John Sonmez – How to Market Yourself as a Software Developer

Archive : John Sonmez – How to Market Yourself as a Software Developer

How to Market Yourself as a Software Developer is a methodical approach to establishing your reputation, authority, and goodwill.

By always seeking to provide huge value before requesting anything in return.

When you do this on a regular basis, you’ll notice that you’re no longer battling to seize chances.

Instead, you are drawing the finest possibilities to YOU.

And as your career progresses, so will you, as a better and more fulfilled software engineer.

This course includes my whole system for:
Getting the job you’ve always wanted—solving difficult challenges, pushing yourself to improve your technical abilities, and working with others who share your enthusiasm for the art of software development—is a dream come true.
Earning a 20%, 50%, or even 300% rise in the future months and years
Creating your own “safety net” of job chances so you never have to wonder where your next income will come from—this is TRUE security.
Creating a dependable feeder chain for four- and five-figure freelancing and consultancy employment.
Creating a foundation for establishing your own lucrative firm as an entrepreneur, whether via the sale of your expertise or the development of a software product
Getting more happiness from your day-to-day employment
Mastering your craft and always improving your abilities and productivity
Developing relationships that will lead to successful business prospects in the future
gaining greater respect from your team and management, as well as a say in important choices
Developing the self-confidence to speak up for yourself and even leave a bad employment
This is How It Works.
The course is divided into six modules, each of which builds on the principles taught in the preceding modules, brick by brick, until you’ve completed your new career-enhancing platform.

I’ll personally guide you through a few crucial ideas in each module.

Then I’ll walk you through the practical, step-by-step activities you can take to swiftly start building your reputation and authority in your chosen niche—and start earning the respect your expertise and accomplishments deserve.

Here’s a taste of what you’ll discover:
Module 1: Why Is Marketing Yourself Important? (And How to Get Started)

This module serves as the foundation for the rest of the course.

To begin, we’re going to bulldoze away a mountain of falsehoods that have been impeding your professional achievement up to this point.

False statements on what it means to be a professional. Lies about your abilities and genuine worth. Lies about what organizations truly want and require in developers.

The mental change you’ll experience here is essential. Without it, whatever marketing strategies you undertake will almost certainly backfire, leaving you seeming cheap and unprofessional.

Then I’ll show you the key components of your new “authority-building” strategy.

You’ll see how everything fits together on both a “strategic” (the “what” and “why”) and a “tactical” (the “how”) level.

In this 13-chapter PDF, you’ll discover:

The disadvantages of attempting to “opt out” of promoting oneself. Choosing this road implies entrusting your future to the businesses for whom you work.
The hidden criteria that interviewers use to evaluate you (they all do it, even those who say they don’t)
Why traditional marketing expertise is absolutely backwards—and how correcting the flawed “marketing equation” is the key to establishing your professional reputation.
How to guarantee that your ideal employers keep running into you wherever they go, until you become the “obvious expert” that everyone seeks out.
Should you advertise yourself under your own name or establish a separate company? The advantages and disadvantages of both, as well as the “Goldilocks Strategy,” which may be the best of both worlds.
AND MUCH MORE.
This foundation module is available elsewhere for a suggested price of $29.
Module 2: Creating a Brand

Now that you know what marketing IS (and, more significantly, what it IS NOT), you’re ready to start creating your own marketing strategy.

And it all begins with developing your brand.

In this eight-chapter “crash course,” I’ll walk you through the process of developing your brand—the image you project in the software community—step by step.

You’ll finally understand where your career is going and how you can achieve your goals while remaining true to your core identity.

I’ll also demonstrate:

How “Casual Friday” can harm your career and how to know what to wear in any job situation
Why building a brand isn’t about “all sizzle and no steak,” and why you, as a developer, must build a brand that is grounded in substance, skill, and expertise.
How Apple became a premium brand, and how you can follow in Steve Jobs’ footsteps to overcome resistance the next time you negotiate your salary or a pay raise.
The “Plumber Principle” ensures that the next time a great job opens up, they will contact YOU first.
A subtle branding blunder that makes you appear inept to your friends and colleagues (and leaves you feeling phony), as well as how to stay professional and authentic in your marketing.
How to capitalize on your “weaknesses” and exploit your personal flaws and failings in order to attract new and exciting opportunities
The real reason most developers fail to reach their full potential, and how you can be an outlier whose success is virtually guaranteed
This module’s eight chapters total 106 minutes of HD video. All videos are DRM-free and downloadable in.mp4 format for playback on your preferred device.

