Salespeople wanna make sales

“I’ll have the CHICKEN please!” said the salesman. - www.v4all.org

Salespeople wanna make sales – and for the most part feel alone in the process.

One of the challenges all salespeople face is: What’s the best way? What is/are the way, the path, the words, and the actions that will lead me to the promised land? The sale.

Well, the one path that all salespeople want to avoid is the one that leads to “no.” Better known in the business as rejection, salespeople will go to great lengths to avoid “no.” Sometimes, many times, they will actually lose the sale by avoiding a situation where ‘no” is a possibility.

NOTE  WELL: I’m trying to be nice and write this in the third person, so as not to make you feel less than whole. But these conditions in the main refer to and apply to YOU. And I recommend that as you read them, you take specific notes as to how you can improve the weaknesses I’m addressing.

In no particular order, here are the examples and pitfalls of the actions you take or omit to avoid “no.” And here are the grim reality bites of what you will and won’t do:

•  Try to please everyone, without following the fundamental rules of salesmanship.

•  Willing to give a proposal without demanding an exact time and place for a face to face follow-up meeting to go over it with all decision makers.

•  Won’t ask to change or modify the terms of a bid or a proposal that would put you in a more favorable condition (years in business, video testimonials to prove your claims, financial worth).

•  Failure to get to a decision maker for fear of going around or over the person you’re meeting with. Sometimes you won’t go over someone’s head because you have nothing of value to give them other than your sales pitch.

•  Won’t start higher up the ladder on a sale, because you’re afraid to go beyond your comfort level of sales.

•  Accept the first no or I’m not interested as a final answer, and leave, rather than try to be rejected three or four times in the same call.

•  Call reluctant on cold calls instead of being prepared with a value message and confidence based on deep belief that the customer is better off having purchased from you.

•  Call reluctant on follow-up because you don’t want to get rejected. Reality: you have nothing of value to say or offer and just want the money.

•  Have five big customers but no ideas to call them with other than to ask for more business. So you don’t call (and you miss an opportunity that your competitor grabs).

•  Won’t call to confirm an appointment for fear it will be canceled. Because you have given no perceived value.

•  Won’t leave a voice mail. You know your call won’t be returned because you have/had nothing of value to say.

•  Will email when you should call, and wonder why it goes unreturned, or worse, unopened.

•  Will phone or email when you should visit. You think it’s “safe” when in reality it’s delaying the sale.

•  Taking the wrong approach. Looking for pain, because you don’t understand any other way. Why not look for pleasure?

•  Not using testimonials as final proof.

And then there are the 4.5 game changing elements of a sale that require your courage and intestinal fortitude. (Also known as having the guts to do, say, or pull it off.)

1. You won’t demand to be in on the final meeting – where the decision is really made.

2. You won’t call an angry customer back – and pass the complaint off to someone else, making the customer even angrier.

3. You will let accounting handle collections, and damage your relationship.

4. You don’t have the guts to tell someone “no,” when the situation just won’t work.

4.5 You don’t do what’s best for the customer. Offer a different product, a different service, even a different company, because you’re afraid to lose a sale or a commission.

Salespeople develop these “chicken” habits as they mature (or immature) in their career, based on their actions and reactions, and the actions and reactions of others.

• You walk on eggshells so as not to offend.

• You get stepped on and pushed aside by prospects.

• You take it on the chin from all people all the time.

• You try to mirror instead of harmonize.

• You’re scared to lose the sale (money) rather than doing the right thing, and helping the customer.

• You’re scared to ask for the sale for fear of rejection.

• You think you’re alone in the selling process.

• You’re asking for referrals rather than earning them.

Well, that’s enough evidence for you to change out of your chicken suit, and put on some designer clothes. Look the part, act the part, prove the part, and you’ll get the part – and the order.

Success in Sales

Success in Sales - www.v4all.org

This website is based on two truths : Sales success is self-determined : and sales success is based on four requirements.

Success in sales, as in life, is self determined. That is, it has more to do with what you do on a daily basis than any other factor. It is not our product that determines our success. For every product available, there is a successful sales person. It is not our territory that determines our success. We can take almost any territory, place in a new rep and often see a 10 to 20 percent increase in sales. Likewise, it is not our age, sex or even our experience that determines our sales success.

