COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY Try Using Personal Touch.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)

Byline: Cord Cooper

9 Want to market yourself memorably? Apply the personal touch -- and a little creativity.

Whether you're a salesperson, travel agent or investment adviser, marketing is about getting noticed. The personal touch will help you sell yourself and get noticed in ways other methods won't, marketing trainer Mary Cronin wrote in "The Sales Coach."

In addition to standard forms of marketing -- advertising, direct mail, public relations and others -- Cronin recommends a few ways to "get personal" that you might not have tried.

Create a 30-second commercial. Ever met an important contact unexpectedly, only to later wish you'd sold yourself more effectively?

The solution: Come up with a 30-second commercial about yourself. The simpler, the better, Cronin says. "Tell people who you are, what you do and give them a strong memorable benefit."

The benefit is the key, she says. A CPA Cronin counseled once described himself as an accountant who handled bankruptcies. "People used to approach him and say, "What a depressing line of work,' or "It must be a difficult job,' " Cronin recalled. He got few new clients.