I taught direct marketing at Bentley College for 11 years. My class was direct marketing professionals, working in the field, who wanted to improve their skills.
Each and every year, I started the class in exactly the same way. I handed out a reading list and asked, “Who’s read any of these books?”
In all that time, not a single hand went up...and it drove me crazy.
I railed, “There’s so much valuable information out there – and so many brilliant people who are willing to share it with you!”
I just couldn’t understand why people wouldn’t invest just a little extra time – to read in their field and become much more knowledgeable and professional.
Anyway, one day a light went off in my brain. I thought – “If most people are not going to read about direct marketing; if they don’t know the most important lessons or the latest thinking...
...then they’re always going to need me!”
I am always amazed and grateful that, for far less than the cost of my monthly TV cable bill, I am able to invite the world’s great thinkers (and not just in advertising or marketing) into my home, where I can pick their brains at my leisure.
I can even go back and consult them again and again, at no extra cost.
If you’re not reading at least one thought-provoking or informational book every month - you are missing a precious opportunity.
