I am a big believer that all of us need to need to help the generation of professionals that is following us.  For me, that means giving back in any way that I can to our country’s colleges and universities.  This spring has been a busy one on that front as I have had the chance to speak to local classes at both the University of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky University, present at Pi Sigma Epsilon’s National Convention, and attend the Board meeting of the VCU BrandCenter.  In every single one of these sessions, a common question was asked by students:

“What should I be doing in order to get a job in marketing  and / or brand management?”

Of course this is a question that is always going to be on the minds of college students as they near graduation.  But with competition for jobs even higher this year because of the economy, it is a question that is more important than ever.

And with the importance of the question, I have thought hard about the answer and what I would do if I was in the shoes of students today.  At then end, the answer is a relatively  simple one:

College Students need to start going the extra mile today in order to get their 10,000 hours of practice in marketing.

I have written before about Malcolm Gladwell’s theory that being great at something takes around 10,000 hours of practice.  The same holds true for anyone that hopes to get a job in marketing or brand management.  They should be viewing college as the first few hundred (or even first few thousand) hours of practice in their marketing careers.

But I am not talking about just the classes.  Those are extremely important of course, but the best and the brightest go beyond that.  After all, everyone has to take roughly the same classes to graduate so just doing that workload won’t set you apart from the other 1.5 million students graduating in the US this year.

So how do you set yourself apart?  As I told students at those recent classroom visits, setting yourself apart starts with three simple steps:

1. Join a professional organization to start gaining real world experience: My good friend Anthony Portuesi recently wrote on his blog Driven Leaders on the topic that “College Students: Professional Organizations Can Separate You From the Pack.”  Anthony and I were both fortunate enough to be members of Pi Sigma Epsilon during college.  In this marketing fraternity, we had the chance to work for dozen of real marketing clients including Procter & Gamble and Ford Motor Company…all while going to school.  The best way to start your career early is to start getting work experience early.  Professional organizations like PSE are the perfect way to do just that.  And it gives you real things to talk about in an interview instead of just this great group project that you did in a marketing class.
2. Choose an internship over that study abroad program: This might not be a popular choice, but I think every student should be thinking about an internship instead of studying abroad for a summer.  Sure that summer in Europe or Asia will be a great time and you will get exposure to another culture.  But skipping that internship will put you 3 months behind the person that choose a paycheck over a fun trip.  And more importantly, you never know when that internship could turn into a real job…which means your senior year will be much less stressful when you have an offer in hand before the year even begins.
3. Use social media for real networking instead of posting photos from last night’s party: This is Google’s world and we are just living it.  That means that anything you put up on Facebook, MySpace or Twitter will be there for any recruiter or HR manager to see (whether you mark that profile private or not).  So instead of using Social Media to just be social, start putting those networking skills to use by marketing yourself.  Step one is to embrace LinkedIn.  Fill out your profile to 100% completeness and make sure it has all the buzz words important to your career choice.  Step two is to start becoming involved in industry chatter online.  This does not mean finding everyone that works for a company in your field and asking them for a job.  Instead, start interacting with people in your industry early in your college career.  Follow them on Twitter and ask them questions.  Read their blogs and leave insightful comments (not on every post… you dont want to be a stalker).  Social Media is for participating and it gives everyone an equal chance to talk with the smartest people in their industry.  Embrace that level playing field.

Now that does not sound all that tough, does it?  Just remember that the key is not waiting until your senior year to start thinking about your career.  Start practicing your marketing skills early on and you will get those 10,000 hours of practice in sooner than your colleagues.

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Bob Lefsetz gets it.  And I’m not just talking about the music industry but business overall.  He gets what it takes to be great in your industry of choice.

In his most recent letter, Bob rallied against a music industry that seems focused on young “prodigies”… overnight success stories who might have the talent, but haven’t put in the time or practice to really become great.  His argument is based on Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers” as he writes:

Innate talent, pure desire, they’re not enough.  Sure, Mozart started writing music when he was six, but he didn’t compose a masterwork until he was twenty one, after he’d put in 10,000 hours of practice.  How can you have accumulated 10,000 hours worth of practice if you’re not even close to twenty one?  Turns out that’s the rule.  You’ve got to have 10,000 hours

He goes on to write that it is NOT about age.  It is about determination:

I’m not saying you’ve got to be old to make it, maybe you just have to be doggedly focused.  Not only on making it, but rehearsing, getting it right.  The music industry has lobbied against this. It has not encouraged its stars to practice.

And it is in that last sentence that Lefsetz makes a comment that Brand Managers should pay attention to.  Those that are great in their industries, be it sports, music or science are not great based on talent alone.

They are great because of the time they have put in time to being great.

Why does that matter to marketers and Brand Maangers?  Why does it matter to our own careers?  Well think about your competition, the Brand Manager running your biggest rival.  Chances are the two of you have a pretty similar education background.  And more likely than not, you both have similar resources at work.  So how can you get an edge…how can you be the better Brand Manager?

If you believe Gladwell and Lefsetz have it right, you will get that edge through practice and focus.  You will get that edge by throwing yourself at the task of being a better marketer.  Lefsetz hints at how you can do this when he talks about Millenials and their use of technology:

Maybe the conventional wisdom is right, today’s kids do have a short attention span.  Then again, they play videogames for hours, they surf online for days on end.  That’s why your teenager is a computer expert, why he can run your machine at what appears to be light speed.  Because it’s second-nature to him.

To make the comparison back, this means you need to make marketing second-nature by practicing, by putting in your 10,000 hours.  You won’t get there in your day-to-day job activities.  You need to go above and beyond.  So with that in mind, here are a few ways Brand Managers can find their 10,000 hours of practice:

1. Start blogging: Seth Godin wrote that “Blogging makes you a better marketer because it teaches you humility in your writing.”  I’d add that blogging is the best practice in marketing you can find.
2. Dive into Social Media such as Twitter: Twitter gets a bad rap from people that don’t fully understand it.  For me, Twitter is practice.  When I connect and talk with other marketers through Twitter, it is like being at marketing batting practice.
3. Volunteer your marketing brain power: I’d argue that spending 2 hours helping a non-profit with their marketing will teach you more than staying at work an extra two hours.  And you get the added benefit of doing some good in the process.
4. Read everything and anything: Knowledge is power and the best form of practice.  Make RSS your best friend and read what the best minds in business think on their blogs.  Get involved in the conversations through comments.  Read the top business books each year.
5. Meet new people: Take advantage of breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks to meet new people in your industry.  Go to industry conferences and actually make use of them to network.  Shake hands, have drinks and keep on practicing.

These are just a few of the ways I’m trying to get my 10,000 hours of practice at being the best at marketing that I can be.  What would you add to the list?  How are you practicing to be a better marketer and Brand Manager?

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