Aboard the Amtrak Capitol Corridor on a gorgeous day after Xmas…

Back in the day, there was a business concept called “solution based selling”. Here’s how it worked; the salesperson would walk into a potential client’s office, sit down and say, “Tell me about your business…”
They would then (if they were smart) walk out. A day or two later the seller would reappear with the “solution”, a customized or personalized marketing /advertising plan.

Radio station salespeople tend to still do this, even though the practice is decidedly old school. Funny how they seem to have the answer for everything. It’s not credible, and for the dwindling number of local advertisers it’s a waste of money.

The world is so much more complicated now. The challenge in solving the myriad marketing riddles across different platforms now dictates utilizing a completely different kind of selling model. I don’t know if it has a name, but it involves data analysis, unique metrics for that analysis, and a sort of triage – putting out fires as they flare up.

Now let’s consider you, this wonderful product, available to the workplace in 2013.

As you consider how you will market this brand called you, remember it’s not about how you will be the solution to all of your target company’s needs. The question you will need to answer for them is how you fit into the culture and what your vision is for the next quarter and the next year.

Here’s a sample paragraph that you can use to fill in the blanks.

I am a _______ who has strengths in ______, _______, _____ and _____. I have proven examples of my experience at ________________ where I successfully ______________________________. I’m most interested in learning more about_____ and _____. Doing this kind of work is very fulfilling to me and I am excited about the future.

When you have those blanks filled in, then you can display that same information across all of your social media profiles. A Big Mac tastes the same in Berlin as it does in Tokyo and Des Moines…so the brand that is you will look exactly the same across all of your profiles. When a recruiter or a hiring manager takes a look at you online, you want them to see a uniform, consistent presence.

Here’s a new paragraph that should accurately and precisely describe you:

I am a __________ and I have strengths in ______ and ______ and ______ and I have used identical words to describe myself across all of my social media profiles. I have all of my sites linked together. Each one of them sends visitors to galleries and portfolios of my work that are consistent in genre and approach, even though they may be different kinds of projects. My goal is to create a circle of linkbacks and pingbacks to every aspect of work product I have created.

So you have some videos on YouTube. They should also be on every sharable video site you can possibly think of. They should also be on your personal site.

Your multimedia resume should be everywhere, on every applicable site. It should be available to view, click through to outbound links, and download.

Don’t forget foreign sites like Xing, the German-based version of LinkedIn. After all, the earth is flat. You can likely do a lot of your work for a client anywhere on the planet.

Your brand is global, uniform, and ubiquitous.

You are the solution for a challenge a company or potential client faces. By making your brand multi-platform, you are demonstrating your skills and competence.

You can start your resolution to nail that new gig today, maybe tomorrow, perhaps in April. The best day to start is the day you are ready to start..

Anything I can do to help you do that?

John Scott is a media instructor, online education coordinator and the career services manager at the School of Multimedia Communications, Academy of Art University, San Francisco. He also counsels individuals and groups in the art of reinvention. John’s debut book Broken Glass and Barbed Wire is creeping ever closer to being real.