Promoting Yourself - How to promote your Mary Kay business... and more.

Hi all. In case some of you have forgotten me, or are so new to this blog that you are not familiar with me, I am the "owner" of this blog! I have been very fortunate to have such great authors, particularly mk4me and miranda who manage to bring content that is relevant and interesting to the readers of this blog. For that I am immensely grateful. I used to write my thoughts down a lot more than I do now, but my current schedule, unfortunately has largely prevented this.

Nonetheless, I do wish that I could share more often and, occasionally (like right now) I simply can't resist the urge to share what is on my mind.

I was on facebook the other day and besides seeing this "friend reccomendation" -



- I saw an ad for a photographer.

I began to think about the nature of photography (I personally enjoy photography and, to some extent, wish that I could be a professional photographer) and the way in which photographers find clients.

My sister-in-law, who is a very fantastic photographer, is at what would probably be considered the beginning of a career in photography and is going about the long, tedious process of building up a client base. She is, to borrow a phrase, "doing it the old fasioned way". Word of mouth. My wife has not missed a single opportunity to mention her skills, availability and willingness to travel and work with the most challenging situations. I know the rest of her family and many friends are the same way. You mention a wedding and the first question is, "Do you have a photographer yet?"

In stark contrast, the photographer I saw on facebook is putting his name out to a much larger but much more anonymous and random crowd of people.

Criticisms and praises of both of these approaches abound, but what intrigues me is that neither one is "right" or "wrong". They are just different. It is entirely possible that each one is employing a tactic that is completely wrong for them and they should "swap" strategies. On the other hand, they could both be doing exactly the right thing and should not change a thing.

The important thing in any business endeavor is that you find a way to let your potential client base know that you exist. If I (or more likely someone I know) need a wedding photographer and did not know that you (in this case my SIL or the anonymous ad placer) would be able to provide this service than I will likely not contact you.

If YOU (MK Beauty Consultant) do not tell people that you can provide them with skin care products and cosmetics, they will not contact you.

If Miranda does not tell people that she can customize an incredible cake for them, who could blame them for taking their custom cake needs to another provider?

Okay, your turn. What do you do to promote yourself? When people think of you, what comes to mind? Do the people you meet know that, if they need Mary Kay (or whatever it is you offer), you are the one they need to talk to? If so, how have you accomplished this? If not, what is your plan to change this? Or, does this not concern you... and if so, why not?