In Response to Matt's Blog on 1/26

         I would first like to state that I think your future career choice sounds awesome, as I too am a huge fan of the same music scene.  I completely agree with you in the idea that when competing for a job like this, you must completely separate yourself from the competition.  The fact you have experience managing a hometown band really separates you from others who may not have done so.  I would also agree with you that for this particular job, place plays a huge roll as you probably wouldn’t be able to book to many shows outside of the city.  In terms of promotion, I think another great way to get your name/band out there would be to hand out flyers after already popular shows.  It seems to me that people do this every time I leave a show.  It is an effective way of getting the word out because most times I will end looking up the band on the internet to see if they are any good.  As for the price, I think you are right to realize that most people would be looking for the least expensive price.  However, this could only be temporary if everything plays out right.  Perhaps the band you manage could get big enough for you to be recognized as well.  This would open up many new opportunities of perhaps branching out to bring in other bands.  Overall I think you did a good job in explaining how you would market yourself in your particular job field.  Good post and best of luck to you.

How to Market Yourself

Generally when we think of marketing something, we typically envision the product as a good, service or idea.  But what if the product is you?  The answer is quite simple.  You market yourself the same way you market anything else, with the four P's of marketing; product, price, place, and promotion.

Unlike most products on the market, there will be no commercials to show the interviewer what you bring to the table, so you yourself must serve as your own advertisement.  The best way to do this is to promote yourself with a good first impression.  Dress for the occasion with a suit and tie and make sure you are freshly groomed.  Be polite and speak with clear, formal language.  You only get one first impression in this scenario, so make sure you do it right.

Place also plays an important roll.  You can explain that your work will be exclusive coverage to their organization only.  You know that the organization is not going to move to you, so you can also explain your transportation.  Arriving on time is always a big factor in sustaining a job.  If you are lucky, maybe you live on a short distance away from your desired area of work.  These are all valuable pieces of information the organization wants to know.

Contrary to most marketing scenarios, in this case you do not set the price.  Now the marketing strategy becomes a little tricky.  However, it is good to have an idea as to what your work and knowledge is worth.  Depending on the situation, you should typically strive to be flexible with what they are willing to offer.  If you are looking at your dream job, perhaps you could settle for less than what you see yourself worth.  There are always future opportunities to work your way to a promotion.  In contrast, perhaps the organization offers you what you see as a fair salary, but maybe the job is not what you are looking for.  In this case it may be better to ask for a higher salary or politely decline.

Last and most important is the product itself, you.  It is important you let them know the quality of your work, special characteristics that make you more unique, your work ethic, and even your style.  This would be the time where you would lay down your resume.  Your college degree along with your GPA status is always important as well.  Perhaps you have held similar job titles in the past that you can reflect on and explain what you could do differently.  Also, always remember to put emphasis on your strengths.  If you are not very good at math, but very good at dealing with people, you should tell them such.  Maybe they have the perfect position lined up.  It is very important to just be yourself, nobody wants to buy a false product.  In order to successfully market yourself for present and for future, you must hold your integrity.

Marketing, Advertisement and Propaganda

In an effort to try and differentiate between marketing, advertisement and propaganda without any in-depth research, I would explain it as this.  I have always perceived propaganda as more of a political term, but I can see where it comes into play in this class.  Propaganda as we all know is misleading information, but this is not to say that all propaganda is a lie.  Companies all over the world use propaganda everyday to sell their products.  First thing that comes to my mind when thinking of propaganda (in the context of this course) is Subway.  Subway had told the public that a man, Jared Fogel, had lost hundreds of pounds while eating their sandwiches daily.  This is not a lie, however, they held out important information that he only ate a small 6-inch sub with no mayo and had other proper diet and exercise.  Because of this Subway has misled the general public into a belief that if you eat their subs you will lose weight; information we all know is not true.

I look at advertisement basically as any way a company or organization gets their product heard or noticed to the general public.  Advertisements can be found on television, on the radio, on a billboard, and really anywhere else.  Even we ourselves serve as advertisement for a company when we put on our Nike shoes or Levi jeans.

Marketing can incorporate both of these ideas.  Advertisement is almost always a part of the market mix and sometimes propaganda is as well.  But marketing encompasses really four main ideas; product, price, distribution, and promotion.  Marketers design the product to appeal to certain people, set the price to appeal to certain people, make the product readily and easily available to their target market, and promote their product in any way they can.  Therefore, marketing really follows a product from the day it starts being designed to the day it reaches the hand of the consumer.