When Target opens up a new store, they spend millions on marketing and promoting. You’ll see billboards, commercials, Facebook ads, and more every day until the opening day and then some. Does a superstore like
Target need this much promotion? Probably not, but because of how persistent and frankly shameless they are, they’ve grown to be this successful.
You’re already brilliant, but you also need that self-promotion and that growth– even if you hate it.
Welcome to Snapreads! Today, we’re going to coach you on how to grow if you hate self-promotion.
A lot of people, especially introverts, aren’t the bragging type. But when you run a business, all the rules change. You have to promote yourself– and do it often– because there’s no way around it. And no one else is going to do it for you.
You may hate self-promoting for a plethora of reasons. You don’t want to feel like you’re annoying people; you hate talking about yourself; you don’t have time to be consistent with self-promotions, or you don’t even know how to start about it.
But the thing is– if you don’t share what you’re doing and have those calls to action, then you probably won’t make much money.
Quiet
by Susan Cain
⏱ 14 minutes reading time
🎧 Audio version available
Solve a Problem
Unlike most things we consider to be hard pills to swallow, self-promotion–especially if you hate it– isn’t something you consume once, shudder, and then you’re done. That’s no way to approach this. Your business doesn’t– you– don’t deserve that.
So focus on promoting this one aspect until you get the hang of it. It’s a workaround trick. Self-promotion may not be such a hard pill to swallow if you think you’re just solving a problem.
If your business or whatever you’re trying to grow is a service that helps people solve a problem, then it’s not so hard to relate that to how you strategize. You shouldn’t feel shame or feel bad for promoting yourself because you’re merely helping people solve a problem.
You can ask people or your audience questions about their problems, their biggest struggles, and then give the solution to that problem. Whether that’s on your social media or if you have a course or a page on your website.
This way, you’re authentic, and people can see that you’re not just trying to sell them something, but instead, you are trying to help.
Have a Social Media Schedule
The best thing about these modern days is that social media is a godsend for self-promotion. It is so easy now and days to tailor social media to your advantage.
You can have your average mix of posting and sharing quotes related to your business, sharing other people’s content, interacting with your audience. And you can also set schedule updates to go live at specific times throughout the week. Write them down. Remember that your audience needs to be reminded they love your business.
Share Real Stories
People hate self-promoting because they feel like it’s selfish, arrogant, or something along with the likes of this. But you won’t feel this way when you honestly connect with your audience and have them link back with you.
You can do this by sharing stories about struggles that your audience can relate to. Be raw and real when self-promoting. Expressing your authentic self could mean sharing the less than shiny and glamorous parts of your story, but this makes you stand out.
See, people love to be inspired by these success stories. Started from the bottom and worked your way to the top? That’s what gives your content life and charge. This way, self-promoting is dramatically beneficial because people associate your product or service with you. Add a call to action at the end, and you’re golden.
Is self-promotion “shameless” as they say if you’re sharing real-life struggles that can help people and make them want to work with you?
Partner up with Others
If it comes down to you being incredibly uncomfortable with promoting yourself, then having a partner who promotes you can lead to you not hating self-promotion so much.
And hey, partnering up with others means more promotion all around. You’ll forget about yourself and your self-appointed stigma about self-promotion and feel like it’s more about the project.
Use This Trick
Did you know that people need to see something seven times before they decide that they need it? Apply this to yourself. How often do you see an ad, commercial, or even a new trend before you go from thinking how ridiculous it is to suddenly you desperately want it.
If you hate self-promoting because you’re afraid of the reaction, of feeling like you’re annoying people, then think about this.
Let Your Audience Do the Talking
The best way and the best person to promote your business isn’t you– it’s your audience. You can swear up and down that your product is the best thing since sliced bread and only when a customer is convinced that others will flock to you.
So how to go about getting your audience to help you self-promote? That client you helped and was affected by your work, that person you offered advice to who went on to use your product later, that customer who’s come back to you several times– all of these can dramatically help you.
You can create a short survey to ask them to comment on your service, the best thing they learned from you, their favorite part of working with you, or any question that’s related to your business– and then you can add their answers to your services page. You can make them into tweets. You can even make them into graphics.
If you have a blog, then make sure to have share buttons to allow users to share your post. And whenever you get a compliment or a super thankful one, make sure to retweet that beauty. You can put screenshots of the compliments you received after asking for permission to share them and then add them to your page.
Giveaways
It’s not self-promotion if it’s a giveaway. Or is it? It doesn’t matter because either way, people like free stuff.
This is why authors give out free copies of their books and samples of their courses. Promotional items not only dramatically promote their stuff, but it also makes you feel like you’re not shamelessly self-promoting yourself. It also grows your email list.
Film a Video Series
Before any self-promoting haters hesitate at this advice, check it out first. If you’re not against making videos, then filming an average video series or a series of live videos is a fantastic way to connect with your audience and bring in new people.
To test the waters– and ease yourself into it as well– you can do five minutes long videos, maybe three or more videos that contain bite-sized types of information about your business. These tidbits should cover the fundamentals, help people find out more about your business, and make your content feel more authentic.
This way, you’re connecting with your audience and allowing them to see you as approachable and trustworthy.
Automated Email Sequences Are Your New Best Friend
Automated email sequences are the underrated best tool for promotions, especially if you hate the act of self-promotion. It’s tedious to write those sales pitch-like emails, but what if you only have to write them once and let them do their thing while reaching tons of people every day?
This is where your giveaway from earlier comes in. Those people got a taste of your service and offered you their emails in return.
When you create one or several automated email sequences, this helps you keep in contact with your audience, reminding them of why they need you, and it’s a bonus if the emails pitch your service so that you don’t have to.
Fake It Until You Make It
Saying “fake it until you make it” is a cliché, but the reason why “clichés” are a thing is that there have been multiple incidences where individuals have ended up successful.
There’s this thing called the “spotlight effect,” and it’s what happens when we think that people are watching our every move, judging us. But did you know that people tend to overestimate how much others are paying attention to them?
That “spotlight effect” is ten times more intense and dramatic when we’re pitching our work to other people. For self-promoting haters, selling our work to others feels unnatural already.
Faking it until you make it doesn’t mean diving headfirst. It means taking small, sizable steps. Because you know what else they say about the “spotlight effect?” If we repeat a behavior over and over and over again, then our self-consciousness decreases and is even reversed. So the more you promote, then the more you’re comfortable with it.
This can help you finally get over that discomfort of self-promotion. If you want to succeed and grow as both a person and as a business, if you follow this advice, it will happen.
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