When it comes to telling a story, one of the most difficult concepts for some people to grasp is positioning. To help you understand exactly what I mean, perhaps the best place to start is by making a distinction between presenting and positioning.
PRESENTING is telling your story from your point-of-view.
POSITIONING is telling your story from the customer's point-of-view.
Your customer may be a hiring manager within your current organization, a potential employer, or quite literally, a person with whom you would like to do business. Whatever the case, it is absolutely essential to know this person so well that you can speak directly to their needs, challenges, and pain.
If your goal is to make a connection with a specific person, it is in your best interest to know everything you can about what drives him or her:
- What challenges does this person face?
- What opportunities are on the horizon?
- What are his or her goals? Why?
- When do these goals need to be accomplished?
- What factors are driving these needs and goals?
Think of yourself as an investigative reporter. Learn everything you can about the person's situation. Once you know this, start by asking yourself these questions:
- What can I offer this person that will help solve a problem or capture an opportunity?
- What experiences have I had that support my ability to succeed?
- What are the REASONS TO BELIEVE my involvement is the NEXT LOGICAL STEP in my personal or professional development?
- Why does this opportunity excite me?
Interestingly enough, although a personal connection certainly helps, it isn't a requirement. You simply need to know the important similarities the person shares with other people in their same situation. For example, when I write copy targeting career-changers, I can speak to a wider group by knowing the struggles they all have in common. However, I don't write the copy as if I am addressing a large audience, I write it as if I am speaking to a single person. Starting with a question can be an effective way to accomplish this:
"Have you ever applied for a job that seemed like a perfect fit yet never received a response?"
If you have ever been in that situation, you would probably read that line and immediately relate to how disappointing and frustrating it can be. By putting myself in the customers' shoes and speaking to their pain, people reading it feel I am connecting directly with them in a one-on-one conversation. That is my goal. That is positioning.
Having captured a person's attention, I would continue to tell the story from THEIR point-of-view thereby giving them a REASON TO BELIEVE I have something valuable to offer.
Presenting, on the other hand, would be telling my story from my point-of-view. In this case, the communication might look more like this:
- "Over the past 15 years, I have worked with career-changers at all levels in a variety of fields ranging from finance and engineering to advertising and manufacturing."
Even if you happened to be in one of the fields I mentioned, I haven't communicated anything that would get you to believe I truly understand what you are currently experiencing. Unfortunately, that is what happens when people don't take the time to position their experiences. They attempt to speak to everyone and, in effect, speak to no one.
The next time you need to gain the interest and attention of a prospective customer or employer, take the time to tell your story from THEIR point-of-view. If you want to truly connect with a customer or hiring manager, positioning is always worth the effort.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
The Secret Excuse - A Personal Example
We've talked at length about the stories we tell other people. Now, it's time to change focus and talk briefly about the stories we tell ourselves.
Today's lesson comes not from the world of professional development, but from the world of dating. If you are wondering what this has to do with marketing yourself, keep reading because I am about to share one of the most valuable insights I have ever learned. I will also share a very personal example to illustrate my point.
When it comes to achieving our goals-—personal or professional--there will always be obstacles that stand in the way and threaten our sense of who we are and what we are capable of achieving. Some of the obstacles are real and quantifiable. Others are based on the limiting beliefs we have developed over the years. Because there may be a small element of truth to limiting beliefs, they often dictate our expectations and, therefore, our reality.
David DeAngelo, creator of a program called Double Your Dating, calls these limiting beliefs The Secret Excuse. The Secret Excuse typically relates to factors beyond our control that we use to explain, usually to ourselves, our lack of success. For example, Secret Excuses might include:
• I’m too short.
• I’m too fat.
• I’m not successful enough.
• I’m too ugly.
• My hair is too stringy.
• I'm not geographically desirable.
If we give our attention, energy, and focus to these secret excuses, the universe will deliver, right to our doorstep, examples that confirm their truth. This is the Law of Attraction at work. In other words, if we think we aren’t successful enough, we are likely to encounter an endless array of potential partners who are looking for someone who can provide a higher level of financial security.
But the Secret Excuse is just that, an excuse. It can only threaten our sense of self and confidence if we let it. If we dedicate our attention, energy, and focus to finding examples that contradict our Secret Excuse, we can find evidence to support that as well. This often clarifies the difference between objective reality and a harmful, self-limiting belief.
At 5’9”, I am not what one might consider tall. Hence, for years my Secret Excuse was “I won’t be successful in dating because I am too short.” I truly believed that the women I wanted to date wouldn’t find me attractive because I was less than 6’ tall. In my darkest moments, I catastrophized and convinced myself I would therefore never be truly happy or successful.
