I like to think I’m reasonably intelligent and sometimes I have good ideas, but I’m lazy! Why should I waste lots of effort by reinventing systems, processes and other things that someone else has already invented? This means that I learn from experts in my field and, whilst there is an element of ‘I knew that’, there is always a much stronger response of ‘What a good idea, I could use that too’ or ‘I knew that, but I’m not doing it. It’ s a timely kick on the ankle that reminds me to revisit what I do.
The nice thing about most experts is that they love sharing their knowledge. You don’t get many who are over-protective about what they know, most are more than willing to give away their secrets, confident that most people like to get really good value information – but don’t always want to step out of their comfort zone to put it into action! That means that when you need help in a certain area you are much more likely to go to someone who has demonstrated their expertise and been generous in sharing information.
These are some of the experts that I read regularly.
For online marketing strategy Gihan Perera – http://gihanperera.com/blog.html/ – Gihan does great webinars too (usually at about 2am UK time, but if you sign up you get a link to the recording).
For hands on social media and online marketing ideas – Sarah Arrow http://www.sarkemedia.com/category/articles/ – everything you wanted to know about blogging and Lilach Bullock http://www.socialable.co.uk/category/latest/ loads of social media tools, tips and techniques.
For a common sense approach to web strategy Gerry McGovern http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/new-thinking – always gives me food for thought.
For usability studies and reviews of the latest technology on the web Jakob Nielsen http://www.nngroup.com/articles/ – despite the technical content the articles are written in normal English without lots of jargon.
There are more, but these will be a good start if you’d like to learn from experts and upgrade your online skills.
