How to Market Yourself Effectively

It doesn't matter whether you run your own business, are an employee or job seeker, if you market yourself well, you will achieve success. Marketing is about finding your unique abilities and being able to communicate these to others effectively.

You may have heard of the saying "people buy people", so take the opportunity to let people know why they should promote you, employ you or buy from you. Here are my tips to market yourself effectively:

Transition Coaching

1. Write down a list of your strengths and skills and use these as selling points when you meet new people. What is unique about you? What sets you apart from anyone else? How can you make sure you market yourself at every opportunity?

How to Market Yourself Effectively

2. Develop a succinct message that you can share with others that takes about 10-20 seconds to deliver. In business, this is known as an elevator speech - who you are and what you can do for others. Design and practice your message.

3. Remember that every time you communicate, this is the opportunity to make an impact. Make sure that anything you put in writing, such as a letter or CV is clear, concise and easy to read. And remember to include the strengths you have identified above.

4. You also communicate by what you wear and whether it is appropriate for the occasion. You may wish to research the dress code and give yourself plenty of time to decide what to wear. Choose your outfit wisely with the appropriate accessories, and remember to clean your shoes!

5. Make a great first impression. People tend to make a first impression of you within the first few minutes of meeting you. When you meet new people, use appropriate eye contact, a firm handshake, and smile!

6. Preparation is key. Whether you are going to a networking event or a job interview, it is important to prepare in advance. Plan the journey before you leave, know who you are going to meet and plan what you are going to say.

What do you do to market yourself effectively? Let me know - email me today!

How to Market Yourself Effectively

Five Steps to Effectively Managing Organizational Change

An organization is, quite simply, any group of individuals who come together to try to achieve mutual goals by means of a division of labor. This is done by means of setting goals that will further the organization's growth and viability within the existing social and economic milieu as well as developing agreements among the people comprising the organization as to who will do what and when and under whose supervision and guidance.

When contemplating changing anything about these arrangements, it is well to be advised to start at the beginning of why and how this existing arrangement came to be and why it exists at the current time. After all, what has come to be accepted and observed as the standard operating procedures of an organization came about for good reasons and have been effective at achieving beneficial results for a period of time (perhaps a very long period of time). Altering an accepted, comfortable and heretofore useful way of doing things is challenging. The initial challenge that presents itself is fully comprehending and appreciating the foundational narrative of the organization and the collective experiences that members have shared since its inception. In other words, what of its past makes the organization tick today?

Transition Coaching

After coming to a thorough understanding of what makes the current organization tick, there are five steps that need to be taken sequentially in order to effect effective change.

Five Steps to Effectively Managing Organizational Change

1. The first step to take in initiating change within any type of organization is to create acute awareness of how things are now and how this state of affairs falls short of accomplishing stated goals and objectives. This can be done by disseminating occasional "state of the organization" reports as well as holding brief, but frequent, "progress report" meetings within each department and/or subgroup.

2. The second step is to nurture understanding that something must be done to change the current situation. Solicitation of input from coworkers regarding what can be done to change things follows logically from the understanding that something should be done. "Input equals buy-in" and those who contribute their ideas on how their organization should change have a strong investment in making that change happen.

3. Next, although people may provide suggestions as to how to change, unless there is a sense of urgency to do so, change will be perceived merely as a concept rather than a process that needs to be started immediately. Once change is understood as needing to be accomplished, a positive perception of what it will look like, both in terms of the transition process and the "finished product," needs to be fostered and fed by constant communication about the shared vision of the future and the specific ways everyone will individually benefit in that new reality.

4. On the way to making the changed environment and operating procedures "stick" and stay feasible throughout the organization, there needs to be a well-thought-out program to ensure the actual adoption of the changes in the way things are done. Rewarding those who perform in the new ways and telling the stories of how their results better meet the current needs and accomplish the goals of the organization will go a long way to moving all members toward behaving in the "new and better" way.

