No Need to Be Shameless
A while back, Mack Collier, raised the question Is ‘no self-promotion’ the great unwritten rule of social media? I don’t believe it is.
Though promoting the great work going on around us is the fastest way to get positive recognition, sometimes it’s we’re called upon to let people know what we do and how well we do it. A solid business person, especially someone in social media, needs to be fluent and facile in discussing the skill with which he or she can get the job done.
What follows are some articles I’ve written on the subject that you may missed if you recently tuned in to my blog.
- Branding, Self-Promotion, Selling: Are You OverDoing?
- Branding: A Tagline Is Not A Brand â How to Build a Positive Brand in 3 Steps
- Two Important Ideas in a Brand Identity and Why We Have to Live Our Brand
- Shameless Self-Promotion: What Makes It Shameless?
- Self Promotion: A Winning Answer Every Time â Why is That?
- Self-Promotion: How I Learned to Stop Shooting Myself in the Foot
- Self Promotion: Telling Stories for the Painfully Shy
- How Too Much Thinking Used to Screw Me Up
- 3.3: Three Steps to an Intriguing Answer to âWhat Do You Do?â
- Social Media and Promotion: How to Get Your Network Pulling for You
- Talking Decisions and Self-Promotion with JenChicago
- Mind if I Ask Your Network to Help Me Beat Your Car with a Sledgehammer?
We know those times well, when we try too hard to convince others of our brand, apologize for our writing, ask links instead of earning them, or quote text when we should analyze.
Everyone has brand.
Your brand may be as simple as You are unknown.
Not everyone has a unique and positive brand identity.
People have a way of letting us know we forgot to consider them. They do that by redefining what they think of us and telling each other the new definition.
Shameless Self-Promoters see only the game â not the relationship or the other personâs needs. Shameless self-promoters are focused on getting, not giving.
No one got tied up in the confusion that usually hangs around self-promotion.
As a result we often shy away from any attempt to talk about what we do â fearing weâd be mistaken for the opportunists that weâre not. I used to be the poster child for thinking about self-promotion like that, and it found me getting myself tangled in knots
People looking at me make me very self-conscious. Many folks find that a surprise. I write this post for everyone who is shy.
I said something about the âMEâ in self-conscious. Iâve always thought about it. RK came back and put to words in a pair of comments that said exactly what I always had wondered about . . . am I shy or am I egotistical?
Many folks would tell you this is the time for your âelevator pitch.â I suggest that term might not be the best way to look at a relationship. Why donât we say that an authentic conversation is our goal?
A friend emailed me asking if I would pass along information about a product just coming out. The email was a sale pitch I could pick up and pass on. The rest of the message was over the top for me â kind of pushy and kind of âwink, wink, nudge, nudge â you help me and Iâll help you later.â
see video
Just because you say youâre going to do it,
doesnât make it right and it doesnât make it any more appealing.
Self-promotion is important to a business. If we don’t tell the world we exist and what we do, soon enough we won’t. Hope you find this helpful.
Let me know if you think a favorite is missing from the list. Thanks!
What do you find is the best way to promote your business?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.
Hi Liz,
I agree with you – we have to promote ourselves effectively.
All too often this is hard for small business owners. Especially women I think.
The best way to promote yourself is to be subtle about it. Testimonials or case studies of clients you’ve helped and the results are idea. The fact that your skills helped them is then quietly inferred:)
Social proof in social media such as followers, subscribers or details of people you’ve worked with are also good.
The photo of you speaking up top here is a perfect example. You don’t have to tell anyone who visits your blog you’re a respected and popular expert in your field – they can immediately see it:)
It’s a balance of self promotion and interaction with others to lift us all up.
Great tips.
The most important thing for me is “Shameless Self-Promoters see only the game â not the relationship or the other personâs needs. Shameless self-promoters are focused on getting, not giving” If your possible customer has even the slightest feeling of being only a tool in your acivity, you’re gone and you never get it back.
Thanks for posting
Great Post! 🙂
I think most women have issues when it comes to promoting their business. For many,it just goes back to the way we were raised and societal expectations (depending on your generation 🙂
Every time I sit down to write my own bio, or start really working Social Media, I feel embarrassed and find other things to do. So, on Monday, I’ll try these things and see if they get me past my hesitation.
Great post Liz!
thanks Liz. bookmarked so I can read them all
Great post!
Sometimes it feels hard to judge the limit between over self-promotion and shyness…
Good column, thanks Liz!
Thanks Liz, that is indeed a challenging topic, subtle is the word but we do need to let people know we are out there 🙂 Have an awesome weekend
In the course of promoting ourselves we share something of use to our public it will generally be appreciated as opposed to resented. Knowledge is one of the few things that you can give away freely, and still have!
Hi Liz,
Excellent topic. For me when I feel I’m being authentic or helping people I am able to overcome some of the blocks you mention.
I agree with you that if you come from an authentic place wanting to form a sincere connection you are off to a great start in self promotion.
Thanks as always.
Trying to reach the state of guiltless self promotion. Interesting. What has worked for me is honor my reader and write on subjects that are interesting.
great collection of posts! worth sharing… one at a time! 🙂 Thank you so much Liz for all you do!
Nice collection – a worthwhile read!
Yep, I’m english and very careful, maybe too careful, about self promotion…. but I’m getting better.
You missed the best one!1 ROFL. Just joking but thought I should promote myself a bit http://michaelqtodd.com/selfpromo
Best collection on this subject that I have seen… how do you do it??
Very nice collection. I particularly enjoyed the article “How Too Much Thinking Used to Screw Me Up”. In Navy Nuclear Power School, they call this Nuking It. My husband and I are both guilty of over-thinking.
Great Post Liz!