Digital communications is an interesting business. It’s still new, we’re all still learning and the channel we’re most comfortable using just happens to have the least barriers to entry. Anyone can start a website, blog, twitter page. No degree necessary, no experience required.

Unfortunately this led to an influx of marketers, discussing, tweeting, and digging everything digital. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with this. It creates discussion and competition to discover new ways to help our clients sell more products.

What concerns me are ‘blinkers’. The habit of focusing on the one topic of interest, that also happens to be your job. We’ve all seen how quickly someone’s eyes glaze over when you only talk about work.

Why?

Outside interests help us see the world in a different light, they help us understand other’s behavior, motives and needs. This inturn makes us better marketers, because we know more about the ‘stuff’ outside of our cocoons.

Jon Steele, said recently that ‘The world is a dangerous place to see from behind a desk.’ I believe he’s 100% right. I’ve seen the world from behind my desk and it’s cream in colour. Look a little further and there’s millions of things to stimulate the senses.

The point?

If you want to make your mark in this industry, you have to know a lot about everything. Not just advertising. Not just digital. Everything.

5 years ago I started a blog. Nothing fancy, just a blog about something other than advertising.

Running the blog has allowed me to fine tune my digital skills through practical experience and see first-hand how other marketers connect with ‘influencers’. I see the good, the bad and the downright awful attempts at creating earned media online. Of course, I adopt the best for use here @ GPY&R.

If you enjoy basket weaving, collecting toe clippings or even knitting scarves then it can pay to write about it. Treat it as a min-campaign. Know your audience, have a strategy, create interesting content, grow your following, see how marketers approach you, see who’s willing to pay for what.

Very soon you build a first hand understanding of consumers, content creation and publishing. You’ll meet people from other industries and begin widening your network. There’s no real downside.

Furthermore, you’re doing something you love, so it won’t feel like a chore.