MARKETING YOURSELF

“For you, you are the easiest thing to market, put yourself out there where they can see you.”

It was in 1983 that I was taking a class by Professor Tchir on marketing. For the world, Mr. Tchir was a marketing executive for NCR, but for me, he was an incredible teacher. Why? Simple—because I never forgot anything that was ever taught in his class. However, I also clearly remember getting a B- in all the assignments I ever handed in to him. I asked Tony, who usually sat next to me, whether I could look at his papers to see what I might do better. I saw a glaring, obvious pattern in every single one of them. His assignments had an A at the end of the last page. Yes, the last page! His was always a stapled report, unlike mine, which was summed up in a single sheet, adorning not a single stapler pin. I went through his answers to find that none of his works had an upper edge over mine, scholastically or intellectually. My approach to all of the answers had been to make a point and conclude, but not Tony, who believed in fattening up his reports with a little bit of everything here and there, thus adding more pages. It pains me to add “fluff”, unless it’s on a peanut butter sandwich! But I digress, my answers had more brevity, depth, and accuracy as they talked about what was actually asked. Yet to Mr. Tchir, more pages signaled more effort, and Tony’s share of “more” ultimately overpowered mine. Having cracked the case, the decision was now up to me: should I stick to the way of the student whose grade was in someone else’s hands, or should I turn to the way of the professor to whom I was marketing my paper, and buy a stapler? For the rest of the semester, I made some “half-time” adjustments, and, in the end, got a B+ as my final grade.

Though the incident might not have gotten me a better grade than Tony, it taught me a valuable lesson that I never forgot. Just like I never forgot Professor Tchir’s definition of marketing—“Getting the right product, to the right market, at the right time, with the right price, and the right profit is marketing.” Odd, huh? His definition was brief and accurate, so I would have given him an A if I were the teacher, but would he give himself one if we were to go by his more-words-mean-more-effort approach? Nonetheless, he did teach me a valuable lesson, as I said. That marketing is in every single part of your existence. How you behave in the world and how people perceive is nothing less than the result of you “marketing” yourself to them, whether you do it consciously or not.

Tony had marketed himself as a hardworking student who researched more and wrote more (cue to his stapled assignments), yet I had marketed myself as not-so-hardworking with my one-paged assignment that did not showcase the same vigor. Selling yourself is the same as marketing yourself, and it is marketing 101 to know that if you want positive results, approach the audience in the way that will reach them most favourably. If I had continued writing one-paged assignments, perhaps my grade would have been B- or C my entire semester, but if I had caught on to the way that spoke the most to Mr. Tchir from the very beginning, I might have gotten a higher grade than Tony. This is usually not my way. I tend to be outspoken and unreceptive; appeasement is not even in my dictionary. Yet my wise mind steps in here and reminds me that I am a winner at all ethical costs.

Marketing yourself or selling yourself is all about controlling people’s initial perceptions of you. You are a brand in yourself, and if you want to successfully market your brand, you have to know your audience. If you don’t, someone else, the Tonys of your life, will catch on quicker than you do, earning a more favourable outcome than you do.