Whether you realize it or not, you are in the marketing business. We all are. Some of us are out there every day trying to market our company/organization to potential clients while others are doing their best to find a new job and are therefore marketing themselves to potential employers. Even the stay at home mom does a bit of self-marketing when she joins a new mom’s group in search of new friends.

The American Marketing Association defines marketing as

the activity, and processes for creating, communicating,

delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers,

clients, partners, and society at large.

By definition, marketing is something that all of us do from time to time–whether we realize it or not. 

First a disclaimer–these FabYOUlous tips will not do you any good if your work ethic is in the toilet. It doesn’t matter how well you and your boss get along–if you do sloppy work or have a lazy attitude, you will get fired or (if you are very, very lucky) passed over when it comes time for promotions. These tactics are meant to help you strengthen the professional connection between you and your boss–they are not distraction techniques designed to help cover up the fact that you suck at your job.

If however; you are a competent and engaged employee, these strategies can help to improve your relationship with your boss which can lead to greater opportunities for career growth. The best thing about these tactics is that they are subtle.  So subtle in fact that they are actually non-verbal. You don’t have to say a word to start endearing yourself to your supervisor but if you start implementing these strategies today, you’ll be setting the stage for a FabYOUlous career tomorrow.

It was the late 80’s and I was working as an outbound telemarketer who was selling something that (in my opinion) was a complete waste of money to anyone who was foolish enough to actually buy my spiel. I spent hours in a cubicle making redundant phone calls to unsuspecting individuals who were probably in the middle of a nice family meal or worse–Monday Night Football. I actually looked forward to being hung up on (which happened… a lot) because it saved me from having to launch into my pitch about why the service I was selling was so great (it wasn’t) and how much value (none whatsoever) it would add to the purchaser’s life. In short, my job sucked. Unfortunately, at the time, I was a broke college kid and I needed that job to keep me afloat.

I’m sure that I’m not the only one who has ever been trapped in a less than FabYOUlous job–in fact; I would wager that this is a scenario that most of us have experienced at one time or another. Fortunately those days of telemarketing hell are now behind me and I have grown into a profession that I truly love. Even so…there are still times when my work can make me a little crazy. If you can relate, here are a few tips to help keep the crazies at bay while on the job.