What is Your Message? Why Do We Care?

How do you describe your business to the world? What words sum up your brand identity and what you have to offer? Are you clearly explaining your business value?

It takes a little time and thought to get your marketing message right, which is why so many small businesses fall back on their “About Us” page or product descriptions to describe what they do and for whom. But, that just speaks to the business itself and not the people you are trying to connect with - your customers.

Getting your marketing, positioning, and brand statements right is an essential step to building your overall business identity.  You need to understand your message – your marketing platform – before you start to actually MARKET your business!

1. Understand Your Target Market and Niche

If you want to connect, you have to know with whom you’re connecting. You need to determine your niche. Ask yourself what you are selling and to whom. Are the benefits of dealing with your business clear and are they aligned with the needs of your target customers? Answering these questions will help you focus your messaging and play to your strengths in that niche. 

2. Research Pain Points, Challenges, Needs and Desires

Every business, product, or service responds to a customer’s pain point: a need, a problem, a desire, or a challenge. How you address these “pain points” is critical to your messaging. For some businesses, like a plumber, for example, these needs seem obvious. Restaurants or retail shops may not be addressing a pain point, but they can design their message to speak to the benefits of shopping or eating at their establishment (fine dining on dime budget, Hollywood style at resale prices).

3. Tell People About your Product - Concisely

Products are a key part of what you do, but they are not everything. Your product or service should only be a small part of your overall message.  Yes, it’s what you bring to your target audience, but you are offering more – customer service, agility, convenience, reliability, experience, etc. So consider all these issues in light of what they mean to your customer. What’s the “so what” factor? What benefit is it to them?

4. Add Proof Points

A proof point backs up what you have to say about your business. Think of it as a “don’t just take our word for it” statement. Proof points include customer quotes, success stories that you write, case studies, and references. They’re important because they show how your business has solved the problems of others. A few words or paragraphs can convey the customer’s challenge, the solution you delivered, and the results they gained.

5. Figure out how you are Different

What makes you unique in your niche and to your target market? You’ve outlined your product and you know your customer, but how are you different from the competition? At SK Consulting, we are not an agency.  Our customers are not clients.  We work WITH them.  We teach as we develop and implement a plan, a project, a message.  Our difference? We want businesses to have control of their own marketing.  We don’t want them to rely on us.  We want them to want us!

6. Decide on a Messaging Platform

What you are aiming for is flexibility. You want to be able to slice and dice your messaging to suit your audience, your collateral, a promotion, or a sales pitch.

A common approach is to create 25-, 50-, and 100-word versions of your message (:15 sec, :30 sec, :60 sec elevator pitches). The shorter version can be used in advertising copy or sound bites in broadcast or online materials. The longer versions give you more flexibility to add specific services, benefits, and value statements, backed up by proof points, about why customers should do business with you.

7. Use Your Messaging Consistently

Once you have your message developed, make sure everyone is singing from the same song sheet, from your sales people to your front desk and across your social media platforms, website and marketing pieces. The more your customers hear it, the more likely it will be to resonate and stick.

If you need help developing your message or are unsure how to market it, contact SK Consulting.  From Concept to Creation to Implementation, we’re there with you every step of the way!

Have a Strategy to Reach Your Goal

“If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail,” is the cheesy catch-phrase of many business coaches, life coaches and inspirational leaders (when addressing us lowly, unorganized individuals).  While it can be infuriating when it is used on you, it is quite relevant and true when it comes to the brutal arena of digital marketing.

A digital marketing strategy is not just something that sounds good to talk about in meetings or something to mumble when your boss asks you what you’re doing on Twitter in the middle of the day. When used properly, a digital marketing strategy can guide you and your business. It can be the Yoda figure that can guide almost every decision you make.

End Goal

This is the whole point of creating a marketing strategy. It’s your strategy’s reason for being. You’d be surprised how many businesses have a marketing strategy ‘because we should have one.’

Thinking about what you want from your strategy is not as simple as it sounds. Like arguing with your partner about who gets the remote control, you’ve got to have a clear idea of what you want and what success at the end of your strategy will look like.

This is no time to be vague. A mission statement of ‘We want to improve sales/make more money’ will absolutely not cut it. You need specifics. Do you want improved sales? How many? From what demographic? By when?

You’re not going to be a billion-dollar business by next Tuesday. Be realistic, focused and perhaps the most important, be honest with yourself.

