One of the assignments I give to my NYU Digital Marketing students for the semester is to start a blog. I’ve learned to expect the reaction to this to range from enthusiasm to fear to ‘what has this got to do with digital marketing’.
I explain that creating a blog to call their own is experiential learning. It’s a way to understand the myriad and ever changing assortment of digital marketing tools available and to know first hand the challenge of creating new content on a consistent basis. It’s good practice in writing and learning to defend your positions plus blogs are still an effective way to build a brand.
It’s about getting our hands dirty.
Rolling up our sleeves and letting the dirt get under our nails makes us better at what we do.
Yet too many of us run around preaching from a place we’ve never been.
We run businesses we don’t understand. We offer advice on subjects we’ve never experienced ourselves. We claim to know places we’ve never visited. We think letting our hands get all messy and soiled is something reserved for children – not for adults.
Getting our hands dirty and learning something from the ground up is something very few of us are willing to do anymore.
Digging in sounds too pedestrian. We literally fill our pockets with anti-bacterial lotions in fear that some unknown dirt particle will infiltrate our system and mar the pristine environment we keep ourselves housed in, ignoring the data suggesting an over dependence on this stuff may do more harm than good.
My Nana used to say a little bit of dirt never hurt anyone. In fact it can make you wiser, stronger and more resilient. My Nana was a wise woman.
This blog was updated and refreshed on May 27, 2019
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