How to Promote Yourself and Your Company, and Keep Them Separate

Joe Weinlick
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Many people are familiar with the basics of promoting a company's products and services, but they are not as adept at promoting themselves. Building a personal brand is essential in today's marketplace, but you need to promote yourself without compromising your company's marketing efforts. Fortunately, there are several ways to promote yourself without neglecting your business marketing strategy. Use these tips for keeping your personal branding activities separate from your business promotion activities.

When building a personal brand, one of the first things you should do is decide on the message you want to convey to others. You cannot come up with the right message if you do not know what your branding goals are. Think about your goals, and craft a message that communicates your top skills and personal attributes. The message you use to promote yourself should be different from the message you use to promote your business. As you develop your business message, think of three groups: the people in your company, the people in your target market, and your competitors. Use a Venn diagram to see where the groups intersect and craft your promotional message based on this intersection.

Social media is a great way to promote yourself as an expert in your field, but you should keep your social media activities separate from those of your company. Facebook and other social networks allow you to have a personal page as well as a business page, so separate your personal networking and promotion activities with business-related promotional activities. If you use social media to build your personal brand, maintain your professionalism at all times. Although you will be posting under your own name, it is easy for people to find out where you work. If you use foul language or make inappropriate statements, people will doubt your professionalism and commitment to your business.

Your business marketing materials should tell a story, but storytelling is even more important when you are promoting yourself. People want to know who you really are, so practice explaining your personal brand in simple terms. Tell your story to your parents, siblings, or children and make sure all of them understand it. Developing your storytelling skills will also help you promote your business, whether you are in charge of making sales presentations or attending networking events on behalf of your company.

Learning how to promote yourself is one of the best things you can do to build your reputation as an expert, but do not neglect your business promotion responsibilities while you build your personal brand. If you use social media, keep your personal and business accounts separate. Craft a personal message based on your best attributes, and then develop a business message based on what your customers want and what your competitors are doing. These tips will help you promote yourself effectively while also promoting your company.

 

 

(Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

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