Internet marketing is tough. Regardless of what the latest internet marketing guru says, it’s one of the most challenging industries to be in.
Why?
There’s a number of factors such as:
- The technology comes at you fast. New tools and platforms are launched all the time.
- Search engines update their algorithm. What worked last year, could be a non-factor now.
- Competitors are innovating constantly.
- You have to keep up with it all. (Technology, platforms, search engines, marketing best practices, competition. Can you see my brain overheating?)
It’s like drinking from a fire hose.
So how does someone in this field keep up with the latest trends and developments?
I don’t have the answer, but here’s my regimen for trying to keep up to date with the internet marketing field.
- Twitter - Yes Twitter can be a tremendous waste of time if not utilized properly. But with the combination of professional networking with some of the sharpest folks around, and the benefits of passive crowdsourced research, it’s a treasure trove for the latest information. I find the best way to use Twitter is to be genuine, be real with other real people in the field and utilize lists from your favorite Twitter tool (my fave is Hootsuite). Flagging favorite tweets with links to useful blogs also helps quite a bit.
- Follow Good Bloggers and Industry Experts – When I find great people to follow, I track down their blog and make it a staple during my blog reading time. My Google Reader probably has close to 100 blog RSS feeds that I keep tabs on. But I have a mainstay of about 5-8 blogs that I return to frequently. Some of them may not blog as frequently as I’d like; but when they do, it usually was worth the wait.
- Bookmarks - Calling my Firefox bookmark list ‘huge’ is an understatement. I’m a bookmarking fiend. I bookmark really good SEO, PPC, Social Media…whatever great bit of info I can find that I think I’ll need at a later date. I’ve referred to my bookmarks quite often whenever the situation called for it.
- Webinars - Agencies are giving away some great content for the price of your email address. Although I don’t read every newsletter I’ve subscribed to, they do sometimes highlight a really good webinar.
- Attend Meetups & Conferences - I try to attend meetups and conferences when I can. Live blogging can pass on quite a bit of info from conferences. I feel that I don’t get all of the information that’s shared during panels and presentations. Usually the audience questions provide quite a bit of information not officially shared in a presentation.
- Meet & Keep in Touch With Those in The Field – During industry events I get out and try to meet and network with others. I read once that 90% of internet marketing knowledge can be found in blogs and forums. The other 10% is by meeting smart folks in the industry. Besides getting a nice tidbit of info on a tool or tactic once in a while; SEO and social media practitioners are probably the most fun and friendliest people you could meet!
- Read, Read, Read…then Read Some More
It’s a lot of work to keep up with the latest in the industry, but that is probably one of the main reasons I’m in internet marketing. Things don’t stay the same for long. That’s why I believe it’s important to stay in touch with the latest developments whenever possible.
How do YOU keep up with internet marketing?
