Learn to market yourself

Learn To Market Yourself

Marketing yourself is one of the key skills necessary to navigate our world today. To get a better job, build a business, build a brand… you must learn this essential skill! The team at The Social Entrepreneurship Blog can help guide you in the right direction to develop the skills needed to better market yourself to meet your goals and build a better life for yourself and your family.

Where Should You Start?

You may be thinking of the concept of “marketing yourself” as a huge undertaking, especially if this is an idea that you are just beginning to wrap your head around. But don’t worry – that’s why we’re here! We are going to lay out a few ideas for you to get started thinking about ways in which you can market yourself.

Vital Skills: Passion, Plan, & Scope

You must have the ability to show yourself in your best light whether it is to potential employers or potential customers. In the same way that you would focus on qualities that would make you the right fit for a position during a job interview, you can also focus on the qualities that would make a person want to come to you for a product or service in your marketing strategies. Focus on what makes you stand out from those around you – this is often your knowledge of things that you are passionate about.

When people listen to you speak, or read something that you have written on a topic that you hold genuine passion for, that passion will shine through your communication and draw people into your orbit – they want the secret to what makes you light up about this product, or idea, or potential job!

Another skill to develop in marketing yourself is that you must be able to articulately identify what your focus is going to be in terms of the service you will be providing. You must have the ability to identify a need in your chosen field, and make a plan as to how you, with your specific set of skills and knowledge, will be able to fulfill that need. Then, you can set about the task of letting those in your community know that you are available to help.

Keep in mind that you do not want to narrow your idea down so much that you will not have a big enough customer base to be profitable. It may be helpful for you to do research in your chosen field to help you identify specific gaps in service that you could potentially fill.

For a great example of a business with the skills to effectively brand itself, check out our friends at Talon Wine Brands, sharing the Joy of Wine in Grand Junction, Colorado – they are one of our favorite companies! https://gjcomputer.com/

Social Media & Marketing

Let’s face it – everyone you know is on some kind of social media platform (usually more than one!). And they are looking at that news feed more frequently than they would like to admit. This, however, is a great place to begin to build your marketing skills! Due to the fact that so many people are on social media for so many hours a day, your chances of being able to get your content in front of someone on a social media platform are huge.
A few tips to keep in mind as you begin to think about how to use social media to begin to market yourself:

• It’s not necessary to flood your social media with posts every hour in order to be seen, but do keep your posting consistent, and be present on your social media platforms. Daily posts, or even posts every other day are usually sufficient for your content to be seen. You also want to be sure to interact with those who are commenting on the content that you’ve posted.
• Tell your story and remind your followers that there is more to your life than your business – your friends are already following you on social media because they like you, but some may not know you as well as others. Give your posts (even those that are about your business, or on an account that is used strictly for business purposes) a small dash of something personal and it will remind people that you are more than your business venture.
• Use those hashtags sparingly. While it may be tempting to use as many hashtags as you can possibly think of on your posts, these can become distracting from your true message. It is wiser to use a few thoughtfully chosen hashtags on your posts to help drive your message home.
• Remember to identify your audience and figure out what social media platforms your target audience is spending the most time on. This way, you can be sure to focus your social media marketing to those specific platforms that will reach the most potential customers in the most effective way.

Think Outside the Box

When beginning a business venture that is all your own, there is no better opportunity to get creative with the way you get your message out there. You do not have a boss, or an entire company, looking over your shoulder telling you how to interact with people, or what your image should be – this is all you!

A simple way to get creative is with your social media posts – find ways that your posts can stand out from the rest, whether it is with a striking photograph, or a funny comic or short video, or a great hashtag, the possibilities are endless for giving your social media posts a little extra creativity.
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Find ways to interact with others in your area of expertise – perhaps you can collaborate on a project to further your knowledge or invite them to make guest appearances on your social media platforms. When you are open to partnering with others in your field, it allows for an exchange of ideas that could lead you to unique ways in which to market yourself.