Success in sales is what you do and how well you do it. Let's look at the four requirements of a succesful sales strategy. They are considered requirements because each step is linked and as you master each one, you become more successful.

Desire:

Desire is the starting point for all sales success. If you do not have a strong will to get better...you won't. We all know of sales professionals who reach the top of their fields because of a burning desire. You can develop and fuel your desire daily. The strength of your desire is shown by the goals you set and the quality of service you give to others. You build your desire through goals.

Belief:

Many of us handicap ourselves as sales people due to underdeveloped belief. Without belief, we limit our growth, our experience, our sales and our income. Because we are told of all the things we think we can't do well, we start to think in terms of can't. Belief in oneself is developed one day at a time through a continuing process. Self-confidence is built by putting learning into action.

Self-Management:

We do pay the price of success. We pay it in advance. We pay it with our time. When we do not spend our time on higher priority items, then we are by default spending our time on lower priority ones. It is only through learning effective self-management we are able to improve.

People Skills:

Simply put, we cannot succeed on our own. Our success is directly related to the degree we effectively relate to others. Future columns will contain a variety of challenging and profitable ideas that will help you to sell more. Using these ideas will cause you to become more aware of what you do that works...and what you do that does not work. It will make you acutely aware of the truth...that your sales success is self-determined!

Each profitable idea will be followed by a demanding activity for you to complete. Included with each idea will be a contract for you to commit to. These Self-Coaching Contracts are designed to help you act on each time-tested technique.

This information is not about knowing. It is about doing. Remember it's not what you know that makes you money...It's what you do with what you know!

Words that sell

It's true a picture is worth a thousand words, but a few carefully selected phrases can also paint an exciting portrait of your product or service, says the Canadian Professional Sales Association (CPSA).

Many companies spend thousands of dollars on four-colour brochures only to lose the sale because they can't write a sales promotion or direct mail letter. Written correspondence is often the first impression your customer has of your company. Don't lose this opportunity to shine. To make that first contact count, CPSA offers the following tips:

Establish your objective for writing. There are many types of sales letters. You may want to send a direct mail piece that urges first-time customers to buy today. You may want to thank your existing customers by offering them a discount on your spring line. Perhaps your product needs a demonstration and you would like to set up an appointment. Each type of letter requires a different approach. Match the style and the tone of your language to the type of response you're looking for Grab your readers attention. A catchy headline and opening sentence are essential, especially in direct mail. Use exciting, engaging language that demands notice. Most important, demonstrate the benefits of buying your product or service: At ACME we understand that time is money, that's why we guarantee 24 hour service.

Use a call to action. The most important skill in sales is to know when to ask for the order. If you want your reader to respond then you have to explain what he or she has to do: Act now, call 1-800-123-4567 FREEwithin the next 10 days and you'll receive an extra 15% discount! Whatever your objective, make sure you clearly spell it out.

Accuracy is imperative. The most common mistakes in business correspondence occur in the address, the first thing the recipient notices. Make sure you have the correct spelling for each name on your list, their correct address including postal code, and if you're not sure whether a name is male or female, find out. The quickest way to turn-off Ms. Smith is to send her a letter addressed Mister.

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The Product

The very first rule about selling anything is you have to believe in what you are selling.

How many sales people do you meet and you know straight away that they don't believe in what they are selling because you can feel it when people are lying to you.

I have quite often got that feeling from used car sales people because they often know they are selling you something that you will be having trouble with later. Most of the time people sell cars because they are having trouble with them or they think they will start to have trouble with them soon.

People will know when you are genuine and will be able to feel your enthusiasm for the product.

Personally I would never ever sell something that I did not believe in.

So you are going to sell a product that you believe in.

Next thing you need to do is your research. Do your "homework".

Find out as much as you can about the product and the sort of people you will be selling the product to.

If you are selling to a select clientel then you will need to understand them and be able to talk to them in their "language" using their terminology.

If you are going to be selling to a wide range of people then you will have to become adept in being able to pick people and then speak to them in their language. Being able to communicate on all levels is the key....

When you communicate to a person at their level they feel comfortable with you and will relaxe and lower their resistance to sales people.

If you talk to a person and use a lot of technical terms that are over their heads they will think you are trying to make them feel stupid and will resist what you are saying and think that you are lying to them.

