So many people ask me how I know how to do what I do or how I found a tool that I’m using that saves them time and frustration. While I wish I could claim that I’m a marketing genius, I’m just a Google addict.
I joke and tell everyone that Google is my girlfriend. She may not paint my toenails or have sleepovers with me. Yet, I ask her all of my difficult life questions, like, “What should I make for dinner tonight? How much salary should I negotiate for this job offer?” She may not have all the answers, but the beautiful thing is that there are always humans out there who have the same struggles and problems I have—and many have found ways to solve them.
Now, Google should not become a substitute for your brain and for critical thinking. Rather, it should be a useful aid for when you’ve exhausted your own knowledge and experience to come up with an answer to a question. When used “properly,” Google can help you be the smartest marketer in the room.
Google has helped me:
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Find a way to make videos that could have cost me $10K-25K had I outsourced the task to an external vendor. Check out Animoto for making your own quick social media videos.
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Learn how to make a visual preview of a podcast for social media sharing. Take a look at Headliner. I probably saved thousands of dollars by using this tool instead of outsourcing, too.
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Figure out how to do pretty much anything work- and even home-related. There’s no shortage of tutorials and how-tos on YouTube.
I would even argue that Google is how I’ve been able to become a full-stack marketer. Without the thousands of searches I’ve done, I probably wouldn’t have amassed the knowledge I have today. Google coupled with a figure-it-out attitude will take someone with a limited body of knowledge to being a generalist in any subject matter.
If you have the luxury of having a number of experts on your team, always consult with them first when you have a problem that you’re not too sure about how to solve. When you don’t have an expert on hand, then yes, turn to Google. Google can lead you to the best books to read on topics that interest you. The more you know, the more value you add not only to your team/company, but also to your customers. They’ll appreciate your initiative and go-getter disposition.
Where do you go for information? Let us know by posting your go-to sources in the comments section below.