Everyone on the same page

Your marketing strategy is obviously a secret to your competitors. It’s not, however, a secret from your colleagues. A good marketing strategy that everyone knows and understands can ensure that everyone pulls in the same direction. This can help your branding be consistent and on-message regardless of who is in charge of the Twitter account that day.

Creating a marketing strategy can force you to really analyze your business. What is your personality? How do you want to be viewed? Your brand personality should be genuine and authentic. Otherwise, the public will not want to interact with you. For example, if you’re a small firm of accountants, don’t attempt to be the Ernst & Young of the accountancy world as it won’t appear genuine, nor will it be likely to resonate well with your typical target client. This brings me nicely to my next point.

Do your research

Who are you targeting with your social media strategy? You need to have a clear idea of the demographic to whom you want to market (and a reason why) if you’re going to have a successful strategy. If you’re not entirely sure who this is likely to be, finding out who your customers are is always a useful exercise. There are a number of things you can do to help:

Review your orders: who has been buying from you/using your business?

Assess your followers on social media to determine a ‘typical’ brand advocate.

If it’s a new segment that you’d like to target, do some listening on social media to build up accurate personas of your new targets.

This is important, as your target demographic will dictate which media your strategy should focus on. If you’re going for over 65s, a witty Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram campaign is unlikely to be successful.

Natural Boosts

When you’re creating your strategy, have a look at your calendar. Are there any events that would complement your marketing strategies? A simple example would be a restaurant that wants more couples may naturally gravitate towards Valentine’s Day. Or you could alternatively do an anti-Valentine’s campaign promoting your takeaway services.

The point here is that there are certain events in the calendar that match your marketing strategy. National Beer Day was trending on Twitter on August 4. With some advance planning, a bar could incorporate this into their strategy and offer a promotion based around an online competition.

There is a lot more to a digital marketing strategy than ‘sell more things to more people.’ It takes a bit more thought and strategy, but when you have a solid base, you will find that many of the other elements seem obvious. If you’re still not sure how to build a great strategy, contact SK Consulting. We develop strategies that work for you.  And, just maybe, beer will be involved.  

How’s Your Marketing Working for You?

Do you sometimes feel like your business is missing something?  That your marketing strategy is little strategy and a lot of guessing? Maybe sales leads just aren’t closing, even though you have a great product. Or perhaps your top-of-funnel efforts simply aren’t generating enough leads in the first place.

You aren’t alone. Most businesses — a full 78%  — are dissatisfied with their sales conversion rates.

Regardless of what you’re selling or where your problem lies, there are six key elements of any effective marketing strategy. Marketing strategy doesn’t need to be difficult. Take a look at the following advice on how to make yours effective. 

1. Start with a compelling story. Effective marketing contains all of the elements of an irresistible story. These include characters (target audience); their challenges (pain points) and motivations (desired outcomes); a setting (connecting the dots); obstacles (to the desired outcome); the climax (the value your solution provides); and a conclusion (the delivery of that value).

Once you have these elements in place, you can begin to build the central message that demonstrates how your product or service takes audiences from where they are now to an ideal scenario in which their lives are improved.

Not sure where to begin? Consider tales that captivate you and provide your greater mission in life. Don’t worry if your answer seems silly or overly complex. Get your creative juices flowing, then write.

2. Develop technical expertise. As the number of messaging distribution channels continues to grow, the number of systems required to integrate these channels grows with it. You have to have much more than a passing understanding of the underlying technologies involved in the entire process to successfully establish metrics that enable you to manage a marketing program.

As your marketing efforts mature, be sure to invest in the technology, education, and personnel required to keep them effective over the long term.

3. Coordinate your messaging. All of your marketing efforts should be based on a unified strategy, meaning you should be telling a consistent story across all channels and customer touchpoints.

Disjointed messaging is one of the biggest obstacles to achieving meaningful ROI, but also one of the most common.

People refer to content marketing, social media marketing, and search engine optimization as three different things — as if each is a tactic that can get you there alone.  But, each of these tactics, and any others you use, should be part of a holistic strategy that centers around compelling content.

And speaking of content....

4. Content marketing leads the charge. Content should be the foundation of any modern marketing strategy.  AND your content should be authentic — it should stem from your unique brand story. Unfortunately, many companies still seem to produce content for its own sake, which ultimately gets them nowhere.

Great content is relevant to your customers and your brand, adding value for consumers in a way that aligns with your company’s larger mission.