Therefore its important to keep things simple...learn how to translate anything complicated into more simple terms..if the situation lends itself you can have paper and pen and you can draw things and write things down to explain it to people using visuals will help someone understand something a bit more complicated.

Research doesn't stop with just your product. You will need also to research all of your competition. You will have to understand them and their product so you can compare your product to theirs and explain to a person why they should buy your product instead of the competitors.

If it was a retail situation, I would personally be a shopper in the other stores and find out what their key selling points are and come up with counter selling points.

Engaging the Customer

You must first make your customer feel comfortable with you.

This takes quite a bit of skill.

For example if you were working in shop that sold beds and you had signs saying not to lay on the bed and made the environment uncomfortable then you would find it hard to make the customer feel comfortable. I would find something about the person that I could relate to and talk to them about it. It might be through observation, like noting a persons dress, aftershave or something that you like, if they have children then you should try to relate to the children as well as this will make a person feel more relaxed if you are comfortable with their children. You might be able to find something by asking questions about certain things. Once you have found something in common and you have talked briefly about it to the person/people you will find they will be more relaxed with you. Understand that the more relaxed a person is the easier it will be to sell them something.

Then you can talk more about the product that you are selling and you will also have a better idea about the best level to communicate to the person on.

The Close

I would have my invoice book handy and would be writing down the products that the person is interested in and making suggestions of other products that would compliment the ones that they are interested in.Of course, before one can close a deal, one needs a merchant account that is responsive to your business. Businesses can have different requirements when is comes to a pay solution.If you need assistance in securing a merchant sales account, then go through a specialist broker.EMerchant Brokers are one such firm.

Once you have a list you can add it up and give them a price (never your best) watch their reaction. If they are happy with the price then you would simply say "Do you want to pay for that with cash or credit card". If you have followed the other steps you will find it will all flow naturally and the customer will just go along with you. If they insist on shopping around then you would naturally understand that. You would give them a card with your name and number on it and write the products that they have suggested on the card. (Don't write the prices) Tell them to go and shop around but to come back to you before they made the purchase. Say to them bring me back some quotes and I will do my best to do better.

They naturally want to buy from you because they "like" you. When they do come back with other quotes all you can do is your best to better them. If there is no possible way that you can do better than another company's price, just tell them.Next: See how to use Network marketing to advantage.

key to mastering any kind of sales - a big sales principle

The key to mastering any kind of sales - a big sales principle - is switching statements about you – how great you are and what you do, to statements about them – how great they are, and how they will produce more and profit more from ownership of your product or service.

Here’s the Secret: Take the word “we” and delete it. Delete it from your slides, your literature, and ESPECIALLY from your sales presentation. You can use “I” but you can’t use “we.”

Here’s the Power: When you stop using “we,” you have to substitute it for the word “you” or “they” and say things in terms of the customer. How they win, how they benefit, how they produce, how they profit , how they will be served, and how they have piece of mind.

“We” is for selling. ”You” is for buying.

Mandate for Understanding: Go through your entire presentation and  record it. Listen to it actively – which means take notes. Count the amount of times you use the word “we.” Take out the “we,” and begin to make value statements instead of selling statements.

Here’s the reality in plain English:

1. The buyer, the prospect, and the customer expects you to have knowledge of their stuff, not just your stuff. To transfer that knowledge, the prospect needs to understand and agree with your ideas, feel your passion, feel your belief, and feel your sincerity beyond the hype of your sales pitch.

2. You have to know their industry, not just your product.

3. You have to know their business, not just your product.

4. You have to know what’s new and what’s next, not just your product.

5. You have to know the current trends, not just your product.

6. You have to know their marketing, not just your product.

7. You have to know their productivity, not just your product.

7.5 You have to know their profit, not just your product.

key to mastering any kind of sales - a big sales principle

The key to mastering any kind of sales - a big sales principle - is switching statements about you – how great you are and what you do, to statements about them – how great they are, and how they will produce more and profit more from ownership of your product or service.

Here’s the Secret: Take the word “we” and delete it. Delete it from your slides, your literature, and ESPECIALLY from your sales presentation. You can use “I” but you can’t use “we.”

Here’s the Power: When you stop using “we,” you have to substitute it for the word “you” or “they” and say things in terms of the customer. How they win, how they benefit, how they produce, how they profit , how they will be served, and how they have piece of mind.

