One of the funniest realizations I’ve had while taking Google’s Digital Marketing course is this:
I may have done things backwards.
For years, I heard people talk about websites, SEO, branding, content marketing, customer journeys, and digital strategy.
I understood some of the concepts at a surface level, but if I’m being completely honest, I was much more focused on building.
So I built.
I launched businesses. I offered services. I created social media pages. I started a website. I wrote blog posts. I experimented. I learned through trial and error.
And then, years later, I enrolled in Google’s Digital Marketing course.
That’s when the funny part happened.
As I moved through the lessons, I kept finding myself saying:
“Ohhhh… so THAT’S why people do that.”
And then, sometimes:
“Wait… I already have one of those.”
The course talked about websites.
I had a website.
It talked about content marketing.
I had a blog.
It talked about personal branding.
I had already started building The Mari Effect.
It talked about customer journeys.
I had already been creating systems to help guide people through working with me.
Then we got into digital presence audits.
And suddenly, I realized something.
I wasn’t just completing a classroom exercise. I was auditing my own business.
That’s when everything started to click.
I wasn’t learning digital marketing as a complete beginner.
I was finally learning the language and logic behind many of the things I had already been trying to do.
And that reminded me of something from my broadcasting background.
There are times when you learn the theory first and apply it later.
But there are also times when you spend years doing the work before someone finally explains the theory behind what you’ve been doing.
Both paths are valid.
But there is something interesting about learning the second way.
When the lesson finally arrives, you recognize it.
You have context.
You have experience.
You have stories.
You remember the things that worked, the things that didn’t, and all the little decisions you made along the way without realizing there was a framework for them.
Looking back, I probably took the scenic route.
Most people might follow:
Study → Learn → Build
I somehow managed:
Build → Struggle → Experiment → Learn → Understand Why
And honestly?
I’m grateful for it.
Because every lesson now feels practical.
A website isn’t just a website anymore. I can see how it fits into a larger digital presence.
A blog isn’t simply something you publish because you have something to say. It can support visibility, trust, search, and the customer journey.
Social media isn’t just about posting. There is strategy behind what you publish, who you’re speaking to, and what you want people to do next.
And suddenly, all those pieces I’ve been experimenting with have somewhere to go.
That’s probably been the biggest surprise of this course.
I didn’t discover that I knew digital marketing.
I discovered that I had already been learning parts of it through experience—I just didn’t always know the formal names for what I was doing.
And maybe that’s worth remembering if you’re building something of your own.
If you’re starting a business, developing a personal brand, freelancing, changing careers, or simply trying to figure out what you’re good at, you may not always understand everything you’re doing while you’re doing it.
Sometimes progress comes before understanding.
Sometimes the website comes before the strategy.
Sometimes the experiment comes before the framework.
Sometimes you build the thing first and only later learn why it works.
That’s not necessarily wasted time.
Sometimes, it’s how you gain the context that makes the theory meaningful when you finally encounter it.
For me, that’s exactly what this Google Digital Marketing journey has been.
It’s helping me connect the dots between the things I’ve already done and the principles behind them.
And perhaps that’s why the lessons have felt less like starting over and more like finally putting names, structure, and strategy around experiences I’ve already had.
So yes, I’m still laughing at the fact that I built the website before learning why I was supposed to build the website in the first place.
But I’m also beginning to appreciate something else:
Maybe I wasn’t doing it backwards after all.
Maybe I was simply learning in a different order.
And sometimes, the scenic route gives you a much better view.
A Gentle Thought to Leave With You
If you’re currently building something without having all the answers yet, give yourself a little room to learn as you go.
You don’t need to understand every framework before you take the first step.
Build. Experiment. Pay attention. Learn. Then go back and connect the dots.
Sometimes the understanding catches up with the experience.
And when it does, you’ll be surprised by how much you already know.
About The Mari Effect
The Mari Effect exists to help founder-led businesses replace operational chaos with calm, clarity, and confidence through business systems, executive workflows, strategic websites, and CRM automation.
Because technology isn’t the goal.
Helping people work better is.
If you’re building something of your own and trying to make sense of all the moving pieces, you’re welcome to explore more of what I’m learning, building, and sharing here at The Mari Effect.
What have you learned only after you’ve already been doing it for a while?
I’d love to hear about it.