Rather than accept that being too short might an issue SOME of the time, I turned it into a Secret Excuse with the expectation that it would be an issue ALL of the time. As the author of Learned Optimism, Martin Seligmann, might say, my interpretation was “personal, permanent, and pervasive.” In other words, “It’s me, it’s going to last forever, and it’s going to impact everything I do.” Talk about pessimistic.
Once I came to terms with the fact that this Secret Excuse was standing in the way of my freedom to be myself, I made the decision to actively search for evidence that contradicted it. Not long afterwards, I hit it off and briefly dated two women who were over 6'2". One was 6’5”!. In light of the fact that most women are not even close to being that tall, the experience served as powerful evidence to discount my Secret Excuse.
You might be wondering what this has to do with marketing yourself. As it happens, I see secret--and in some cases not-so-secret--excuses at play all the time:
• I'm too old. No one will hire me.
• I don't have enough experience.
• I've been out to the game too long.
And on it goes.
The last example, "I've been out of the game too long" is the favorite Secret Excuse of women returning to the workforce after being stay-at-home moms.
What do all these examples have in common. They are EXCUSES. They are the stories people tell themselves to justify their inability to reach their goals. That's not what marketing yourself is all about. Marketing yourself successfully is about finding EVIDENCE to support your interest in a particular area and telling a compelling story that underscores why your goal is the Next Logical Step in your personal and/or professional development.
Here's my challenge to you:
Do some intensive soul searching and make a list of your Secret Excuses. Once you have the list, start looking for evidence that CONTRADICTS these limiting beliefs. Once you look for it, you'll find it everywhere. And when you do, send me an email and tell me about it. My email is rob@careercraftsman.com. Write "Secret Excuse Success Story" in the subject line.
Today's lesson comes not from the world of professional development, but from the world of dating. If you are wondering what this has to do with marketing yourself, keep reading because I am about to share one of the most valuable insights I have ever learned. I will also share a very personal example to illustrate my point.
When it comes to achieving our goals-—personal or professional--there will always be obstacles that stand in the way and threaten our sense of who we are and what we are capable of achieving. Some of the obstacles are real and quantifiable. Others are based on the limiting beliefs we have developed over the years. Because there may be a small element of truth to limiting beliefs, they often dictate our expectations and, therefore, our reality.
David DeAngelo, creator of a program called Double Your Dating, calls these limiting beliefs The Secret Excuse. The Secret Excuse typically relates to factors beyond our control that we use to explain, usually to ourselves, our lack of success. For example, Secret Excuses might include:
• I’m too short.
• I’m too fat.
• I’m not successful enough.
• I’m too ugly.
• My hair is too stringy.
• I'm not geographically desirable.
If we give our attention, energy, and focus to these secret excuses, the universe will deliver, right to our doorstep, examples that confirm their truth. This is the Law of Attraction at work. In other words, if we think we aren’t successful enough, we are likely to encounter an endless array of potential partners who are looking for someone who can provide a higher level of financial security.
But the Secret Excuse is just that, an excuse. It can only threaten our sense of self and confidence if we let it. If we dedicate our attention, energy, and focus to finding examples that contradict our Secret Excuse, we can find evidence to support that as well. This often clarifies the difference between objective reality and a harmful, self-limiting belief.
At 5’9”, I am not what one might consider tall. Hence, for years my Secret Excuse was “I won’t be successful in dating because I am too short.” I truly believed that the women I wanted to date wouldn’t find me attractive because I was less than 6’ tall. In my darkest moments, I catastrophized and convinced myself I would therefore never be truly happy or successful.
Rather than accept that being too short might an issue SOME of the time, I turned it into a Secret Excuse with the expectation that it would be an issue ALL of the time. As the author of Learned Optimism, Martin Seligmann, might say, my interpretation was “personal, permanent, and pervasive.” In other words, “It’s me, it’s going to last forever, and it’s going to impact everything I do.” Talk about pessimistic.
Once I came to terms with the fact that this Secret Excuse was standing in the way of my freedom to be myself, I made the decision to actively search for evidence that contradicted it. Not long afterwards, I hit it off and briefly dated two women who were over 6'2". One was 6’5”!. In light of the fact that most women are not even close to being that tall, the experience served as powerful evidence to discount my Secret Excuse.
You might be wondering what this has to do with marketing yourself. As it happens, I see secret--and in some cases not-so-secret--excuses at play all the time:
• I'm too old. No one will hire me.
• I don't have enough experience.
• I've been out to the game too long.
And on it goes.
The last example, "I've been out of the game too long" is the favorite Secret Excuse of women returning to the workforce after being stay-at-home moms.
What do all these examples have in common. They are EXCUSES. They are the stories people tell themselves to justify their inability to reach their goals. That's not what marketing yourself is all about. Marketing yourself successfully is about finding EVIDENCE to support your interest in a particular area and telling a compelling story that underscores why your goal is the Next Logical Step in your personal and/or professional development.