5. Once adopted as "the way things are done around here" change can be seen as having been institutionalized within the organization and established as the new standard for performance and measurement of success, recognition and reward. Continue to solicit feedback on the new ways and request still other ways members can improve their respective job tasks to achieve even greater levels of efficiency. The idea is to leverage the experience and ideas of those who do the job to improve the job on a continuous basis. Institutionalizing new and improved ways of doing things in an organization is an ongoing process. In other words, managing organizational change means to continually insist on change for the better.

Knowing the roots of the organization, where and when it arose and how it's progressed over time, and then engaging in the five steps to initiating and managing organizational change, you will successfully guide your organization through its transition from where it is now to where it needs to be for greater effectiveness and better results.

Five Steps to Effectively Managing Organizational Change

Five Steps to Effectively Managing Organizational Change

An organization is, quite simply, any group of individuals who come together to try to achieve mutual goals by means of a division of labor. This is done by means of setting goals that will further the organization's growth and viability within the existing social and economic milieu as well as developing agreements among the people comprising the organization as to who will do what and when and under whose supervision and guidance.

When contemplating changing anything about these arrangements, it is well to be advised to start at the beginning of why and how this existing arrangement came to be and why it exists at the current time. After all, what has come to be accepted and observed as the standard operating procedures of an organization came about for good reasons and have been effective at achieving beneficial results for a period of time (perhaps a very long period of time). Altering an accepted, comfortable and heretofore useful way of doing things is challenging. The initial challenge that presents itself is fully comprehending and appreciating the foundational narrative of the organization and the collective experiences that members have shared since its inception. In other words, what of its past makes the organization tick today?

Transition Coaching

After coming to a thorough understanding of what makes the current organization tick, there are five steps that need to be taken sequentially in order to effect effective change.

Five Steps to Effectively Managing Organizational Change

1. The first step to take in initiating change within any type of organization is to create acute awareness of how things are now and how this state of affairs falls short of accomplishing stated goals and objectives. This can be done by disseminating occasional "state of the organization" reports as well as holding brief, but frequent, "progress report" meetings within each department and/or subgroup.

2. The second step is to nurture understanding that something must be done to change the current situation. Solicitation of input from coworkers regarding what can be done to change things follows logically from the understanding that something should be done. "Input equals buy-in" and those who contribute their ideas on how their organization should change have a strong investment in making that change happen.

3. Next, although people may provide suggestions as to how to change, unless there is a sense of urgency to do so, change will be perceived merely as a concept rather than a process that needs to be started immediately. Once change is understood as needing to be accomplished, a positive perception of what it will look like, both in terms of the transition process and the "finished product," needs to be fostered and fed by constant communication about the shared vision of the future and the specific ways everyone will individually benefit in that new reality.

4. On the way to making the changed environment and operating procedures "stick" and stay feasible throughout the organization, there needs to be a well-thought-out program to ensure the actual adoption of the changes in the way things are done. Rewarding those who perform in the new ways and telling the stories of how their results better meet the current needs and accomplish the goals of the organization will go a long way to moving all members toward behaving in the "new and better" way.

5. Once adopted as "the way things are done around here" change can be seen as having been institutionalized within the organization and established as the new standard for performance and measurement of success, recognition and reward. Continue to solicit feedback on the new ways and request still other ways members can improve their respective job tasks to achieve even greater levels of efficiency. The idea is to leverage the experience and ideas of those who do the job to improve the job on a continuous basis. Institutionalizing new and improved ways of doing things in an organization is an ongoing process. In other words, managing organizational change means to continually insist on change for the better.

Knowing the roots of the organization, where and when it arose and how it's progressed over time, and then engaging in the five steps to initiating and managing organizational change, you will successfully guide your organization through its transition from where it is now to where it needs to be for greater effectiveness and better results.

Five Steps to Effectively Managing Organizational Change