If you’re in marketing and like me you probably spend a lot of time at night and on weekends trying to keep up with new trends in marketing and marketing online. I find that on the weekend I probably spend at least 5 hours a day reading business magazines, BLOG’s or business books to ensure that I keep learning and improving my business skills. If you don’t you can quickly find yourself toast in a business environment that is both evolving and changing because managers have less money and executives want more accountability.
I maintain four BLOG’s and look to stay on top of new and changing marketing trends all the time. Consumers today are fickle and branding has changed for a lot of products. The only way to stay on top of all this is to read and absorb everything I can on and off line. I subscribe to Business Book Summaries so I can read the key points of new books, have RSS feeds in my Rockmelt browser (highly recommend) and only follow people on Twitter who add value to what I want to know or need to know (you don’t have to follow someone just because they are following you).
So what I am really saying is that for a lot of us the work goes on even when we’re home. It may not be directly related to your current projects but it is directly related to you becoming a smarter and better employee who can stay abreast of new opportunities for your company and your brand. Of course the problem is that you’re not going to get compensated for continuing to learn and get smarter. You should do this because you both want to advance and really understand the challenges, issues and opportunities of becoming a better business person. Even when I eat lunch, usually at my desk, I go online to some of my favorite websites to see what’s new and what’s being talked about. Because I use Rockmelt I can stay on top of my Twitter feed to hear about breaking news in marketing and branding and I also use my smartphone to stay on top of news.
While I love learning new things and reading about social media marketing and the Internet I also know that there comes a time to take time for myself. I leave the smartphone alone and go for a bike ride or watch some good entertainment on HBO or just go outside and take in some sun because without a balance of work and time for myself I probably would burn out. I’ve seen that happen with a lot of people and it’s not pretty.
Continue to learn and become a better person and stronger marketer and understand that no matter what we know there is always room to know more.