Here's my challenge to you:
Do some intensive soul searching and make a list of your Secret Excuses. Once you have the list, start looking for evidence that CONTRADICTS these limiting beliefs. Once you look for it, you'll find it everywhere. And when you do, send me an email and tell me about it. My email is rob@careercraftsman.com. Write "Secret Excuse Success Story" in the subject line.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
The Ineffective Interviewer
I firmly believe the responsibility for accurately and effectively communicating your story rests with you. Having said that, there are certain hindrances you will almost certainly face along the way. As strange as it might seem, one of these hindrances is the person who most needs you to communicate powerfully--the interviewer.
How could this be? Why would the interviewer stand in the way of you and your story?
The behavior I am referring to is a lot more insidious than the typical, confrontational interviewer who does everything conceivable to make you feel uncomfortable. In his or her own way, that interviewer is also making it more challenging to communicate your story. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about interviewers who unconsciously sabotage the interview by asking off-topic questions. In my book and in my seminars, I talk at length about interviewers who ask stupid questions like, "What are your weaknesses?" and "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" So, I won't repeat myself here. What I am talking about is much more subtle.
I was recently hired by a company to coach employees to be more effective interviewers. In the sessions, I did an exercise in which we did a mock interview and tracked the questions that were asked. What happened was not an isolated event, but a scenario that plays itself out in countless interviews everyday.
The first observation I made was that the number of questions asked in a 30 minute period averaged close to 20. If that seems like a lot, it is. As often happens, many of the questions were closed-ended. In other words, they required only a yes/no or short-answer response. While this approach to questioning is undoubtedly ineffective, that wasn't the most serious issue.
After 30 minutes, I stopped the mock interview and asked one simple question:
"What are the most important qualities you look for in a candidate for this particular position?"
Each time, the interviewers responded with a list of 4 or 5 qualities deemed critical for a successful candidate. With these qualities in mind, we reviewed the list of questions they had just asked. In each case, there were only one or two questions that were even tangentially related to the most important qualities sought by the company. In other words, the interviewers weren't asking the right questions.
I have witnessed the same scenario play itself out many times. The results are almost always the same. Interviewers do themselves and the candidates a disservice by taking the conversation in unhelpful directions.
What can you do about it?
As a candidate, it is absolutely essential to approach the interview with a simple 3-part strategy.
1) Know what qualities are important to the company. (Do your homework!)
2) Know what you have done to demonstrate those qualities.
3) Find ways to answer even off-topic questions with examples that communicate what the interviewer really needs to know.
Easier said than done, I know. It's going to take more effort on your part, but if you want the job or promotion, it's worth it.
How could this be? Why would the interviewer stand in the way of you and your story?
The behavior I am referring to is a lot more insidious than the typical, confrontational interviewer who does everything conceivable to make you feel uncomfortable. In his or her own way, that interviewer is also making it more challenging to communicate your story. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about interviewers who unconsciously sabotage the interview by asking off-topic questions. In my book and in my seminars, I talk at length about interviewers who ask stupid questions like, "What are your weaknesses?" and "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" So, I won't repeat myself here. What I am talking about is much more subtle.
I was recently hired by a company to coach employees to be more effective interviewers. In the sessions, I did an exercise in which we did a mock interview and tracked the questions that were asked. What happened was not an isolated event, but a scenario that plays itself out in countless interviews everyday.
The first observation I made was that the number of questions asked in a 30 minute period averaged close to 20. If that seems like a lot, it is. As often happens, many of the questions were closed-ended. In other words, they required only a yes/no or short-answer response. While this approach to questioning is undoubtedly ineffective, that wasn't the most serious issue.
After 30 minutes, I stopped the mock interview and asked one simple question:
"What are the most important qualities you look for in a candidate for this particular position?"
Each time, the interviewers responded with a list of 4 or 5 qualities deemed critical for a successful candidate. With these qualities in mind, we reviewed the list of questions they had just asked. In each case, there were only one or two questions that were even tangentially related to the most important qualities sought by the company. In other words, the interviewers weren't asking the right questions.
I have witnessed the same scenario play itself out many times. The results are almost always the same. Interviewers do themselves and the candidates a disservice by taking the conversation in unhelpful directions.
What can you do about it?
As a candidate, it is absolutely essential to approach the interview with a simple 3-part strategy.
1) Know what qualities are important to the company. (Do your homework!)
2) Know what you have done to demonstrate those qualities.
3) Find ways to answer even off-topic questions with examples that communicate what the interviewer really needs to know.
Easier said than done, I know. It's going to take more effort on your part, but if you want the job or promotion, it's worth it.
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