Jan
18
8 Reasons Why You Might NOT Be Promoting Yourself Enough
Filed Under Announcements, Facebook, Networking and Marketing Strategy, Promoting Yourself, Public Relations
Our website promotion event and social media party was an enormous success. Hundreds actively participated, introducing their web sites, engaging in dialog and making new connections.
Fortunately, the time frame for the networking phase of the event is open-ended, so drop by my Facebook page any time to meet some new people and check out what they’re up to. I’ll be busy working on the page for a few more days, reviewing web sites I haven’t yet visited.
Our four-day event was in part an experiment, as Tom Woolf pointed out. A key takeaway for me is that many people are promoting their products, services, companies interests and causes but not sufficiently promoting them- selves.
Keeping a low profile may occasionally be appropriate. However, in general, self-promotion is integral to social media marketing and public relations.
These are eight reasons why self-promotion and injecting yourself into your content are very important:
- You transcend your interests. No interest or group of interests, no matter how passionate you are about them, can fully define you as a person. Admittedly, this point is too existential, so…
- Your subject matter might lose relevance. For example, your product can be discontinued or your company can go out of business. Your content will become irrelevant with no residual benefit from the effort you put into creating and promoting it. However…
- You’re always relevant as a person. You have inherent value, and you’re completely portable from one venue to another.
- You and I are unique. People aren’t interchangeable, but products, services and organizations tend to be.
- You and I are memorable. People will come to remember us and our faces once they see us a few times.
- People prefer to do business with people they know, like and trust. It has always been that way, even before Al Gore allegedly invented the Internet. You and I can relate to people and build solid social capital.
- Synergy. Our diverse interests and content work to build a bigger and more insightful picture of us.
- Social media is uhh, social. You and I are social. Our jewelry and weight loss products merely facilitate social interaction. People relate to people, and their relationships are ongoing.
More about promoting yourself and personal branding in upcoming articles.
At this time, you can probably suggest additional reasons for keeping it social, and I expect that you will. 
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Great post Larry! Again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY and congratulations for the success of your website promotion event and social media party!
Thank you Joanne. Great to see you here. Hope your year is off to a great start.
Larry, you are spot on! I tried to think of your reasons, when I was a working, salesman. Now, as a net-working, (or is that not-working?) blogger, your reasons FIT — now, more than ever. Thanks, for making me think.
Larry,
I have been following your blog for some time now and find your information to be very useful and helpful for my staff. This post especially, I have a personal training studio, I work hard at getting the instruction consistent, but a lot of times the trainers miss the point that clients come for the personal interaction and the workout is the work that gets them the results, but without the personal interaction the client would eventually stop coming in and get no results. Thanks for this post, keep them coming.
Dwayne Wimmer
Owner
Vertex Fitness
I like #1. It’s very mantra-like.
But I think #6 is the most practical point. I’d much rather do business with a friend (or with a congenial acquaintance) than with someone who hasn’t made the effort to connect with me at all on a social level. Makes a big difference.
Great list!
Thank you Don, Dwayne and Nancy. Dwayne’s business example is excellent.
Here’s a possible #9:
By personally relating to clients, customers and readers, you may be more likely to get feedback that will help you improve your product, service, blog, etc. I have benefited greatly from such feedback.
I’m wondering if my problem may be that I’m not promoting myself enough as well. You made an awesome distinction between promoting a product and promoting one’s self/brand. I never considered this before. Thanks for the insight Larry.
Congrats on your party and belated Happy Birthday! Sorry I couldn’t make it. I agree Larry. People should drop by and say hello in an online relationship the same as they would say hello to a next door neighbor.
[…] want to accomplish. Are you seeking product longevity or brand longevity. There is a difference.8 Reasons Why You Might NOT Be Promoting Yourself EnoughPick the social media that is suitable for your business. If its Facebook, then use the groups and […]
Thanks so much for this experience. I love innovators that think outside of the box and do things in a new and refreshing way and you are definitely a thought leader online.
Thanks,
Iyabo Asani
Hi Larry,
A..ha! Thank you. This was worth the price of admission. I suspect some of the Gen X and Yers already ‘get’ this concept. It takes us boomers a little longer. LOL!
Hi Larry,
Thanks for the reminder. Oftentimes we get so absorbed in generating the result that we lose sight of the true purpose of social media, which is to really connect and develop relationships.
Lisa Kaslyn
Kashen Communications &
eMarketing Bootcamp
Hi Larry,
I couldn’t agree more! As I am re-launching into the world of self-employment; the main motivating factor is that I am entrepreneurial and prefer working for myself with like-minded people than being in a corporate structure. Corporations are incredible entities that I now support with my High Tech High Touch approach to business.
It’s all about relationships. You do an excellent job of fostering community online. Keep up the great work.
Hi Larry,
Thanks for the nudge to get out there. It’s a little scary with all the identity theft going on but it is important as a business owner to let people know who they’re doing business with.
Deb
Larry, I look forward to hearing more about the specifics of promoting yourself personally, in addition to your own site/business. I’m curious about what that will look like for each one of us, your readers. I’m also curious to see how you utilize all the information you picked up from your Birthday party online
Larry: Glad to hear your event was a resounding success!!
Also, thanks for reinforcing that we should be building our brand as opposed to promoting our product or products; as a matter of fact, thanks to you, I’ve located a marketing gal that is going to help me build my personal brand.
Keep up the good work, Larry, and thanks for continuing to provide us with phenomenal value.
Diane
Great post, Larry. Sometimes we get so buried in the product promotion part, that we think we ARE our products instead of the reverse.
Sometimes, though, I think we feel like if we promote the products hard enough, people will see us peripherally, think we’re really cool for coming up with such a thing and voila! instant recognition.
Thanks for reminding us of what’s important. There’s both a “U” and an “I” in business, afterall.
Larry, another great post after a great (and unique) birthday event. I love the point that you are transcendent of your product or service - having personally switched careers, I have found that the only thing constant is the core of who you are. Plus, isn’t social media about being social, anyway? How can you be social if you don’t bring yourself to the party?
Hey - I didn’t repost my website b/c it was about personal branding mostly, and the others were not. Lost my confidence, I guess. I am glad that I didn’t change anything on my site though, and am looking forward to the next post on self promotion for more information
You’re always welcome Larry! Hey, I’ve been always following your posts. You always do great and helpful stuffs. Btw, THANKS! So far, my year is going great and I really feel like “THIS IS MY YEAR”!
Hope to see you on my blog too. Have a great day!
The biggest reason is because it’s interesting! People enjoy the human element!
Thanks Larry.
I always love your articles - success for you.
I learn so many things about social media from your blog
These are great points Larry. I often steer myself towards opportunities that promote my business, but don’t seek out opportunities that promote me as a business person. You’ve really shed some light on why this strategy is a mistake. It’s definitely time for me to switch gears.
Great tips Larry, I agree I need to start promoting myself to the public more.
I have wondered about this a bit. I have a logo for my website, and before I even began with it, I had gotten 1200 followers on Twitter. When I replaced my face-photo on Twitter with my blog-logo, I began to loose followers and response dropped.
On the other hand I feel a bit weird connecting my blog about the Internet too much to me personally.
Take care,
Sam
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