Self Promotion Made Easy

When people asked me why I quit teaching grade school, one of the reasons I offer is that I found myself at parties answering the famous question, What do you do? like this.

I’m a teacher, but not like any teacher you ever met.

What do you do is an opportunity to sell yourself.

I knew enough to know that I was losing the passion for my job. What I didn’t know then was that I had stumbled onto a key part of self-promotion –understanding what people will think of what I’m about to say.

When someone asks What do you do for a living? How do you answer?

If you say the name of your job, butcher, baker, dancer, writer, web developer . . ., you offer them the chance to attach to you all of the preconceived notions they have about folks with that job. You’re walkng right into their box.

Bob Weiss knows. If your answer is: “I’m a lawyer,” you’ve missed a marketing opportunity.

Bob knows that by saying you’re a lawyer, you’ve turned the conversation to the topic of lawyers and away from what you do. No possible clients will be happening. Instead you’re probably going to be hearing what people think about lawyers for the next while. You’ll be up against proving what you’re not or maybe proving what you’re as good as.

Either way,to name a job is to invite comparison.

Of course, I’m no longer a teacher. I’m an entrepreneur. My job depends on the people knowing what I do and that I do it well. So I’ve learned to answer that question with a little finesse.

When folks ask what I do I say I help individuals and small businesses find their vision, focus their business, and layout a strategy that allows them to do what they love and make money meeting their customers’ unexpressed needs and desires better than their competition does.

Yes, I have a shorter version too, but you see where I’m going. I don’t start by saying I’m the Perfect Virtual Manager. I know that would only get me blank stares.

So think for awhile and then tell me . . . what do you do for a living? If you would like to write in the comment box under a code name, please feel free to do so. If you have trouble getting it the way you want, let’s find the right words together. All of us can probably get you to a lovely description of what drives your passion for the reason you work everyday.

When you can answer the question, it won’t feel like self-promotion. It will be you talking about what you do every day.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you’d like to help with your brand or business,check out the Perfect Virtual Manager on the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.