Where have all the references gone?
I don’t know if you’ve notice, but over the past few weeks I’ve been commenting on Twitter about self-promotion and the need to bring it back. With the impetus of social media being towards limited, if any, self-promotion (unless I missed the memo that it was okay), I’ve notice that the pendulum for people engaged in social media has finally swung from 100% to 0%.
I don’t know about you, but I have about 5-8 people nationally that I feel confident referring for marketing, PR or social media consulting. Locally, it’s even less than that. For all the people I know on- and off-line, it’s a little sad that I have such a small pool of people to refer. And isn’t that the point of social media to build relationships that could potentially lead to referrals? That’s what we tell companies all the time, right?
What’s the issue? Sure, we all follow the social media “rules” and we try to build relationships with people first and foremost and that’s great…but then it falls apart.
The people that I feel comfortable referring are people that I met online first, then offline, and then they’ve shared links to their client work or have outright been a part of their clients’ campaigns online. I’ve been able to see their campaigns and get a 360 degree view of the person, how they think and their abilities. I’ve also had conversations with some of them about their campaigns or projects.
There are people who I follow on Twitter or Facebook that I that feel comfortable saying I know them pretty well, but honestly I have absolutely no clue where they work and/or what they have done as marketing, PR or social media professionals that would deserve a reference.
I have people asking me all the time to refer consultants, agencies or speakers on particular topics because, in their minds, I am “well connected.” And I am consistently drawing a blank, which, needless to say surprises most people.
Honestly, I have to question this “no self-promotion” rule and why we all (I am guilty of it too) make people feel SO uncomfortable to do so. It goes back to my favorite adage “people don’t know what they don’t know” and right now I don’t know what you all do.
I am not talking about blatant, outright self promotion…I hate that as much as the next person. But once we have gotten to know someone, haven’t they earned the right to share online with us the campaigns they are working on or a project they are proud of?
And yes, I get it…sometimes there are NDAs or confidentiality issues. But find a creative way to let us know what it is you are working on or what benefits you might provide a potential client/customer.
I’d like to be able to refer all the smart people I am connected with…but I need more than just knowing what you share on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or your blog to be able to do that. I need some kind of evidence that you are strategic, tactical and deliver results so I can feel comfortable telling people to give you a call.
Please, help me out. I’d like to be able to provide references for you or your business. If we know each other and have connected either here on my blog or on Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn let me know what you’ve been working on or share with me some of your recent campaigns/projects.
Anyone else having this issue? What can we do to help people get business or job referrals? Is the lack of self-promotion actually hurting us?
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Social media may be social, but how personal is it in 140 characters, one tweet at a time? I still get to know people better at conferences no matter how many DM’s we may exchange. To refer someone, you really have to know them and trust them.
This past week, I had a Skype call with Steve Olenski (@steveolenski). We did it just to get to know each other better. Steve and I have exchanged tweets for the past few months, but did we really know each other? I know him a lot better now after a 20 minute Skype call. By the way Beth, Steve’s in Philly too.
This is a good way to get to know your fellow Tweeters. I got the notion after JJ Stone (@askohdoctah) reached out to me and suggested we chat by Skype. We talked for about 30 minutes. After that, I resolved to reach out to one tweeter a week to get to know them better.
Twitter has been an amazing resource to me. Maybe now I can also use it for referrals.
.-= Jay Ehret´s last blog ..Houston Social Media Marketing Workshop =-.
Beth, it sounds to me as if you would like to see/hear/read about examples of individual best-practices from your network to better understand what people are capable of. Am I correct?
Promoting an idea or sharing tactics/strategies taken on communication challenges is a great way to gain insight and education. Personally, I don’t mind seeing those types of “promotional” tweets, posts, etc.
@Jay – I really like your idea of reaching out to your network to get to know them better.
- Richie, @vedo
.-= Richie Escovedo´s last blog ..Why faking your network is worse than #twitterspam =-.
I can’t help but think this may have spurned partially from our conversation on Facebook last week about your “signature” in your last comment to me. (Or maybe I just want to think it did. Humor me.)