This module has the same amount of meaty content as courses I’ve sold for $147, but I’ve decided to include it as part of the low package price.

Module 3: Starting A Blog

If your brand is the impression you want to leave on the world, a blog is the sledgehammer you’ll use to make it.

Your blog serves as your “home base,” a digital avatar that communicates your values to the software development community.

Creating a successful blog is akin to a Jedi constructing a lightsaber. It’s a rite of passage into adulthood as a coder.

Your peers will take note of what you have to say if you have a well-maintained blog. And prospective employers and clientele are aware that you are a serious practitioner of your trade.

In this 154-minute, seven-part video series, you’ll get a look behind my back as I demonstrate how to “make your lightsaber.” You’ll get a look behind the scenes at Simple Programmer, including the tools and methodology I’ve used to establish a blog with over 1.5 million page visits each year.

You’ll also learn:

Why following in the footsteps of successful writers like Seth Godin may lead to your thoughts being suppressed, and what you can do to safeguard your ideas and your voice
The three most typical “blocks” that kill most software development blogs—and what you can do to avoid becoming one of them.
To get your blog up and running quickly, take a lesson from the top 20 websites in the world. (Many developers object to this, only to discover that maintaining their site becomes a major strain.)
The one most critical thing you should do with your blog BEFORE you acquire a domain name or write your first “hello world” article. If you skip this step, you may have to start over. If you get it correctly, developing your website will be lot easier.
Why the usual method of utilizing a blog to “park” code samples and snippets from your recent projects is ineffective, and the 5 ways your blog may help you advance in your profession.
By the end, you’ll have a blog that you’ll be glad to show off to your peers and coworkers.
This module might easily sell for $147 if purchased separately, however it is included in the inexpensive package price.

Module #4 – The Complete Guide to Making Your Name Known

You’ve identified your brand and established your “home base.”

The next step is to get the attention of your fellow engineers, as well as team leaders and recruiting managers at firms where you might wish to work.

Many developers go forward to this phase without first creating the basis that we discussed in the first three modules. As a result, they find themselves going in circles and concluding that “selling oneself doesn’t work.”

But you won’t have that difficulty because of the solid foundation you laid in modules 1-3. You’re now in a terrific situation where every little amount of labor goes a long way and every small win takes you closer to your goal.

This session is a crash course in the many tools you may use to begin building your reputation and audience. And there have never been so many options for getting your message to the appropriate individuals.

In this 9-chapter, full-color PDF, I’ll teach you over two dozen ways for getting people to sit up, pay attention, and even begin to see you as an authoritative voice in your industry.

My advice is to focus on 2-3 ways that appeal to your inherent abilities and interests.

You DON’T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING that is too much outside your comfort zone when you have so many possibilities. This allows you to “get your name out there” without being insincere, false, or overbearing.

In this module, I’ll demonstrate:

A method for “cascading” victories into greater wins, so initiating a virtuous cycle in which your triumphs swiftly multiply 2 traffic sources that can deliver a torrent of new readers to your site. (Warning: this may bring your website to a halt.)
How to Use Multi-Channel Leverage to Boost the Impact of Your Online Authority-Building Efforts
The number one source of irritation for first-time bloggers, as well as three strategies for avoiding the “lost in the desert” phase that saps the vitality out of most new blogs
How to use “instant audiences” to get your name in front of prominent developers who aren’t currently reading your blog.
This book is not available for purchase elsewhere.
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Module #5 – The Ultimate Social Network Developer’s Guide

Social networking may be the single most effective technique to “get your name out there”—it’s so crucial that I’ve dedicated an entire lesson to it.

A good plan is required to make social media work for you (rather than against you). This subject begins with a discussion of what social media can and, more importantly, cannot do to help you establish an audience and progress your career.

Then we’ll look at how each social “channel” fits into your overall strategy.

