The Importance of Marketing Yourself

Growing up in West Virginia, I noticed several of my junior high classmates running for various student government offices. From home room president to class president, there were opportunities for candidates to lead and promote their school. At the time, I played sports. I was basically an introvert. I enjoyed being around a small circle of friends. I was actually fortunate to have a best friend. What made that union unique was our differences. They say differences attract, and we had a beautiful eight-year run. He was the politician of the group and always won high offices. I admired his skill and ability in motivating others to common goals.

Because of my best friend I decided to run for junior high home room president. That was my first experience in marketing. I realized very quickly you had to learn to read well, write well and speak well in public to succeed. I had to become an extrovert. I talked to extroverts and watched them in action. I asked individuals who were excellent in performing how they accomplished success in their chosen fields. I had to overcome fears of speaking in public and dealing with strangers. This activity was not natural to me.

What was natural to me was the love of marketing. In this field I found many activities that I loved to do. As a player of sports I always strived to be a team player. My coaches taught me that I had to develop as an individual and that would improve the overall team. The sum is the total of the parts. Over time I learned to progress to the best of my ability in any field of endeavor because I learned to understand my strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly, I tried to improve my weaknesses before reinforcing my strengths.