Excerpt from Win The Race For 21st Century Jobs: Put CEO Power Into Your Job Search And Your Career
The Business Owner Persona
In taking on the persona of a business owner, you need to adopt the attitudes, values, and guiding principles of a business owner. Anything less is insufficient.
Examples:
· Get used to handling rejection. It happens every business day.
· Learn how to manage risk.
· Make smart, calculated decisions.
· It’s your move. Whatever you decide to do, you’re responsible.
· Use the ETP Network to help evaluate individual risk.
· Develop a CEO mind-set so you can create a "business-to-business" entity.
· Run your career as business.
· Build and leverage your network from a CEO’s perspective.
The Personal Branding and Marketing of ME, Inc.
The total relationship people have with you gives them a certain perception of you. This perception is your brand. As the CEO of ME, Inc., your brand helps others decide if they want a relationship with you or not. (Learn more about Personal Branding in Chapter 12, Break Away From the Pack).
Here are some of the hallmarks of brands:
· You only get “credit” for what you do consistently.
· The reliability of your behavior establishes your brand.
· Brands are based on actions, not intentions.
· Inconsistency weakens brands and suspends belief.
This is how your brand will affect your job search:
· It establishes your value.
· It establishes trust.
· You consistently deliver value, therefore …
· You can negotiate!
Remember this important marketing principle: Benefits Always Trump Features. If a new car dealer tells you about 8 cylinder engines, state-of-the-art emission controls, moon roof, and racing stripes, she’s describing the car’s features. However, if she tells you things like, “It will easily save you over 50% on gasoline”, or “the front and rear sensors warn you if you are too close to another vehicle”, she’s describing the car’s benefits to you as the potential owner.
Since you are the CEO of ME, Inc., always try to emphasize how you can solve someone’s problem or save them money rather than going on and on about all the achievements you’ve racked up in your professional career. If people begin to associate you with consistently providing benefits, which will become part of your BRAND — and you’ll be remembered for it!
Benefits Always Trump Features.
Remember this phrase when we get to Chapter 4, The Magnet: Your Value Proposition and Chapter 5, The Methodology: The 7-Step Job Search Methodology. When you learn how to prepare a powerful, targeted resume and cover letter, you’ll want to reflect on this phrase because more than any single aspect of your resume, demonstrating benefits makes you G O L D E N.
Learn to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Always provide value. Bring something to the table they can’t. Find a niche that shows the world you are someone with unique skills and talents and that you know how to use them!
Best wishes and keep networking alive,
Rod Colón, Career Coach
Founder
Empowering Today’s Professionals
www.ETPNetwork.com
rod@etpnetwork.com
732.367.5580
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