You’ve brought up a good point, though. Not long ago my best friend discovered LinkedIn and asked me for an endorsement. I sat there dumbfounded and realized that I’ve known her since I was 2 years old and I had NO IDEA what she did. I couldn’t do it, because it wouldn’t be fair. I know where she works, I’m just not sure what she does. Something about publishing for a nonprofit in Chicago.
I guess until recently I took for granted some of my relationships and never really thought about how much or what I knew about some of the most important people in my life. Growing up I knew my dad worked “at the office” but never really found out anything beyond that until I was a teenager!
Me, I’ve been working for myself for a while, doing consulting for nonprofits, small businesses, and chambers of commerce about social media & PR stuff. (Maybe I just assumed you knew that?) I’m shying away from that a lot lately and things are taking a very different direction for me, with a couple international clients and another interesting gig, but I’m not technically allowed to talk about a lot of what I’ve been working on (yet).
I don’t really know if I can comment on the “lack of self promotion hurting us” thing though. I’m a pretty well-connected person and I find myself giving referrals all the time. I’ve noticed that there are two types of connectors — those that talk about networking all the time and connections, that try to go out and make as many as possible, then there are people like me who just happen to know a helluva lot of people and in conversation find themselves saying, “You gotta meet my friend ___, you guys might be able to collaborate.”
There is a difference, and I know that the majority of the people I know have no idea about the majority of the people I know, because I often get, “I had no idea you knew anybody in ___!” I think a lot of it comes down to the type of personality you have.
.-= Stacy Lukas´s last blog ..What to do when “you’re doing it wrong” goes wrong =-.
All my years in radio, I would remind my team that the competition is not the other stations, but people’s time.
That is the same with social media, giving references, talking nice about each other and promoting how you can help others.
In our “Lord of the Flies” self-proclaimed rule book, we are not able to let people know that we are looking for clients to in-turn help their business, or give someone a reference that could bring them some work.
Why not?!
If you don’t want to read someone’s recommendation or explanation of their accomplishments, turn it off.
For the rest of us; be proud of what you’ve done, what you can do and of those people around you that appreciate your help.
.-= Kneale Mann´s last blog ..A Bunch Of Caramels =-.
For me it isn’t the self promotion angle (at least I don’t think it is). Instead, it’s the total lack of quote en quote “case studies of value”. Have I worked on a lot of different programs and marketing campaigns? Yep, but none that I have deemed worthy of putting a case study out on (or I have been restricted by NDA’s).
However, this is about to change. I finally have 2-3 case studies that would provide excellent content for my blog (and would actually be interesting to other people besides myself). Until you have those baseline studies up in lights and open to the public…it’s tough to recommend me to anyone. I finally figured this out about 4 months ago. (I’m slow apparently).
.-= Stuart Foster´s last blog ..Public Relations: It’s the Content, Stupid. =-.
I don’t mind self-promoting, but asking others for referrals (or even feedback) is a little tricky because I’m so very specialized. Not many people know much about law enforcement, so even if they know/respect my writing, or they like what I’m doing personally with social media, it’s hard to translate it into “what she can do for your agency.”
Right now I’m relying on those I work for/with directly to provide referrals (traditional I guess) and then once I have more firm examples I can point to, like Stuart, will publicize those as well — to help both prospective clients and potential referrers better understand what I do.
.-= Christa M. Miller´s last blog ..Stretching resources for social media =-.
For the past several years I’ve found that self-promotion has been a very black and white issue. You either shove your card (or equivalent online) in everyone’s face you meet and grab as many as you can to prove what a great networker you are (the same as carrying around the yellow-pages in your briefcase) or you avoid talking shop so you can really get to know someone personally and end up knowing more about their cat’s health than you do about their business.
At networking or business events I find I lean toward the latter. But once I do get to know that person and find that I like them as a person I take it to the next step and get together with them for the specific purpose of finding out more about each other’s business. Honestly, if I think you’re a jerk as a person I don’t care how good you are at your job…I don’t want people to know I know you.