“We” is for selling. ”You” is for buying.

Mandate for Understanding: Go through your entire presentation and  record it. Listen to it actively – which means take notes. Count the amount of times you use the word “we.” Take out the “we,” and begin to make value statements instead of selling statements.

Here’s the reality in plain English:

1. The buyer, the prospect, and the customer expects you to have knowledge of their stuff, not just your stuff. To transfer that knowledge, the prospect needs to understand and agree with your ideas, feel your passion, feel your belief, and feel your sincerity beyond the hype of your sales pitch.

2. You have to know their industry, not just your product.

3. You have to know their business, not just your product.

4. You have to know what’s new and what’s next, not just your product.

5. You have to know the current trends, not just your product.

6. You have to know their marketing, not just your product.

7. You have to know their productivity, not just your product.

7.5 You have to know their profit, not just your product.

Yours 

www.v4all.org 

9790044225 

Obstacles Are Necessary for Success – Insight from Og Mandino

“Obstacles are necessary for success because in selling, as in all careers of importance, victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats. Yet each struggle, each defeat, sharpens your skills and strengths, your courage and your endurance, your ability and your confidence and thus each obstacle is a comrade-in-arms forcing you to become better… or quit. Each rebuff is an opportunity to move forward; turn away from them, avoid them, and you throw away your future.” -Og Mandino

3 Simple Tips to Increase Your Sales by 30%

Experts have been telling us for years that following up with your prospects and customers can increase your sales by 30%.

Ohhh, I think I just heard a loud groan from quite of few of you, along with, “Follow up? I hate following up, it feels like such a waste of time!”

So if that 30% number is really true, then why do less than 10 percent of salespeople actually follow up?  Well, we’ve got the “usual” reasons: lack of time, desire or it doesn’t work… and that might be true for some, but honestly? The simple fact is that most salespeople have never been taught how to effectively follow up.  And that’s probably not your fault.

Okay, so is it worth it to you if you could make one more sale a week?  What about getting one more qualified referral a week?  30% — that’d be a nice bump right? Yes? YES!!

Now for the disclaimer: there’s no magical follow-up formula, but use these three follow-up techniques and they’ll consistently net positive results.

1.  Find something you have in common with the customer, making your follow-up contact memorable. It could be hobbies, like interests (music, movies, sports, etc.) or philosophies. Just something that will let them know you can relate to them on their level.

2.  Make a friend of the customer – nobody minds being contacted by a friend. This doesn’t mean you have to invite them to your son’s wedding.  It might be something as simple as being more “neighborly” than “salesy”, sharing a joke and a laugh, or getting their advice on something you have in common.

3.  Speak to your customers’ goals, dreams or passions. If your customer loves cooking, send them a subscription to cooking magazine along with a quick reminder of how your product or service could give them more time or money to be doing what they dream of.

Essentially, you’re building a relationship with your customers and finding ways to connect with them only helps you reach that goal because it shows your prospect that you’re interested and willing to take the time to get to know them.

So using the 3 tips above, practice at least five different methods of follow-up – call, write, email, text or drop by. It really is that simple. We recommend you commit to follow up at least five times before you move on.

And finally, track the results of your follow up strategies – at least for a while – for two reasons:

1) to prove to yourself how beneficial effective follow up can be

2) so you can continue to do what brings you the greatest success.

What are you waiting for? Go get that 30% bump!

www.v4all.org 

IMPLEMENT THESE QUICK-AND-EASY HABITS TODAY TO FEEL HEALTHIER, HAPPIER, AND MORE PRODUCTIVE EVERY DAY

IMPLEMENT THESE QUICK-AND-EASY HABITS TODAY TO FEEL HEALTHIER, HAPPIER, AND MORE PRODUCTIVE EVERY DAY.

A habit, according to the dictionary, is a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up. Habits can be great things to adopt. However, we can all easily fall into poor routines, too…and that’s when bad habits start.

Whether they’re productive or not so much, all humans are creatures of habit. We wake up, brush our teeth, get dressed, go to work, go to sleep, over and over and over again.

Eventually, you have to break the never-ending cycle and change it up a bit, becoming cognizant of the many habits—both good and bad—that we follow in our lives.

