​We all know that marketing is a complicated mix of product line, pricing strategy, positioning/branding, and promotion. That mix becomes even more complicated when one is attempting to market oneself. In today's competitive environment, career professionals and entrepreneurs alike must be able to demonstrate their value to the right people in the right contexts in order to gain a competitive advantage.



Here are five strategies to keep in mind:

1. Determine a clear strategy for everything. Whether you are contemplating attending a networking function, volunteering for a special project, or deciding whether to get another degree or go to a conference, it's critical to truly understand what , specifically, you need to gain from your investment in money, time, and energy. All three are precious resources and can easily be squandered. Any time you are considering a new activity or project, take time to carefully consider the following questions:

Why am I doing this?

Why am I doing this in this way?

What else can I do with this?

What do I really want to happen as a result of this?

Who or what is critical here?

How will I measure success?

2. Capitalize on all opportunities to gain exposure and influence. If you're a regular reader of this newsletter, you';ve heard this one many times. It's all too easy to disappear into your own silo and then wonder why no one is calling you. In order to be considered for special projects and assignments, you must first be seen and you must be seen when the opportunity exists.
Think about a quit-smoking program. If you have a product that helps someone quit smoking, there is only one time that matters when your product must be seen -- when the person actually commits to quit smoking. Therefore, you must be "out there"; on a regular basis in order to be there when the time is right for them.

How can you gain exposure and influence on a regular basis?

• Speak at conferences and in your community
• Write articles for trade publications and your own company newsletter
• Be active in social media, write a blog, and actively participate in other leading blog-sites
• Host meetings, networking functions, task forces, and other activities that bring influential people together
• Connect with influential people within your company and within your industry and area of functional expertise and continue communicating with them on a regular basis
• Volunteer for key assignments and in any community activity where you will be able to informally interact with influential people

3. Leverage everything. Think "green"; in terms of your work. Recycle everything in a different form. Your hard work deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. Ask yourself:

How can I repurpose this:

• Training program?
• Proposal?
• Report?
• Research?
• Presentation?
• For whom?
• In what form?

For example, record your conference presentation, take the .mp3 and have it transcribed cheaply through a vendor you find in eLance.com, take the transcribed Word document and then have a writer break it into a series of articles, and then pitch it to a trade publications editor. You can also take the same .mp3 recording and break it into segments and create an audio product from it, post podcasts on your blog, use it as the basis of a recorded webinar, or simply send segments to influential people who may
benefit from your message. The combinations are endless.

4. Strike when you're hot – follow up. Sadly, this is the Achilles Heel for almost any busy professional or entrepreneur. You meet someone who could offer you incredible access to valued resources and you take their card back to the office with every good intention . . . and it gets lost in the shuffle. How many business cards do you have lying around that you didn’t follow up on? Even with the ones you did, how many did you re-connect with to create the most important round of sharing or conversation?

When an opportunity comes your way:

• Follow up immediately – within the first 24 hours
• Suggest a"next step": if one is not offered
• Follow up again within 2 weeks and take the conversation or sharing one step further
• Create a system for regular, ongoing communication and sharing - and add all high-value resources to it. (See the June issue for a great tracking system.)

5. Plant lots of seeds. Living in the "Information Age":, we are bombarded by free tips on how to do anything and everything. You may need to be willing to share your best knowledge more freely than is often comfortable. However, by giving away the right information to the right people, you begin to create goodwill, trust, and liking. When the time comes for that target to choose someone to assist in their specific projects, you will have positioned yourself to be a safe and smart choice. Just like in planting seeds, you never know for sure which goodwill gestures will "sprout";. It takes the right timing and conditions. Therefore, plant many seeds and you will be assured good, viable sprouts on a regular basis.

