Snipers And Shotguns
Now those two words would not necessarily be connected to marketing oneself, but here in HSLD, we know that these are two words that many if not most of our military peers can relate to.
Besides being weapons and artillery, snipers and shotguns are an excellent way to describe what you really want to be and do in life.
Do you want to be a sniper or a shotgun?
When veterans market themselves in the civilian world, they can take the same philosophy. Each one of us has the choice to either be a sniper or a shotgun.
Shotguns generally make sense. They are simple.
You shoot it in the general direction that you want it to go and the sound is enough to intimidate your enemy. You could even get lucky and get a good hit.
You don’t need a lot of skill to handle a shotgun. It’s range is also rather limited. However, a sniper is much different. A sniper needs focus and precision to be able to operate effectively.
A sniper needs more time and more skill, but it cannot be argued that it is very precise and effective at that.
When marketing oneself one has to decide whether to take the sniper or shotgun approach.
Do you want to go out there are really target one job and in a sense put all of your eggs in one basket, or would you rather send out 200 resumes to random jobs and hoping that something sticks.
Obviously there are pros and cons to both sniper and shotgun tactics and we will be breaking that down for you.
- The Shotgun Approach
The greatest advantage to the shotgun approach when marketing oneself to the civilian world is that it is so much easier to do. Anyone can take their resume, print out 200 copies and distribute it to possible employers, hoping one or more of them will take notice.
However the downside in our opinion is that this method may not be very effective.In fact as time goes by the shotgun method seems less and less effective. In today’s market and speaking for the average guy who isn’t specialized and doesn’t have any special skills the shotgun way is not the best approach.
The problem with the shotgun approach is that it can eventually become mindless. One ceases to think about where they actually want to go. This can pose a problem because you may be accepted into a job but then you may find out that it is something that you absolutely hate.
- The Sniper Approach
In contrast to the shotgun approach the sniper approach really encourages you to think, think and think! You should definitely zero in on the company or the person that you want to work for or even the business that you want to start.
In the case of a job you want to apply for, the sniper approach forces you to find ways to creatively approach the employer or company that you want and try to find a way to edge out the competition and distinguish and differentiate yourself from other candidates out there.
- Shotgun or Sniper: What We Think
For those of you who may have picked it up yet, we at High Speed Low Drag are bigger fans of the Sniper Approach.
We simply feel that as veterans, this can give us so much more of an advantage compared to the usual shotgun one.
When starting a company, the shotgun approach would be to do everything yourself.
However if you were to do it the sniper way you would hire a business coach or find yourself a mentor to guide you.
You try to find people who can make important introductions to other people who could be instrumental to your success.
This will then allow you to talk to those key people and get the information that you want.
Yes, you may end up paying $500 dollars an hour for a business coach BUT if you end up making $10,000 of business in your first month then it is safe to say that this is a fair trade.
So in a nutshell, those are our thoughts on how veterans can best market themselves. The main lesson to be picked up here is that you HAVE to market yourself. It is then up to you, to go either shotgun or sniper! Whatever you end up doing, good luck!
Until next time!
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