5. Incorporate employee voices. Authentic content relies on your brand’s unique voice, and your employees are a part of that voice. Empower your employees to become brand advocates.  Have them share their story of why they work for you….and the products or services you offer. Many organizations are reluctant to let go of control in fear of what, or how, the employees will alter the marketing message. Stop it!

Rather than fear what they might say, business leaders and marketers should encourage employees to talk about the services and value their organization provides. If you trust your employees, they’ll typically reward that trust.

6. Focus on branding, not selling. Your marketing messaging should always center on telling your story, not selling your products or services.

Instead of trying to reach everyone, your story will resonate with the customers who share your values and draw them to you.  Have you ever received an advertisement from Apple telling you to BUY their product?  No, because Apple focuses on building relationships.

Apple’s marketing draws potential customers into its brand story, showing them what life is like when they live that story (by using Apple products). The results speak for themselves.

Marketing is both an art and a science, and if you’re struggling to do it right, take your cue from the experts. If you’re not sure where to start or how to implement the above strategies, contact SK Consulting today!  From Concept.  To Creation.  To Implementation.  We’re there with you every step of the way.

Social Media is More than a Promotional Platform

A common mistake that many people make as they're diving into social media is to limit their content to promotional updates. This is reflective of the traditional marketing world, but things have changed; now we build our marketing efforts on trust, engagement, and community.

There is, of course, a time and place for marketing and promotional messages, but don't limit yourself. Broaden your scope a bit. This will make your content more appealing and lessen the burden of creation.

What type of content can and should you post?

Adjacent content: It's a pretty safe bet that if someone is following you they're interested in what you offer and their interests probably don't stop there. Share content that's tangentially relevant to your business or something involving common interests of your audience. If you are a clothing retailer, you could post about up-and-coming beauty trends or news from a major designer.

Tips and tricks: Add value to the conversation by sharing content that will make your customers' lives easier (bonus points for tips and tricks that help them use your products or services).

Responses: Not every update has to stem from original ideas of yours; you can bounce off the ideas that other people are already posting. Social media relies on conversations, so jump in and be a part of them. This is a good way to get your account and brand more visibility.

Non-promotional company information: If your company does amazing volunteer work in your community, don't be shy about sharing it! If there's a rather impressive showing at a company party, you definitely want to share that. Giving a sneak peek into the culture within an organization goes a long way to building relationships by humanizing the brand.

Job openings: Social channels can be advantageous when trying to find new talent and publicize job openings. Job seekers are increasingly using social media as a way of learning about companies and their open positions; it's a match made in Internet heaven. Get those listings out there and be sure to highlight the most important ones.

Jokes: This is a tricky one, and it's more of a branding question than anything else. First, know what your brand is and what kind of personality it embodies. If humor is not a part of that, you might avoid this type of post. It can backfire and be incredibly awkward. Always err on the side of caution with sensitive topics. Once you've made sure the humor is acceptable, make sure it's actually funny, because a bad joke is just embarrassing.

Frequency of updates

"How often do I need to update my account?" is a common question, and there is no right or wrong answer here—no best practice set in stone. It simply depends on your audience, their appetite, and what you have to say. It's best to test and see what works best for you and your audience on each platform.

One universal fact is that social media status updates don't last long. The half-life of a tweet is around 18 minutes for most users. This doesn’t mean you should post that often, but that sending an update out doesn't mean it will remain visible for a long time. Users move on to more recent items in their newsfeeds quite quickly. So, keep an eye on how long your users are engaging and sharing something.

Again, it all depends on what is appropriate for your organization. News organizations or media publications could easily be expected to update multiple-to-many times per day, whereas a clothing retailer may turn off users. You definitely don't want to talk just for the sake of talking; if you don't have anything of value to add, don't post updates just to meet a quota. But, you do want to make sure your account updates regularly enough to entice users to follow along.

Engaging Your Audience

Ask for help: Want your community to help or participate in a particular way? Sometimes it's as simple as asking. If you've earned their allegiance by building value and investment into the relationship, you can ask for survey participation, product feedback, or whatever else you need.

Keep it simple: Too many options may as well be no options. If your audience isn't on a certain network, why would you promote that sharing option on your content? Conversely, if your main focus is B2B, you may (for example) not need to include Pinterest as a sharing option. Look at your social audience and match up your offerings with their behaviors.

