Use Your Marketing Skills for You

One of the biggest surprises for me at this year’s Event & Arena Marketing Conference was the amount of unemployed event marketers.  I know the recession has done damage to our business but I didn’t realize how much. The percentage of the unemployed at this year’s conference was really high.  We are talking about very talented people.  For those event marketers out there looking, I dedicate today’s post to you.

As event marketers you know how to market. You write your marketing plan, pitch your media deals, and put your marketing into play.  Now you find yourself looking for a new job.  I am sure part of your daily search routine includes checking the internet job sites, making phone calls to your contacts, and reading the trades.  But what else are you doing?  How can you apply your event marketing skills to marketing you?

Marketing Plan

If you write a marketing plan for your shows, why not try it for yourself?  Make yourself the event.  Put everything down just like you would for a show.  Write down all the stats.  This should include what is happening in your industry.  If you are looking in a certain market, research the market. Who are your potential employers? What are their goals?  What are their needs?

Media

Write down your media plans.  No, you don’t have to buy TV, radio, or billboards.  That would be cool if you could afford it.  I did see where someone did this recently.  But you can afford to use non-traditional (21^st Century) marketing.  Use the internet and social networks to promote yourself.  The key to the internet is having your name everywhere.  Your goal is to have your name rise to the top of the Google search.  You don’t want to this happen only when someone searches your name.  You want your name to show up on marketing searches.  You want your name (brand) to be associated with marketing.  This blog is a perfect example. My name and this blog show up in marketing Google searches all the time.

You need to use Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.  Linkedin has become the number one online social tool for the unemployed.  It is designed to post everything you have ever done in the professional and educational world. They also have a job finding tool. Being active on these social sites will also promote you on Google searches.

Promotions

Why not create promotions around you?  I am not kidding on this.  Why not offer a contest for free marketing services?  Offer this contest to any company or industry that you are interested in.  This will get your name out there, tell them what you offer, and someone will win a free taste of your expertise.

If you skip over everything I just wrote then remember one thing:

You are re-building and marketing the brand called “You”!

Tags: event & arena marketing conference, event marketing, Facebook, Google, job search, job seekers, linkedin, marketing plans, marketing yourself, social networking, Twitter, unemployment, Unemployment promotion