My Journey | Diego Pineda

My journey in chapters.

Chapter 1: 2004 – 2010

Medical Writing

Right off grad school I went to work at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston as a Science Writer and Editor in the Department of Pediatrics.

From 2004 to mid-2009 I worked full-time on campus, and then remotely as a part-time contractor until 2014.

Digital Marketing. Revamped and optimized a nationally recognized website (immunizationinfo.org) and increased traffic to more than 50,000 visitors per month.
Content Writing. Wrote and edited more than a hundred articles for online and print publications in both English and Spanish. A partial archive of the site is available here.
Print publications. Co-authored the popular book “Do Vaccines Caused That?! A Guide for Evaluating Vaccine Safety Concerns” and the booklet “Are Vaccines Safe?“
Public Speaking. Spoke at national conferences on risk communication and vaccine safety issues.
Project Management. Set up production workflows, distribution and marketing channels for the publishing side of Immunizations for Public Health, an adjunct nonprofit organization.
Web design and development. Led a team of developers and designed the website of the Department of Pediatrics at UTMB.

Chapter 3: 2011 to 2014

Marketing & Business Consultant

By the end of 2010 I was working only part-time and remotely with UTMB and had sold my medical writing training business, so I decided to start a new company, Light Edge Productions.

The services I offered included Video Production, Digital Marketing, Web Design, Content Marketing and Social Media Marketing as well as Business and Marketing Strategy.

During this time I trained with the Crankset Group in Denver to become a business consultant and went to Vancouver Film School to obtain a diploma in Entertainment Business Management.

Chapter 2: 2006 – 2010

Internet Marketing

In 2006, I started studying Internet Marketing (it wasn’t known as digital marketing yet) and realized there was an opportunity to create a product for the medical writing niche.

It turned out to be a very profitable side hustle and a wonderful learning experience.

Content Writing

Wrote an ebook called Becoming a Medical Writer: How to Launch a Successful Career Writing About Medicine and Health and a to promote it.

Copywriting

Created a landing page and a sales letter for the ebook, which sold hundreds of copies for $29.00.

In 2009 I moved to Canada and in 2010 I sold the business, to a medical training company in California.

It was generating $32K in passive income.

Email Marketing

Created a successful email drip for people who downloaded the free sample chapter of the ebook. The list grew to more than 2,500 qualified subscribers who became loyal customers.

Product Development

In 2007, I scaled the offerings by creating online courses that went deeper in the topics of the ebook. Implemented a successful upselling strategy.

Digital Marketing

I promoted the courses and the ebook through my own blog, guest blogging, building community with Ning (this was before Facebook pages became popular) and participation in forums.

Chapter 4: 2015 – 2018

Leadership.

In late 2014, I moved with my family to Colombia and worked in the nonprofit/religious sector until 2018. I also founded the Vision and Leadership Institute to teach business owners how to make more money in less time and with a purpose. Led a team of about a dozen facilitators.

Content Creation

Produced blogs, videos and books.

Public Speaking

Led seminars, workshops and did keynotes on business, leadership, personal finance and self development.

Chapter 5: 2019 – Present

B2B Marketing

CloudTask

In 2019 I took a part-time role at CloudTask as Senior Content Creator.

CloudTask is a managed workforce provider for companies looking to increase their sales, customer retention and revenue, through trained and managed teams of outsourced sales, customer support and customer success experts.

I worked in the Marketing Department, regularly creating unique blog content, videos, landing pages and infographics. Authored dozens of articles on marketing, sales, outsourcing, customer support and more.

After 14 months, I accepted a full time position at Vengreso as Senior Content Writer.

Vengreso

Vengreso delivers a full suite of digital sales training and consulting services helping B2B sales teams create more conversations with qualified buyers through three solutions:

1. Content for Sales Enablement
2. LinkedIn Profile Makeovers
3. Digital Sales Training and Coaching

As the content writer, I created original blog content, guides, e-books, case studies, press releases, and other long-form content. I also supported the social media marketing strategy, writing social posts for Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and editing videos and optimizing them for YouTube. Additionally, I edited and prepared audio files and show notes for two podcasts: The Modern Sales Podcast and the Modern Marketing Engine podcast.

After only four months I was promoted to Content Marketing Manager and currently I’m also the Acting Director of Marketing, managing the whole marketing team.

Chapter 6

Fiction & Non-Fiction Writing

I’ve been writing novels in two languages since High School. Some published under the pen name Nick Daniels.