Cross-promote for discoverability: There's nothing worse for a user than not being able to find your content. Ensure your blog is linked to your social properties. Keep all of your profile names the same across all social channels. Develop and sell a unique value proposition for each account. Why would a customer need to or want to follow you on Twitter, if they already follow you on Facebook? Make sure you give them a reason.

Monitor and listen: Monitor social channels as frequently as you can. Utilize services that will help push notifications to you so you can ensure you're not missing meaningful conversations across the web. There are countless apps for Twitter and Facebook available, and you can set up alerts, as well. Often the admin tools of various platforms will have this functionality built in. As you monitor, genuinely listen to what your customers tell you and respond accordingly.

Gamify: People enjoy competition and like being rewarded for achievements. Do a like and share contest for a chance to win tickets, a gift card, a free consultation.  Whatever works for your organization.

Social media is a great marketing tool – if it’s done right.  Inundating your platforms with useless information, posts, tweets, etc. is just downright annoying.  Be relevant!  If you need help developing your social media plan, contact the experts at SK Consulting!

Designing a Marketing Strategy: DIY or Hire the Experts?

For many small business owners, developing a well-planned marketing strategy places them firmly ahead of the competition. However, many businesses fail to establish a fully realized strategy, preferring instead to generate a few well-intentioned ideas they hope will magically come together. Unfortunately, hoping to “fake it until you make it” rarely turns out well, especially if your small business has limited marketing resources.

Applying careful consideration and foresight when developing your small business marketing plan can provide a strategic advantage against your less organized competition.  But, even the best initial marketing strategies typically have one thing in common: They’re not very good.

Finishing a first draft never leaves you with a perfected version of what you’re hoping to create. Sherlock Holmes was originally named Sherrinford Hope in the first draft of Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved detective series, who was then accompanied on his adventures by the good Dr. Ormond Sacker. (Hope and Sacker sounds like a real estate law firm, especially when compared to the iconic Holmes and Watson.)

Point is, the first draft of your marketing strategy will rarely be perfect. Creating a successful strategy requires taking a step back, identifying your most glaring mistakes and patching those areas to create a more comprehensive plan that actually meets your small business marketing needs.

Here’s what to keep in mind.

Work From Facts, Not Assumptions

In most cases, your initial small business marketing plan will be based on assumptions. While some of these assumptions may be based on experience or even some data, the vast majority of them will be based on what you believe correct rather than concrete information on what will actually benefit your business or its target audience. For example, you might think your customers will like a certain type of campaign (witty, educational, informative or downright crazy) because YOU like that type of thing.

Step outside your bubble!  Don’t assume your potential customers will like something just because you do.  If you’re basing the majority of your marketing plan on pure speculation, rather than data or intuition based on years of experience, your foundation for success becomes highly questionable.

Stay Open to Change

Staying too ridged to your initial marketing plan is a major hurdle many small businesses need to overcome when creating a successful strategy. It’s easy to fall into the trap of placing too much faith in the work you’ve already done and not fully consider what alternative strategies might offer a better return on investment.

Successful small business marketing strategies require constant testing, and a willingness to make changes and optimize wherever possible. While there will be times where the first draft of your marketing campaign will prove successful, don’t be complacent. There’s always room for improvement.

Accept Your Limitations

If you have no experience in the creation or implementation of a marketing strategy, you’re going to have little idea of whether your strategy is actually working. If you did, you wouldn’t be working off the first draft of a marketing strategy. You’d have previous experience to draw upon and data to work with. How can you minimize failure? You have two options: Learn by trial and error or hire a team like SK Consulting to handle your marketing strategy. We have the knowledge and know-how needed to help create, plan and execute a marketing strategy that will enable your business to better connect with your target audience and increase sales.

However, if you’re ready for the challenge and the steep learning curve that comes with creating your own small business marketing campaign, we can walk you through the steps.

SK Consulting wants you to have control of your marketing.  We teach our clients how to develop and implement a strategic, effective marketing plan.  If you need help conceptualizing and promoting your brand, contact us today!

The Who, What, When, Where and Whys of Social Media

While it can be exciting to have a ton of "likes" on Facebook or see millions of views on a YouTube video, if your business' goal is not solely building brand awareness or driving traffic, a social media following may not be a top priority for you.  If it is, then take the necessary steps to make sure your social media strategy works for you!

1. Choose Your Social Network Wisely

First things first, understand that just because there is a social network, doesn’t mean you need to be marketing on it. You need to understand what the platform really does, how people use it, and determine whether it makes sense for your business to have a presence.

