How to Market Yourself:
Stand Out and Be Noticed to Excel in Any Economy

It is always important to market yourself to achieve your goals in work and life. The self-marketing skill is more important than ever as competition for jobs and work increases in a tight economy.

Marketing yourself will help you attract visibility and recognition, confidently ask for and receive a raise, command attention when you speak up in meetings, network effectively, and have great interviewing skills. You brand yourself and get noticed for what YOU want to be noticed for.

Here are some tips on how to promote yourself and get noticed:

• Make yourself an expert. When you are an expert on a topic, people automatically think of you and you don’t even have to try to be noticed. For example, at work, select a key aspect of your job and learn everything possible about it and let people know what you’ve learned.

• Be a magnet. Draw people to you by exuding confidence, charisma, and passion. No one can resist these characteristics. This is one of my favorite self marketing strategies because it is so simple: be cheerful and energetic and people will be attracted to you.

• Adopt a signature look. Get noticed and be memorable for your fashion flare. Your signature look can be a color, an accessory, a style (for example, 1950s glam), or a haircut.

• Take a side. Rather than worrying about offending people and choosing a middle of the road position, take a stance. People will respect you for it and it will show your conviction and courage.

• Pay a compliment. Interestingly focusing on others is a powerful way to be noticed. Pick something specific and let someone know that you like it. For example, go up to a colleague and say, “I thought your comment in the meeting was insightful, it really got me thinking.”

• Speak with confidence. Your voice is a powerful tool in getting attention and recognition. Speak loudly, clearly, and at a natural speed (not too slow or you’ll be dull and not too fast or people will think you’re nervous).

• Smile with your eyes. Research has shown that people find smiles to be most genuine when your eyes scrunch up a bit (don’t worry about the crow’s feet!). These form of smiling puts people at ease and makes you more likeable and influential.

• Be a great storyteller. One of the best ways to command attention is with an engaging story, preferably one that includes some humor. At work, instead of saying, “The result we got was…”, tell a bit of the story about how you got their highlighting your role in achieving the result.

You may feel as though you lack self-marketing skills at first and it may not be comfortable. Remember that you are not putting on an act or being inauthentic in any way by using these skills. Remember also the saying “a high tide raises all ships.” You will be benefiting others along with yourself. And finally, remember that the more you do difficult things, the easier they become. You’ll see that the benefits are definitely worth it.

Larina Kase, PsyD, MBA is a business psychologist and the New York Times bestselling author of the new book The Confident Leader: How the Most Successful People Go from Effective to Exceptional. Get powerful self and business improvement tools at http://www.ConfidentLeaderBook.com

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