Many people are, so avoid it and so unwittingly ‘shoot themselves in the foot’.
They miss out on opportunities, get demoralised and withdraw dispirited, not achieving what they really want.
This is the opposite of what would create a positive shift!!
Have you ever felt like this?
What do YOU think marketing is?
Misconceptions about marketing
Often people confuse marketing with sales, wrongly associate marketing with a pushy Arthur Daley type car salesman, or think that push notifications from brands and companies are what marketing is.
Why is marketing yourself important?
Marketing yourself is an essential skill for career success whether you are employed or self-employed.
A portfolio career, where you have multiple work strands makes the need to market yourself even more important.
How do you feel about marketing yourself?
- Very confident
- Quite confident
- Neutral
- Quite unconfident
- Very unconfident
Two exercises that we share with our clients are:
- A self-completion questionnaire
- Self-reflective questions about marketing yourself
Completing these means that we hone in on what support they really need from us with laser focus.
What exactly IS marketing?
The definition of Marketing that I was taught was from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM):
“Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer/clients needs profitably.”
For people who have blocks about marketing, which many people do – this is fantastic news!!
This definition is a lot more comfortable because it is about insight, helping people and adding value NOT about being pushy and boastful.
Blocks can be reframed!
Negative beliefs about marketing
I have come across some very strong views about marketing.
“It is persuading people to buy things that they don’t want or need and cannot afford.”
“Marketing is a necessary evil.”
Blimey!
What is the problem with marketing?
The problem with marketing, is that it is difficult to precisely pin down precisely what part of marketing yourself led to an opportunity.
The truth is that is probably a combination of different things.
- The posts you put on LinkedIn to create visibility
- Sharing your career goal with trusted contacts in your network
- Having a distinctive personal brand
- Making time to network in person or on-line
What would you add?
There is a famous quote by John Wanamaker. He was a very successful United States merchant, religious leader and political figure, considered by some to be a “pioneer in marketing”.
“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”
It is the same with marketing – it is hard to pinpoint.
Modern marketing is very multi-faceted because of social media and it can be difficult to work out what to do and what not to do.
I have done more events about ‘blowing your own trumpet’ – marketing yourself than any other topic, and I have done a lot of events!
Personal examples of marketing
- A delegate kept my business card from an event I did and got in touch ten years later when they were at a major career crossroads ready for career coaching and became a client.
- I was approached to write a book after posting in a LinkedIn group.
- I wrote an insightful and purposefully provocative letter in a trade magazine, won letter of the week, was contacted by 4 companies, and was then asked to write an article and do an interview on the BBC.
These 3 outcomes were unexpected.
14 tips to effectively market yourself
- Identify any limiting beliefs about marketing yourself and transform them.
- Think of someone in your network who is a natural at marketing themselves – what is it that they do well?
- Join a new network.
- Define what makes you unique.
- Review what marketing you do and what it results in, or not.
- Ask Perplexity AI what you specialise in.
- Create a content plan for LinkedIn posts.
- Craft a compelling personal brand.
- Define career capital goals – things that will build your marketability.
- Name the one marketing activity you really love e.g. networking, writing, 121 meetings – commit to do more of what you love!
- Attend an event you wouldn’t normally do to broaden your network.
- Define your target audience precisely.
- Narrow your niche – this means that you need to do less marketing and it is more focused.
- Block out time in your diary regularly to market yourself.