Which social media platforms do your potential customers truly use? Your brand should live where they live so you have a better chance to connect and engage with them. Having great content on Twitter and a highly-active presence means nothing if they aren’t hanging out there.

Facebook

Facebook is still the social media powerhouse with nearly 80% of all internet users (68% of U.S. users) engaging with the platform.  But, the fastest growing demographic on the platform is not the Millennials that started it, but rather their Baby Boomer parents.

Of those aged 65 or older, 62% use Facebook. So, if you’re a wealth management firm marketing to people approaching and starting retirement, Facebook is the place you will want to be.

If your audience is not using Facebook in a work capacity, statistics prove that they are most likely still using the platform -- possibly as a distraction during work.

Creating an ad that speaks directly to your target audience, whether B2C or B2B, will encourage them to click and engage with you.

YouTube

YouTube is the second largest search engine with more than 3 billion searches a month. With video continuing to surge as a preferred form of content, it’s no surprise that YouTube is the third most-visited site on the web. Do you have “how to” information or tutorials you can show? Create a video and share on YouTube!

YouTube’s popularity has only increased with its inclusion in both Google’s web and video search (the platform is owned by Google). Having an active channel on this platform can only help you acquire followers and traffic to your site.

Twitter

One of the fascinating things about Twitter is its real-time appeal and international reach.

The platform supports 40 languages and more than 2/3 of accounts are based outside of the United States. Global brands can take advantage of this to create excitement about upcoming product or service launches.

LinkedIn

“Social media for professionals.” That’s how most people describe LinkedIn. Talk about a B2B marketer’s dream.

You can connect with people in your target industries (even as specific as to target companies you want to work with) and market to them directly. Or, as you’re looking to grow your business, you can use LinkedIn to recruit quality talent to hire on at your company.

Though these are the four most prominent, there are plenty of other social media platforms you can consider for marketing your business as well, including Pinterest, Snapchat, Instagram and more. Just make sure to do your research and the ones you use are where your ideal prospects are. Choosing the right social network is the first step to building a strong presence and following there.

2. Complete Your Profiles (...Yes, Your Personal Ones Too!)

Now that you’ve determined where to build your profiles, do so. This seems like a trivial point to make but having complete profiles is necessary when trying to attract a good following.

Every social media platform has a summary area, profile picture, and cover photo where you can enter and showcase information about your business. Give users sneak peeks into what your company provides, but make sure to keep your branding (visuals and voice) consistent with who you are and what you provide.

3. Analyze Your Competitors

Something you should consistently be doing in marketing is analyzing your competitors. What networks are they active on? What kind of content are they sharing? How often are they sharing?

Understanding your competitor's social media engagement will help you establish a roadmap of what you should be doing as well.

4. Connect with Thought Leaders & Influencers

Connecting with industry influencers is a huge tactic in social media strategy. These companies or individuals are the thought leaders in your industry that your customers and target audience are following. Tap into the resource!

Follow industry professionals from content that you read or watch and share with your audience. Chances are, your followers have the same interest as you.

Do you attend annual events or conferences? Look up the speakers and connect with them on LinkedIn and Twitter. Start having virtual conversations about the event or tweet that you’re excited to be learning from them. If the speaker engages with you (which he or she should), then you may be mentioned in a post that reaches all of their followers as well.

5. Share Awesome Content

Sharing quality content for your audience members will help establish your company -- and personal brand -- as a thought leader within your own industry.

What to Share

The obvious thing to share is your own content. However, many companies get in the habit of only sharing their content, which can actually hurt you in the long-run. When it comes to sharing on social media, there are two very important points to make:

1. Be creative with your content:

Add images, gifs, videos and more to your posts to make them more enticing. People want to see more than just text and need something visually appealing to catch their eye. Including images on the following platforms can increase your engagement by up to 200% depending on the platform.

Connect with your audience in real time by utilizing live video.  Take advantage of this emerging trend and speak directly to your followers!

2. Don’t be a content snob:

Follow the 70-20-10 rule. In this practice, the content you are sharing should be adding value and building your brand 70% of the time, should be others’ posts and ideas 20% of the time and should only promote yourself or your business 10% of the time.

Yes, only 10% of your content on social media should be self-promotional. Why? Because this enables you to build trust with your followers and provide them with truly valuable content and information. Would you follow a company that only blasts you with promo offers all the time? Probably not.

