One of the things that I do in my business is to coach Real Estate Professionals, especially in the new internet tools that they need to learn.
Inman.com is the top information source for Real Estate news. This post was on the site today:
http://www.inman.com/buyers-sellers/columnists/berniceross/video-killed-business-card
Bernice goes over the ways that you can use video in marketing yourself and your listings.
Everybody needs to keep learning, and pushing a bit past your comfort zone. If you are “comfortable”, that probably means that you are outdated!
If you want someone to hold your hand and show you how to use Social Networking and Social Media, contact me about my affordable and effective coaching services!
http://www.drsallywitt.com/real-estate-coaching/
Dr. Sally Witt
215-736-0900
drsallywitt@gmail.com
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An associate and I presented a workshop on how to become an effective self-marketing machine. I was struck again by the amount of natural resistance some people have to promoting themselves, their company, their consulting practices, etc. This is particularly prevalent among those in technical professions. Having “grown up” as an actuary, I can understand it. In fact, someone recently commented that he was disappointed I didn’t show “more compassion for the fact that most actuaries instinctively abhor the whole idea of promotion because we believe that everything, including our own professional worth, should be evaluated on its merits.”
Actuaries are almost conditioned to think this way. We used to be able to get ahead simply by passing actuarial exams, and didn’t need to get our hands dirty with all of those office politics. Then, after years of hard work, we achieved our credentials and found ourselves in management positions, perhaps even at an officer level, without really ever having had to do much self-promotion.
We thought, “Why can’t everyone just automatically recognize our good work and reward us appropriately?” It was a rude awakening to find out that the world doesn’t work that way. There are lots of others doing good work, and unless you make the effort to show the unique value you are delivering, you are likely to be left behind.
This can be a particular problem for people who grew up in Eastern cultures, where they are taught to be self-effacing. I often encounter people with résumés that say very little about what they have accomplished or what it meant to their company, either because they don’t know how to ‘sell’ their achievements, or because they feel it’s not appropriate for them to “boast” about themselves. Now think about that statement for a minute. If you honestly tell me what you accomplished, and what results that produced for your employer, is that really boasting?
A lot of this has to do with how you present the information. To paraphrase the GEICO auto insurance ads, if I come up to you at a meeting and say, “I’ve got good news, I just saved my company a bundle on its administrative systems!” you probably will consider it boasting. On the other hand, if I’m having a comfortable conversation with you, and at some point you ask me what I do, I don’t think I would get that same reaction if I say, “I help companies make the most of their investment in new administrative systems.” In fact, you may be inclined to ask me to explain how I do that!
Relying on everyone around you to automatically recognize the good work you do and ensure you get rewarded for it is a recipe for failure. Your parents did that because they loved you. Your boss will (hopefully) make a good faith effort to do that, but may not be aware of everything you do. One of the important contributions you make is to prevent problems that might otherwise have made it to your boss’s desk; how will someone recognize problems that didn’t occur? And beyond your boss, how many people have a real incentive to recognize your good work, or take the time to make a point of recognizing it? How many times have you received outstanding service, and actually gotten around to writing that letter to tell their company, or even called over the manager to say “Hey, I wanted to make sure you know what a great job your employee did!”
Being prepared to appropriately promote yourself, your company, your products, or your consulting practice is critical to your success. This means getting into the habit of presenting all of your accomplishments in terms of what results they achieved for your client or company. This means getting really clear on what the package is that you have to offer, and particularly its benefits.
A lot of people get hung up on features – eg, this cell phone will let you take photos, send Emails, and text message anyone you want. Those don’t sell me on buying the phone. Tell me what benefit I’m going to get out of those features, why I would ever want to take a photo with my phone instead of my digital camera; why I would want to type an email on a tiny keyboard and view it a few words at a time on the phone’s screen; why I would ever text message someone instead of calling them! Use the same approach in promoting yourself – tell me what makes you different from other people in your profession, what value you have added to the company.
The next time you run into the CEO at the company cocktail party, keep this in mind: When the CEO asks you “What do you do?”, you can answer the question literally and say “I develop products for our annuity line,” and miss your opportunity. Or you can instead answer the question the CEO is really asking, “Why am I paying your salary? What value do you add to my company?” If you learn to do that, the CEO will remember you, and you will be recognized for the good work you do.
Self-promotion need not be a dirty word, or even uncomfortable. You don’t even need to feel that you are “selling” yourself, just creating opportunities for others to see your best side.
John West Hadley
Career Search Counselor
(908) 725-2437
“Unlock The Hidden Job Market”
Get Career Tips at www.JHACareers.com
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