Shameless Marketing
April 29, 2007 by Darlene McDaniel
Filed under Careers
Shameless Marketing was a term I learned many years ago in San Francisco, California when I attended a marketing workshop for professional speakers called The Odd Couple with Steve Weiss and Patricia Fripp. The entire workshop Patricia Fripp talked about herself. She spoke about how good she was as a speaker, coach, and anything else she could think of to keep our attention on her. I remember thinking how stuck on herself she was. And then it hit me, she was demonstrating what she was teaching us, Shameless Marketing. Patricia Fripp was comfortable talking about herself. Very Comfortable! How comfortable are you talking about yourself?
You are the product! The Product is You! As product, what will make this hiring manager make a buying decision and choose you? It is You Against Them, the competition. What can you do that will bring value to the organization? What specifically differentiates you from the competition?Years later as I was putting together my workshop, Tough Questions? Great Answers! I remembered the term Shameless Marketing and began to use it in the workshop.
Shameless Marketing defined by me means you have the ability to communicate “who you are and what you bring to the table, unashamedly.” Can you talk about yourself, sharing your skills and abilities? Can you say, I am the best candidate for the job? If not, you must believe in the product you are attempting to sell.
Patricia Fripp has an article I found called Does Marketing Match Your Image? She is again applying this principle to business. I see application for the interview. Does your marketing (your resume, your cover letter, your interview) match your image? According to her article, ”You don’t want to send anything out that looks like a million dollars, if you can’t deliver a million dollars.”
When Patricia Fripp uses shameless self-promotion she says ”You’re going to learn more.” “This is going to be the best.” “I guarantee.” She can back up those words, with confidence. How about you? Can you credibly deliver what you say you can? If you can’t, you have no business putting it on your resume or in your cover letter or saying it in the interview. Your integrity during the interview process is critical.
So who are you? And what will you bring to the organization? Can you shamelessly promote your product - YOU? Whatever you say during the interview process if they make you an offer, you must be able to deliver it!
Excellent, very well written!!
Hi Gabby,
Thanks for the comment!! When you get ready to go into the marketplace, hopefully this site will be of use. Not to mention that you have me in your hip pocket when you get ready to find a new job!
Very thought-provoking. I wonder how well this translates outside the American cultural context. I know we are all becoming Americanised to an extent (or should that be Americanized?) and cultural contexts are changing accordingly, but where I live a really good way to turn off my audience would be to spend time telling them how outstanding I am, as distinct from how much benefit they could expect to get from my presentation.
Thanks for the comment Des- What a great question you pose! I agree with you to some extent. My description of Patricia Fripp is accurate. From the standpoint that she was over the top when speaking about herself throughout the marketing workshop that weekend.
My definition of her term, shifts from an exaggerated almost prideful focus on oneself to having the ability to communicate “who you are and what you bring to the table, unashamedly.”
I think that people should be able to speak about who they are and what they will bring - skills and abilities to the organization they are interviewing with. That has to be important no matter what culture you are in - if you want the job. I would love to know what others think. Does Shameless Marketing by my definition translate across cultural lines?