Take it from a product manager: marketing and positioning are two of the most important things for a product, and for your career.
The best product in the world is no different than a pet rock if the people that need it don’t understand why it matters or that it even exists. If you need your product to thrive, you need to MARKET it in a way that puts it in front of the people that need it and POSITION it in a way that makes it easy for them to fit it into their lives.
If you don’t understand where your target audience is or how they experience the world around them, you’ll be shooting blind and more likely reaching people that may think your offer is pretty cool, but frankly don’t need it in the first place. And, if you don’t understand their goals and motivations, then you’ll be gambling on whether or not your solution flips a switch in their minds.
This same principle applies to YOUR CAREER. You are your product. You are the thing that someone out there needs.
Are you doing everything you can to make sure the experience, skills, and value you offer is being seen by the people that need it most?
And are you making it easy for those people to fit you into their lives?
If you said “yes” to both, then ask yourself, “as of right here and now, am I really?”
If you said “no” to either, then you now know your next steps.
