Learning to fit your life

agardina — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:26:23 +0000

We're all busy. We have work, family, hobbies, exercise, cooking, networking and, of course, sleep! During that time, social media and technology are constantly evolving. You could stay up from dawn 'til dusk just reading blogs about Internet marketing. What's a busy marketer to do?

Luckily, there are resources, articles and insights almost everywhere you look:

Blogs - I spend hours every day going through blogs. I comb through mine in Googe Reader and on my iPhone using Net News Wire. Because the RSS feeds are aggregated in one place, I don't miss much if I have a busy day. Plus, wih Google Reader's share and like functions, I can find new blogs from my friends' recommendations and skim through blogs that update hundreds of times a day.
Podcasts - Podcasts are like blogs-on-the-go. They provide in depth insight on a variety of topics, and you can listen to them anywhere: in the car, at the gym, while on the train. Podcasts come in two forms: audio and video, so you can choose which media works best for your routine.
Email Subscriptions - monthly, weekly, daily - whenever you get them, email newsletters & subscriptions often offer highlights from some of the web's best blogs and publications. My favorite, CMO, sends me a list every Friday of some of the best social media and marketing stories of the week.
YouTube/Online Video - if you need to know something specific, YouTube has a plethora of interviews and screencasts to help you out and give you advice.
Forums - Forums can be subject specific, location-based, or even as all-encompassing as Twitter and Facebook. Yes, those are most definitely forums to me. Where else can I tweet that I'm having Drupal problems and, minutes later, have offers of help from several developers?
Books in all forms - ebooks, audio books, books made of paper and dead trees. They can provide insight into strategy, trends and best practices. What am I reading right now? The Rule of Three (Affiliate). Next on my list? Trust Agents (I'm behind, I know!) (Affiliate)
Google - when in doubt, Google it. Odds are, you'll find an answer in a wiki article, Q&A site or a blog you've never explored before.

Make sure that learning fits your life. Follow a variety of resources via different media, and don't neglect your personal interests. Do you love wine? Watch Wine Library TV, read Dr. Vino and follow people on Twitter who share similar interests. Being well-rounded will help you in networking, in meetings and in creating content for your own site.

How do you make learning fit your life?

(Thanks to @twistedraisin, @karla_porter, and #teamCJ for their help!)

alyssagardina.com - learning

Learning to fit your life