April 26, 2007

Marketing Yourself: The Brand Called You

“Starting today you are not defined by your job title and you're not confined by your job description. Consider the possibility that you are a brand---every bit as much a brand as Nike, Nordstrom, BMW or the Body Shop.

If you don’t know what makes your talent or service different, you’ve got a big problem. To excel in today’s competitive market place, you’ve got to learn how to make the ‘brand called you’ stand out.”

-Tom Peters, The Pursuit of WOW

Packed into a conference hall of Chicago’s McCormick Place, attending a marketing seminar, my goal was to absorb as much of Tom Peters wisdom as I could, hoping to capture a few nuggets I might apply in my career pursuit. That was 1997, and I’ve since had the opportunity to help manage billion-dollar brands and guide my own personal marketing through the same branding concepts.

Whether your goal is to move up, explore new opportunities or simply add security to the position you have, these personal marketing tips, borrowed from the big brands, will help you successfully sell yourself:

What is a brand?
To brand means to distinguish; to impress indelibly. Nike, Volkswagen and Volvo have successfully branded their companies, using testimonials, performance reviews, or other measures to attract consumer buy-in for their products. They communicate why their product is better than the competition and offer unique benefits that specifically address a consumer's needs.

Why's that important for Brand YOU?
A job seeker needs to approach the job hunt in the same way. Just as companies brand themselves for consumers, a job seeker needs to brand himself for a prospective employer to show why he offers the superior product versus his competition. Advertisers call this “product positioning.” Avis says, “We try harder.” Mercedes is “Unlike any other.” When you have the opportunity to communicate your skills, what will you be remembered for?

"Each job seeker is a distinctive brand. A job seeker's product is the combination of her skills, experience and education. To successfully land a position, the job seeker must advertise her product and tailor it to needs of the prospective employer. The key is making one's brand relevant to the employer."

-The Power of Branding, Jennifer Sullivan, CareerBuilder.com

How to Create Brand YOU

1. Know Your Customer - Candidates who demonstrate knowledge of a company and the specific position being offered, in resumes, cover letters and interviews tend to get noticed. A recent CareerBuilder.com survey found 71 percent of hiring managers pay more attention to resumes and cover letters that are customized to their open positions.

2. Get Your Customer to Know YOU - The second step in making yourself relevant is creating an advertising campaign for your brand. Ask yourself how your product – skills, experience and education – enables you to better serve your targeted audience than the competition and convey that through your resume and cover letter.

ACTION STEPS

1. Determine what makes you different. Write it. Learn it. Be able to communicate it in 30 seconds. What do I do that adds measurable value? What am I proud of? What can I shamelessly take credit for?

2. Don't sell the steak, sell the sizzle. No matter how beefy your skills you’ve got to market your brand---to customers and to colleagues. How do you enhance the profile of the brand called YOU? The list is limitless but here are a few creative suggestions:

• Try moonlighting! Sign up for an extra project inside your organization, or take on a project that gets you noticed as a contributor.
• Consider teaching a class at a community college, in an adult education program, or in your own company.
• Try contributing a column to a community newspaper, professional newsletter, or an in-house company publication. Each has white space they need to fill.
• Try to get yourself on a panel discussion at a conference or sign up to make a presentation at a workshop. Visibility has a way of multiplying.

3. Create your own "focus group." Find a colleague or a few objective friends that will proof your resume and even critique your strengths and weaknesses.

Finally, no matter how far ahead you've set your sights, you still need to be a great teammate and supportive colleague where you are today, as well as an exceptional expert at something that has real value.

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