New York has always been a career-oriented city. If one
does not have a career, they will make one up rather than
apologize for being a housewife, or home-maker. It's only
because I had a wonderful New York socialite for a
mother-in-law that I ran smack into this. She wanted so
much to expose me to her side of life. And loving her the
way I did, I made myself fully pliable.
She was entertained in lavish style and reciprocated in
kind. And those being my 'green' years, I did everything I
could to hide my terror at these functions. I felt
incredible pressure to be ready with input on any subject.
New Yorkers seem to judge everyone by certain achievements
-- their schooling, their career, or their business
address. It's been said there's no place like it for
vocational humiliation. And sooner or later -- the dreaded
question is posed, "Where did you school?" or the fatal
one, "What do you do?"
If you give the name of your High School or the fact that
you don't do anything at the moment, you may draw raised
eyebrows or a soft, "ah-h". These questions are a personal
measurement; a quiet pass-fail test for future social
gatherings. Do you have some interest, activity, or
purpose in common with the interrogator?
Looking back on those times, I think I did a fair job of
fluffing it. I had to accept that in certain surroundings,
my identity would be tied to what I did, not in what I was.
Fast-forward several years and New York is now only a
memory. Yet I bring with me those valuable lessons as I
open new chapters. The Internet came into my life and while
it's been a cruel teacher, it certainly has been thorough.
It's ringing Anthem -- Lead, follow or get out of the fast
lane!
The hardest part of entrepreneurship was in marketing me.
It's not much different than my story above because I am
still judged by my achievements. The "What do you do?"
question may be silent, but it's still there. If you expect
to lead you better have good reasons why someone should
follow.
Marketing yourself on the Internet should not be a
struggle, unless you make it so. Naturally it's a lot more
rewarding if your efforts result in clients calling you
ready to work with you, and even better when these clients
turn into worthwhile paychecks. Networking is a contact
sport.
There are numerous ways to make your achievements visible.
Start an Ezine or Newsletter to gain subscribers. Make your
weekly or monthly output full of good tips and techniques.
Set up a website and offer free items; there are plenty of
these to choose from. Start a blog and get it syndicated so
many, many people read it. Write Articles. Write an Ebook
and give it away. Bottom line -- get your name out there
over and over again.
What you do better, faster, cheaper and with higher quality
than your counterpart, is where you will begin to stop
following and start leading. Think of marketing as "giving
something" instead of "trying to get something" and this
mindset will result in word-of-mouth business. Surfers
merely want to know that you understand their situation,
and next, how you will help them.
Experiments done in 1927 by Bluma Zeigarnik showed us that
we remember interrupted tasks the best. Who knew? The
reason was simply that "the tension created by unfinished
tasks helps us to remember". Let's offer an example of this.
You're watching the news and you hear an announcement like,
"Today, the borrower becomes the lender. More on that story
later but first…" Don't you find yourself glued to that
broadcast, even knowing that they will air the rest of the
story last? That's an effective use of the Zeigarnik effect.
You can connect this principle with marketing, and you
should. The "interrupted task" is your advertisement that
is incomplete. Because we dislike things to be incomplete,
readers will satisfy their curiosity for the "rest of the
story" by inquiring. But be aware, people will be fooled
once, but not twice. Be sure you fulfill your teaser.
Today, I write my own paycheck. What do you do?
2007 Esther Smith
----------------------------------------------------
Smith is an accomplished artist with two online galleries,
an author/publisher and believer in residual or leveraged
income. Her ebook, Invitation to Internet Success, is free
to all.
http://www.thepermanentventure.com/InternetSuccess.pdf
Contact Info at the bottom of her website:
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