First and Foremost You Are a Marketer
What do you do for a living? I would venture a guess that this is one of the most asked questions in the world. At least in my world it is. If I leave the house and go out in public for ANY reason I rarely return home without having that conversation at least once.
In my world business is a constant. Why is that?
Because I am an entrepreneur. Therefore the most correct and true answer to the question “What do you do?” is and always should be “I am a marketer.”
Even if I sell vitamin supplements or own a wonderful coffee and smoothie shop or am a nail tech. Even if one of those is “what” I do, my position is marketer.
I understand that especially as an entrepreneur you are probably responsible for a lot of things. There are many hats that have to be worn in business and most times with entrepreneurs we feel like we have to wear most of the hats ourselves.
But wearing all of those other hats does no good if there is no business. And there is no business if we do not market.
AND…you never know when the stage will be set and you will have the opportunity to market your business. So if you think like the marketing director of a company where you LOVE your job and making that company a raging success is your primary goal, then you will be on the right track.
Here’s an example. I went to a movie last night. It was actually a set of 3 movies with the final one airing at 12midnight because it was a new release.
I attended this event with my daughter and the daughter of a friend. We had a wonderful time hanging out in the line, playing card games and talking with the people around us.
Once we entered the theater to take our seats we had the opportunity to meet some of the people behind and in front of us.
One of them made a comment “I should have brought business cards, I could have handed them out”. She was a massage therapist.
But notice the issue with her statement?
“I SHOULD have brought business cards.”
Now she was going to a movie marathon and if she was like us she had already been at the theater 4 hours before they let us in the theater at all.
The fun part was that both me and my daughter immediately pulled out business card holders fully loaded from our bags.
The woman laughed. Then she explained that she was actually OUT of business cards and needed to order more. So that is one reason she had not brought them with her.
We then had a very nice conversation with her and she told us that she has been a massage therapist for 4 years and works from her home. She loves her business. But notice I have not given you here name?
It is because, sadly enough…I do not remember it. And I do not have a card to reference.
My daughter ended up in a conversation with the people in front of us about books and such. In the end they asked her for her social media information so they could connect with her online. She wrote down her social media information and gave that and a business card to them.
Now did we go to a “networking event”? Were we at a business function? No.
But we were still prepared.
We were ready at a moments notice to put on our marketers hat and get to work. Even if it was only for 2 or 3 minutes before the opening scenes of the movie began.
Now 3-4 people in that sold out theater have my business information. Will they use it? I hope so. But they certainly wouldn’t if I had not been prepared to give it to them.
Are you missing out on business opportunities? Are you “turning off” and not being in business mode? How much possible business are you leaving on the table by not being prepared?
About The Author:
Cindy Clemens is a mom, author, speaker, marketing consultant and Co-Founder of Your Marketing University. Her goal is to teach marketing in a simple easy to understand format that businesses can use to help gain marketing ideas & market their businesses to boost sales.
Are you marketing in sequence? Are you following a strategy or focusing on tactics? Claim your copy of our free “Small Business Marketing Roadmap Report” by my partner Ely Delaney to find out.
