Ben Roy

The other day I picked up 'The Tao of Chess' and was flipping through a few pages. (No need to stop reading if you aren't a chess player, I'll keep it light on the chess details) I happened to principle #46, which says, "Superior development increases in value in proportion to the openness of the game."

For any chess-newbs out there, it's basically just saying that as more pieces clear out of the center area of the board, it's increasingly valuable to have your pieces out and able to attack.

At the end of the section the author ties this back to the rest of the world by comparing it to communication. The more different ways to there are to communicate with people, the more important it is to be in position to leverage those channels.

That idea has become even more true in the 5 years since it was written. A marketer that wants to be successful today has a myriad of avenues open to them, whether it be blogging, article marketing, Twitter, or YouTube.

It may be ok to ignore a channel that you're not interested in, or to focus on one to grow your business. But don't forget that the more options you keep open the more agile your business will be. Develop more than one connection with your customers and spread your eggs around.