Marketing Me! Checking Email

Dear Marketing Me! At work, I feel left out. My company is about 3000 people and I work in marketing. I attend meetings regularly, have perfect attendance and try to stay in touch with my team, but because of my personal life (I am married and have three children), I don't have as much personal time to spend with my fellow employees. What can I do to feel more included?
Left out and lonely,

Dear left out,

There is no magic bullet to feeling "included". In the modern workplace, it seems those of us who are married and with children have the potential of getting shorted because we do not have the time to make the after work cocktail meetings or maybe simply cannot stay at the office until 7PM every night.

For your situation, consider a smaller company if possible. You will have a greater impact for your work and not for how many hours you toil as a cog in the big machine.

Analyze your impact at your current job. Not to pick on what you say, but your description of your commitment, (perfect attendance, attend meetings, etc.) sounds more like school and not like someone who is fanatical about their position. Perhaps you are in the wrong job? Or at the wrong employer?

Also, the effect you have at work is not completely determined by the amount of time you connect with your fellow workers. Rather it is based upon the results of that connection time with your fellow workers. Consider if you really get along with your coworkers and if they are the kind of people you want to be around.

Think about it. Thanks for reading Marketing Me!

Dear Marketing Me!

I found your column the other day and have a bone to pick with you. Its great if you can market yourself in the white shirt force, but what about those of us in the working man's world? I website is not going to get me a job in my field.
Living in Reality,

Dear Reality,

Thanks for your email. Nope, it applies to you as well (although I am not sure what you do for a living). A pool cleaner, tow truck owner or landscaper can benefit from the philosophy of Marketing Me! Marketing and building their brand name leads to more work and better revenues.
However, if your field of endeavor is to work in a large, faceless nameless assembly line represented by a disconnected third party, then you are correct. Marketing Me! is not for you.
By the way, I checked with my boss and customers - they consider me a "working man" as well.

Dear Marketing Me!

How can I increase my sales and get a raise at work?
Low revenue in Ohio.

Dear Low,
Check out any of the popular sales titles if you have not already. I really like Frank Rumbauskas and Jeffrey Gitomer and others. Check them out for the basics of increasing your sales in a new way. As for getting a raise, ask. Go to your employer after reading my blog and ask for a raise. Make a case why you deserve one. It can't hurt and most would never think to do this but it does work. If you do not deserve a raise, why?

By the way, if you want to increase your sales this quarter, you might be in trouble. There is less than 20 working days left.

Thank you for reading Marketing Me!