need some sales experience - I mean direct person to person stuff, that is where you get immediate feedback on your pitch, etc. Sales experience in turn gives you an understanding of how marketing supports sales. What many people call marketing is nothing more than a shotgun approach to advertising.

[Gaessaki]

Perhaps your company has some open evangelism/developer advocate positions you can consider? The job description varies from company to company, but at my last gig it typically meant being a technical person working hand in hand with the marketing team. Some of the evangelists on our team later moved onto their desired role as marketing managers.

[nmerouze]

You don't have to create an application, your product could be a book. IMO it is easier to make and to promote.

I've read a book I really like called "Marketing for Developers": http://devmarketing.xyz

[wnbmt]

Appreciate the response!

True. Writing an eBook is a lot easier than software.

But what I really want to do is help out an already established website with existing traffic. Rather than build my own from scratch.

[nmerouze]

I don't see how you could work with a growth team on the side but if you are searching for a website with existing traffic maybe you could do marketing for a popular open-source project you like. It's not the ideal solution you described but it would allow you to learn marketing, even if it's by yourself. And you won't even have to make a product.

[wnbmt]

Wow, that's actually not a bad idea! Maybe I'll reach out to open source teams and hopefully help them get more downloads/traffic.

[CyberFonic]

This is an awesome suggestion!

So many open source projects would benefit from some good marketing.