In today’s market, your career is 100 percent your responsibility, including marketing your strengths. Unfortunately, marketing can be evil, especially when the product being marketed is you. Honest attempts can seem boastful, so we are hesitant to do so. However, if people are not aware of their strengths, how will they know when, where and how to use them?
The best self-marketing focuses on building relationships and having fun doing it. Successful self-marketing can, among other things, improve your job search, promote your own business, gain attention (ie, become an industry thought leader/innovator), and make new friends.
The following is the second of three articles summarizing the “101” career books published by Course Technology. A different author highlights what it takes to achieve career success in the 21st century for each book. Here, it’s entrepreneur and marketing expert, Jason Miletsky. His new book is titled 101 Ways to Promote Yourself Successfully”.
Miletsky is the CEO and Executive Creative Director of a leading marketing communications agency in New York City. He is a featured speaker for numerous companies and invited seminars and lectures for universities.
“101 Ways to Promote Yourself Successfully” is a short 88-page read, packed with self-marketing tips. You will surely learn some new applications to further your career. Use Miletsky’s insights to measure how many techniques you currently incorporate to promote yourself and decide which ones best suit your needs.
The book is read in three easy parts. The first is titled, “27 MYM (Marketing Yourself Mandates);” and lays the foundation for your self-promotion efforts. Miletsky’s tips include:
- Understand your personal brand. Your personal brand is your personal reputation. It’s key to successfully marketing yourself and maintaining relevant connections in the long run. People will decide to befriend or distance themselves from you based on your personality, sense of style, unique qualities, what and how you say it, follow through on engagement, and what you potentially bring to the table.
22. Do something specific to stand out. Achieve something that separates you from the crowd and you will find yourself in more demand. Suggestions include writing a book or articles for popular print or online publications, recording a web video series, and conducting a seminar.
27. Don’t give up, it won’t happen overnight. “Promoting yourself is a process,” says Miletsky. It takes time to meet new people and build a following. Persevere.
Part II is titled “Make the Most of the Web.” Miletsky stresses that to market effectively today, you must include the Web. “Social media may fade a bit over time, but it’s here to stay,” he says. Out of spatial interest, Miletsky assumes that he has a basic understanding of the big three social networking sites: Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. If not, he advocates learning his attributes as soon as possible. Highlights include:
28. Make social media part of your daily routine. Social media requires time and effort. It may take a while before you see results. “This can be frustrating, because thanks to the speed of the Web, most people have lost the patience to let things happen over time,” says Miletsky. Incorporate social networking into your daily routine, using the Big 3 sites. Send a mass email once a month to your contacts. Inform them of your new blog posts and other information.
63. Get your name in a URL. Be sure to secure your name as a URL. It is good marketing for any of your online activities that you participate in. Defensively, he prevents someone else from taking advantage of his name, as he becomes more well known.
69. Spread what you write. Get the URL of any blog post you write or comment you leave on someone else’s blog (shorten the URL via bit.ly or some other shortening service). Broadcast it on Twitter, use it in LinkedIn conversations, and post it in relevant Facebook groups and on your Facebook wall.
“There is life offline: go out and meet real people,” is Miletsky’s third message. Among his suggestions are:
78. Become a Regular. Several frequent places. Over time, people will recognize your face, making connections easier.
82. Look for public speaking opportunities. Meet many people at once. Be a featured speaker in a room full of people listening. Speakers draw attention, are focal points for attendees; and many will want to befriend you afterwards.
101. Make the follow-up a ritual. Be sure to follow up with each new contact within 24 hours of their initial connection. Send a quick email to remind new contacts who you are, how you met, and the conversations you had. Suggest a future meeting when you feel mutual benefits.
Six appendices enrich the book; with the first list of the 30 best Twitter tools from Miletsky. “Twitter is one of the absolute best ways to get people to notice you,” she says. Endorsements include:
- Tweetdeck. It provides numerous columns to allow simultaneous tracking of people you follow, tweets mentioning you, direct messages, and any other keywords/groups you choose.
- Twitterholic. See your relative rank and graph your followers over time.
- Nearby tweets. Enhance local marketing by entering your desired geographic location/keyword. The site shows people within that radius who fit the description.
The “Who You Should Follow on Twitter” list is in Appendix B and details 31 active links for finding good people to follow on the site. Are included:
- 25 SEO gurus.
- 50 users to follow for job search.
- The top 237 people to follow on Twitter who will follow you.
The more comprehensive appendix, titled “Strategies for Success,” specifies how to maximize your achievements at work. Nine tips from him include “Visualize success” and “Learn to advance within the company”; which presents 30 soul-searching questions related to the search for a management position. Those inquiries include:
- Are you decisive?
- Do you see yourself handling crisis situations calmly and objectively?
- Do you do your best work all the time?
Other appendices highlight LinkedIn groups, networking events, and additional social networking sites.
Marketing yourself is no longer an option. To enjoy long-term career success, learn and perfect a process that works for you; And have fun doing it.
Supplement Miletsky’s message with Rashika Fernando’s “101 Tips for Career Success” and Carol A. Silvis’ “101 Ways to Make Yourself Indispensable at Work” to boost your career whether you’re employed, unemployed, seasoned, or beginner.
You can follow the author on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jaymiletsky.
