3 Signs You Need to Market Yourself More

Personal branding while you work

I was visiting with someone this weekend and we were talking about the fact that marketing isn't just for small business or people seeking a new career or job....

Often I write to and about small business owners since that’s where I spend most of my time and focus.  Yet, my readers who are employed have asked for some tips that would help them “market themselves on the job”. Ask and you shall receive….

The 3 signs you need to market yourself more

Most people need to maintain a job, some even two, for themselves and for their families. Sometimes, there are things that you encounter that make you feel incompetent. And that no matter what you do, you feel that you just wouldn’t be good enough for the job/position. So what are the signs that you need to market yourself more on the job?

1. You are continuously given no-brainer tasks. That would be understandable if you’ve been working at an entry-level position without any previous work experience for only a few months. However, if you think that you have been with the company for quite some time now and you still remain unchallenged with the workload that you’re given, you might want to show your skills and knowledge more to the bosses. It may be that they haven’t notice what you are able to do that’s why they tend to underestimate you.

2. You have not been given any chance at promotions after years of service to the company. Normally, people holding seniority in any company are most likely to be given the chance to be promoted than those who are only beginning their careers in the same firm. But if there are people who entered the company long after you started working there, and are being promoted ahead of you, then you might want to ask your bosses for the reason. To address this issue, you should make yourself more visible than before. You should have the initiative to do something good for the company.

3. Your performance rating was relatively lower than what you were expecting. It is needless to say that performance ratings are subjective. However, if you think that there is a big difference between your ratings and your actual work, you have to think of other ways to improve your craft. It may be that you worked extra hard on the project, but the outcome wasn’t really that good. Or you may have produced something excellent, but you appeared to be very relaxed to your boss. It will be more helpful if you take time to look at their comments and actually change how you work.

Creating Good Karma with Your Contacts

The current market is extremely competitive. In addition to having to compete with large corporations, small businesses also have to jostle for positions with other small businesses that sell the same products or offer the same services. 

This is why it’s crucial for small business owners to build excellent client and customer relations. Word of mouth marketing is essential for small businesses to survive and thrive in the current market. In addition, building great customer relationships can help you get repeat customers as well as new ones. 

As your small business grows, however, it can be difficult to manage all of your contacts. To succeed in your business, you need to maintain frequent communication with your suppliers, business partners, and of course, your clients and customers. You also have to keep track of your schedule, your meetings, your business overhead and supplies, and so on. You need to juggle all of these properly to ensure that your business runs smoothly and capably. You don’t want to end up missing an important meeting, or worse, sending out the wrong order to a customer.

So how do you solve this? Well, you could create a spreadsheet and encode all the information there. You can continuously add and subtract to it, and hope that you don’t get confused with all the rows and columns you’ve added. Or you can try a customer relationship management tool. There are currently many customer relationship management tools available in the market. One of the most promising ones is KarmaCRM.

KarmaCRM aims to make your life easier. It’s basically a customer relationship management platform that’s entirely web-based, so you can access it wherever you are, whenever you need it – there’s no need to download anything. It offers a simple and easy-to-use interface to help you manage your contacts and the things you need to do without problem.

What exactly are the things you can do with KarmaCRM?

     1. Manage your contacts

KarmaCRM allows you to import contacts from external websites, and customize your contact list so it only includes those relevant to your business. You can add photos, files and tasks to your contacts, so you always know who you’re talking or transacting with. You even have access to a Google map so you can easily see where your contact is located. 

You can also assign an urgent, hot or cold status to each lead, so you know whom you need to prioritize, and customize your contact status in the settings.

     2. Manage tasks

KarmaCRM helps you easily manage the tasks you need to do, so you don’t forget any important meetings and deadlines. Within the platform, you can place due dates for each task you need to do, so you don’t find yourself rushing when it’s nearing the deadline. You can also set up email and SMS reminders when deadlines are approaching, so you don’t forget anything. How often have you forgotten an urgent task only to be reminded when it’s already due?

You can assign tasks to a contact or a member of your team. This way, they can also be reminded about their deadlines.

     3. Create cases

You may occasionally have small or large cases that need to be prioritized. With KarmaCRM, you can create a case, customize its type, status and priority, assign contacts, and add notes and tasks to the case. This makes it easy to manage each case and then close them once they’re finished so you can move onto the next task. 

     4. Manage your schedule

You can create a calendar of activities in this platform and customize the view according to your preference. You can even import and sync your calendars with your Google account, as the site integrates with many third parties. You can use it to add tasks and events easily and manage your schedule. With KarmaCRM, you won’t have to worry about ever missing a deadline, an important meeting, or an upcoming event.

     5. Chat with team members, store and transfer files

Also within the site, you can privately chat with the members of your team and even create unlimited group chat rooms. You can easily see who among your team members are online so you can talk to them about a task or case that’s almost due. Chat transcripts are even saved for future reference.

Files can easily be transferred from one team member to another. You can store your files and presentations so that any of your team members can access them anytime and anywhere, as long as they have an Internet connection. 

So why trouble yourself with spreadsheets and other tools when there’s an easier way to manage your contacts and ensure good customer relationships? To create good Karma with your contacts, why not try out KarmaCRM today?

Adelante 2012!

ADELANTE is a Spanish word which means: to move forward; to move ahead; to go ahead; to get to the front.

What are you doing to move ahead? A CEO in the mastermind group that I facilitate said it best when he said “there are many people who know what to do, it’s the doing it that is the challenge.”

Here are 3 solid ways to move forward:

1. Take Inventory

Take an inventory of all the things that you yourself need to be doing. This isn’t a list of the things you would like to do or the things that you would like to control - this is the list of things that need your “personal touch”. Get everything out of your head and down on paper. What are the things that you’re actually doing in a day? How about in a week? Overlook nothing. Censor nothing. Be honest with yourself. If you’re in business, think of all the customer service, delivery marketing, sales, promotional, professional development, product development, management activities. Also, log those things that distract you or that never seem to make it off your to do list.

ACTION: Make a list this week of all your activities.

2. Schedule It In

Take the time to schedule it in. Have you ever noticed that the things that you “schedule” are the things you actually do? Think of the lunches, the meetings, the seminars and appointments you make. Now, think of all the things that you think you will do in the “cracks” of time or sometime in the day. Did you do them?

Time blocking is a powerful tool if used correctly. Time block in those things that are most important to you. In Stephen Covey’s book, “7 Habits of Highly Effecitve People” and in the back of his book “The 8th Habit”, he tells the story of “big rocks” and how it is important to schedule the “big rocks” in your day first if that is what’s most important to you. It’s also important to utilize what we’ve learned in “project management”. Create a “mind map” of the activities you would like to accomplish so that you can be sure of all of the steps and pieces in making those activities inevitable.

ACTION: Take a weekly schedule and start time blocking!

3. Identify WHY you want to move forward.

While this is listed last, it is really the first thing that needs to be done. The “how” will always appear if you know the “why”. Why do you want more time? Why do you want to move forward? Why do would you make an extra effort to move ahead?

The “why” is so important. There’s an important statement that I want to leave you with which was shared with me by a dear friend. You can manage what you're doing, schedule your activities, get more organized, get more time and get your life back….just make sure that you have a life to get back to.