Yes, it does take a longer time but I’ve been able to give a few people some great referrals that have been very successful for all parties involved. I think the referrals are successful because I am able to really sell it because I’m confident the connection will be a good one. I recently followed up on a referral and found the person (who needed the service) had not called my contact yet. I didn’t mind pushing her a bit to make the call because I knew the person I was referring her to very well both personally and professionally. I just said, I think she could really help you…maybe not now, maybe not this year…but you two really need to start a relationship now for that one day down the road.
Thanks for all your posts…they always make me laugh, cry or think…most all three…now what exactly is it you do?
Cheers!
Beth this is a great post about a topic that needs to be addressed. You know my thoughts on this topic, but I think so many of us are hurting ourselves by NOT doing a better job of promoting ourselves. And I am one of the worst case studies. In the past few months I have spent a lot of time talking to people outside of the ‘social media fishbowl’, and quite frankly, they think our stance toward self-promotion being ‘evil’ is insane. We see it as ‘self-promotion’, they see it as a natural part of doing business.
This is why I am so sick and damned tired about hearing the bitching about who can or cannot be called a ‘social media expert’. The message we are REALLY sending when we whine about this is ‘you cannot mention your expertise’. That it’s ‘bad’ to promote yourself.
So we whine and cry about who can or cannot call themselves ‘social media experts’, then we wonder why all the hacks are promoting themselves, while the REAL experts are scared to say anything. Lisa Hoffmann nailed this months ago, when the REAL experts remain silent, we are left with the hacks owning this space.
STOP THE INSANITY!!!
I run into the same problems you do. In the past month I have been approached by two HUGE companies about two GREAT social media jobs (seriously if I could have done either virtually without moving, I would have seriously considered either). And in both cases, I had to seriously struggle to think of anyone that I could refer for either position. And that’s simply because I didn’t know who would be interested. Because again, we have had it drilled into our heads that you can NOT promote yourself, and if you do, you are EVIL!
Can you tell this is a hot-button issue for me? It is cause I KNOW we are making it more difficult for the REAL experts in this space to flourish, by adopting BS ‘you can’t promote yourself, that’s NOT SOCIAL!’ rules. And we are ALSO making it twice as difficult for students and others that are SMART and just entering this space, to make a name for themselves.
Because we’ve told them that they can’t promote themselves. Great post Beth!
Beth,
I agree. I would love to figure out when the pendulum shifted so drastically. While I still have an issue with those that call themselves experts, maybe we need to start taking a few steps back to giving our expertise some exposure.
.-= Gloria Bell´s last blog ..My first ride at Blog Carnival! =-.
A Beth Harte APB for people she might recommend? I’m the flailing person attached to the undying outstretched hand. The one-woman Iwo Jima act. Fast, deadline obsessed get-at-it and get it done writer. Zero-tolerance editor. Deathly allergic to jargon. Only write what I understand. Call 860-599-1536 for quick, free comprehension/capability assessment. Or write Robinskann@gmail.com Thanks!
Beth:
Love your thoughts here…especially the distinction between blatant and outright self-promotion, and the earned right to share.
I guess I’m a bit old school, but I find nothing wrong with self-promotion so long as it the promoter in question can walk the talk. I always want to know about someone’s capabilities, and while it usually means more coming from a third party, it shouldn’t be completely discounted if it doesn’t.
From my perspective, self-promotion doesn’t reduce one’s credibility, unless they are not credible to begin with. You see, the problem is not self promotion, but self promotion by those applying a fake it until you make it philosophy.
You might be interested in two previous posts: Poser vs. Player – http://bit.ly/Xa1UR and Personal Branding Done Right – http://bit.ly/XgvGF
.-= Mike Myatt´s last blog ..Vision vs. Mission =-.
Mack’s comment about the social media fishbowl is perfect. I jumped in with a strong background in direct marketing. I find it incredible that the pure play social media experts tout the channel as the new way to market while forbidding self promotion.
I see social media as a wonderful way to meet people and connect with them on a one-to-one basis. Direct marketing allows you to target, but it is limited in the ability to interact. If we limit social media to talking about others, then we eliminate it as a marketing channel. To do so, keeps it from ever being taken seriously in the business world.
