I’m doing my best to become a marketing expert. There is so much to learn and often so little time, however there is hope, no matter what your field. I continue to read. I speak. I write. I speak more. I write more. I read more. I listen. I practice.
Question: are experts born or made? Answer: they are made. In fact, I have never seen one that has not been born! Of course, you need the foundation of an above average skill set, but even that can be overcome if you put in 10,000 hours of work. That means practice. More practice. Motivation and a relentless quest for excellence. Then, more dedication and practice.
Becoming a marketing expert has not been easy. I worked in corporate marketing for over 20 years, started teaching at the college level, started my own business, started speaking on marketing all over the LA and OC area, and taught myself Adwords, SEO, and WordPress. It has been a great experience and has taken hours of work, sweat, and learning. I can indeed say that an expert is made, not born. Being gifted is not enough to become and expert. It helps some but the only true path to becoming an expert is found on the road of sweat and hard work. You have to out work and out study and out motivate all your competition to stand out.
Below is an article that appeared in the Harvard Business Review. If you want to become an expert, read it then practice it:
So, the next time someone calls themselves and expert, ask them if they’ve read this article. Now, reduce that 10,000 hours in the next hour…
Comments welcome.
By Stuart Atkins
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