Superiority does not occur in a vacuum. A life of excellence is measured by the value you add to people, the needs you fill with society, the service you provide, or the problems you solve. In other words, purpose and superiority are expressed only in their usefulness to people.
An excellent musician is so described because of the satisfaction people get from listening to music or watching a musician. A life of excellence in charity work is expressed only in people who benefit from charitable activities. An excellent speaker is one whose perceptions affect people's lives. To succeed in life in front of your target market, your niche, the benefits of your service, your audience, the potential congregation must hear about you, have a good impression of you, believe you, match your valuable offer and find your personal brand acceptable. Even if you are in charge of charity work, donors, assistants and beneficiaries must be involved in order for you to succeed, fulfill your goal and achieve your aspirations in this area.
This article discusses how to package, present and sell yourself so that the target market or the benefits of your goal are linked to you. The main elements of this component are: packaging yourself, your personal branding, your appearance, your communication, cultural humility, independent marketing, creativity and problem solving.
1 package: An important component of packaging is the development of competence. You must acquire and constantly improve your depth of knowledge, your skill set and your attitude. Another element of preparation and packaging is obtaining relevant training, obtaining certificates and accreditation. I have a strong position that no matter how talented you are naturally, you still need to give birth to talent through further preparation. So, go to school (in any place where, in a broad sense, the relationship between teacher and student exists), get a coach or mentor. Take one more step and get certificates and accreditations of reputable and respected institutions.
In most societies, the first criterion for reviewing your experience is your qualifications and accreditation. For example, no matter how talented, knowledgeable and qualified you are, if you apply for a job, and the recruiting company is advertised for people with an MBA degree, you should certainly be on the short list for an interview if you do not have an MBA. Your competence cannot be verified until you pass through the prequalification door. And the key to this door, in this case, is your certificate! If you are applying for a grant from an international donor agency, your chances of receiving your approved request will be enhanced if you can show that you have received appropriate training in your mission.
Another way to pack is to join professional associations in your area. Identify the recognized and respected umbrella body of your business, profession, commerce, charity, ministry, etc. And join. Joining such associations will represent you as certified to perform.
So, the first step in promoting yourself is packaging. The package itself, developing and constantly developing its competence, receive adequate training, obtain the appropriate certificates and qualifications and join expert associations and groups.
2. Your brand: The second step to promoting you is to develop your personal brand. Your brand is what you know. This is how people perceive you. Your brand is a description of you by those who know, see or hear about you. This is the mental image that people have when they think or see you.
Therefore, to succeed in life, it is necessary that you take time to consciously build on the perception and description of you by those whom you must serve and those who help you achieve your goal in life. Your contribution and the value you receive from society cannot be greater than your brand. Developing your brand is a prerequisite for promoting yourself. These are my recommendations on how to develop and build your brand:
A. Internal validation and compliance are important for building your brand. Decide who you are and who you want to be. Make sure who and what you decide to be acceptable to you. Create a connection between who you want to be and who you are and your most important aspirations in life. Be absolutely sure that the person you decide to be is the best person to help you achieve your life goal. Be ready and ready to defend who you want to be and how you want to perceive yourself.
B. Be consistent in communication with your brand. As soon as you decide that your brand will be consistent in dealing with this brand. There should never be any contradiction between who you say and who you are.
C. Create a perception of an expert on the subject. There are so many ways to make the public perceive, describe and report to you as an expert on the subject. One way is to write. Write books, preferably in your main area. Write articles in your industry publications and journals. Write on your company bulletin boards. Get a column and write for newspapers. Write in your religious publications. The second method appears on television and radio, gives interviews and comments. The third platform is a secure online presence. Use social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., to project an image that will enhance your perception as an expert. Another way to make the public perceive you as an expert is to look for platforms to speak. Speak in your church or mosque. Talk to students and groups. Just look for opportunities to speak on topics in your areas of interest. Do not wait until you pay before you speak.
3. Appearance: How you look is another advancement element. Your appearance, in accordance with how you want your target audience to perceive you, is important in the pursuit of excellence in life. Your appearance speaks of the combination of your body care and dressing.
Your body care is you without clothes. An athlete 100 meters should not look like a Sumo. Fighter. Although it was possible for a male musician to wear artificial dreadlocks, it would be impractical to do the same. Tattoos can draw a crowd to the artist; this can cause nausea in patients in front of a doctor.
We do not claim that one body care is better than another. However, the length of your nails, hair and mustache, artificial marks on your body and the volume of your makeup should be targeted and professional. Hair and nail care, the smell from your body, the cleanliness of your teeth, etc. You could improve or reduce your brand, as well as contribute to or destroy your public perception.
