Read and you shall be free!

Reading makes us all more conversant in different subject matters, more knowledgeable, exposed to different viewpoints, and in turn richer, wiser human beings and professionals. This is a fact, proven by science and history.

A common pastime amongst successful businessmen, businesswomen, politicians, and famous figureheads is that they are all avid readers. Winston Churchill, won his Nobel prize in Literature, Warren Buffet is known to read extensively to the tune of 80% of his day, Mark Zuckerberg’s last New Year resolution was to read two books a month and he stuck to it.

The intellectual rewards of reading extensively are palpable, reading increases our knowledge, expands our vocabulary, opens our eyes and minds, makes us a lot more articulate and hence, better communicators. Reading inspires us to do more and accomplish greater things. Successful people choose to spend their time being educated rather than aimlessly entertained.

Experts say reading is crucial for anyone in a leadership position. Knowledge is power, gained from experiences and reading. Click To Tweet

Successful marketeers are strong communicators, with a thirst for new insights every day. They also read extensively to stay abreast of the latest trends & developments in their industry, their Clients’ industries, the business community, to be informed, truly dynamic, as well as make more effective marketing and creative decisions/recommendations to their Clients.

If you want to be seen as a leader and authoritative marketing consultant, always make time to read blog posts, newsletters, opinion pieces from reputable, experienced sources and get inspired. Turn these new ideas and brain waves (innovation) into successes for your Clients by integrating them into their communication campaigns and achieve better results. If you choose not to read every day, you are effectively making the conscious choice to miss out on new knowledge that could ultimately make you a better marketer & consultant to your Clients, team, stakeholders, business and more. Time is not an excuse as we can always make time for things that are important to us and our lives, cost factor is not an excuse either, as in our world we can enjoy free access to info on the net at the touch of a button.

Reading makes you more effective in leading others, by directly improving your verbal ‘intelligence’, making a leader a more articulate communicator. This is what every passionate marketer wants to be. Reading novels can improve empathy and understanding of social cues, allowing a leader to work more closely with others and achieve increased organizational, Client relations & campaign effectiveness. You can’t put a price on emotional intelligence, as a successful marketing professional, clients, team members, media, influencers, will all look to you for guidance, inspiration & knowledge based on facts, examples and clear train of thought.

At the end of the day it’s simple. If you really want to be a successful marketer, you really need to embrace and commit to the priorities to make all your hard work, achieve the desired results.

Successful marketers engage in the following habits and practices daily, have a read through them and see how your marketing campaigns and strategies develop as a result:

1. Plan, plan, plan – Stay organised and focused. Every day, early in the morning, you establish your set of priorities and pinpoint exactly what needs to be accomplished, and with what priority.

2. Read up on your competition – Experienced marketers ensure that they read up on their/Clients’ competition, virtually on a daily basis. There are so many ‘listening’ tools that are readily available to make this possible with ease and with zero downtime, to name a few; Google alerts, Hootsuite, SocialMention…

3. Lead the team – Communicate with your team and ensure they are on board, share the same goals and vision and understand the value of reading to delivering on a successful campaign. Brainstorm on a regular basis, consider new ideas, approaches, strategies to hone the campaign mechanics to achieve even better results.

4. Create new & relevant content – Use the inspiration you get from reading to create new content on a regular basis – a quote, a tagline, an opinion piece, a bi-lined article to name a few.

5. Evaluate/measure –whether it be on a weekly or bi-weekly cycle, evaluate the campaign you are driving, what you and your team are working on assess how things can be done better or differently, to achieve greater results. Look at how team productivity and output can be enhanced, new skills to be learnt, tools to be used to give you and your campaigns the edge.

6. Read the news and beyond –The nature of the marketing industry is challenging in its fast-paced nature, as well as incredible advances in technology & communication platforms, that demand up-to-date knowledge know-how. The pressure to deliver results ‘now’ is big due to the instant sharing of information with one another. Successful marketers understand the importance of reading up, and incorporating the info gleaned to current or future campaigns to make them more targeted and effective.

If reading as a pathway to success isn’t enough to get you and your team motivated & on board, consider these health benefits of reading which are invaluable to all of us: reduces stress, anxiety and depression whilst enhancing our confidence, decision-making, mental agility, contributes to self-satisfaction, awareness and ability to rationalize.