Success in Marketing

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Gaurav Tiwari

@wpgaurav

One of the most difficult areas to cultivate as a business person, particularly when we are starting out in business, is to market ourselves, our products and our services effectively. To find the right words, at the right time, for the person that I am talking to in any given situation is an art and a discipline.

So, how do we market ourselves?

The tension between ‘big-noting’ or ‘puffing ourselves up’ and ‘hiding our light under a bushel’ creates a balancing act that has within it the potential to make us feel uncomfortable and awkward. However, getting the balance just right often spells the difference between success and failure.

In essence, successful marketers tell stories that people believe.

We all love stories that move us in some way. The best stories, of course, motivate us, inspire us and make us act. We love the stories that engage us and light us up. These are the stories that enthuse and inspire action.

The telling of our own story in a believable way begins with our being very clear about who we are as a person. This is the story that we are living and writing everyday into the paragraphs and chapters of our own lives. The way in which our story is told shapes the result.

How well we live, breathe and move within our own business story will be the measure of how well we enthuse and inspire others to want to have business dealings with us.

In my view, the integration of our inner lives with its outer expression is critical. Others must be able to see that what we say we do is in keeping with what we actually do. In the first instance, we ourselves must be believable to ourselves, before we can be experienced as believable by others.

That what we have to offer is of immense benefit to a customer, either in solving a problem or satisfying a need that they might have, has to have first been discovered and written into our own business practices.

Over many years, I have found that constant reflection on the story that I tell myself, about myself, regarding my vocation and my mission in life and business, is a vital ingredient in successful marketing and selling.