The second part of your appearance is your clothes. A wardrobe that emphasizes your personality and achievements means that your communication with the brand should be in your pursuit of excellence in life. Remember that you were seen before you were heard. Will you be attracted to the public you want to serve, or run away from you because of your clothes? The Bible spoke about the clothes of a prostitute. This means that even a very virtuous woman can make mistakes for a prostitute if she dresses as one. A king may be labeled a servant if he dresses as one. A preacher can be described as a tout if his dressing communicates so.
Look in the mirror and ask yourself: “How much do I respect a man in the mirror because of his dress? If a person in the mirror needs me as a platform to achieve his goal in life, would I read and willingly offer myself because of his appearance? "
4. Your message: The totality of how you listen to what you say and how you speak affects the effectiveness of your personal progress. Communication is not about using big words, but about your ability to listen to people. This means understanding the full import of what was said, reading body language, communicating or giving feedback based on your understanding of the faith or mood of your listener. This is what we all want to promote you. In fact, most people who succeed in life speak less than they listen to; and whenever they speak, the substance emanates from their mouth. They know how to pass on their glasses in less than a minute, and they also listen very well. They can read moods accurately, can build words and seize the moment. Moreover, they can stand on their feet and lead their glasses home in any meeting.
Some people mistakenly believe that good communication is natural. For some people, it is. However, superior communication is mainly the result of consistent practice and a willingness to go the extra mile. This is a product of intense reading and listening. Every good communicator reads voraciously, listen carefully and is aware of the words that are used. In pursuit of perfection, a good communicator maintains a great sense of humor. Not that he is a clown, but he sees the humorous side of things. He can laugh at himself and about life. He knows that one-liners are used in all situations. The difference between humor and clowns is that, although humor is a mixture of people, preserving your dignity, clownery, on the other hand, makes people laugh and lose self-esteem in this process.
5. Cultural humility is another component for promotion. Cultural humility means embracing your culture in the penetrating and dominant culture of your environment and the people you serve. It is about aligning yourself with the ways and etiquette of your environment without jeopardizing your core values, beliefs, and principles.
For example, in the southwestern part of Nigeria, a culture that a young man must kneel, bow his head, or bow his head, welcoming an elderly person. In the south-east of Nigeria, it is not. In some conditions, men are not allowed to shake a woman. In some other environments, you don't just shake, you can hug and hug a woman.
As a man or woman of purpose, you must be aware of the culture. You must also be culturally modest. Do not shake a woman in an environment where it is taboo, simply because your culture allows. Do not be the first to reach out to shake an older person in the land of Yoruba, just because your culture allows it.
Cultural humility also concerns efforts to learn the language of others, to eat their food and dance for their music.
The central point here is that you have to win the share of the mind before trying to win market share. And there is no better way to win a share of the mind than to be culturally modest. If you enter a place and everyone is sitting on a rug, do not ask for a chair. If the rule in the association to which you join is that the participants call each other by name, do not introduce yourself and do not force you to call your names and surnames. If the dress code is casual, do not wear the clothes of the leader with all the beads and feathers. This is called cultural arrogance. Cultural arrogance is the antithesis of self-promotion.
6. Self-realization. People who succeed in life are independent marketers. They know how to sell themselves. This is not about licking downloads. This is not about subservience. This is not about aggression. No! That people know the values that you have. It is about making people aware of the contributions you can make. The point is to let people know the gifts and talents that you have. The point is to let people know about your donations. It's about being assertive.
Promotion is the entry into mutually beneficial relationships with someone you sell and exchange values with. You must learn and know how to sell yourself, learn to sell the value of things you have, and the contributions you can make. Do not reduce the value of your contribution in any relationship. The basis of promotion is a constant desire for new ideas. You have your ears, eyes, and minds open, especially when you are in the midst of people. Look for opportunities to offer value, the key to something or demonstrate competence.
7. Creativity is another component of the promotion. People who succeed in life are creative in the way they do things. Creative in the way they present themselves to others, creative when sending SMS messages or emails. Creativity in the way they dress, are creative at work, and so on. Creativity, in simple terms, means doing something different than others. People who excel in life go the extra mile to do something different. Always keep the creativity question in your heart - how can I treat this issue in front of me?
If you do what other people do, as they do, you are no different from them. What can you do creatively? What can you do that will make a big difference? What investments are you making to improve your creative power? This is a sure way to promote your brand.
8. Solve problems. Finally, promote yourself by being a problem solver. Learn how to measure a problem to determine the root cause of the problem, the effect of the problem, the options available, the advantages and disadvantages of all the options, and the best option to solve the problem.
Be a person in your business, career, profession, mission or vocation that others come to help them think through their problems and propose solutions.
