A wise man once said that when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
But today, communications practitioners have access to such a bewildering array of tools, they never have to reach for a hammer unless it's the best thing for the job.
So the question is, with all these tools at your disposal, do you diversify your skill set, or keep hammering away? Are you a pr, ad or web professional, or some kind of multidisciplinary guru? (I'm mostly directing this towards solo practitioners, startups, small agencies.) Arguments for both approaches:
Arguments for Specialization
1. My positioning is tight: I own a niche that fills a very specific need for clients or future employers.
2. My expertise is deep: I know my subject matter as good as anyone and I can authoritatively blog, present or give an interview on it.
3. My community is my toolset: What I don't know I can collaborate on or outsource to my network.
Arguments for Generalization
1. My door is always open: I can take on (and get paid for) almost any job that a client or employer throws my way.
2. My theory is we're in an age of "good enough": We've entered an era of conversational marketing that's filled with free, easy-to-use online tools and user generated content that makes much of the "professional grade" content that specialists provide less necessary. Besides, social media is turning all of us into internet marketers.
3. My search engine is my toolset. What I don't know I can ask google or my network about, then do it (mostly) myself.
Coming from an integrated agency background and now in the digital/social/pr realm, I fall under the generalist category. Where do you land?
