Self Promotion

Let me ask you a question. Have you ever looked at someone and wondered how they got a particular job? Have you ever visited a popular blog and been baffled by its popularity? Have you ever shaken your head and thought that you could do it better than they are/can?

If the answer is yes than you may have to work on self promotion. If the answer is yes than you may have to spend time trying to figure out how to do a more effective job of marketing your skills and abilities. It is not always easy to do. Sometimes it is because of humility or fear of rejection. Sometimes it is because we tend to have trouble seeing ourselves and our abilities with clarity.

I don’t claim expertise in the reasons why it is harder for some people to promote themselves.  I am not a coach or a psychologist.  But I know without question that life is not fair and that many times the world doesn’t work upon logic and reason. If it did than substance/skill would triumph luck every time. You wouldn’t look at someone and wonder how they got the job because the answer would be because they deserved it.

To be clear sometimes they really do deserve it and there is no criticism to be given of the decision, but that is not the point here.

What we are discussing is the need to improve our skills at marketing ourselves. We need to learn how to give the proverbial elevator pitch in which we give a short and compelling summary of our skills and abilities. We need to learn how to distinguish ourselves from the crowd.

I moved from Blogger to WordPress because I see this as being a better platform to market myself. I see it as a tool that I can use to help me achieve a number of goals. I want to put myself in a position where writing becomes a primary source of income instead of secondary.  I am one of the few bloggers that can say that I have made real money from it. However, there is a difference between real and significant amounts of money.

That distinction is simple. Real money purchases goods/services occasionally. It is enough to support a part time hobby. Significant is enough to support a family. The goal is to transition from real to significant. To make that happen I have to focus on self promotion. I have to become better and more effective at marketing myself. If you are reading this post it is probably because of the self promotional efforts I have engaged in.

It could have been through Twitter, Facebook or a post that you found this place. My job is to get better at using the tools out there to let you know about me. My job is to get better at cutting through the clutter and the noise to distinguish myself. And then once I have your attention it is my job to show you that there is enough substance to merit retaining your attention and continued patronage.

If you are one of the long time readers from the old blog I am very glad to see you here. There will be some changes but much of this will be the same. I don’t want this to be slick, I want it to be real. I want the authenticity to continue to shine through. It will continue to be a mix of content, but there will be some changes. One of those will be an ongoing effort to build the blog.

So I’ll ask for your help. Become a fan of my Facebook page and if you like what you see please let people know about it. Self promotion isn’t easy for me either, but in 2011 it is a necessary skill.