Self Marketing for Freelancers and Entrepreneurs
Consulting and coaching for your self-marketing and branding

Overview

• Self Marketing for Freelancers and Entrepreneurs

Self Marketing for Freelancers and Entrepreneurs

I have heard it so many times; “I know my job inside out!
Why should I care about self-marketing? I need to concentrate fully on my work!”.
This is a statement commonly heard from freelancers and entrepreneurs.
And – for sure; quality is essential.
But what is the reality in today’s business environment?
Is quality enough to succeed?
And how do other people even know about the quality of your work?
So many people are competing for the spotlight.
The marketplace is crowded and bustling with action.

If this is the case in your field of expertise; you need to establish a well-known name and reputation if you hope to get ahead.
Regardless of your age or chosen career field, you have a personal brand, a reputation that must be carefully maintained and vigorously promoted.
No matter how modest you are, sometimes you have to toot your own horn.

Professionals must promote their personal brands to be noticed in a competitive world.
Whether you're hoping for a promotion, striving to bag your biggest client ever, or just trying to make a difference in your field you bear the responsibility for building that brand, shaping it and promoting it to the general public.

As a good self marketeer, you can recruit the services of others, but the responsibility to carry out a good marketing strategy is solely yours.
No one is going to go out of the way to seek out your potential.
You have to develop it and proclaim it to your target audience.

To do a good job, this must be strategically planned.
Just as major corporations have strategic marketing plans, so should you, since you are essentially a business unto yourself.
And a marketing expert will tell you how to do that.

You will need to assess your strengths and weaknesses.
What are your strengths?
How to realize your potential?

It will be necessary to define your target audience - the group of people to whom your self-marketing message is directed.
Identify who you most need to impress and focus your attention on them.
Once you have all this figured out, you will need a system or mechanism to deliver your message to the target audience.

The delivery method of your self-marketing plan demands focus.

Portray your image to your target audience by using the mass media to your advantage.
This can mean a lot of different things: You may submit original editorial to newspapers and magazines.
You may become an expert in a particular field and this make you available to reporters as an expert source.
Send out press releases about anything newsworthy that you do.

I have seen firsthand the powerful self-marketing benefits that come from using the media.
Thousands of people have seen me on TV, have listened to me on the radio and read my interviews in newspapers and magazines.
It is an investment that has led to more business opportunities for me.

In addition to harnessing the media, you may choose to promote your image by networking and getting involved in an array of civic, professional and social organizations.
Do you know those people who do such a good job of networking that they are always present at any important event?

There are so many methods to communicate your reputation to your target audience.
The key is to plan ahead before you start doing the actual communication.
If your self-marketing is strategically planned, it will come across as more sincere and less like egotistical boasting.
It will prevent you from wasting time on activities that are simply not very effective.

To be effective in self-marketing, you need to acquire the right set of skills.
For some, these skills seem to come naturally and for others, developing good self-marketing skills needs profound training
Regardless of how adept you are now, you can always improve.
Skilful execution means that you can market your personal brand in an authentic, tasteful and effective way.
Remember; every presentation is also a self-presentation.

I’ll show you what these skills are and how to use them.

It is important to remember that good self-marketing is consistent.
People like consistency in other people.
And the consistency of you and your offer as a freelancer - your personal brand – needs goals, strategies, skills and motivation.

Keywords

Consulting, coaching, self-presentation, skills, goals, strategies, motivation, reputation, freelancer, brand, branding, product, service, idea, personality, training, self-management, attributes, needs, want, clients, marketing, reputation, marketing-strategy

Copyright 

© 1998 - 2012 Karsten Noack: Consulting, Coaching & Training Berlin
How to present yourself and your offer successfully
Updated 05/10/12 - LBD