Enough About You… Shameless Self-Promotion
It took a while for me to figure out that it’s okay to talk about and sell “me“. Look at anyone who has ever been successful. They’ve all exhibited some sort of shameless self-promotion at one point or another and understand the value of marketing themselves and gaining visibility by talking about who they are and what they do.
You have to be willing to plug your personal brand whenever and wherever possible. Take every opportunity. No one else is going to toot your horn. It’s you that has to create the spark that will ignite your fire. Let me give you an example…
The Light Up Pen
I worked in retail sales for a couple of years and I had a natural gift at selling things. I remember working at the cash register one day and my boss asked me to try and sell a bunch of light up ink pens that had been collecting dust on a nearby shelf. They were $8 each and I couldn’t imagine that anyone would really want to buy them, but I liked the idea of a challenge.
The first thing I did was move all of the pens next to the cash register. I made them noticeable, but more than that – I made them accessible.
Each time someone approached the counter I would make a pitch about the pen. I’d talk it up and show the customers just how great it was. I’d even hand them the pen to sign their receipts with. Some would actually make another swipe of the ol’ credit card just to have one.
Had the pens stayed on the shelf, these customers would have come and gone and never noticed them. I wasn’t afraid to make the sales pitch to every single customer. It didn’t matter if I thought they would actually buy it or not. I took advantage of every opportunity and one out of every three customers walked away with one. By the end of the day, I had sold 38 of them.
It’s all about exposure.
Don’t Sell Yourself Short
When you’re selling a product, you talk about it. You position it so that it’s highly visible. It’s no different when the product you’re selling is you.
Now, there’s an unfortunate amount of narcissism required in order to successfully promote yourself, but keep it in check. Don’t over do it. No one likes a person who talks endlessly about themselves. They hate it even worse when you don’t talk about them or to them. Make sure you interact, communicate, and engage your customer or audience. If you give them what they need, they’ll give you what you need.
I bookmarked this article from remarkablogger.com a few months back and have read it several times for inspiration. It’s great piece on self-promoting without being that guy. Take a look – it’s worth the read.
Let’s Talk About It
How are you engaging your customers/audience?
What are some examples of the right or wrong way to do it?
Photo source: remarkablogger.com
This evening my wife and I went to Barnes and Noble book store with the kids, a usual stomping ground. I had taken my son back to the children’s book section to play on a Thomas the Train play set where another little boy already seemed to be having a good time. I noticed that this boy’s dad was a man I see at Starbucks practically every morning I’m there and I decided to introduce myself. His name was Dragan, from Yugoslavia, and we then spent the next half an hour in riveting conversation.
How do you find the balance between your online life and your physical life? A concern that has come up recently here at home is how to appropriately devote time between social networking and raising a family. I’ve decided that I’m passionate enough about writing that I want to devote a lot of time to it. Part of that involves blogging and garnering a following within certain social networks to amass an audience. I need that audience to use as a sounding board to help refine my craft.
Yesterday, I watched a live web event of 
Yesterday I talked about how a reputation is tied to a name. I had originally intended for yesterdays topic to be the one I’m writing about today, but I took off in another direction after reading about name origins. So now I’m back on my first thought. Not so much a continuation from yesterday but a different aspect of the same topic.