If you look at my tweets, you’ll find that I haven’t followed the rules very well. By breaking them, I have learned from others, taught some, and expanded my horizons. I think that the social media world has huge potential, but it is hard to sell to outsiders because of the promotion rules.
I find it ironic that many of the people decrying self promotion are masters at it in a passive aggressive manner. Their “this is what I’m doing” tweets translate into a continuously running infomercial.
Tweet: Just arrived in LA for my speech to Fortune 500 company.
Translation: I’m good enough to present to Fortune 500 company. You should hire me, too.
Tweet: Waiting in green room for FOX news.
Translation: I have something important to say. You should listen.
My personal favorite:
Tweet: 175 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Promote Yourself on Twitter (little url link)
Translation: My advertisers pay me when you visit my site. Click now so I make more money.
I think that they are geniuses because they have effectively cornered the social media market for their own benefit. And, every time they tell others to avoid self-promotion, they maintain control.
Thank you, Beth for shining a light on this issue. It has been bugging this direct marketer for a long time.
Great topic Beth. Up until now, most of the emphasis I see in SM has been on relationship-building — and specifically NOT on self-promotion. Frankly, self promotion seems to have become taboo. Since SM is still new, I do think it’s like any new relationship — it will find it’s middle ground naturally. If we force it one way or the other, it’s may just backfire. I personally prefer the subtle approach, but I do see Mack’s view also. I am by no means an expert (I’m the newest of newbies), so I do value the expertise of people like you and Mack, directing the way. We need to know who the social media “town criers” are, so we can build this medium into what it promises to be.
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Thanks for the post.
I think @MackCollier is right that a lot of the experts are quiet as some of the more aggressive non-professionals promote/spam their services in a way that makes everyone gun shy.
Personally, I’ve found a great outlet in a few weekly chats with a group of regulars who try to attend as much as possible. #sbbuzz on Tuesdays is a great example. This is a weekly chat for small biz folks, put on by software entrepreneurs who I respect. The folks in this group have referred one another for speaking opps, referred business and written guest posts for other member’s blogs.
This is tough for the social media area because it seems the chats around social media and even PR are so large it’s tough to really get a rapport going with any one person.
I love Jay’s idea of reaching out to someone in your online network once a week.
Maria
@mcolacurcio
.-= Maria Colacurcio´s last blog ..Crowdsourcing Panel Event on Twitter =-.
Excellent observations, Beth. In our short time “in the deep end” of social media, I’ve learned to grab all the great insight on Twitter I can–information that would have taken me weeks to research and too many gatekeepers to overcome–and use it for us and our clients.
Early on I marveled at Ford’s Global Digital Communications Director @ScottMonty and decided to bring him to Harrisburg via several sponsors to teach us how to engage in SM for large and small businesses. He is as real, personable, and sincere in person as he is online. From his tweets, I visited his Web site and learned more about his successes and accomplishments.
I have developed some valuable relationships on Twitter and LinkedIn, but our express purpose is to talk about our clients and increase our business value and talent pool through these relationships. Judging by a person’s tweets, I can usually discern a level of marketing/PR competence. From there I visit their Web site and then email or call them. I like to see a person’s portfolio and see what they’ve done for their clients.
As far as some people’s dislike for self-promotion on Twitter–who wrote these “rules” anyway? In many colleges, social media isn’t even in a PR curriculum yet. The channels are evolving as fast as we can harness their power. In my opinion, if you have a great marketing piece that produced great results, I want to hear about it–and the fastest way to grab my attention is on Twitter. If your ad grabbed mind share and market share, I would love to see it. If your press release is unique and innovative and resulted in myriad print scores–how did you break through? I hope all the PR/marketing/ad firms (us included) can promote themselves as successfully as they do their clients.
Most of us are in business and answer to clients or customers. If there are people and tools out there to help us do better business, I hope they are confident enough to share their success stories. Thanks for starting this conversation!
Great post. I’ve always felt that folks feel self-promotion is not PC, especially in SocMe world. Everyone seems to associate it with “Click my Junk” guys. But the truth is, you can’t hide your light under a bushel. The problem is, the only folks that seem to truly get that are the successful self-employed, which might explain why they are successful and self-employed.
