When you are looking for a job, make no mistake you are ‘selling’ yourself. You are the BRAND, the PRDUCT, the SERVICE – You are marketing yourself and to do that successfully, you will need to either become your own BRAND ADVOCATE and get a full understanding of your ADDED VALUE. What can you do for the company, the organization you are targeting? Why you? If you cannot answer those questions, you are not a self-brand advocate. How do you tell your story in a way that reflects an alignment and one that will develop, based on the symmetry between you and ‘them’, a RELATIONSHIP? A PARTNERSHIP? That’s what a BRAND ADVOCATE should provide – A connection between you and them that provides the added value to help everyone grow, expand, become better and like a flower, blossom into something extraordinary.
A BRAND ADVOCATE knows the marketplace they are interested in. They customize the ‘sales’ approach and exhibit a positive attitude that helps ‘them’ recognize the value you will bring. Will you be productive? Will you create a solid user experience? Will you listen? Will you process the information? Will you CONTRIBUTE? Can you inspire? Can you enable, can you encourage? Will you offer RESULTS?
So much of this is rooted in your ability to COMMUNICATE. Brand Advocates must speak with clarity, conviction and EMPOWER the target audience to buy in. Without the buy in you have nothing to build. Be passionate about who you are, what you do, the reasons you do it and let them know you can do it for them and it will improve what is already in place. Don’t exploit them. Help them recognize and identify the foundation they have in place and show them why you will enhance it, make it better and ADD VALUE. ADVOCATE on your behalf and BRAND appropriately. Get them to BUY IN.
