Training For A Digital World
I’m just putting the final touches to a new video this morning. It’s inspired by an interesting meeting with someone I met at a networking event recently. Amongst other things we talked about the fact that digital marketing skills open so many doors. Unfortunately many people have a hard time adapting to this. I think this is because of overwhelm. There just seems to be so much information that it can be hard to see the wood for the trees.
The video I’m working on covers the changes that have happened recently in the way we consume products. It’s quite easy to show this using music, video and photography as examples. In just a few short years the formats in which these are now available have changed radically. So have the ways we consume them. Modern digital marketing skills have evolved accordingly.
Digital marketing For A Digital World
In those areas you could argue that we have sacrificed some quality for convenience. From a mass market point of view though it’s obvious that convenience is valued more than quality. Actually these are qualities that not many appreciate anyway. Although the quality too is improving rapidly in all aspects of what can be described fairly as the digital revolution.
As a musician myself, and someone who has been recording and producing music for many years, I’ve seen some incredible changes. When I started playing in bands for example the idea of recording at home was just not practical. Not if you wanted a quality finish at least. Not that much later however it was possible to have a very high quality digital home studio. This was made possible by advances in digital technology – led by the way people wanted to consume music.
Has Digital Technology Sacrificed The “Bigness”?
It’s the same with photography and video. In both examples, purists would argue that vinyl is better than CD or MP3. They say that film is better than digital and video tape is better than it’s digital counterpart. I’d have to agree to some extent. But I also think that the advantages of the digital versions in all these areas outweigh a slight loss in quality by a million miles.
It’s not even a loss in quality either – not exactly – its more a loss of overall dynamics. Vinyl records and to some extent audio tape definitely sound “bigger” but then they have pops, crackles and hisses and they wear out. Besides this the vast majority of consumers just don’t care. If they can hold their entire record collection on a phone, ipad and computer, which also holds most of their images and, a pile of video – it’s a no brainer. Purists can still have vinyl and tape if they want it.
Digital Products – Digital Marketing Skills (No-brainer)
So it goes for the ways we can earn our living. By being an early adapter and embracing changes in technology we can provide value to those that hold back by simply learning the new skills involved. The digital revolution has allowed loads of people to start music, photography and video businesses (since we are looking at these areas as examples) just as digital marketing offers the opportunity to grow these businesses on a world stage.
With technology becoming more accessible to everyone, it becomes easier to adapt to, cheaper and well, smaller! A sound recordist can work from a laptop, a digital photographer or videographer can get kit for a fraction of the costs of the old kit and can work from a home based virtual studio and all of these disciplines can be put to good use with digital marketing skills. With video in particular, the Lo-Fi approach can work well on Youtube – its often more about the message than the quality – so a video made off the cuff using a phone can do the job very well.
We Just Want Convenience
When I worked in the AV industry we were all into the quality of the speakers, amplifiers, projectors and video kit we used – we loved all the new shiny stuff. The truth is though that the audience didn’t care. They wanted to see and hear what was on stage – that’s it.
Digital technology, the internet, the way we consume is changing constantly. We live in a world that wants things fast, easy and convenient and digital technology makes that possible. That creates more opportunity for the individual to thrive than ever before. All we need to do is learn the skills – and they get easier. Take a look at how easy it is to set up a digital home based business with the SFM by clicking the link and getting some free video presentations on the subject.