Your Marketing Strategy

“Finding oneself” is a misconception. A self is not discovered but formed by deliberate contemplation and action. —Jacques Barzun

AT A RECENT CHARITY EVENT, Steve and I, along with two of our friends, dined like royalty. Celebrity chefs from all over the country had come to one of our favorite Dallas restaurants. As we gorged ourselves on each of the eight courses served, a rock-star chef would take the microphone, briefly mentioning the unique ingredients and explaining how each savory dish had been prepared.

With great efficiency, the chefs told us about each recipe. But what they failed to tell us—and what all the foodies in the room wanted to know—was the philosophy behind the fabulous eating establishments each of them ran. These guys and gals had a captive audience that longed for the “meat” of their stories (pun intended) so we could better understand how these everyday cooks became celebrity chefs. But they never elaborated on their restaurants, missing a great opportunity. I wonder how often we do the same.

Directly or indirectly we communicate something about ourselves, our dreams, our insecurities, our gifts—the list goes on—every day. Body language, tone of voice, word choice, our appearance . . . we’re definitely communicating, but what kind of message are we sending? Are we expressing what we really want others to remember about us? Or, like the audience at the charity event, do people want to know something other than what we’re superficially saying? Most importantly, can we clearly articulate who we are and what we bring to the party?

I think in order to communicate who we are, we must be deliberate about the words we use and the other nonverbal ways we express ourselves.

If you didn’t take marketing in school, or if you did and could use a refresher course, I hope you’re willing to head back to class with me, back to Marketing 101. But this time our marketing project or case study won’t revolve around a product or service. Instead we’re going to explore how to effectively market ourselves by reconsidering how to

write and communicate our positioning statement,

promote our features and benefits,

create packaging that sells, and then

deliver the goods.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my bodyand knit me together in my mother’s womb.Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!Your workmanship is marvelous–how well I know it. (Psalm 139:13-14)

Ladies, get out your pen and paper—our lesson begins tomorrow.

From the book