[vc_row margin_top=”-40″ padding_left=”40″ padding_right=”40″ type=”3″ bg_position=”top” bg_repeat=”no-repeat” bg_cover=”false” bg_attachment=”false” padding_top=”25″ padding_bottom=”0″ parallax_speed=”0.1″ css=”.vc_custom_1399373744721{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]
The P’s of Personal Marketing: Part 2
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][dt_gap height=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]This is the third part in a three-part series of posts taken from an article I wrote that was published in Marketing Mix.
In my last post, I examined the first four of the eight P’s of personal marketing that will help you to take your personal marketing to the next level. In this post, I look at the other four: Passion, Personality, Product (and presentation) and Proof.
Passion – Passion is your brand’s fuel. Great brands ooze passion. If you want to get your brand ‘out there’, exude enthusiasm and energy in everything you do. The assumption underlying this ‘P’ is that you’re living your life’s true passion and purpose. If you’re doing a job for a job’s sake, there’s little chance that you will be exuding passion. Purpose and passion are often different sides of the same coin.
Personality – Powerful brands are authentic and true to who they are. When you expose more of who you are, you are perceived to be more ‘real’. Being in touch with who you are; what you stand for; your strengths; weaknesses and idiosyncrasies makes you slightly vulnerable. This may sound like a bad thing, but actually your target market can relate to you far better when there is congruence between what you say you are and how you come across.
Product and presentation – Have you defined what you do in terms of problems you solve for your target market and solutions you put in place? Unless people understand what benefits they derive from being associated with you and why they should deal with you, there is very little sense of ‘what’s in it for me’. Once you have defined the value you add, ensure you communicate it consistently across the different channels you are involved in. In this way, you are continuously reinforcing what you stand for and what makes you different and how your brand adds value.
Proof – If you want your brand to have substance and credibility, you need continuous proof of its value. Give substance to what you say. Use scientific proof or quantitative evidence to your arguments. Writing up appropriate case studies and collecting relevant testimonials are great ways of giving substantive evidence of your achievements and these are perceived very positively by your target market.
An incredibly important over-riding ‘P’ is perception. Do you have a good understanding of how your brand comes across to others and how you are perceived relative to how you want to be perceived? If you are in touch with perceptions, you are able to make the necessary tweaks and adjustments to your brand as you go along.
As in marketing a product or service, you need to make time for marketing your personal brand. Marketing is not a natural activity for most of us, so you need to make time to ensure you are able to market you brand in the best way possible as well as getting appropriate visibility.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]