Like you, agree that self-promotion should be heavy handed or constant, but the infrequent hey, here’s what I’ve been doing or posting about a successful Case Study or sharing a video of your latest talk… to me, that isn’t over the top.
This post was a great reminder that even amongst friends, it is important to share your value prop so that you are top of mind when that friend gets a request to refer.
Thanks for the reminder Beth.
@TomMartin
)
Speaker & Consultant on issues of marketing, branding, SocMe and Advertising
.-= Tom Martin´s last blog ..My Summer Re-Runs =-.
Great topic. Thanks for writing about it, Beth.
From an outside, learning perspective — since I’m anything but a PR/social media/marketing consultant — the lack of self promotion only feeds the idiocy. As in, what’s being put out there by the unqualified ‘experts’ is what the newbies, on both sides of the professional wall, will take away. Some of us are smart enough (or aware enough) to know what’s good and what’s not, but many who are incredibly new to the space or to the idea of integrating social media into a business model have NO idea what they’re looking for. The newbs will jump in, see the crap out there, and take the frequency of said crap as a sign that the people producing it know what they’re doing. Then, the newbs will adopt those principles and perpetuate the problem.
Aside from this being an issue of generating business for SM consultants, I see it also as an issue of responsibility — those of you with successful consultancies based in real results not only owe it to yourselves and future clients to show what you’re made of, but you owe it to your trade and your community, too.
.-= Teresa Basich´s last blog ..Formally Delegated Listening =-.
“I find it ironic that many of the people decrying self promotion are masters at it in a passive aggressive manner. Their “this is what I’m doing” tweets translate into a continuously running infomercial.
Tweet: Just arrived in LA for my speech to Fortune 500 company.
Translation: I’m good enough to present to Fortune 500 company. You should hire me, too.
Tweet: Waiting in green room for FOX news.
Translation: I have something important to say. You should listen.”
Debra you are EXACTY right! That’s self-promotion, plain and simple. But we have created ‘rules’ that say that THAT form of self-promotion is ‘ok’. I can’t directly promote my consulting, but I can promote the post I just wrote recapping my work with a client, in the form of a case study.
I think/hope in a few years we’ll look back and realize how silly this all is.
.-= mack collier´s last blog ..A detailed statistical analysis of one blog post =-.
Beth, two thoughts come to mind:
1. When it comes to employability, skills, achievements, etc., I would think that LinkedIn is really the place to rock out – that’s what it was created for. Maybe your LinkedIn contacts really aren’t putting enough info there and you should encourage utilization of that service. LinkedIn is the self-promotion hub, right? (but in a good way)
2. On the other hand, perhaps you’re asking for information that isn’t captured in LinkedIn and only comes through personal contact? This is what you appear to be doing through your post.
3. People should be free to post a link to something exceptional they’ve done and say “I’m proud of this. Can I do something similar for YOU?” unless the social media service that they are using expressly forbids such behavior. That would make sense to me.
.-= Mark Dykeman´s last blog ..Browser bitching =-.
Apropos of this, an example from offline: I am firmly of the belief that one should muck in, serve, work as hard as one can, and build relationships before doing any self-promotion. It’s possible to carry this too far. When I arrived in this rather small town, I joined the Chamber of Commerce, got a seat on the board, and eventually became the Chair. I’d been doing that for 9 months of my 1-year term when a lovely gal that I’d been friends with on the Chamber for 3 years asked me what I did for a living. I’d never said. Half the Board said “what? I had no idea! I’d have been happy to do business with you. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Perhaps it is possible to go too far in the direction of self-abnegation. And that’s not going to do you any favors.
I’m a good mortgage agent. I work hard and I do a professional job. I use Twitter and Facebook and all those as means of finding interesting people that make my life better – Beth Harte certainly qualifies in this group – and many of those people are in social media and marketing. I’d love to promote myself, at least insofar as it makes sense to do so, but have never been able to figure out how to do that in the context of these conversations. And I’d rather have Beth and Amber and Seth and Olivier as acquaintance/friends who have no idea what I do, and possibly lose a chance to do business with them, than promote myself and thus write myself out of the circle.
