Everything is about marketing. I had this discussion the other day with Leanne Zinn-Cox, a savvy and very much in-demand business consultant who also happens to be my sister.

The conversation stemmed from the observation that in all aspects of life, we are marketing ourselves, whether we know it or not. Those who fail to recognize this fact are doomed. Well, maybe not doomed. But they certainly won’t be living up to their potential.

Let’s say you’re about to go out on a blind date. Do you dress in a prim buttoned up sweater set, khakis and brown loafers? Or do you wear a red dress with a plunging neckline and spiked high heels? Either choice tells the person you’re about to meet something about you before you even open your mouth. Right? The church lady outfit sends one message. The cleavage, another. What message you choose to send is up to you.

In marketing terms, dressing for a date is just like packaging a product. Before we pull that Pepsi can or box of Tide off the shelf, the package has already told us something about what’s inside.

The same can be said about your behavior. If you commit to a meeting, do you show up on time? Or do you arrive late and slip out early?

At a seminar, do you give the person speaking your undivided attention? Or do you check your email on your smartphone under the table during the presentation?

Both behaviors say something about you. What would you like that to be?

When you make a new friend, do you wait for them to call you? Or do you set up a time to meet for drinks and appetizers?

If we really examine our daily lives in marketing terms, the exercise begs the question: Would you buy your personal brand?

Do you dress, speak, and behave in a way that reflects who you really are or would like to be perceived as being?

Are you consistent in how you present yourself to the outside world?

Do your choices demonstrate that you’re committed to your profession? Your relationships? Your reputation?

Everyday, with every action and every interaction, we are telling the world who we are. Is the image you’re projecting the person you really want to be?

If not, perhaps it’s time to design a new marketing campaign. The real product you’re selling in the commercial we call life … is you.

Stacie Zinn Roberts

Stacie Zinn Roberts is a nationally recognized, award-winning writer and marketing expert with more than 25 years of experience. She has won more than 40 national awards for her work including the United Nations Environmental Program for retail environmental marketing, as well as from organizations such at the Public Relations Society of America and the Turf & Ornamental Communicators Association. She’s written for industry publications such as Golf Course Management, Sports Turf, Golfdom and PR Daily. She spent eight years as the president and director of marketing for Environmental Turf, where she developed the branding for SeaDwarf Seashore Paspalum, the grass that eventually became the greens grass for the Rio Olympic Golf Course. Stacie served for six years on the Board of Directors of the Florida Turfgrass Association as Chair of the Research & Scholarship Committee where she worked closely with the scientists from the University of Florida’s turfgrass breeding program. Stacie founded What’s Your Avocado? Marketing & Public Relations in 2012.