I’ve learned this the hard way.

For a long period of time, I had been following the usual routine: wash, rinse, and repeat.  I realized I was so stuck in certain routines that I had become bored with my life and my work.  I needed an outlet to express my creativity, and that’s when I decided things had to change.

Of course, daily life, in general, can be repetitive, but that doesn’t mean you always have to stick with the same routine. Remain aware of the habits you’ve developed; work hard to maintain the good ones and change the bad. {Click to Tweet}

Daily life, in general, can be repetitive, but that doesn’t mean you always have to stick with the same routine. Remain aware of the habits you’ve developed; work hard to maintain the good ones and change the bad.

Here are just a few of the best habits you can adopt today:

MAKE YOUR BED

I know it sounds silly, but you’d be surprised at how much more productive you can be throughout the day if you make your bed in the morning. 

Why? Because it will give you a sense of accomplishment immediately (trust me, I’ve experienced it first-hand).

It also unclutters your space and encourages discipline, as you stick to that morning ritual. Try it out tomorrow morning; you’ll see what I mean.

Related: 5 Ways to Spring Clean Your Life

KEEP YOURSELF HYDRATED

We all know how important it is to stay hydrated throughout the day. But did you know it can also impact your mood? There’s even been studies that prove it.

Drinking water is an essential part of every day life. Rather than seeing it as a chore, think of it as having a positive impact on your health. If you don’t think water has enough flavor, try adding some frozen fruit or citrus to it for a burst of flavor.

MEDITATE

If you tend to get stressed out super easily and need a quick break from reality, meditation should be your best friend. This relaxation technique helps you instantly calm down and think clearly; think of it as a mental refresh!

The best part is that you can get a good meditation session in before work to set your mood for the day.

Try this simple meditation exercise:

• Find a quiet spot and sit cross-legged in a comfortable seated position
• Place your palms lightly on top of your knees
• Start taking deep breaths and close your eyes halfway
• Focus on one single (non-moving) object in your sight
• Simply gear all of your energy to this one object and free your mind of any conflicting thoughts

WORK IT OUT

I can’t stress enough how much exercise can greatly impact your life—all the more reason to integrate it into your daily or weekly routine early on.

I never used to exercise and I noticed my mood and energy levels were drastically changing. I had an irregular appetite, frequent mood swings, and serious fatigue all.the.time. Then, I thought: “Why am I sitting here moping around when I can get my life on track?” That’s when exercise came into the picture.

Since I’ve started exercising regularly, my mood hasn’t been changing as often, I have tons more energy, and I can sleep much better.

Since I’ve started exercising regularly, my mood hasn’t been changing as often, I have tons more energy, and I can sleep much better.

Do yourself a favor and do some sort of exercise—even if it’s just 30 minutes—every day. You’ll be happy you did!

MAINTAIN BALANCE 

Maintaining a proper work-life balance can seem like a huge challenge. When you work at least 40 hours a week, it’s difficult to know when it’s time to unplug and unwind. We are often so concentrated on meeting that end sales goal or preparing for that big presentation that we forget to take time for ourselves.

It might be beneficial to designate time for yourself every day so you can actually remember to take a step back. Whether it’s an exercise class, a Netflix binge-watching session, a walk on the beach, or a simple pat on the back, make it a habit to do something nice for yourself everyday. {Click to Tweet}

You don’t have to adopt all of these at once. Make the best out of your daily routine by finding what works for you—not your friends, not your parents, not your roommate—you. Even if you develop just one more effective and empowering habit per day, that will get you on the right track to success.

Use these ten retail selling tips to make sure you get the most from yourself and your crew

Use these ten retail selling tips to make sure you get the most from yourself and your crew:

1. Set the expectation. Before you clock-in or even walk in the door stop yourself and do an expectation check. What are you concentrating on? Will customers be hostile, mean, penny-pinching lookie-lous or will it be a fun day helping people buy from you? One of the old sales pros used to say, "Garbage in, garbage out" so watch what you listen to or watch before coming to work as it might trap you into a negative world-view.

2. Take care in how you look. Yes you can wear sneakers but no, you probably shouldn't. A sign at Piperlime's pop-up store in SOHO said it all, "It's time to give up lazy dressing altogether because its time to look fabulous again. Let's show each other and ourselves a little more respect. Let's put Saturday night effort into Sunday afternoon. Let's remember you get what you dress for so let's get dressed." Excellent points!

