I am a big believer in self education and continuous learning. In fact I already talked about it in a previouspost. I was blessed to have a great education and obtain both a marketing and engineering degree but I value what I've learned by myself even more.
What we learn at school is useful, but we're young when we study. Often we are not sure what we want to do with our lives and we don't have enough experience to understand the fullness of what is taught. Our working life is so long when we compare it to our studies, it would not make sense to completely give up on education at that stage.
photo credit: Mike Rohde via photopin cc
Why I think self-education and continuous learning are important
It doesn't matter whether you are a plumber, a doctor or a marketer. Staying up to date with new technologies or business trends and perfecting your skills is crucial to keep you at the top. Every profession evolves. Take the example of doctors: they have to read trade publications to know about new medicines, or new ways of curing diseases. Cooks have to follow trends: being organic, shopping locally. Architects constantly discover new materials that are cheaper, lighter and more solid.
As a marketer, you need to stay up to date too. You need to understand business trends, learn about new communication channels, read case studies of other brands, build your network of professional marketers, etc..
The way we communicate and market our brands have evolved very quickly this past decade, especially with internet and social media completely changing the scene. I you were are university 10 years ago like me, there was nothing taught about social media at school, yet I bet your company is trying to play the game too, so it is necessary that you understand how it works.
What can you do to keep learning
I've touched the subject before but I find it so important I want to discuss it again, this time more specifically for marketers. Here are 5 steps to keep you moving forward in your education:
1. Read books:
If you want to learn more on any subject, nothing beats a good book. You'll find all the information compiled in a single place and you will be able to review it all at once and revert to it in the future. Internet is a great resource but the problem with it is the quality of the information and the fact that you can't always check the validity of the content. On the other hand, books have been researched, edited and went through a thorough publishing process.
Here are some good books that I recommend on Marketing:
- Duct Tape Marketing, from John Jantsch
- The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell
- Purple Cow, by Seth Godin
2. Follow blogs:
I just recommended books, but I am still a big advocate of blogs and online learning. I scan a lot of blogs everyday in my Google Reader and I get a lot of valuable information from them. They allow me to stay up to date on trends, techniques or big events that I don't want to miss. I read blogs on marketing, blogging, communications, customer service, personal development, design, etc..
Here are a few blogs that you can't miss:
- Duct Tape Marketing, because John Jantsch is just such a great writer and offers so much practical information.
- Hubspot, be ready for a lot of content there, but very useful information on internet marketing.
- Seth Godin, more for learning to think differently than the crowd
3. Use social media:
If you want to learn more about social media and internet marketing, the best thing you can do is play around with it. Open an account on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ and start exploring. You don't need to be active everywhere, but choose a couple of platforms on which you feel comfortable and spend some time on them. Read what people talk about, share some information, connect with people. The main reason why I launched this blog in the first place was to develop my skills on internet marketing and social media because my day work didn't have much to do with it.
Here are some people who you can teach you a lot on the subject:
- Mari Smith, mainly on Facebook
- Michael Stelzner, probably about everything
- Guy Kawasaki, mainly on Google+
4. Enroll in a class:
You can always take a shortcut and give a boost to your learning curve by enrolling in a class, whether at a local school or online. You can decide to take a 2 year evening class or just register for one module, but being taught and followed by a teacher is very powerful.
5. Network with other marketers: whether in your company or at conferences
Finally, you can learn by simply watching others and growing your network of like minded people. Biographies have always be successful because we like to understand what successful people have been through to get where they are now. But you can learn just as much from real people by having discussions with your peers. Ask questions, show interest in people and they will open up and share all they know. But also make sure you attend conferences (and by the way you'll learn a lot there through the conferences and workshops) and make the most of the networking events around them.
Question: What's your favorite way of learning?
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