You’ll also discover:

A typical social media gaffe that reduces your position, robs you of the respect you’ve gained, and even makes your followers feel humiliated for you (the “kiss of death” for your profession).
What branding “puzzle pieces” must be in place before you start tweeting?
The “thermostat concept” for converting casual acquaintances into devoted followers
3 frequently ignored methods for increasing your social media following
How to utilize social media to “be everywhere” without coming out as a blatant self-promoter
This 9-chapter module is available as a 58-page, full-color PDF download.

Module #6 – Resume Tips That Will Either Make or Break You

Have you ever found a job that seemed ideal, sent in your résumé, and then? Crickets?

Resume errors cost more developers prospective employment prospects than any other factor.

There’s a lot riding on your CV, whether you’re searching for a job or responding to an invitation from a firm ready to hire you.

In module 6, I’ll teach you how to avoid resume blunders that might jeopardize your chances of landing your ideal job.

This 14-page PDF will highlight the following:

The number one resume problem that will send your resume directly to the “round file” (aka the garbage) and never be seen again. If you avoid this, you will instantly remove half of your competitors for a particular post.
A resume preparation trick that will save you time while also ensuring that you are regarded seriously as a candidate. (Even if you learn nothing else from this course, following this one pointer might be worth thousands of dollars if implemented.)
Many developers make this mistake when looking for jobs. What appears to be “efficient” to you may really make your application smell like desperation, prompting an otherwise interested employer to reply, “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
How using an Agile approach strategy to your job search may bring you MORE interviews and offers in considerably LESS time and effort.
A method of diverting attention away from your “thin” work experience and impressing hiring managers with your talents, expertise, and work ethic (particularly critical for recent grads and mid-career “job switchers” wanting to get into programming).
market-yourself

You Will Create With These 6 Modules

A Stable Foundation

For Your Professional Development.

But I wanted to add even more career-building resources to your “tool kit,” so here’s what I came up with:

Bonus #1: 11 Successful Software Developers Reveal Their Professional Secrets

This course is built like a Lego set. You may combine them in a variety of ways to create the future YOU want.

That’s why I wanted to interview 11 software engineers one-on-one to see how they utilized these ideas in their own professions.

The programmers you’ll encounter in these conversations range from “famous developers” like Robert “Uncle Bob” Martin and Jeff Atwood to everyday coders who’ve just lately discovered the power of branding.

You will learn the following from these discussions:

Uncle Bob spent 25 years as an unknown developer before stumbling upon his brand, and how he “accidentally” ended up authoring a book (plus some insider tips on the publishing industry)
Dan Wahlin’s astute professional decision increased his reputation and launched his ascent to notoriety as a Microsoft MVP and PluralSight author.
JavaScript and Node.js mastery Derick Bailey’s blog has garnered him the admiration of one of his programming heroes.
Stack Overflow founder Jeff Atwood shares a powerful method for overcoming writer’s block and never running out of blogging ideas.
Josh Earl, an ASP.NET developer, established an audience around a text editor that made him over $50,000 in side income.
Christian Heilman, a Mozilla development advocate, shares his top tip on what to post on your blog to stand out to potential employers.
How John Papa went from unknown to in-demand, packed rooms at big development conferences
How Google programmer Jon Skeet got known as the “Chuck Norris of Programming” by assisting other engineers with their most difficult difficulties.
The methods utilized by.NET developer Miguel Castro to establish a lucrative career as a software consultant.
A “gross” breach perpetrated by SQL DBA Pinal Over the course of seven years, Dave’s blog grew from 180 visits in month one to 1.8 million readers.
How PluralSight author and web developer Rob Conery drove an open source initiative to prominence—and a sweet job at Microsoft
These video interviews last almost 4 hours. And each of these 11 devs is paid a MINIMUM of $150 per hour for their effort. (Several of them charge $250 or more per hour.)

Based on “time on the clock,” this collection is easily worth $600. (However, the insights you’ll get are considerably more valuable.)

Bonus #2 – Quick Reference Guide for Career Tools

This 2-page PDF provides one-click access to the course’s 30 career-building tools and resources (plus an exclusive discount to have your resume polished by a professional CV writer).

Bonus #3: A 29-Step Checklist for Software Developer Marketing

On one page, this checklist runs through all of the processes in the How to Market Yourself as a Software Developer method.

It’s your journey from unknown developer to acknowledged expert, standing side-by-side with the best devs you admire from afar. You may print it off and hang it next to your monitor.