Essentially, for me, what I decided to do was make the “promotion” organic to the conversation. I tweet about my blog posts, many of which are about mortgages. Otherwise, I’m spending my time being interested in what everyone else is doing. I want them to know what I do, but that’s about all, unless they have a question for me. Which they sometimes do, to my amazement and pleasure.
I’m watching this thread with interest. This is a really important topic, I think. Trust Beth to find it and write about it.
.-= Chris Jones´s last blog ..Warning: Soccer post =-.
i haven’t read all of the preceding comments, so forgive me if i repeat others.
i’ve found twitter to be a great resource for extending and expanding my network. i’ve reached out to them for help or passed them to others seeking help.
i agree that to really get to know people, even those with whom you have joked and tweeted with fairly regularly, you still need to pick up the phone, meet in person, or even exchange emails to grow the relationship.
i’ve been surprised and impressed with the number of people, including you, who have responded to my DM or other forms of direct contact. i’ve reached out to people i’ve only met on twitter to ask them to guest blog with me, offer insights on a recent post, or share information about their work. i’ve yet to hear a no.
so maybe it still comes back to the fact that networking is not a passive exercise.
thanks for all your conversation-provoking questions and observations,
f
.-= fran melmed´s last blog ..femelmed: @incentintel congrats on the new social media editor role, paul! =-.
Wow. Wow. Wow. Great conversation going on here. As always, my favorite part is the comments section, of course.
@Mack – kinda passionate about this one, huh? Ha ha.
My 3 cents: the phrase “social media is a cocktail party” has been bantered around quite a bit in the past (Jim Tobin even wrote a book with the same title – http://www.amazon.com/Social-Media-Cocktail-Party-Marketing/dp/1440454205). Would you talk about yourself at a cocktail party? Sure, but not as you are walking in the door.
Self promotion is good. Letting people know your strengths is good. However, listening to others’ needs is also good; so is sharing what you are *not* good at.
Plenty more “FREE expert advice” where that came from. Just kidding…
Thanks again Beth. Rock on.
DJ Waldow
Director of Community at Blue Sky Factory (subtle self-promotion)
@djwaldow
.-= DJ Waldow´s last blog ..How Twitter Helped Me Land My @BlueSkyFactory Gig =-.
I think you’ve done a great job of pointing out the elephant in the room, Beth. I think it’s interesting that we so dislike those who share what they do, and the fact that they are good at it. Certainly flat out boasting is crass, but we’re so scared of being considered jerks that, as you point out, we don’t tell others the exciting things we’re working on and that we’re doing them well.
I think you’re correct that we should cut each other a little bit of slack. Sure we should be social, build relationships and share our knowledge. But many also want to look out for their own well-being and grow their businesses, just as they are educating others to do, and shouldn’t be punished for doing so.
In a way some of these platforms remind me a bit of an annual job review. I find it hard to play up my strengths and accomplishments there sometimes too, even though it’s the appropriate place for it. It’s a fine line to walk to speak well of yourself and your accomplishments without boasting, and there’s little room for error it appears.
I think just because you are connected it doesn’t mean you actually know the person well enough to refer someone.
I work with a lot of people (I am usher at a few sports arenas) and combine that with connecting with people from my past. I would have problem with referrals.
Quantity does not always equal QUALITY. So unless you are very active in someone’s life then you will probably not be able to give someone a good referral.
Networking is more about building connections. Which equals both online and off.
.-= Jamie Favreau´s last blog ..Can you help one person stay in Detroit? =-.
Beth
Very interesting post. The “rules” are to not self promote but your point is so valid – if you do not then are we supposed to guess about really what you do or are we to assume by twitter posts what you do?
Social media is about building relationships but really how can we really build relationships without some sort of self promotion? Are we not able to ask what someone does – is that insulting to say to someone I have read your posts and not really sure what you exactly do?
