The neverending battle to improve your business starts with continual education. Although finding chunks of time to set aside can prove an impossible task, sometimes dripping is just as effective. By finding a little bit of time each day to spend learning and refocusing, you can stay up to date on your industry, your strategy, and your competition. It’s also an easy way to get the occasional expresso shot of motivation from your favorite inspirational leader!

Set aside the time

While drip learning doesn’t require you take a week off, it’s still important to choose a habit to create. What works for me is reading for 10 or so minutes over breakfast or morning coffee. I find I must do the things of most importance early, before the ‘urgent’ topics rear their monstrous heads. For others it’s may be better to arrive at the office 10 minutes early and sit in your waiting area for some distraction free time. And of course for many folks, the only time of peace and quiet is reading in bed at the end of the day. The point is to know yourself and know what will work consistently.

Set up your reading

If you’re not already subscribed to business and trade magazines, that’s the first step. Actually, in today’s virtual world those journals may be the second step. A great way to get your morning drip is to have it delivered digitally. By subscribing to online publications and blogs, you can have new content and updates delivered to you daily via e-mail! Or, use an RSS reader app (such as Feedly which I use on Android) to have that content readily available on your smartphone or tablet. Take the first couple days of your new habit to search for and subscribe to web sites and authors that provide the type of reading you need. And check out my Recommended Reading List here:

My Recommended Reading

Using Feedly I follow updates from several website about website design, development, some of the tools we use, and similar topics. Most articles I skip or skim each morning. This makes it easy for me to be aware of coming updates, keep a pulse on things in development, and be proactive about pressing issues. There are however two blogs about marketing which I consume emphatically, and highly recommend to anyone who owns or runs a business:

Your Recommendations

Do you have any recommendations? Are there any magazines or blogs you read regularly? If you have recommendations, questions about Feedly, or questions about any of these suggestions please leave a reply and ask below!