A great conversation today on visibility and invisibility of business leaders and their companies. As I noted, you must find what works for you. Without visibility, one of the Kardashians might not have built KKR Beauty which she grew to $1 billion before Coty Inc came along. Her market was her social media handles; she outsourced manufacturing and logistics.
Young People, get this from me: the most important factor today in the digital era is not Supply of products. Yes, there is nothing in the market, people do not have options. The most catalytic element in the market is the ability to influence DEMAND. What does that mean? In the golden era of newspapers, Supply of news was controlled by publishers and editors. And to reach readers, you needed to compete for the small print space in newspapers. In that space, the newspapers influenced demand, and advertisers paid huge money in order to reach those readers.
But in this area, Supply of news is unbounded and unconstrained since anywhere you go, there is a channel to consume news. So, the real issue now is no more who supplies news but who makes it manageable (i.e. aggregate or filter) for people to pick the right ones. That is where Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc become the lords. Magically, power moves to them and advertisers follow their commands, crippling the old business models of the newspapers.
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If you extrapolate that, you will notice that you have a higher chance of getting a new job if you have professional articles on Linkedin on that subject matter than someone who has no digital footprint. It is the same thing when people work in companies and hope that their work will just speak for them, even if they make no effort to tell them about their work.
Humans Talk, Not Work
Humans talk; work does not! Make humans know what you are doing. Yes, until humans know what you are doing, none will recommend you in your absence. And there is no career which can advance if it cannot get some recommendations in absence.
For founders: when you promote your product, do not be ashamed. If you believe your product is the best, you are serving society by making sure people know the best product out there. If you do not do that, you are depriving humans the opportunity to use the best product. That is why I promote Tekedia Mini-MBA, Tekedia Capital, Fasmicro Intel partnership, etc because those are the best. Period.
Think about this: if Ndubuisi Ekekwe does not do just that, I am not fair to people who are not aware of our services. Rethink your position as a business leader; it is not just a title; you are the chief marketing officer, chief product officer, despite other people who may have those titles in the firm.
Tell us what you do. You can do it and must not hire a PR machine. For me, I run a business school which attracts more students than any university in Africa!
Comment 1: Your insight is as accurate as it is brilliant. America is a society that is given to hyperbole, possibly because of the cut throat competition that is an inbred characteristic of capitalism. Even at that, as Ndubuisi Ekekwe subterraneanly suggests, you will be addressed the way you elect to address yourself. No one can, or will, for that matter, market you as well as yourself. The world is under no obligation to burnish a brand that even you do not appear particularly enthusiastic about buffing. Nothing is to be gained by making yourself look small, other than to manifest smallness in your life. To indulge in ineffectual grandstanding, in order to exhibit a humility which you probably do not even remotely feel, is to curry a potential client’s instant devaluation of his conceptual estimation of you. Thank you, I will advise the young artist accordingly.
Comment 2: ?! Learn first to be your own best advocate before expecting others to do the same for you. Ensure you are seen and heard. No matter how “fantastic” your work is, it’s only a small part in the equation. We should deliver, but also pride ourselves on it and let it be known (chest pump!) when opportunities arise. Create opportunities to show and introduce yourself. Visibility, image, advocacy matter more!!
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