SELF PROMOTING, A GOOD THING OR NOT? I have been taking breaks from a lot of social media and promoting the blog and especially my two novels and it has inspired this post. Imagine that? Sometimes the seemingly smallest thought can promote a deeper insight. How do we feel about self promoting? Do we see it as beneficial or demeaning? Today let’s look at the pros and cons. Please feel free to comment on your feelings about this subject and if you are a blogger, writer, artist, specialist, promoter, etc., please add your expertise in the comment section.
Here is an article with emphasis on the pros of “promoting” instead of using the word “self-promoting”:
THE BLOG Why Self-Promotion Isn’t a Dirty Word
Throughout my career one thing that has always struck me is how the idea of putting one’s self forward can be incredibly uncomfortable and confronting for many people. Calling one’s self an expert can make people squirm in their seat as they don’t want to be seen as having ‘tickets on themselves’.
Whether it’s a fear of putting yourself forward or not wanting to be seen as bragging, the idea that promoting yourself is a bad thing is at odds with the reality that people are looking for thought leaders and role models.
I genuinely believe the world would be a better place if more people shared their ideas, opinions and expertise. But this requires more people to step forward and share their stories with the purpose of helping others.
I myself have struggled to own the ‘word’ expert. I’ve asked myself at various times, “Do I really know more about the next person when it comes to PR and social media? Do I know enough to really be an expert?”
But there came a point in 2010 when I was asked to deliver a presentation to over 100 people when I confronted these thoughts. As I stood on the stage gathering my courage to speak I realised, “Who was I not to share my hard won knowledge and experience? Who was I not to have a voice? How could I not share what I knew and help those people in front of me?”
We need to rethink the concepts of self-promotion, thought leadership and expert. What I learnt was putting yourself forward isn’t actually about you, it’s about the people you could potentially reach and help in some way. How can this be a bad thing?
Here’s my advice for anyone who is ready to share their expertise:
‘Be’ the expert
Shake off those self-limiting beliefs like: Do I know enough? Do I know more than the next person? Am I really an expert? We all have stories, experiences and knowledge that will help others in some way. We have all experienced situations through our lives that should be shared because others will benefit from it.
Find your stories
When you start telling your stories and sharing your expertise to help people and you will be amazed with the emotional connection that you start building with people. Your stores can be personal stories, professional stories or stories that let people know who you are, what you do and what you stand for.
Tell the world
PR and social media are great vehicles for telling your story and reaching out to people, like your customers. They can be used to build your profile, reputation and credibility. When you are well recognised as an expert in your field, your target audience, key organisations and the media take notice of you. Naturally this can lead to more sales, more paid speaking opportunities, more referrals and opportunities you never even dreamed of start falling into your lap.About the author
Catriona Pollard is the author of From Unknown To Expert, a step by step framework designed to help entrepreneurs develop effective PR and social media strategies to become recognised as influencers in their field. www.unknowntoexpert.comCatriona is also the director of CP Communications, which merges traditional PR tactics with cutting-edge social media strategies that engage consumers as well as business.www.cpcommunications.com.au
Follow Catriona:
Twitter: @catrionapollard
Facebook: www.facebook.com/catrionapollard
Blogs: www.catrionapollard.com | www.unknowntoexpert.com/blog
Here is a checklist to choose if self promoting is a pro or con for you:
- Do I consider this promotion a step toward fulfilling my dream?
- Am I doing this to expand or create a market for my services and/or products?
- By creating a promotion am I generating sales or expansion of my business?
- Is this promotion a means to satisfy my ego or is it a simple sales opportunity?
- If I don’t promote my product and/or services, how will the public know about me?
- By promoting myself, can I use the publicity to expand or offer services for a good cause?
- Do I appreciate talent of other people and do I assist in their promotions/goodwill?
- Do I only consider my products as a priority and never share ideas with others wanting to learn?
As a writer, I have learned so much from others who have led the way of promotion, social media networking, and book signing events. I never profess to be an expert in any of these fields so I depend on researching, listening and reading. I have considered if I should do more in the promotion and exposure of my writings and books. What I do know is I am happiest when I am writing and not promoting, but when someone buys one of my books I experience a jubilant feeling. When you comment and/or like the blog, I get excited to see what you have to say. I have some dear friends who promote writers and they believe strongly in networking and it has paid off successfully for them and those they promote. Hmm??? Maybe we can promote ourselves through networking by helping others and them helping us in return. It is worth trying, right?
In closing, I would like to thank everyone who has purchased one or both of my books and are looking forward to the one I am writing at the moment. If you have supported my blog, I thank you and if you have shared a quote from me, I love it. This is the kind of promotion I love the best. Now, in the arena of promotion I am including the links to my first two novels on sale on Amazon. If you like romance with more twists in the plot than a winding country road, and you get into characters who you will fall in love with, have strong feelings about their behavior, and the unexpected life happenings, try them on for size. LIVE LIFE; LOVE LIFE; AND LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST BY LIVING YOUR DREAMS AND PROMOTING YOUR EFFORTS AND OTHERS AT THE SAME TIME.
Arline Miller writing Reflections of Love Series
(C) COPYRIGHT 2012-2018 Arline Miller with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material will be sourced to original location by links if known for credit references.
Self promoting with a humble heart is sharing your love with others.
Encouragement for others to take a chance.
Pam, my thoughts exactly! I wouldn’t have known of your talents if you had kept all that goodness to yourself. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
I’m a new blogger, and the only thing standing between me and self promotion is my social media presence. how do i even begin to change that? any advice would do me good. my blog is _tell me about it_
Thanks for your inquiry. I have posted several blog messages about blogging so if you will go to the older posts and enter Blogging or Blogger, it should bring up some helpful info for you.. I am in the process of publishing another novel so my time is limited so one piece of advice is even if you are busy with other parts of your life, try to set aside some time to regularly blog. Good luck!