PETER MARESCO ’98, PH.D. IN EDUCATION

As the vice president for marketing and corporate communications for a bank in Bridgeport, Conn., Peter Maresco was responsible for creating and implementing marketing initiatives for the bank’s 24 branches. When his bank was acquired in 1991, Maresco became a middle school teacher, eventually earning a Ph.D. in Education. Today, he works as a clinical associate professor at the John F. Welch College of Business at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut and has successfully marketed a number of research studies. A respected author and consultant, Maresco offers tips on marketing yourself, your products, or services.

Conduct a Personal SWOT Analysis. The best organizations constantly conduct SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, oppor tunities, and threats) analyses to identify their strengths so they can revise their marketing strategies accordingly. A personal SWOT analysis can help you effectively market yourself or your products. You need to take a good look at yourself and outline your greatest strengths and weaknesses that could benefit from improvement. Be »honest in assessing your own position. By matching your strengths to opportunities in the environment, you can create a competitive advantage for yourself. At the same time, identify the threats—or obstacles and challenges—you need to overcome to reach your marketing goal.

Find Your Niche. Look at yourself, your product, or your service from a new and different angle. Identify some feature or characteristic that is out of the ordinary. Examine how you or your product can make a positive difference for your community or for individuals. You may have a common theme, but you can put a different spin on it. For instance, my interest in marketing led me to study marketing in religion, and that led to a book on the topic.

Start Networking. Contact friends, neighbors, family members, colleagues, and even former college roommates. You never know when you will meet someone who can advance your efforts. Do not leave any stone unturned. It is so easy and nonthreatening to contact people via email. I recently sent 75 emails to authors as part of market research I was conducting, and I received responses from almost all of them. People generally get great pleasure from helping others.

Join Associations and Make Presentations. Identify associations or affiliate groups that are related to your profession or topic. This is a great way to take your message to new audiences and to meet new people. Make your presence known and pursue opportunities to participate in presentations, workshops, or panels at regional and national conferences. It may sound intimidating, but the time it takes to give a presentation is often short and the audience is typically small.

Speak Out. From informal talks at local libraries and churches to presentations at national conferences, get your word out and build awareness. At the local level, these groups are always looking for speakers and they often promote the events and get coverage from the local media. Recently, I was quoted briefly in The New York Times about the business of Christianity. That one quote led to more newspaper interviews and radio coverage. Before you know it, you become an expert and are gaining growing recognition and visibility, which enables you to reach more people with your message.

Write. Use your writing abilities to your advantage and emphasize how you or your product contribute to the public good. Hundreds of journals and magazines publish articles on virtually every topic. There are unlimited opportunities to publish and share knowledge. Use the Internet to research an appropriate publication. Consider building a Web site to give readers access to your résumé and a sample of your product offerings. Create a blog to encourage virtual correspondence with readers and to serve as a venue for sharing and exchanging information with your audience. —Nancy Grund

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