Steps to Success: How to Market Yourself

Looking for ways to step up your business game? Click here to learn how to market yourself straight into success (even on a small budget)!

Keyword(s): how to market yourself

You’ve started up a small business selling jewelry that you love to make. It began as a hobby but you’ve recently decided to grow a bit. Now you’ve got to figure out how to get others to love your creations as much as you do.

You thought that it wouldn’t be too hard. Take a few pictures of you wearing it and post it to your Instagram. While that can get you a little bit of coverage, it won’t be enough to get the world talking about you.

To help you grab the attention that you deserve, here is a quick guide on how to market yourself.

1. Find Your Niche

Before you can start to market yourself you have to figure out what you’re marketing yourself for—your niche if you will. Think about your interests and what you’re the most talented at.

What can you call yourself an expert in? In our example above we used jewelry but your niche obviously doesn’t have to be that. It’s different for about everyone.

Once you’ve decided what you’re good at you can start working to show that you are an expert in whatever it is. This is where marketing yourself will start.

2. Write Something

The fastest way you can show that you’re an expert in your field and gain attention is to write something. You can do this in a variety of ways. Create a blog and post on it on a normal basis.

You can submit pieces to online newspapers and journals. Do what you need to do to make sure that your name pops up when it’s put in a Google search.

3. Make Yourself Mobile Friendly

Any business needs to have a website even if you just make products from your home. When you’re creating this website keep in mind that you need to make sure it’s mobile-friendly.

More people search for products and services through their smartphones and tablets then they do their computers. If you don’t make your site mobile-friendly then you’ll be missing out on a huge portion of your target audience.

People won’t be able to get familiar with you or your brand because they can’t find it. You should also be sure that it runs well on mobile. The last thing that you want people to associate your name with is frustration.

4. Build a Community of People

Networking is one of the best ways to get your name around. Reach out to other experts in your field. It will open up more possibilities for you then you would think.

For example, they could do a shoutout for you on their social media and you could do the same for them. You can work with them on an event and they do the same for you. Over time people will start to associate you with the other expert.

To give you a better idea about how this can work for you, imagine you’re an up and coming musician. You reach out to a popular band and talk with them. You and this band get to know each other and one night they let you open for them.

For one, you’re now the musician that opened for a famous celebrity in the eyes of the audience. For two, people who may not have given your music the time of day before, now have gotten a chance to listen to you.

5. Use Social Media

Having a blog and website won’t do you much good if you don’t link it to your social media. It gives you a platform where you can share your blog posts that are on your site. That may sound redundant but it will extend your audience.

If you post something and one of your followers like it, they will share it with all their friends and so and so forth until you’ve got way more people coming to your site to check you out.

6. Get Media Attention

You’ll start being seen everywhere once you get a little bit of media attention. Now We’re not saying that you have to be on the News at 11 (though that would be nice). What we are saying is that you should start trying to reach out to journalists.

You can sign up for free sites that will tell you what journalists around the globe are interested in at the moment. If you see someone who is looking to interview an expert in your niche, reach out to them and volunteer.

7. Speak in Public

If you’re going to market yourself fully, you’ll need to step out from behind the computer and make public appearances. Look for opportunities around your community where you can come out and speak about your niche.

If there aren’t any public speaking opportunities then make one. We know we told you to step out from behind a computer but videos and webinars can help your audience connect your face to your name as well.

8. Help People

Speaking of public appearances if you want to get people to connect your face to your brand in a positive way. To this end, you should reach out and try and help people. There should be a million ways to do this around your community.

Volunteer for non-profits. Startup some sort of internship, if you can, to give someone a chance to get a little real-world experience. These are only a few examples of what you can do.

How to Market Yourself and Get in Business

Are you just starting out and having some problems getting your name out there? It’s okay, you only need to market yourself a little better. Use these tips on how to market yourself to bring positive traction to your business whether you’re a small start-up or an individual making jewelry from home.

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