It’s hard to write remarkable content. It’s even harder to be remarkable, don’t you think?
Most of us can manage “remarkable” once in a while—an inspired blog post, a well-researched ebook, but every post? I’m not sure it’s a realistic expectation for most of us. It’s aspirational, no doubt. And what about personally? Everyone is remarkable, worthy and unique. But do we show up and be remarkable every day?
Those who work independently—freelancers, consultants or entrepreneurs, tend toward remarkable because it’s often the difference between the next engagement, scoring the next round of financing, or not. Let’s consider “most people.” Who are they?
They are the legions of salespeople, business development and marketing folks who, whether they’re a newly minted professional or one seasoned by time and experience, need to meet a quota every week/month/quarter/year-after-year. If you haven’t been in that role, try it sometime. On any given day it can be lonely and humbling or electric and deliriously fun.
Sales and business development people must be remarkable to weather the long professional sales journey. There is no other choice. If you’re like my friend Tom Popomaronis, people want to talk with you (jump over to his LinkedIn profile and read how he landed Skype as a client). He uses content, but if you meet him in person, he’s even more interesting. If you’re selling a mature product or service (i.e. printing, insurance, banking, stocks), great content may or may not move the needle for you. You, on the other hand, can be remarkable and build rewarding business opportunities. You are the reason people do business with you.
Google “remarkable content.” As of this writing, it yielded more than 80,200,00 results. WOW, that’s significant!
Google “remarkable salesperson” and there are more than 7 million results.
Yep, content is today’s marketing but these results make me a bit crazy. I’m not even close. Really? I’m all about good content but when it comes down to it, I hope I’m considered better, more interesting and adding more value in person than on paper. Don’t you want the same? Don’t you want that for your team?
You might write remarkable content or receive remarkable content from your marketing department but don’t hold your breath. It’s only one piece of the package. It starts a conversation; you wrap it up and tie it with a bow. So reach into yourself, determine your threshold for greatness and live it out.
It’s much less risky than relying on remarkable content. Over the last few days I’ve been tweeting Reinvent Yourself—37 Ways To Stay Marketable. What keeps you marketable will also move you to remarkable.
Start with understanding you are not only a professional, you are a brand and you represent something. Own it. There is no content, no marketing that surpasses you being remarkable.
My colleague Erin Miller wrote a fun post about What Recruiters Remember, and interestingly, it’s nothing that can’t be attained. People – be compelling, be remarkable. Know who you are, be yourself, be self-aware and when you think you’re as remarkable as you can be….don’t believe it. Amp up all over again. Never believe your own press.
So let’s use remarkable content to make a remarkable “us” even more memorable. How? Here’s a start. Study away:
- Know more than your competitors about your service or product.
- Know more about your prospect or client than they would expect you to know. Study and prepare.
- Remember people want to buy, they don’t want to be sold.
- Step out and be yourself, tell it like it is.
- Ask the question that challenges the status quo- the question after the”this is how we’ve always done it” response.
Ready to be remarkable everyday? It’s the least we can do, don’t you think?
