The mantra “follow your strengths” in co-ordinating your construction marketing is one of the fundamental themes in my Construction Marketing Ideas book and in one-on-one consulting. Your strengths are your unique combination of interests/activities which you enjoy and you have real talent. If you don’t want to buy the book (surely you will!), you can read for free the relevant chapter in the latest issue of The Design and Construction Report. (The summer, 2010 issue is now posted online, though I have a few tweaks to make before we launch it fully early next week.)
Earlier this week, I invited readers to answer two questions which, together, provide real clues about your strengths. I’ve reproduced the survey which is still live below. So far, we’ve received about 15 responses. I’m respecting confidentialities here, so only report on responses where the person involved has confirmed with me that it is okay to share them publicly.
In the next few days, I’ll report on some of the responses, and then synthesize them into a more thorough piece.
Consider, for example how Perryn Olson, CPSM, Sr. Graphic Designer & Marketer at the Brand Constructors (and one of the contributors to the latest Design and Construction Report), answered the two questions.
Describe what you enjoy the most about your work and business. Clue: This is when you are so engaged you almost forget time happens and you are totally in your “zone”?
I enjoy interacting with clients, learning more about the business, how they got where they are and they’re vision for the future. I then help them achieve that vision.
What are you better at than most people? This can be work-related or totally unrelated. Generally, this will be the trait, skill or ability that causes people to look with you in some form of awe. And yes, you have at least one ability that fits this category.
I grew up in Scouting and have been a leader with the program for many years. Many colleagues that do not know my personal life, do not know about my “scout skills” or that I’m an outdoorsman. I have also spent many years as a scout trainer when I was teaching other leaders twice my age these scout skills.
In a follow-up email, Perryn observed:
I have been able to use some my experience at work. I started as a scout trainer in my early 20s and it helped me talk to people 2 or 3 times older than myself. This has translated into business development when sometimes I have to present to an audience. The actual outdoor skills have not come in handy too much except that I can hold my own on a construction site and I’m not worried about getting my shoes dirty.
Perryn Olson's BrandsUnderConstruction.com site
There are other levels Perryn can elect to build on his interests/strengths for marketing. I sense many construction business owners/decision makers also love the outdoors — for exterior work, especially, you have to be comfortable in all kinds of environments. I’ve also observed that some of the most popular “fun” activities within construction associations and in some regional publications (not mine, alas) are outdoors columns and reports. There are great opportunities to interface here and of course Perryn can have fun in the process.
I doubt our family would make the best scouters/campers (at least my wife and I, our son is comfortable anywhere he can connect with his friends). In our one recent night of camping, one family member, on getting tired of walking and hiking, told me: “Let’s go back to our room.” I looked around, and observed trees, bushes, the lakefront, and our tent.
On the other hand, I didn’t mind camping through four months in places like the Sahara Desert and the Congo because, as i noted earlier, my strengths and passions relate strongly to geography, history, writing and journalism. So I conduct much of my marketing through this blog. And, yes, my company’s sales team really enjoys the results when I bring in leads generated through the work here.
I’ll report on more “follow your strengths” observations over the next week or so (interspersed with other topics). In the meantime, please feel free to answer the two questions and I’ll do my best to respond to you personally within one business day.
Here is the questionnaire, which you can complete here: