• If you don't tell the world how great you are, no one else will
• If you don't blow your horn, others will beat you over the head with it.
• If you don't assert yourself, the more aggressive people will cut in front of you and block your path, and you'll end up stuck in line, and you'll never get ahead.

So toot, toot, toot to everyone you speak with, write to, or meet. Become a one-man/woman self-advertising agency; promote yourself. Tell them all who you are, exactly what you have to offer, and how it can benefit them.

If the public doesn't hear about you or your product, as Barnum pointed out, nothing will happen.

You Are the Product

In marketing, regardless of what the product, you are the product! And selling yourself is a full-time job. When you repeatedly sell yourself, you build name recognition, which will increase your business because consumers are drawn to names they know.

So your object is to make yourself known, build your name recognition, and increase your sales.

Being a celebrity puts you on the map. It gives you a big edge in business because name recognition translates into hard currency, greenbacks, moolah, lots of money!

People trust the familiar, even when they're not sure why it feels familiar or even exactly what it is. They find the comfort of familiarity safer than the discomfort of the unknown.

To Get on the Map

Start modestly. Don't think hemispheres. Think townships, unincorporated villages, or little country lanes.

• Begin by working your street and when it's saturated, branch out to your neighborhood, town, county, state, country and continent. Spread the word. Tell everyone you know and everyone you come in contact with who you are, what you do, and how you can benefit them.
• Don't overlook anyone. You never know who might help. Start with people you know best, your immediate family and then friends, neighbors, clergy, and your dentist. Speak with the folks who run the pharmacy, the tailor shop, and car wash. If they can't use your product ask them who they know who could.
• To expand your contacts, join clubs and organizations. Increase your visibility by volunteering, teaching, coaching, and serving on commitees. Write articles or submit items about your business or interests to local publications such as free weekly newspapers, advertisers, newsletters, or websites. Write and publish what the media is covering and cultivate journalists, editors, and radio and TV producers.

Publicity is the art of putting yourself in the spotlight.

Positioning is an intricate process that takes time, trial error, endless patience, and persistence.