{"id":199,"date":"2014-05-05T09:29:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-05T09:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/?p=199"},"modified":"2020-12-18T09:30:25","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T09:30:25","slug":"how-to-answer-the-infamous-so-what-do-you-do-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/2014\/05\/05\/how-to-answer-the-infamous-so-what-do-you-do-question\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Answer The Infamous “So What Do You Do?” Question"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"The<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I think I speak for every entrepreneur on the planet when I say there’s one question we get a lot. The infamous “So what do you do?” question. It’s also something that we all try to answer to our best ability, depending on who we’re talking to. I vary my “what is it you really do” every time. To some people, I do “cutting-edge marketing PR and branding projects for companies”. <\/em>To other people, I am “a<\/em> writer looking into the latest tendencies around influencer marketing and content marketing”.<\/em> Next year, it will be some other buzzwords and basically what I do stays the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keeping it contemporary<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

There’s going to be a ton of new people getting into these terms and trying to “coin” them so they can make a big business around it, but in 6 months they need to use the next buzzword in their description or company name, and it goes on and on. It’s just a part of the game. And you can’t help but sit and smile a bit in a laid back sort of way and think to yourself: “Great new word, but that’s what some people have been doing for ages”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what is it I really do? We have really busted our chops to explain it<\/a> over on Toothless Tiger.  The image you see on top of this article is the Toothless Tiger Palette, where we’ve really spelled it out and we’re evolving it accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But here’s what I really do:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I listen a lot. I write that down including my own input and use that on my blog, in my books, in my client projects, and in my 1-on-1 sessions about branding\/PR and marketing.  There are over 3000 blogs that I follow daily as well as seeing what’s going on, in my network.
I speak about what I’ve heard at events.
I create things and models about it.
And I add those things I’ve heard to my own experience that has been built up for years and years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I boil that down to “cutting-edge PR, Marketing and Branding for companies”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how should you answer the “what do you do” question?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Having a couple of different solutions in your head is a great idea. I base mine on how much they know about my subject already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I am at a shipping conference (what on earth would I do there), then I would do “Marketing, PR, and branding for companies”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I am at a marketing conference, I would probably do “cutting-edge marketing, PR, and branding with a thumbprint of digital”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if I am among the digital marketers, I would be “creating the best projects and writings on the latest tendencies in our field”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I think you should be as specific as possible and also as targeted towards the people around you as much as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think I speak for every entrepreneur on the planet when I say there’s one question we get a lot. The infamous “So what do you do?” question. It’s also something that we all try to answer to our best ability, depending on who we’re talking to. I vary my “what is it you really […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,9],"tags":[33],"class_list":["post-199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entrepreneurship","category-business","tag-personal-branding"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":238,"url":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/2015\/02\/02\/hustle-yourself-larger\/","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":0},"title":"Hustle Yourself Larger","author":"Henriette Weber","date":"February 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Since I read this story I have meant to write about it here on henrietteweber.com. I love good marketing hustle, but I also love Eurythmics. At the beginning of the 00s, I started out in Marketing in London. At the time, their budget was a big zero. The startup I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Activist Branding"","block_context":{"text":"Activist Branding","link":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/category\/branding\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":366,"url":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/2005\/08\/08\/why-should-every-company-have-a-blog\/","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":1},"title":"Why should every company have a blog ?","author":"Henriette Weber","date":"August 8, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Inspired by Sigurd Rinde Today I will try to answer the question \"why should every company have a blog\". Sometimes you have to ask yourself whether or not you should be using new tools in your communication. A blog is one of those new communication tools. Here are some of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Social Media"","block_context":{"text":"Social Media","link":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/category\/business\/social-media\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":175,"url":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/07\/7-things-about-visionaries-who-puts-purpose-before-profit\/","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":2},"title":"7 Things About Visionaries Who Puts Purpose Before Profit","author":"Henriette Weber","date":"October 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Visionaries do, almost by definition, sell more in the long run, compared to those who are all about profit.Visionaries can be woken in the middle of the night and answer the question \"what are you fighting for\" in one question- where some people can only give you their value statement.Visionaries\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Activism & Sustainability"","block_context":{"text":"Activism & Sustainability","link":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/category\/activism\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":162,"url":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/2013\/06\/03\/social-media-value-chain-the-brand-is-human\/","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":3},"title":"Social Media Value Chain: The Brand Is Human","author":"Henriette Weber","date":"June 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In this age of social media and networking, people are reaching out rather than merely waiting for brands to approach them. As a result, discoverability is important. A brand and its offerings need to be discovered with ease on every platform. This is one way of putting your name and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Activist Branding"","block_context":{"text":"Activist Branding","link":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/category\/branding\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"rock on","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/henrietteweber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/rock_on_henriette_transparent.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":520,"url":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/2011\/12\/08\/never-mind-personal-branding-start-creating-your-legacy\/","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":4},"title":"Never mind personal branding, start creating your legacy","author":"Henriette Weber","date":"December 8, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Ah! Personal Branding! One of the things I've been working on lately is my whole attitude towards other people and especially people who take themselves too seriously. Because a lot of people do. As I said in a previous blogpost- I don't want to be taken seriously too much -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Activist Branding"","block_context":{"text":"Activist Branding","link":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/category\/branding\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"rock on","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/henrietteweber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/rock_on_henriette_transparent.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":462,"url":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/2012\/06\/13\/identity-is-key-to-rock-anything-digitally\/","url_meta":{"origin":199,"position":5},"title":"Identity is key to rock anything digitally","author":"Henriette Weber","date":"June 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes I wonder why many businesses seem to use social media, but fail to make it convert into something tangible, something on the bottom line, something that sticks to their identity, image, and branding. Come to think of it, most of the people they connect to out there seem to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Activist Branding"","block_context":{"text":"Activist Branding","link":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/category\/branding\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"rock on","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/henrietteweber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/rock_on_henriette_transparent.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":200,"href":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199\/revisions\/200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrietteweber.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}