I’m no marketer, must admit. I didn’t have a proper marketing at university, if not it’s the worst course. There’s one thing people in the social space believe in: New Media is a better way to do marketing these days. Though I still wonder whether traditional marketing still holds. I guess it still does. I’m too green to talk about this.

But here’s the thing. You often hear about that genius guy who won a Noble prize and suck at teaching. You’ve heard it once from an MIT folk of mine. But the genius teacher who doesn’t get his job done is quite a social norm if you think about it. And you may wonder what education has to do with marketing.

My one year and a half expercience teaching Business English for much older people got me this: when you stand on the podium, your student is your customer. You’re not selling your product, which is your knowledge, but you’re helping your students fulfil their needs for knowledge. It’s your job to make sure you cater to your need, and never tell them:” This is the easiest problem on earth, why can’t you solve it?” You have to look at it from your student’s point of view. Just as you do it with marketing, or social marketing. You have to see the problem, and not from your angle, but from the customers’. You probably have the best product, just as you are the best guy in the field, but you may be the worst teacher.

That’s the way I see it. From a noob point of view.