{"id":1513,"date":"2013-01-21T09:37:38","date_gmt":"2013-01-21T16:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/?p=1513"},"modified":"2013-01-23T08:07:20","modified_gmt":"2013-01-23T15:07:20","slug":"are-you-memorable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/dierschow.com\/wordpress\/career\/are-you-memorable","title":{"rendered":"Are you memorable?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a business coach, I do a lot of work with people who are struggling to find customers.\u00a0 Competition is fierce, and people are reluctant to part with their money.\u00a0 But, to be honest, that’s always<\/em> been true.\u00a0 We have a particular version of that going on now, but it’s always be hard to build a successful business.<\/p>\n

Perhaps you have more modest ambitions:\u00a0 You just want to have a solid job which gives you reliable income in trade for your skills and hard work.\u00a0 It’s not like you’re out there trying to find customers.<\/p>\n

Oh, but you are.<\/p>\n

When you look at the lifetime view of your career, you’ll see that you’ve been selling something (your work) in trade for payment (your salary).\u00a0 Your customer is the company or organization which employs you, and, most specifically, your manager.\u00a0 You’re doing repeat sales of your services, because you have to justify your value to each boss you have, to each organization which hires you.<\/p>\n

You’re in a 1-person services business.<\/p>\n

The crucial success factors of this kind of business is to have people know about you, think positively, and recommend you to others.\u00a0 They have to remember what’s unique and valuable about you.<\/p>\n

“But … I do great work!\u00a0 The work speaks for itself!”<\/p>\n

I’d like you to be suspicious about this statement.\u00a0 Yes, people will often respect your great contribution more than some slick PR campaign.\u00a0 But they have to know about your work.\u00a0 They will know about this from three sources:<\/p>\n