When I was 26, I launched my first marketing campaign — and it failed.

As research and marketing assistant for my dad's publishing company, I was trying to sell a product that no one seemed to want. I wrote what I thought was a fabulous offer, sent it out to our email list, and waited. A couple of sales trickled in for $20 each ... but that was it. Fair to say it was a total flop.

I felt so embarrassed.

I kept practicing my copywriting and marketing skills, soaking up everything I could about how winning campaigns work. For some reason, I kept gravitating toward situations that needed serious marketing help. I liked the idea of working with companies I could totally transform.

Over the next few years, I worked in a variety of marketing jobs, often focusing on content marketing. I wrote email newsletters, publishd social media posts, created video campaigns, and so much more. Sometimes the results were real and tangible — driving meaningful relationships, sales, and revenue. Other times, results lagged. Still, I continued to take trainings and practice my skills.

By the time I was 33, I was working for myself as a freelancer, and I got the opportunity to work on an SEO project for a B2B company. I provided a strategy for them, and shortly after, we updated 10 pages on the website.

Overnight, our website traffic increased by 30%.

My client was ecstatic — and throughout the rest of the year, we successfully increased organic web traffic 4x. After that moment, I realized I did have the power to drive remarkable marketing results. But to drive those results, it wasn't enough to have a good plan — often, it was volume of activity that made a campaign a success or failure.

These days, people often say "quality over quantity." I disagree — I say "quantity then quality." In marketing, you don't learn from books, but from putting your product out into the world. And you only succeed when you're willing to step up to the plate and swing – again and again and again.

Swing enough times, you'll get good — and eventually, you start to hit home runs.

Want to be a more confident marketer? Here's how it worked for me:

• Try marketing something

• Meanwhile, take courses and learn winning techniques

• Analyze results once your first campaign fails

• Do more to get good

• Enjoy watching your skills compound