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The Dumbest Way People Market Themselves

In this week’s episode of LOVELife, I discuss the problem some people make when saying what they do for a living, and how to avoid this common career mistake.

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13 Replies to “The Dumbest Way People Market Themselves”

  • This reminded me of something my boss said to me when I lost my job to redundancy. He said that my ‘problem’ was that I was good at a lot of things but hadn’t honed my skills in one particular area. At the time I thought ‘why is that a problem? surely it’s good to have a diverse skill set’. I know now exactly what he meant and on my search for a new job I am realising just how important it really is to focus on one area.

  • Me and my friends joke about the “actors” we feel they are so much better than everyone else and when you ask what they’ve been in they rattle off some “up and coming” short film. :/ So basically nobody knows who you are and you still eat Ramen noodles every night and sleep on someone’s couch :-o Stay humble my friends

  • Always reading my mind Matt! Why not add your a psychic in there too ;-) love learning from you, thanks xx

  • So like if Angelina Jolie had a business card: Actress/Director/Philanthropist/Etc.
    …but if you asked her shed probably just say actress:)

  • I really don’t think anything is wrong with having multiple skill sets or being a lot of things-writer, actor, director. The problem occurs only if you do not hone your skills enough. Now it is not possible to be excellent at everything and I agree with picking an area in which you specialize. But too many people pick just one area of specialization and cannot adjust to the changing times and career requirements. Careers are not fixed paths, especially in recent times.
    When it comes to multiple talents, two things are important-

    1) Being good at a cluster of things that are related or at least have transferable skills sets (rather than several random things).

    2) Then picking one or two key areas and then specializing in them so that you can be called a true expert in that field. It is definitely important to achieve excellence and be known for something that defines you in a very unique way.

    So a T-Shaped expert is the way to go. Broad based knowledge with a key speciality that is *unique*.

    I do not believe that we should just be specialists in our careers and renaissance men/women in our personal interests. It is NOT ENOUGH to be *just* a specialist these days.

  • I actually have four titles/ aka degrees and I am a master at all of them and highly successful working with pro athletes, A-List actors and famous musicians from all over the world. Been all over TV and print but my card has just one all encompassing title that brings everything under one umbrella so when people see it they go, Oh your that lady. I heard about you.
    It doesn’t have to be a title that is common place. You can make one up. I recommend putting the title of what you want to work at most on your card only when getting started. Now I just have my name on my card with contact info & website no title as I feel it is too limiting and puts me in a box. People can go to my site and see all that I do. Of course I actually don’t advertise anymore since my biz is all word of mouth & referral only now. A nice place to be but worked very hard to get to this position. Great video Matt.

  • Take a look at “The Renaissance Soul”. It’s a book on how to make a living doing various things, all at the same time or sequentially. Not everyone has the same desire or ability to be on a “career track” and “be” the same thing long-term. And why can’t our jobs have something to do with our varied interests? I do hear what you’re saying… but that’s more a branding issue than one of actual career.

  • Hi Matthew! I meant to comment on this video in a while. We don’t have many of those type of people here in Chicago- those with a vague business title. I think, LA is the place for it. Nonsense capital of the world. Haha! Yes! I’ve never been to LA but you don’t always need visit somewhere to have an idea about it. I have been to Las Vegas. There were lots of people from West coast over there. They are totally different than East Coast people and Midwesterners. I am thinking about moving to LA sometimes, because there are more social activities over there, but I am worried about the extreme bs levels. :-P

    You are so on target. Nobody is a multi-tasker. I’ve read some studies about it. They say, the more you multi-task, the greater the chance for error. People are deceiving themselves and trying too hard to show themselves as someone who have many skills, because they haven’t mastered any of them yet. The rise of social media has a lot to do with it too. It seems people are in a constant race to beat one another as to who will look more active etc. I look at what they “do” rather than what they say they do. If they have any substantial product about those skills, then I’d give them credit, but they usually don’t. And oh of course, lets not count those so-called writers into it. Everybody has a blog nowadays and mumbling some words in them, talking about their daily lives that have no knowledge value whatsoever. I am naturally a very encouraging person. But I only encourage those who put some real effort into what they do rather than seeking attention and popularity. You can’t be a writer if you read only 2 books a year.

    You have to be a specialist in one thing. Otherwise serious people won’t take you seriously. And having other interests is a plus, not a must. Nobody cares if a hotel manager or an engineer plays piano. Speaking of which, I started learning Spanish, as my 3rd language. It is an interest that will help my career and it will make me a more skillful person at the same time. ;)

    I do see you as a human dynamics coach, relationship advise being only one part of it. Keep up the great work, Matthew. I appreciate you being so real. xx

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