Tuesday 9 September 2014

Are you “Stuck in the Ozarks”?

The world came crashing in on me January 4, 2011. I walked into my office where I had been working in the capacity of sales and marketing director. An hour later, I walked out of that office having been given my wings! 

Yup, I was fired!

The common terms you hear are pink-slipped, downsized, side-stepped, out-sourced, or laid off. Let’s face it, if that employer does not have another job for you, you are ‘fired’. . . plain and simple.

After a period of self-pity, I decided that I would search for another job. So I sent out a myriad of resumes and cover letters thinking that I present myself well, and don’t have dementia, so should be able to find work quickly. Well, I got 4 job interviews and one job offer at $10.00 an hour! I was stunned!

What was I going to do…work 3 jobs?

I went to my car and cried. I still had car payments to make and a mortgage to pay. I was at a loss for ideas.

Then I spoke with my son, Michael, and he mentioned that I had been doing podcasting for a while now, and was also very good at sales and marketing. Why not start a Marketing podcast show and coach people how to use LinkedIn?
Voila! The Marketing Mentress was born along with the Marketing Mentress show.

What I did was dig deep to find my strengths and then package them in a way that people would want to use my services…and pay me money.

Once I started networking and meeting others who had found themselves in similar situations, trying to build a brand around themselves and their strengths, I realized that I had finally found my niche, and could help these people, but you don’t just walk up to someone and give them advice, do you. That is how I came to write my book…”Fired at Fifty: Stop looking for work and discover what you were meant to do.”

Sounds simple, doesn’t it. Well it was not so simple. It took me time to find the resources I needed to bring everything I needed together. I found free resources and free coaching services. I traded for services. I did whatever it took to succeed with my brand. –As long as it was legal & morally right.

A few short years ago, I was literally dragged into the 21st Century kicking and screaming. Let’s see if you might have been too.

I figured that I had managed just fine without a cell phone and without a computer for most of my life. Then one day I walked into my office where I had been working as a real estate secretary and there sitting smack in the middle of my desk was an Apple 2e! My beloved IBM Selectric typewriter was gone! I searched everywhere for my beloved typewriter, and it was nowhere to be found. The nerve of my boss to do such a thing. Didn’t he know that he had just cut off my right arm?

How in the world could this be really happening to me? I had seen the fate of the Commodore 64, so to me it was a no-brainer that computers would never succeed further than the rooms full of computers that helped run big business. Come to think of it, I have a good friend who still laughs today about his degree in “Commodore 64”.

Who’d-a-thunk-it!

It is obvious that more than just one someone did “thunk-it”. Today we have computers everywhere around us. They run cell phones as small as a wrist watch, or as large as those that run automobiles, transportation systems, the petroleum industry, and the list goes on. Here I am typing on a laptop for goodness sakes!

Every once-in-a-while I have the privilege of meeting a business person who does not use a debit machine to perform financial transactions. Even the smallest sole proprietorship at least has a “swiper” these days to help them process purchases for their clients. You know, those square gadgets that plug into your iPhone or Android so you can swipe a credit card and have money deposited directly into your bank account.

In light of today’s high tech lifestyle, it is kind of shocking to find individuals who still choose to remain “in the Ozarks”.
Now using computers and cell phones have become just a small part of the whole online connection that can be utilized in today’s high tech world. Because of this new advanced technology, people and thus business have become mobile. We receive email and messages through our mobile devices. The goal today is to be able to still keep on top of our daily communications, find new products for business, and book appointments while we are out and about.

We as a culture have become totally dependent on technology. Can you imagine not having a microwave or a coffee machine or a stove? Computers are everywhere!

For over 20 years I have been involved with sales and marketing. It used to be that I would use the newspapers and phone books to find leads. –Or I just plain went door-to-door making friends.

Do you remember the good-old-days?

Although we can still find people using the old systems to generate sales, today we depend on more sophisticated means for finding new clients and keeping in touch with them. Instead of sending a physical letter or greeting card, we send email and text messages. –But then how do we become effective using this new type of communication to get sales?

All it takes to succeed with this new marketing medium is:
1.      Hard work.
2.      A system.
3.      Service with integrity.
4.      An unstoppable dream.


Let’s conquer this marketing together! What can I help you with?

Christine Till
The Marketing Mentress
www.marketingmentress.com

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