Convicing messaging is marketing; it’s about participation and connection. If you are a Veteran, job searching, or going into business for yourself, creating a brand and marketing yourself is essential.
The focus on building an online presence:
- Write – Post on social media. LinkedIn is best for your career thoughts, professional opinions, and ideas.
- Get Quoted – If you write, being quoted exposes you to a broader audience.
- Leverage Email – When you write emails, Include a link to your recent article. Use email as an advertising platform.
- Use Social Media – Demonstrate your impact on social media. Sharing on social media reaches a worldwide audience. When you are quoted, always share it. Share opinions on news events relevant to your expertise.
- Speak Publicly – Identify opportunities to share your expertise and thoughts formally.
Personal reputation is a brand. It’s what people say about you. Your brand is imperative because it can drive or end your career.
Build a personal brand by doing a “Self-Awareness Test”, list the things you do well, and list all those things you struggle with.
Plan to eradicate or delegate the items that you struggle to do; focus only on what you do well because it’s what you’ll be known for. Awareness of what you do and don’t do well will flow into what you want to do. This will develop a niche or focus for your brand.
Pick a niche, remember, you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Your niche will help you stand out. Be yourself, being different is better than being better than others. Be diverse, be as unique as possible, “build it and they will come”. Some people might be repelled, they won’t be future employers or clients; you don’t need them – attract the best, and repel the rest.
Face your fear; overcome the awkwardness of self-promotion. Don’t believe that you shouldn’t be sharing on social media because it’s public. Don’t be afraid. Don’t fear rejection. Don’t fear online trolls.
As your influence grows, publish more content, increase views and shares. You will always attract somebody with negative comment. Block and delete negativity and move on. After Armed Forces service, you come with a thick skin – use it! Opportunities to appear on other posts is high value; if someone is willing to put you in front of their audience, it’s a big endorsement.
Approval is essential; increased visibility is important. Any opportunity to share content will improve your online value. The guidelines are:
- You are what you publish.
- Nobody likes spin.
- Being quoted or appearing on someone else’s posting is stronger than propaganda.
- Marketing yourself is about delivering your brand and niche content at a precise moment.
- Create a personal brand and niche strategy to target underserved audiences.
- Excellent online content is required to attract prospect engagement.
- Blogs, imagery, eBooks, news, and expert opinion forms online content that creates direct engagement.
Social Selling builds relationships, and pipelines. Above all, treat people with respect. Tell the truth, connect with others for the greater good not just for your benefit.
Blogging is the mainstream and conventional content transport for individuals and companies to get their ideas into the world. Readers of blogs view the information as authentic communication.
Social Networking is phenomenally popular. If you are marketing yourself or business create a page on different social networking platforms; this it necessary, to appeals to different targets in different ways. The fact is that each social networking site occupies a different niche.
Some ideas to get the most out of social Networks for marketing:
- Target a Specific Audience – Target the type of audience that uses that specific platform, create a page relevant to you and your objectives.
- Be a Thought Leader – Provide valuable and exciting information.
- Be Authentic and Transparent – Do not impersonate others; be original.
- Create Lots of Links – Link to your sites and blogs.
- Encourage People to Contact You – It is the most compelling call to action.
- Participate – Participate in online discussions.
- Make it Easy to find You – Encourage visitors to bookmark your page.
- Experiment – If it’s not working, tweak it or remove it.
The main ways to generate attention, awareness and activity in the personal marketing landscape of today are:
- Your profile can raise awareness by creating something exciting and publishing online for little or no cost.
- Your expertise can also be related through blogs online, eBooks, even Trade Journals.
Opportunities develop slowly; your marketing effort will nurture opporunity growth – Do it now!
Thrust yourself to a thought leadership position through social media without a considerable budget. It will drive your profile and raise exposure to potential employers or clients.
Do you have any questions? Proelium Law is here to help you. Call or email us if you have an enquiry, we will call you back at a time convenient for you.
Barry ET Harris MBE, is an independent consultant; he is a veteran of the British Army; he combines specialist operational experience with wisdom gained from extensive commercial consulting, executive and management expertise in his specialities gained in complex environments and high-risk jurisdictions worldwide.
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