In speaking with someone today, we were talking about my blog. I have a small blog that does get 50-100 readers each day (mostly unique so I have to work on turning them into returns ) and we were wondering do people read for the information and not interpret that this is what I do and I can work with them? Somewhat of a shameless plug and self promo here but at the same time if I do not tell them will they necessarily ask?
I think that to really build relationships we have to get to know people and what they really do and what their strengths are. I hope that Mack is right:
“I think/hope in a few years we’ll look back and realize how silly this all is.”
Thanks for bringing this to the forefront. Enjoyed reading this and the comments.
The Yellow Pages attract customers to businesses, using a few key words. People simply look for what they want in obvious places that YP files alphabetically. If I have rising water in the BASEMENT, I flip fast to the first word that comes to my mind and need someone out here fast to do their job. If they dry the basement and it stays dry, they’re good. I’m proundly grateful, an indentured client, and I recommend them like a basement-
savant.
Social Networking’s purpose isn’t as clear as the Yellow Pages’. That’s not good or bad. But if I know what I need and need it fast, I go to the place that clearly states its purpose.
[...] July 28, 2009 · Leave a Comment A couple of days ago, Beth Harte (a smart marketer who writes a terrific blog and is also Community Manager for MarketingProfs) wrote a very interesting piece on the topic of self-promotion. [...]
This is an interesting topic for me b/c of my training in acting…Mainly b/c I’ve always been a huge fan of myself when it comes to putting myself out there with acting…I know this sounds kinda funny but it makes perfect sense:
* I have to put myself out there (lock, stock and barrel) b/c I AM THE COMMODITY
* People in casting will look for other Hispanic fellas that match my age, height, etc.
* If you’re someone that doesn’t have any lines to speak, Director & Producers look for types (i.e. Soccer Mom, Business Professional, Dad, Etc.)
So, as an actor, I am selling ME…Narciso Tovar…and I HAVE TO be blunt and cold about what I can and can’t do, as well as what I can and can’t sell. Otherwise, I’d be an emotional mess (and, yes, there are plenty of actors (male & female) that are a wreck if/when they don’t get called back for a second audition) whenever I don’t get called back from an initial audition.
My point is this: In acting, you don’t have a choice but to put yourself out there – warts and all. In business, it’s different b/c people aren’t necessarily looking at what you can do as a person/personality – they’re looking at what value you can provide them/their product and/or service. So there’s a natural distance that comes with separating yourself with your work.
It can be hard for a person to ‘sell’ himself b/c it’s not really something they teach you in school. For some people (like myself), it comes naturally…I can recall a time in baseball (I was 11 years old) when I hit a line drive that drove in one run and had me sliding safe into third base. Parents cheered, my teammates hooted and hollered and I dusted myself off, wave to our team’s parents and bowed.
TOTAL CHEESE-HEAD…!…But I worked it.
I say all this b/c while it may be essential for people to promote themselves, it can also be very difficult. Some people have idfferent reasons for holding back:
* could be fear
* could be a lack of ‘experience’
* could be a genuine lack of knowing how to say what they need to say
* could be that they may feel as if someone else can ‘sell’ some service/idea/etc. better
Regardless, of the reasoning, we need to try just a little harder – especially if we have ‘the goods’ that can make an effort soar. No matter what you may think about people viewing you as a braggart or a used car salesman, if you’re thoughtful about how you promote yourself, there’s nothing but good that can come from it.
.-= Narciso Tovar, Big Noise Communications´s last blog ..There Are No Small Parts =-.
The rules can be oppressive, but I’ve always thought of twitter as not a cocktail party but as a business conference. I want to meet people, discuss ideas, learn things, have some fun, but also promote myself. I promote myself, but sparingly. When I created my web site, I posted it and DM’ed a few people with a flutter of reassurances that I wouldn’t make it a habit. I’m looking for the balance between glad hander and wall flower. I’m also starting to look for ways to connect with people outside of twitter, to establish some trust.
On the flip side, I have referred people or businesses who I ONLY know through twitter: radian6, marketingprofs, John McTigue. I just let people know how I know them.
.-= Kevin Fenton´s last blog ..“Will you please stop shoveling dirt on me?” On the Death of Advertising =-.
@KevinFenton – That is an interesting comment. I wonder if more of us do that than we realize?
When you refer someone you’ve “met” via Twitter or LinkedIn Groups, etc … do you caviat it with … “I only know this person from Twitter, but they seem pretty bright on topics of – insert specialty-.”
Are we downplaying the reference on purpose? Does that mean we’re nervous and a little bit skeptical about how well you can really know someone and their skill set from online channels alone? What do you think?
I’ve heard myself give that disclaimer from time to time and you’ve got me wondering whether it negates the value of the referral. It certainly waters it down.
Thoughts?
.-= Maria Colacurcio´s last blog ..Crowdsourcing Panel Event on Twitter =-.
My referrals probably start off watered down! I think it does frame the referral differently and lets the person know they need to do some due diligence. But if I flip it and imagine someone asked about a copywriter and someone said that they follow me on twitter and that my web site might be worth a look, I’d be pleased by that.
.-= Kevin Fenton´s last blog ..“Will you please stop shoveling dirt on me?” On the Death of Advertising =-.
[...] anyone off. That question was too big for me to tackle quickly. But it’s worth reading Beth’s post [...]
Thanks for all of the great comments and discussion here…I thought I might hit a nerve, but wasn’t sure how deep it was.
@JayEhret, that’s a great idea! And I am already implementing a few Skype calls to get to know what folks are working on so I can add them to my referral list.
@RichieEscovedo, yes, I’d like to see samples too. Not case studies. I want to get inside someone’s head and understand their thought process for solving a marketing/communications challenge.
@StacyLukas, I have been wondering what people would think of my signature…but, it’s a subtle way to spread the word and I suggest others do the same. Like you, I tell people to connect all the time but I can’t refer their work if I don’t know it.
@TraciBrowne, I thought you knew what I did!
Would you like to hear about MarketingProfs? LOL!
@MackCollier, glad you said what I was really thinking! And that’s a great point about students just getting into the space…the same goes with those starting a career consulting (especially if they’re a laid off marketer!)
@DebraEllis, you’re translations might just be dead on so much so they had to be repeated! Heh.
@MarkDykeman, for me (and this is just a personal preference), I wouldn’t care if they walked me through a project that’s on their website or if they just spoke to me about a topic and how they solved the challenge. I know them, I just want to know what they are working on too.
@ChrisJones, thanks for point out this happens offline too. In fact, I just did this myself. I was at a speaking engagement and said I worked for MarketingProfs. Afterwards people said “What does MarketingProfs do? Do you have a card so I can check out your website?” People are naturally curious when you don’t turn them off by being “that guy.”
@KevinFenton, @MariaColacurcio, thanks for an interesting discussion. I think we do water it down a bit… Sure we know someone, but how well do we *really* know them? And what if we refer them and then we hear back they were weird or a jerk? Then we feel bad. But if they turn out to be wonderful, it’s great. What a balance to strike though. Kevin, thanks for the MarketingProfs referral…we appreciate it!!
Hey Beth! We talked about this topic in Philly, and I felt we shared similar perspectives about “shameless self-promotion” and how we probably should be doing it more but won’t.
I will only share links that I think will be informative to others, whether RTs or my own posts. My choices and goals for social networking were to build relationships, learn about the 2.0 world and implement a strategy here or there. I accomplished those goals although at times (as we talked about) it just felt too challenging talking about them let alone promoting them.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Mack’s comment about students either. What impression are the newbies going to have if they aren’t seeing or learning about and from social media experts and the value of social media in the marketing mix. We sure know colleges aren’t up to speed with the topic!
As an earlier post said, if you’re proud of something you did or have case studies, it should be perfectly fine to share them with others. I’m sure you have tons of things that I think would bring value to others and should start posting them. At the very least, your posts and insights are excellent. I learn so much from you! Keep them coming.
.-= Anna Barcelos´s last blog ..Five Tweets to a Job (Five Tips For You) =-.
[...] group, we chose to show our support for a local initiative, @Kilos4Kids. Takeaway: The idea of self-promotion is a great one, but why not use a forum like #journchat to spread the news about a great cause [...]