3. Watch what you say. It is a fact we love to talk about people. From the craziest Internet stories to celebrity falls from grace, gossip is more popular than ever. The danger is that it comes from a place where we feel better about ourselves at someone else's expense. That's the opposite of selling. You should feel better about someone as a result of them coming in your shop.

4. Don't judge. I know, this is hard but you can't judge a book by its cover or a customer by their clothes. When we do that to try to decide who is worth our efforts, we're oftentimes wrong and settle for crumbs when we can have the whole banquet.

5. You're there to serve. Knights of the round table used to kneel as an act of servitude to their master or to royalty. It was an outward sign of servitude toward another. [Don't confuse this with slavery.] The act of serving another goes back to biblical times and is mentioned throughout literature as one of the greatest gifts to humanity. In retail right now, we often have employees acting as King or Queen, that they are doing the customer the favor. This is wrong.

6. Know your close ratio. Keep count one day of every customer you encounter and every customer you ring up. Divide the two to find your ratio of sales to visits. At first, this might be 1 out of every 10. With practice, you'll find by being aware of all the customers you had to sell, you've made more sales.

7. Sell something you hate. Find the ugliest thing in your store you can. This shouldn't be hard. Determine to find five things about it you love using the feature "it has" to link to the benefit for the customer "so you." What you'll find is that once you give up your assumptions and personal bias, you can find several things to make a compelling case why a customer should buy an item.

8. Stop selling the easy. Sure it's 30% off and has free financing for twenty years. But is that selling? Something like that will sell itself - you're not stretching yourself.

9. Be willing to risk the sale. Sometimes, things just aren't going well. The customer is at odds with you and it just feels like you aren't on the same page. Ask, "Excuse me, but have I done something to offend you?" If you say it without malice or sarcasm most will apologize and give you a reason that has nothing to do with you. Without getting that out of the way though, you're just frustrating yourself and the customer. With addressing it head-on, you oftentimes make the bigger sale.

10. It's just a game. Selling is very fluid, sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you blow it and many times you make it happen. The goal is definitely to sell everyone but lighten up, millions of orphans won't miss a meal because a customer walked out on you. Be able to look at a sale afterwards and say, "I could have done this better." Take stock and then move on because you have another opportunity to shine walking in the door. - www.v4all.org

10 WAYS TO BUILD YOUR PERSONAL BRAND

YOU KNOW YOU NEED A GOOD “PERSONAL BRAND”. BUT HOW EXACTLY DO YOU GET ONE? WE’LL TELL YOU 10 DIFFERENT WAYS.
People have always had “personal brands”—everyone who knows of famous women like Amelia Earhart, Gloria Steinem, or Mother Theresa can describe who they are, what they valued, and their life’s mission. Although the concept is not new, the term “personal brand” has become a buzzword only recently.

So what is it, exactly?

Your personal brand is how people see you; how they’d describe you—similar to how people describe famous people or companies. It is the set of values and characteristics that describe who you are and guide your choices—in work and in life.

Your personal brand is what makes you, you.

Being aware of, and ultimately in control of, your personal brand is an essential component of building a successful career. It’s essentially a guiding statement that can help you make personal and professional decisions. A solid personal brand helps people understand who you are, what you offer, what you value, and the quality of work they can expect from you.

It is essentially your reputation.

In the past, your reputation may have been familiar only to those you actually know, such as friends, family members, and colleagues. But the Internet has made everybody’s reputation that much more accessible.Wondering how to be proactive about building your personal brand? These tips are a great place to start: 

1. DEFINE YOUR BRAND

Take out a piece of paper and write down the words and values that people would use to describe you. Be honest and choose words that are positive and authentic to who you are.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross has said (in one of my all-time favorite quotes): “We think sometimes we’re only drawn to the good, but we’re actually drawn to the authentic. We like people who are real more than those who hide their true selves under layers of artificial niceties.”  

I believe that you can only be happy when you are accepted for being who you really are. So, as you consider your personal brand, strive to be the best possible version of yourself, but don’t try to be someone you’re not.

