2014 The Frontier Group Career Coaching e book - 6 Best Practices for Building Your Personal Marketing Plan

Best Practicesfor Developing YourPersonal Marketing Plan6

This Frontier Group eBook will help guide you through the development of a personal marketing plan.

We all need directions to get to a location we have never been before. Directions take us step by step on the journey to get to our target location. Consider this eBook to be a roadmap for planning your next career move. This eBook will walk you through step-by-step strategies you can implement today, which will save you time and get you better results when prospecting on LinkedIn.

Best Practicesfor Developing YourPersonal Marketing Plan6

Here are the six best practices you will need to complete:

1. Create a mission statement for yourself

2. Develop clearly written and defined goals

3. Complete a product and marketing analysis

4. Identify your target markets

5. Develop impactful marketing materials

6. Utilize an effective sales approach

• Get it down in writing – do not just think this through.

• Sit down and get started. List everything that comes to mind. You can always come back, revise and edit.

• Seek an outside opinion.

• Conduct adequate research. Look at positions and organizations that you aspire to.

• Think of your marketing plan as a living document – always changing – always improving.

Ground Rules

First, start with writing the purpose of your marketing plan. It can be that you have been released from your last employer or that you want to develop a new way to reinvigorate your career.

This gives you the reason to get started:• Find a new position• Secure a promotion• Change careers• Start a business

Define The Purpose of Your Plan

Then create a personal mission statement summarizing what you want in life in terms of type of career, personal development, etc. Examples:• My long term goal is to have a successful career in consumer products marketing. • I will find a new position as a Controller for a small to mid-size company in Atlanta. • I will start my own software consulting company.

Create a Mission Statement

Once you have created your purpose and mission, you’ll want to develop SMART goals – meaning:• Specific• Measurable• Achievable• Realistic• Time bound In writing the goals make sure you include everything: • What your next job will be• Where it will be• What type of industry you will operate in• What type of culture it will be• How much compensation will you need

Set Clearly Written and Defined Goals

Example of a SMART set of goals:• Specific – I am going to find a Director of Marketing position in Atlanta that leverages the 15 years of consumer product experience I possess. • Measurable – I will begin an active marketing campaign that will include talking with five key network contacts each week with the purpose of securing one interview every two weeks.• Achievable – I am looking to make a lateral move in terms of responsibility and compensation.• Realistic – The Atlanta job market has numerous opportunities in my field and the hiring rates have been improving.• Time Bound - I will successfully land a new position within six months.

Example of SMART Goals

First, let’s address who we are selling – it is you. This realization unfortunately makes some people uncomfortable but we have to get past that. You will realize – once your analysis is done – that you have a set of skills, experiences and relationships that have value to potential employers. Let’s get going:• Start with a SAR approach• Situation• Action • Result Using the SAR approach list up to 20 key accomplishments – in detail – that you have directly been involved in. This may be challenging but please press on. In the end, you will find some tremendous insights into what you have achieved in your career.

Develop a Sales and Marketing Analysis

Situation: I improved the performance of a sales team that had been in decline for over six months. Action: I evaluated each sales person’s track record and spent time with each salesperson discussing problems and needs. Within the first two weeksI discovered a number of issues that were holding back sales, including a new product recently introduced by a competitor.

Since we could not compete directly with a new product in a timely manner, we had to figure out a way to compete on another level. I launched a campaign that pushed sales people to the customer’s door to demonstrate why our “cocktail” of products was superior to the competitor’s “one size fits all” product. Result: The new sales strategies and training increased sales by over 12%, while increasing profit margins by 7%.

SAR Example

Now it is time to get specific and focused on developing your target market. The more narrow your target market list the more opportunities will be generated because you will have a qualified set of companies that will best match you. In this case quality definitely is better than quantity.

Identifying Your Target Markets

Some things to consider in developing your target list: • Geography – will the target organizations provide you with a realistic commute or place you in a city or locale that you want.

• Can you identify the decision makers within your target companies.

• Go through all of the secondary information available on the companies.

• Look at the company web ite, LinkedIn profiles and their posted positions on the job boards.

Target List Considerations

Here is an example of how to set up a company tracker:

Target Company Tracker Example

With your targets identified and plan in place your next step is to move on to marketing. By marketing materials it comes down to:• Resumes• LinkedIn profile• Career search summary page• Business cards• Business accomplishments – have details ready just in case• References • Articles, patents, PowerPoint presentations of relevance, samples of projects• Past two years of W-2 statements (yes – many ask)• Past five year compensation history (yes – many also ask)

Develop Impactful Marketing Materials

Your sales approach should take three paths – direct, channel and in-direct. Direct SalesDirectly contact the companies on your target list. This means that you will need to identify a decision maker within the organization who you can reach out to. Channel SalesBuild a connector list of fifteen to twenty five people that can help you get your message out. These people are the ones who have a high number of LinkedIn connections and are open to helping. In-Direct SalesThis approach uses the online job boards, LinkedIn job posting and company websites.

Utilize an Effective Sales Approach

A career marketing plan is a great tool in guiding you to the goals that you want to achieve.

A career marketing plan brings:• Clarity• Focus• Discipline• Structure

At The Frontier Group we have helped thousands of our clients advance their careers. We hope that this eBook will help you in advancing yours.

Summary

About the Author

Patrick Lynch is the President of The Frontier Group, one of the leading career management consulting practices in Atlanta and Charlotte.

As President since 2010, Pat leads The Frontier Group on strategy, client service, innovation and business development. He is responsible for driving growth and strategic partnerships. Prior to purchasing The Frontier Group in 2010, Pat had a 25-year marketing and sales career in consumer products with such companies as Georgia Pacific, Kao Brands, Kraft, HON and Neenah Paper.

In addition to his responsibilities at The Frontier Group, Pat is also on the boardof Special Pops, a tennis-based nonprofit for the mentally challenged. He also actively participates in several faith-based career ministries in the Atlanta area. Pat holds an MBA from Michigan State and BBA from The University of Michigan.

770.455.1244 [email protected]

Patrick Lynch

About theAuthorPatrick Lynch

[email protected] 770.455.1244

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