Essentials of Marketing for Today's Job Hunters

How many job hunters know anything at all about sales & marketing? Unless you came from that field, the answer probably is "Not so much."

There is a marketing guru here in the New York area whose funny tagline is "Your marketing sucks."

I'm sure he's right.

I had a cup of coffee with a friend, talking about today's job search and more specifically our respective marketing efforts. I am not a marketing guy. He is.

His comment was that success is 90% marketing.

When I asked him to break it down for me, here is what he offered:

- Marketing is getting noticed by the people who can hire you.
- Marketing is demonstrating to them that you are the answer to the problems they need solved.
- Marketing is making it very clear that you are the right person for the assignment.

When I asked if he could be more specific, he said he is writing a book and did not want to give away his formula. But he did say this:

- You have to shift your thinking.

Essentially, you must create your own marketplace by approaching employers that you have identified as your targets and offering specific solutions to their problems.

So how do you get started on this?

Another friend of mine said to me, "Terry, I am of the old school that says the best marketing is a damn good product or service."

He reminded me of a classic model that pinpoints the four steps in any marketing effort:

1) Identify a list of the potential customers with a high likelihood of need for your product or service.

2) Develop a relationship with someone in that company. (Using your network, as well as LinkedIn, can help here.)

3) Show them what you can do, even if it is done for free at first. Deliver with excellence.

4) Sell them on hiring you as the solution to their problems.

Four steps seems easy, right. It isn't. Especially if marketing is not your area of expertise. 

Some experts say that marketing to one client can take years of effort to win a sale.

If you are a job hunter in this economy, you don't have years. You need work now. So the question becomes, How can you take these concepts of marketing and accelerate the process?

So let's get more granular in this post about some strategies that job hunters can adapt and use to accelerate their job search.

In 1997, the management guru Tom Peters wrote a classic article for Fast Company about marketing entitled "The Brand Called You." In it, he wrote:

"No matter what you're doing today, there are four things you've got to measure yourself against. First, you've got to be a great teammate and a supportive colleague. Second, you've got to be an exceptional expert at something that has real value. Third, you've got to be a broad-gauged visionary -- a leader, a teacher, a farsighted "imagineer." Fourth, you've got to be a businessperson -- you've got to be obsessed with pragmatic outcomes."

Though these words still ring true today, let's update his article a bit. Each of the following four strategies is an essential element in your marketing plan.

Your Team - Who is on your team? What? You don't have a team? In today's economic climate, you cannot go it alone as a job hunter. You must form your own support team. A team (even a team of two) can give you input, as well as to hold your feet to the fire and impel you forward.

Your Expertise - Everyone is an expert at something. How about you? This is no time for modesty. Pinpoint your expertise and bring it forward. Do not put your light under a bushel basket. Look for ways to put your expertise on display so that you raise your visibility and get noticed.

Your Vision - What work do you want to do next? Where do you want to do it? Do you want to go back inside corporate and work for a boss? Or do you want to work for yourself? Don't sell yourself short or paint yourself into a narrow corner. Think big.

Your Solution - Employers are looking for problem solvers. Are you the solution? Tom Peters says that everyone has a brand. What is yours? Your brand is the promise of the value that you will deliver to the customer. Think of it as the application of your expertise to the problems the customer needs to solve.

Note: To read the Tom Peters' article, click this link: http://www.fastcompany.com/28905/brand-called-you

Terrence H. Seamon is an organization development consultant and coach who provides leadership and team development services to employers in New Jersey. His book Lead the Way explores the challenges of leadership. Additionally, Terry is a job search and career coach whose book To Your Success provides a motivational guide for anyone in transition. His third book, Change for the Better, provides leaders with a guide to navigating through organizational change. Terry co-founded and co-moderates the St. Matthias Employment Ministry in Somerset, NJ. He can be reached at thseamon@yahoo.com and via his website:http://about.me/terrenceseamon