• Provide demos or work samples regularly to your strategic targets
• Give freely and regularly to demonstrate your expertise and build rapport/likeability
• Give them lots of no- and low-risk ways to access/invest in you

Whether your goal is to continue building a successful career or growing your own business, these timeless tips will serve you well. Take a little time each day to make sure you evaluate opportunities from a strategic view, continue to build exposure and influence, leverage your best work in every way possible, follow up religiously, and keep planting those seeds.

Dr. Myra Corrello helps entrepreneurs, executives, and subject-matter-experts craft presentations to increase revenue, secure investors, build PR, or enhance overall effectiveness. She offers presentation-skills support through coaching, consulting, on-site training, webinars, and downloadable self-study resources. Find out more at: www.PresentationsForResults.com

or contact Myra at (504) 899-8660 or by email: [email protected].

​We all have a monthly entertainment budget. There’s a certain amount of money and time that we spend on that entertainment budget. We also all have a monthly education, learning and personal development budget.
 
Today I’d like for you to reflect on the amount of time and money that you dedicate to your own personal development, education, learning experiences.  I have a sobering message today--Your income will not grow until you do.

What we need to embrace is that we are compelled and responsible for expanding our own knowledge, skills and most importantly expanding our own attitude. Somewhere in the Bible it says “Stand guard at the gateway of your mind.”  What that means to me is that we have to be very careful to watch what we let in, what we say, and what comes out of our mouth.
 
If you’re constantly speaking negatively of others or yourself or the economy, your boss, your spouse, your kids—How is it possible that you are going to positively enhance your life? When my mother was young she was an optimistic person. Toward the last seven years of her life she became extremely negative. My father on the other hand has always had an insatiable optimistic view of the world. So I had a choice—I could choose my mother’s attitudes or my father’s. Either way I had to make a choice.  There’s only so long we can play the blame game on how we were parented and use that as an excuse on why we are currently not succeeding.
 
My father in his Cajun accent used to tell me “Can’t ain’t a word.” But as I got older I chuckled at this saying; it was a great reminder. We didn’t use that word. Oftentimes at the brink of achieving a significant increase, day after day I constantly see people lay down and quit. It drives me nuts. They convince themselves thru powerful negative self talk, they just can’t do it.
 
Show me a loser and I’ll show you someone that is comfortable with the habit of quitting when circumstances of life get difficult. Show me a winner and I’ll show you a person that has developed the skill of being comfortable with being uncomfortable.
 
Don’t fall for the myth that successful people are successful because they are lucky, or smarter than you or better looking than you, or because they did something unethical or immoral to get ahead. Most unsuccessful people use this rationalization to justify their lack of initiative to make some small changes that can lead to huge results.
 
What I’m asking for you to embrace today is to turn your entertainment time into education, learning and self development time. Well Marvin, I don’t have a big budget. Fantastic, I’m going to give you some ideas you can afford on virtually no budget.
 
Everyone reading this has access to a computer. Then you have access to free information at places like Google or Bing. All you have to do is think of a word and search it, and then you are into a library of information. Wikipedia.com also has unbelievable information that you can access.
 
Some of my favorite online destinations include The 4-Hour Workweek, Jeffrey Gitomer and Seth Godin. Another thing that inspires me is blues music, and one of the best is Louisiana’s own Tab Benoit. (He founded Voice of the Wetlands, a non-profit to help build awareness about the loss of wetlands in south Louisiana.)
 
You can also use public libraries and open up to huge worlds. Give yourself the opportunity to read in a library for one hour on a Saturday or Sunday.  How about a public book store? How about asking a friend or coworker if you can borrow a book to read?
 
I’m asking you to read—and I am strongly encouraging you to devour the material—read deep into the meaning of what can develop you further.
 
Get started on your journey toward education and self-development, not towards entertainment. Write your comments here about things you read (books, websites, blogs…your call) and share how you are improving “YOU.”
 
Have a marvelous day! Remember, marvelous performance is not accidental, it’s always intentional.
Peace, Love and Gumbo~
Marvin LeBlanc