2. HAVE A SPECIALTY

Specializing in a skill that is relevant to your field—and being vocal about that!—will help you stand out in the crowd. Companies call this a point of differentiation—consider how your brand (in this case, you) is different from everyone else “on the market”. Why should people choose you over everyone else?

If you can’t think of a skill that’s your specialty, then learn one. This usually means that you have to learn on your own, but that’s easier than ever before—take classes, read industry specific publications, add a passion project, and volunteer for projects that will help you develop your niche. My specialty is blogging and freelance writing and I primarily got my current job because they needed someone who could create and execute blog strategies for clients.

Everyone hopes to be indispensable at work and having a specialty is an excellent way to provide extra value!

3. WRITE YOUR BIO

Write a short bio—or update the one you have!—so you have it ready. A professional bio is a necessity for freelance writing gigs, networking events, speaking on panels, and keeping your LinkedIn profile up-to-date.

Your bio might include your education, work experience, any published writing or press hits, awards you’ve received, volunteer work, and possibly even some of your personal interests.

(I personally love it when people add something quirky at the end of their bio!)

Just make sure to tailor your bio to your audience!

4. CREATE A BLOG OR PERSONAL WEBSITE

When I started my blog, I never imagined that anyone other than my closest friends and family would read it. I certainly never imagined that my blog might help me get hired for new jobs—and yet, that’s exactly what happened.

Blogging is a great, and often free, way to showcase your creativity and non-academic writing. Even if you don’t yet have your dream job, you can write about your dream industry—whether it’s fashion or the environment.

Although many people find blogging to be fun, it can also take a lot of time. If you aren’t interested in blogging, you can still create a personal website, using your name as the domain name, and highlight your skills and experience there.

5. USE LINKEDIN

LinkedIn is yet another Internet home where you can promote your academic or career changes and achievements. It is, essentially, your digital, public resume.

Speaker and strategist, Kelly Hoey, has said: “If you don’t brag about your career and your achievements, who is going to do it? You need to own your expertise and you need to put it out there. If you don’t own your accomplishments, someone else will. It’s not bragging if you can back it up.”

LinkedIn allows you to put your accomplishments out there for the world (and future employers, partners, and connections) to see. Also, if you set up a LinkedIn profile, it will be one of the first things that people see when they search for you online, so it’s another easy way to exercise control over your digital persona.

6. BUILD YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Whether you’re shy or outgoing, it’s important to be able to communicate well—particularly about yourself—as you build your brand.

I recommend taking public speaking courses, writing courses, and simply practicing regularly. Learn how to tell your story. One way to do this is to practice both a personal and a professional “pitch.”

Before networking events, I always prepare a quick summary of my personal and professional interests and experiences. It is really helpful to be able to quickly and concisely explain what you do, why it is important to you, and your extracurricular interests.

7. PARTICIPATE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is a perfect—and free!—platform for positively promoting your brand. You can share articles, blog posts, and work-related achievements.

You might also follow people in your industry and jump into relevant conversations by using trending hashtags or those that are most popular in your industry.

Just make sure that everything you post on social media is a good representation of your brand. I follow what I call the “The New York Times Test”: If I wouldn’t want it to end up on The New York Times, I don’t post it.

8. BUILD YOUR NETWORK

In order to build and share your personal brand, you need to also be building your professional network—both in and out of the office. Networking isn’t just important when you are looking for a job. If I’ve learned anything from my career profile series, I’ve learned that you can consistently learn from other people’s career paths and insights at every stage of your career.

So take advantage of the opportunities in your city and your industry to meet new people. You never know how that new connection might be of service to you—or you to them—in the future!

9. SAY NO

Now that you have your personal brand in place, protect it. Say no to opportunities, projects, freelance work, or social media posts that are not aligned with your brand.

10. DO GOOD WORK & LIVE YOUR VALUES

Your work and actions speak volumes about your personal brand—and you, as an individual. You can say you hold certain values, but your actions, your experience, and your words have to embody them.

In my office, we have a 360 degree annual review, which means that both your manager and a selection of colleagues all contribute by answering a survey of questions. When I had my annual review, I got a lot of insight into my reputation at the company.

One thing that stuck out was that almost everyone said that I am passionate about both the company culture, client work, and my career. I’ve always thought that being passionate is part of my personal brand, and it became clear through my review that I actually embody that.
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