Marketing Your Biggest Asset…i.e. YOU!
- sugandindesilva
- Mar 20, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 6, 2021
If you are a fresh graduate, you may have just been sitting in front of your smart device and applying for your dream job. Or at the very least something that will pay for your electric bills. After your 50th application proved to no avail, you may have desperately started googling, and hence you landed right on my humble abode!
Firstly, Welcome.
Secondly, I’m sorry for your frustrations.
Thirdly, there’s a better way!
So how can someone possibly win the hunger game for that entry level graduate position on a top tier company? How can you market you, your greatest asset?
Those that are avid ‘How I met Your Mother’ fans may remember the scene where Barney created a video resume that landed Robin a near impossible job. Though I make no recommendations to reinvent the english language (admittedly “Possimpible” has a nice ring to it!), Barney may not have been far from the mark in thinking outside the box.
The RACE marketing planning model by Dave Chaffey in 2010 maximises the value offered through the efforts of digital marketing.
To promote you as an entity and a personal brand, of particular interest are “Reach” and “Act”. Chaffey coins the terms as following:
REACH: Build awareness on other sites and in offline media and drive to web presences. ACT: Engage audience with brand on its website or other online presence.
Let’s talk about REACH…
You may have heard of the saying below. Despite its overuse by marketers, the truth of it still holds.
“Carve a niche and then carve a niche within your niche”
The way to carve a niche is specificity and that comes from knowing your target audience. Do you want to appeal to every single employer from every possible industry, or do you have a specific career goal in mind? If so, then you need to tailor your message to target those specific employers. This will give you clarity around the message and the content needed to best relay that message to your prospective employers.
Build a culture of trust. The best way to do that is by being your authentic self. Do not take the easy, superficial route. Be an individual that is a “giver” of high calibre practical information and guidance within the focused area or niche that you desire to be seen as formidable.
According to Harris & Rae (2011), the inevitable outcome over time for those that navigate this correctly is that they establish themselves as an “expert” within that niche. And authentic connectivity can be seen by adding value to others within the same area of expertise. An authentic personal brand is backed up by their reputation of deliverance which promises the target audience (in this case a prospective employer) that the same results can be expected in the future.
If you are not already blogging, now is definitely the time to start! It is a great tool of self-expression where your personality can shine through and your voice can be heard, creating awareness of you as a personal brand, and further powering and solidifying that space within the specific niche you want to carve for yourself. Blogs are an effective tool of viral marketing when there’s considerable traffic back to your posts through link sharing. A “network effect” can be created if other bloggers link to a post on your blog, or if you start commenting on their blogs. To further increase the hits on the major search engines, sought out the blogs of other “experts” within your desired niche and comment on their posts.
The end goal is ACTion…
Great! So through strategic REACH, you increased awareness and managed to get your dream employer to your personal website.
Now what? Now we impress them!
It goes without saying that your personal website will include links back to the relevant social media platforms like LinkedIn where your credibility will be shown through testimonials of your previous colleagues and employers.
But your website will be the ideal platform to host your video resume, sharing your specific narrative the way you choose to. Despite Barney’s success in securing Robin’s position at her dream job, a video resume is still an unconventional concept and you may forego formality if the right balance isn’t found. But this unique, innovative method maybe what you precisely need to make your personal brand stand out in the niche you worked so hard to carve out.
The Undercover Recruiter highlights that with video resumes there’s an immediate grab of attention and skills (such as communication) become blatantly obvious the moment you hit play, as well the control you have of answering employers’ questions upfront without them even having to ask it. These points make video resumes something to seriously consider in enhancing you and your website.
By implementing these techniques, your values, your expertise and your personal brand will be loud and clear. And you can truly bring YOU, your greatest asset and the best you have to offer, on to the table for prospective employers.
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