A Marketer in Need Deserves a Student Indeed

D.W. is here, exhausted, chugging away at a stack of e-mails and documents to write after 5 p.m. But I've had one of the best days in a months.

Why? Students!

I met with one student this morning who is a guru of search engine optimization, search engine marketing, and general Web technology applications. (Check out his blog, James Bake — A Blog to Read). He got me set up with Google Analytics for my blog, showed me how to navigate Google Adwords, and just plain gave me that giddy feeling of learning something new.

I met with another student in the afternoon who's in an advanced video production class on campus. She decided to create a commercial for our University for her big video project this semester. So she met with me to see what we've done in the past and shoot some ideas around. She left with a concept, people to contact, and enthusiasm. Let me tell you: I am so excited to see what she thinks an ad for us should look like, versus me as a marketer thinking I know what students want.

So the point of my post is get to know the kid in the corner who answers your office phones and runs errands. Have them teach you something, give you their opinions, tell you how they would solve a problem.

More and more, the line between certified marketing "experts" and the marketing laypeople is blurring. So learn from anyone around you willing to spend 5 minutes showing you something or telling you his or her ideas, no matter what the age or education level.