When to Share

There are some general rules you can use when first getting started. Research shows that engagement rates are higher 18% of the time when posting to Facebook on Thursdays and Fridays.

Each of your platforms provides you with insights and analytics that you should be measuring over time. Create a sharing schedule for each platform and see when your posts receive the most engagement.

You can determine the day, time, and type of post to share to best reach your audience. The more they engage with your posts, the more your content will appear in other newsfeeds -- expanding your reach.

6. Utilize Paid Advertising

Now that you’re up and running on social networks, it’s time to take things one step further. Organic views in social media are becoming increasingly difficult to achieve. Why? Because the platforms are smart and want you to pay to play. Social media advertising is one of the most cost-effective ways to engage with a new, targeted audience.

Facebook Advertising

Because of the number of people using Facebook, you have a good chance of reaching users whether you are trying to target internationally or to a smaller, local region. And you can control who you target.

Facebook’s advertising goes beyond targeting the common factors like gender, location, age, and job titles. You can get as specific as targeting people based on their life events (like those who have children, pets, etc.), finances, politics, purchasing behaviors and more.

Facebook allows you to take into consideration an endless amount of targeting capabilities within a user’s demographics, interests and behaviors.

LinkedIn Advertising

LinkedIn is the go-to social media platform for B2B marketers. Though you don’t have as many factors as Facebook, LinkedIn advertising can get pretty specific when building a target audience.

One feature that LinkedIn recently rolled out is Sponsored InMail. This allows you to send personalized messages to prospects to help reach members when they are most engaged. Your message is delivered to a specified target audience you build and sent only to members that are actively engaged on LinkedIn. Choose to send an introductory message about your business, a recently published resource or offer a free trial to your product or service.

7. Engage With Your Audience

Following the above steps will certainly help you build a strong social media following. Once you build your audience, you need to engage with them. Like posts you’re mentioned in, answer questions when asked and reply to comments made about your content. Social media is meant to be social!

Continue to engage with users and chances are you’ll not only see an increase in followers, but in customers too.

Need help developing a social media brand and plan?  Contact SK Consulting today!

Hey Job Seekers! Know Your Brand!

The first and foremost thing to remember while looking for a job is branding. How you brand yourself, determines your possibility of landing an interview and eventually a job.  Your brand is your why - your authentic, genuine and real purpose and value.  If you don’t truly understand your why, potential employers won’t either.  They will know if you are wanting their job for the paycheck or because your goals and mission are in alignment to theirs.

Searching for a job is an art.  Not everyone is adept in the art. Often people with the right qualifications and experience fall short of getting a job despite fitting the criteria perfectly.  Why?  Because he/she inevitably makes one of a few mistakes in their job search process. 

Here are some common mistakes that can hinder your chances of landing a job or even getting an interview:

1. Branding: Many job seekers don't brand themselves. Your resume and LinkedIn profile is not just a summary of your academic and work experience. It is where you lay the ground work for your brand. Your resume should reflect what you have done in the past and where you are headed. Employers look for an employee who has a clear idea of where they are headed.

2. Relevance: Most job seekers end up making resume in a way which just provides a summary of their academics and work experience. Instead of just listing out your achievement, you need to optimize your resume for the job applying for. Do not just list out your professional achievements but also mention how these will help you in the role you are applying for.

3. Value: Most of the times, job seekers do not know their own value and end up in roles not justified to their talent and qualification. Do your research well and re-brand yourself according to the market trends. As a job seeker, you should know your own worth and what value you can bring to an organization.

4. Network: Most job seekers when they begin searching for a job neglect their own network. As a job seeker, you can benefit from every connection you have. Channel out, let people know you are looking for a job and you might end up not just with information about job openings but also with possible referrals. Go to as many networking events as possible.  Ask friends to invite you as a guest to theirs.  You will show that you are a determined individual who isn’t afraid to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

5. Research Employer: Most job seekers, if they happen to land an interview, commit the mistake of not researching about their employer beforehand. Before an interview, you must research about your prospective employer. Learn about what they do and what they provide to a customer. Also learn about the role you are being interviewed for and what are the expectations attached with the said role. 

Understanding the role you are being interviewed to fill gives you the opportunity to understand whether or not your brand is a good fit with the company.  If it is, be armed with examples of how your personal brand and your professional experiences can benefit their organization.

If you are struggling to find your WHY or to understand and promote your brand, we can help!  Contact SK Consulting today!