Do you think like a marketer at work? If you are an employee, you might benefit from this mindset. A marketing mindset means you are always aware that you should be planting for the next harvest, while you are picking the fruit from last season.
A marketer would be keenly mindful that almost no one will last 30 years at a company, so they need to invest some time, every day, thinking about what’s next. Even if you are slammed, you should be spending some part of your day investing in the future. If you aren’t, no one else will.
Marketing professionals I admire are planners, always thinking about the evolution of the product or service they are bringing to customers or clients. A marketing mindset about your career should be part of your daily routine.
I can think of four marketing mindsets that every employee should be doing daily to make sure they prepare for their next gig whether it is as an employee or in your own business.
Think with a Marketing Mindset
- Networking. If you enjoy the industry you work in, why not invest energy in networking aggressively to connect with a range of people who work in your vertical or career category. It is suitable for your current employer because you might generate leads, and it is right for your long-term play when things go south at your current employer.
- Branding. Marketers are always thinking about image, brand, and positioning. How do you want current colleagues (and future employers) thinking about you? Are you like the swiss army knife of engineering where you can do a little of everything for someone? Do you see yourself as fearless and unafraid of the new and unknown situation? Be mindful of how you can live this image in your work every day.
- Learning. Let’s face it; the work you do today will probably go away or change radically in a few years. Do you know how to learn, pivot, and adapt? How are you strengthening new career muscles? When was the last time you gained a new skill that can help you with new technology or through a better understanding of where your vertical is heading?
- Focusing. The better you can focus on results versus activities, the better you will be prepared when your company is downsized, reorganized, sold, bankrupt, or expands to new territories. Employees who can separate the wheat from the chaff get to advance because they don’t let the unimportant get in the way of the valuable.
Marketing You
When the time comes to move on to a new job, employer, or career, you should have been planting seeds every day so that the transition is more natural.
Marketers are planners and forward-thinking. We have a marketing mindset that looks at our work as an opportunity to be beneficial to our employer and ourselves. Ask yourself, what can I be doing today that honors my work commitment but at the same time, will help me in the future?
It is naïve to think otherwise.
Companies eliminate employees for the greater good of their financial structure not your well being. Your current employer will be looking out for themselves. Whose looking out for you?
You should always be working on plan B and planting, fertilizing and watering seeds for tomorrow.
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. Visit my website at www.themarketingsage.com The conversation is free, and we can explore working together.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
