Read this blog and then go to the bookstore and schedule your next marketing conference. In that order.
My advice to marketers at all levels of experience is to immerse yourself in the latest and most in-depth learning that you can find. Blogs are an excellent way to seed your ongoing interest in the latest concepts and strategies. I believe in the power of great blogs and read several posts per week.
Yet, there are ideas and concepts that need longer-form expression. Well-written books will give you the depth of thinking that is required to enhance the strategies that will make your marketing effective. Most blogs can’t provide the explanation and exploration that you will find in a 50,000 word book.
My shelves are lined with marketing books that are tabbed, underlined, and highlighted with key insights that have offered deep thinking by marketers who are passionate and thoughtful about their strategic and tactical ideas.
My favorite books are retrospectives of marketing strategies and tactics that have succeed and failed. You can learn just as much from wins as you can from losses.
On the other end of the spectrum, you have live events, like conferences and workshops. Often, working marketers don’t have the time to pitch, write, and publish a book. Many of them (and I include myself in this category) share experiences and ideas in live events.
The process of preparing for a marketing presentation helps me to distill my ideas into thoughtful and engaging slides and videos. Most conferences limit speakers to 30 and 45 minute slots. You can share plenty of ideas in that amount of time.
It can be difficult and expensive to attend live events, but I’ve found these events to be essential to my professional education. The best events challenge speakers to share useful ideas in an entertaining way. After all, if you’re not interesting to watch, people may not listen and learn from your presentation.
Plus, most marketing conferences give attendees the opportunity to network with speakers before and after the event. Personally, I enjoy the discussions and debates that pop up organically based on a live presentation. I want to hear more about the campaigns and case studies that were presented, including the ideas that did not (or could not) be shared on slides.
If you have a passion for learning more about your chosen profession as a marketer, close the browser. Hit the bookstore. Plan to attend a conference. Do these things because reading blogs is just one of the many ways to learn about effective content marketing.
My upcoming speaking events include:
- We Can Do Better: How to Be a More Effective Marketing Professional – (Content Marketing World, 2019)
Links You May Like:
- The “Idea Etherverse” (or How to Be More Creative at Work)
- Why Marketers Should Drive a Badass Car
- Comics for Content Marketers
- Defending Your Creative Ideas
- Conflict Is Story: What It Means for Marketing Storytellers
Thanks for sharing this fantastic information. we learn so many things from blogs, books and conferences. we get so much knowledge with books like current afire’s, education. conferences give us boost to self motivation and as well as we can motivate to others. blogs help’s us how to create something new in food industry, science&technology, etc….
I’m glad you liked it. We’re all in a constant learning mode. As creators, we need to be open to all kinds of learning and teaching. Blogs, Books, and Conferences are part of that learning curve.