As a corporate marketer who teaches others how to be their own CMO, Sima Dahl knows that what really matters is what she calls the “sway factor,” which is how you present yourself and your skills to draw people to you and your brand. In this episode, she talks about this sway factor and her One Big Tip to developing it.
Finding Your Sway Factor
Sima now has a solid background in marketing. But in the past, she spent many years in the volatile high tech industry. Because of this instability, she became good at marketing herself and her skills for other jobs she was seeking.
Eventually, she made her way into business and used the same marketing strategies to get new clients and leads, in addition to helping others to do the same. The heart of what she really teaches people is how to overcome talking about yourself and to talk about your “amazing”, your unique qualities as a professional, or as she calls it, the “sway factor.”
According to Sima, your sway factor is how your network knows you, and “the set of behaviors both offline and online that has you stand out, stay relevant, and be in demand.” It’s what draws people in and sways them to your brand and services.
Sima also mentions that social media is very important when curating your sway factor. This is because you must stay up-to-date on how and what your buyers are thinking, and keep networking. Her best advice is to “be active where your buyers are active,” and to “think of everybody you know as a potential brand champion.”
Finishing the Question
To bring together the sway factor, Sima says her One Big Tip is to “own your ellipsis.” She clarifies this by stating that the ellipsis is the group of three dots at the end of the question, and it’s up to the individual to market themselves by finishing questions such as “who do you know that…?”
Being able to finish these questions comes by understanding not only who you are, but who you could be. Sima recommends looking at job applications for positions you would want and finding the skills and attributes needed for that position.
Once you own your ellipsis, you work to become that kind of person and essentially the expert at what you want to do. Her advice is that “buyers don’t want to buy from people who say that they could sell anything to anyone, they want to buy from experts and specialists. So be the expert.”
Once you develop this expertise, it becomes easier to find the right group, network, and clients and make your business shine. As Sima puts it, “when we’re true to ourselves, we attract the right people, and we find the right fit.” You can learn more about Sima and the sway factor at her website www.simadahl.com. She can also be reached by email as [email protected] as well as LinkedIn as Sima Dahl, and Twitter and Facebook under the handle @simasays.
