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As I’m studying and developing my skills as a front end developer there is one thing that I continue to come across that I think every developer, or business and entrepreneur, needs to know.
How to make your self valuable.
The first time I encountered this was when I was a freshman in high school.
I don’t remember why I started doing this but for some reason I thought it would be fun and it would keep me occupied as I made my way through this thing called school.
I saw an opportunity to sell candy to students.
I saw this as an opportunity because the only times students could get something to eat was either breakfast, during lunch, or in between classes, but what happens if the vending machine didn’t have what they wanted.
What happens if they are in class and wanted something then and now?
This is where my plan began.
I started purchasing the normal items you could buy from a vending machine and some additional items that wasn’t commonly found from BJs a wholesale store.
I packed the items placed them in a duffle bag and off I went.
I even created what I called a combo, where you would get your main item with a fruit snack and a drink…
yes I even sold drinks.
When I first started no one knew I was selling candy.
I first started small and asked those around me if they wanted some candy to buy, they then preceded to ask…
What do you have?
Got em, they were now hooked and interested in my product.
Once they were satisfied with my service do you know what happened next?
They began telling others that I was selling candy and that I even had products they didn’t sell at school.
I became a hot commodity and eventually the whole school recognized me as the candy man.
I became back then what is known as marketable.
So what does this mean for you?
Marketable means you are valuable, or you add value to the market.
But who is the market any way?
Any and everyone you’re trying to reach. Rather there is a better term for this– target audience.
Knowing and understanding your target audience is the key factor in this equation.
This means that you specialize to a specific group of people, in other words your niche.
But why is this important?
Let’s say you are a front end web developer, or your an IOS developer.
You have studied your craft and honed in on your skills to create amazing apps but you have never showed or presented your work to anyone.
How then will anyone know what you can do and most importantly who you are?
You will just be a nobody in the world of development because nobody knows who you are and what you do because honestly they don’t care about you and won’t even ask.
It is your job to let the world know how you and your skills are valuable to them and most importantly to the market.
So let’s get into some of the things I have discovered myself as a front end web developer and some ways you can go about marketing yourself and your skills.
In todays society no matter who you are, you are a walking brand.
Whether you have a legit business or not.
What do I mean by this?
In high school every year they host a contest called the superlatives…
Do they still do this, I feel old just having to ask this question.
Anyways it is a contest that is held and our classmates of the same year get to choose who best fits in a specific category.
For example you had “most like to succeed, most like to be famous, most likely to get married” and so on.
Now I’m not one for contests but I thought I had a good chance to win somehow because everyone knew me as the candy man right?
I’m definitely a canidate for most likely to succeed, everyone knows what i do…
I’m like a business man.
Sadly I was wrong I didn’t receive anything.
I didn’t get an award, I didn’t get my picture taken for the year book…
It was a sad day.
Yet looking back my business skills as a candy man weren’t really the requirements or what people were thinking about when choosing a candidate.
And I think I “technically” wasn’t legally selling candy.
Regardless of my not winning, there was one thing that that contest did show me…
I could still be profitable and known for what I did even if I wasn’t officially recognized.
The students still knew who I was and came to me when they wanted a quick snack.
I solved their needs.
I tell you that story to say…
You are known for something based off your characteristics and what you present to people.
You can even tell when you ask someone to describe another person.
Now with the invention of social media this idea of brand identity reigns true.
You are building a brand whether you know it or not.
So based on what you have been posting or following, what does your social media say about you?
What are you known for or what do you want to be known for?
However, before we get into the aspects of creating yourself to be marketable, the real question is what is your real, or main objective?
Do you want a job, do you want to be a freelancer, start your own company, or simple make some extra money on the side?
All these options presented to you deal with marketing yourself in some way or form.
I am a front end web developer and there are two skills that are beneficial for a developer to succeed in this business: hard skills and soft skills.
Hard skills is the know how of the language and the code that creates the web –- the technical stuff.
Soft skills is how you communicate with a team and build relationships.
People like to work with people they are comfortable with and find some connection.
If you really think about it marketing is really how you present and communicate your idea to people.
Therefore in reality the one skill that will help take you to the next level you want to get to is…
marketing.
As I studied and read books about developing myself as a developer like “The Complete Software Developer’s Career Guide” and marketing books like “Crush It“.
I learned that I needed to be able to present myself to the market as someone that can help them as well as their business goals.
So how do you do that?
Am I an expert on this subject…
No.
I am nowhere near that of a marketing expert, but I can help guide you down some paths to help create that creditability and start you on the journey to making yourself known and valuable.
This is all based on my experience.
Gary V made this statement about what it takes to become successful when it comes to growing and expanding your social media presence.
“Distribution and Content“
Two key elements that help people to recognize who you are and what you do.
One has to act in accordance with another.
You can create great content, but if no one knows about it then you’re just creating content for yourself.
Sharing what you learned or know becomes beneficial to the listener or viewer.
So distributing or sharing is key to your success.
But where do you share your content?
Some platforms that are key to marketing in this digital age is social media.
If you’re not on social media you are already fighting a losing battle.
Money comes to where the eyes are.
You may hate social platforms such as facebook and instagram, but its best to think of yourself as a business.
If you can do that then you will have a much better time on social media.
You want to see yourself as a creator and not a consumer, a consumer takes in, but a creator gives out.
If you are producing content that people find valuable and want to read or share then you will have a much better time.
Ask questions like…
“How can I use these platforms for the leverage of promoting myself and my skills?”
With these platforms you can share to your followers what latest projects you have been working on and insights that you find valuable that helped you get to the point where you’re at.
That can be articles or blogs you have read. Which leads me to my next point.
Now if your going into web development its almost a no brainer that you should have some form of portfolio to present your work.
Sites like Github or WordPress are great places to start.
Github is an open source platform for developers to put up their code for others to view what they have done or working on.
If you really want to begin standing out then you need to create your own website.
I can’t stress enough how having your space online will help you in the long run.
It’s not that hard, especially with todays technology.
If you want to learn how to get started check out this post on creating a website
To save time start with a WordPress site and use a banging theme to help get you started.
WordPress is also great because they started out as blogging platform, so they make it really easy to manage your content, hence the name Content Management System.
I know when you hear the term blog, you might say to yourself ahhhh, I can’t write or I don’t like to write.
You may not be a writer, but you don’t have to be.
You can do video blogs or audio blogs, or podcast as they call it.
This allows you to give updates and relevant content of the work you’re producing.
What’s cool too is if you create your own portfolio website you can actually create your own custom email based off your sites domain.
What a great marketing tactic when it comes marketing yourself.
Let’s say you just met someone and they say hey what’s your email and you tell them “michael@michaeldesigns.com”.
I know when I see that it tells me oh they are serious about what they do or that’s cool they have their own email.
However, creating a blog doesn’t mean you stop there.
Remember distribution?
You need to use your social media platforms to promote your words and begin to create interest for others to see what you’re saying and if you’re producing valuable content then…
You have a winner.
Doing these two things and growing and developing truly help to market yourself.
Especially if what you do is distinct and you specialize in a specific market group, you are truly setting yourself up for success.
The platforms I mentioned are not the only social platforms that you can get involved in.
There are many others like linkedin and others but the most important thing I want to relay to you is…
Get Started.
Oh and another way of getting yourself out there is networking.
Trust me I’m not the best at this, or rather it’s not my favorite thing to do, but it’s really about building relationships with people.
And building relationships doesn’t always have to be going to events and talking to people face to face.
If you’re more introverted and keep to yourself like I am building relationships can happen online as well.
You can began to reach out to others through their social media or even emails and you never know what may happen when you take the first step to reach out.
And as a side note for trying to build relationships don’t just go after someone to see what they can do for you but try to see what you can do for them…
Remember Add Value
But if you’re outgoing then go to meet ups that interest you or groups that you’re trying to cater to and volunteer.
Also offer your services to them if it’s beneficial.
For example, you can become the web developer for all the pet care companies in your area and offer your expertise and experience to those who need it.
This also works if you’re just getting started and want to begin building experience this way.
Volunteer for your first couple of sites then start promoting your services for a fee.
As you build up your online presence and begin to distribute more of your content and over time with your consistency you will begin to build up your brand and thus becoming marketable.
If you really want to learn the world of marketing and how you can be successful at it then I recommend you pick yourself up a copy of Dotcom Secrets.
Anyone wanting to learn the proper ways of creating a product and learning how to get it out in front of people online needs to read this book.
Once I read it changed the way I looked at business and practically everything that I do.
Being a developer myself I know we can get so caught up in the code and building the project out, but I know there are developers whose intention is to create a product for the sole purpose of creating a business like myself.
If you fall into that category then you need to pick up this book and learn how to market.
Again I can’t stress enough that business is not about the product its about the marketing and that is this best advice I got from reading Dotcom Secrets.
So if you want a better path to success then you need to read it.
I keep it on my desk everyday whenever I need to refer to it.
You now have they key and the tools to begin your journey on marketing yourself.
Remember that you are considered as a brand so what do you want to present to people when they see you?
And the method to start getting yourself out there is by distributing valuable content that people are looking for and can use.
Of course these ideas have been reduced to a simple digestable form and there are many details and facets within it but I want you to get the big picture so you know where to get started.
Which can be the biggest hurdle for us sometimes –– where to start.
So in conclusion don’t think that you’re not a marketer, because honestly if you want to succeed in this field or business then marketing is the way.
I hope you found value in this and if you did please share it with someone.
