3 ways to bring your secret sauce to life (+ create career and business opportunities)
Because information without implementation is worthless, this post is all about that: bringing your secret sauce to life.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about and/or what your secret sauce actually is – stop here, check out this blog post first and then come back to this one. Because there’s no point putting yourself out there when there’s nothing substantial behind you and to build on.
As I always say- marketing without branding usually flops because it’s your foundation, the fuel for your engine.
MARKETING WITHOUT BRANDING USUALLY FLOPS
WHY BEING THE BEST ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH …
Even if you’re the best at what you do – if no one knows of you, how can you make the impact you want to make?
And if you hope people see and recognise your talent – then better get your survival pack ready because it’s going to be a long ride!
If you are ready however to step up and into your point of difference, want to learn how to leverage your secret sauce so you can thrive in the Future of Work- then you’ve come to the right place!
Here are 3 ways to create more opportunities based on your point of difference:
1. Create, update and manage your LinkedIn profile and be active on the platform
LinkedIn is THE platform when it comes to connecting, collaborating and communicating with decision makers (and those who can make the intro to decision makers).
So the question is- is your profile up to date?
Does it reflect you are, how you can use your special sauce to benefit others and the social proof to back it up?
With social proof I mean anything that supports your claim, from publishing your own content (which you can add to your featured section to media mentions to personal recommendations)
I’ll do a separate blog on LinkedIn as honestly- this platform has changed the game for me and has helped me pivot in my career not once but 3 times:
I got speaking engagement through it, got on boards as the chairs had followed me for a while and decided my personality, expertise and audience would be a good fit for what they were looking for and I still get about 80% of my business through LinkedIn.
So investing some time in the platform and of course the people who’re on it totally pays off.
A few things to maximise your leverage and exposure:
Make it easy to
- understand what you do and how you do it
- what your goals are
- what you enjoy doing
- but also how to get in touch with you
That’s a biggie here- social media is a conversation starter and not a deal closer so make sure you don’t hard core pitch straight away or go in with an ask. It’s so off-putting. Not sure why people do it because it doesn’t work. But do have conversations and focus on the getting to know each other before you ask for anything in return.
You’ll see – in the second you ‘give’, you’ll get.
If you say ‘I don’t know what to say’ or ‘Not sure how I can make others reach out to me’, don’t worry- I’ve got your back!
To make it even easier for people to start the conversation and find common ground (by the way- that goes both ways so you should do the same), here are 3 tips on how to use LinkedIn properly:
Have a complete profile (incl work history and education etc) and share relevant info on in your personal summary section. It makes it easier to relate to each other if you have something or someone in common or connection
Publish your own content so you can get your point of view across and establish yourself not only as expert but authority in your field. You have a unique background and story – connect it with your area of expertise and voila - this is something no one else can compete with
Engage in other people’s content. Honestly guys- that’s the easiest way to get visible. Simply by commenting and liking other people’s posts as they get the notification and will highly likely check out your profile (so da ding – that’s why it’s so important to optimise your own profile page first before you put yourself out there).
2. Contribute and create your own content
Yes I know. I just said that you should engage in other people’s content and this is super powerful to get you on their radar.
However, if you want to establish yourself as thought leader (real talk- I don’t like this word at all but I haven’t come up with another word yet so we have to stick with it for now but if you have a better suggestion – please DM me!!) you need to create your own content.
You can do long and short form content, depending on the platform you use (which depends on the platforms your decision makers are on and that’s suitable to your profession).
You can either publish a post with your point of view, your experience, your tips and showing what you do on the go (for example when you attend an event and share take outs that resonated with you or you got a recognition for something or are speaking at an event.
The other, more in depth way to showcase your secret sauce is to publish long form content.
You can do this on LinkedIn pulse but also on other platforms like your own blog, through a podcast or on other people’s mediums .
So for example – I used to publish quite a few articles on LinkedIn (but after I did it on my website).
Now I focus on recording podcasts which I then re-purpose for articles, blogs and posts. Also think about where you can contribute to get in front of new audiences.
You can be a guest contributor to a certain publication (and that can be a small and local one to start with). It can also be a guest interview on someone’s podcast or event. All of these contributions are a content generator. May it be in form of actual content but also the footage of the delivery of the content.
Both are vehicles to showcase our secret sauce.
3. Package your secret sauce and share it with others
Now don’t switch off here because you think you don’t have anything that’s valuable enough to share and teach others. Or you think you don’t have enough experience so no one will take you seriously. Let me tell you – this is not true.
You already have a unique experience and background and as long as you’ve gotten results – may it be for yourself and/or for others – you can share your approach.
In fact, you don’t even need results just yet. You can just share your journey and give context why you’re embarking on this.
When I started talking and teaching about the importance of personal branding, I was still recruiting and also learning about it.
I did have some success like people reaching out to me on LinkedIn rather than me having to chase them. I helped some of my candidates to position themselves differently which led to job offers.
However, I didn’t have a ton of those results but enough to see there is a theme, a process that has worked more than 1 time and I started to share my learnings. It wasn’t long after my realisation that I really enjoy the topic and was fascinated by all things Personal Branding. That’s when I put together my first ever half day workshop and promoted it.
BRAND BUILDING BY ASSOCIATION
At the beginning, I also leveraged other people’s expertise, those who were already established in their field (oh, by the way guys- it’s a great way to set yourself up and build your Brand through association as it also increased credibility and exposure – both we need to get any opportunities)
You don’t have to have it all figured out and know everything there is to know about it before you package it for others. It could start with a 1-pager checklist of tips that have worked for you in an area that you want to be known for or a ‘top resources list’ that are your go to’s for personal or professional development. It can also be the next level and you run a 1h masterclass for your own team, department, association you belong to …
Trust me when I say - in the second you step up and speak up (and I also mean it in a digital way through e-Books, courses and co) you’ll get notices and rewarded: either in return for email addresses or for money – people will recognise you and start associating you with your secret sauce.
So there you go – 3 ways how you can create career and business opportunities with your secret sauce. It’s so important to learn this as it’s exactly what the Future of Work requires from us:
Being self-driven and self-initiated. Knowing what and how we can bring value to the table.
Being able to share and communicate it to those who resonate with it and are looking for it.
Now over to you!
Go create some opportunities!