The Heart of Self-Promotion
by Michael KnowlesDo you know why people hate self-promotion? Because they smell the stale breath of the self-serving snake oil salesman and they don't like it. They see the bad salesman-cum-marketeer spouting platitudes about this solution and that product. It makes me sick just thinking about it. You feel that way, too? I'm glad to hear it. There's self-promotion as in trying to sell, and then there's the sort of self-promotion that happens when you put yourself out there, use your natural-inborn talents to solve peoples' problems, and give what you know away to anyone who needs it. Give away? As in, for free? Yes, as in without asking for anything in return. When I tell people about this, the next question is usually something like, "Well, yeah, but you have to pay the rent. You have to eat." Sure. Giving yourself away, though, doesn't mean that you get nothing for it. Giving yourself away means choosing not a for-profit motivation, but a for-service motivation. Being GenuineIf you are doing what you truly love to do -- the thing that's lined up with what you are beneath all the accouterments -- you cannot help but do what needs to be done when you put yourself out there to be of service. Yes, I hear you. "Mike, you've gone off the deep end. This can't possibly work." It won't work if you aren't genuine. It won't work if you are arrogant. It won't work if you think about or try to make it happen. It won't work if it comes out of false pride. And it especially won't work if your motivation comes from desperation or fear. On the other hand, you do not have to be perfect for it to work. That's the good news for someone like yours truly. Let me offer an example of how this seems to function for me. I've found myself given the opportunity to help a few people lately. So rather than ask them for money, I just made myself available and answered the questions they had to the best of my ability. And other things began to happen. Work Found MeOh, I could advertise and search-engine-position myself like crazy and never get a hit. But as soon as I just let it all go and started to help out when I could, work found me. It's such a strange experience. But over and over again it happens: As I honestly help others without wanting something in return, my efforts get rewarded in some way that's often unexpected. Do not take my word for it. Try it yourself. Be patient with it. Just offer what you've got to someone who needs it. Do it often, and watch what happens. Just don't expect anything from it. Don't get me wrong. I put my name out there, have an elevator pitch and a foundation statement, and I apply for contracts and send out direct mail pieces, just as most of you do. I'm getting ready to take advantage of my Chamber of Commerce's free mailing of 600 flyers out to other businesses in the community. I'm redoing my business Web site to reflect a change in how I offer and price my services. Heck, I even take credit cards. But I've found that marketing by attraction is far more powerful than marketing by raising my hand and shouting. And when I'm true to myself, I don't have to make up some sort of sales pitch, or come up with a buy-one-get-one-free sort of offer. I just do what I do best, and I'm drawn automatically to places where I'm needed. Go figure. I started by wandering around, both in discussion groups on the Internet and in the physical world. I've been doing what I saw needed to be done, and I've been rewarded. A friend of mine and I are starting a new business venture that's grown out of what we naturally do. We haven't advertised, and we already have customers lined up for our services. How does that work? We just offered to help, and they offered to pay. Luck? Sure. Preparedness? Absolutely -- that, and a lot of hard work. Faith? A busload of it, as Lou Reed once sang. Sounds like I'm talking about what some people refer to as spirituality. I don't know about that -- smoke if you've got'em. I don't think about it in that way anymore. I just show up, do what I do, and let things happen. Now, don't come asking me how to do this. I can talk about the principles all day long -- write me or give me a call at 877-847-6214 if you want -- but I can't tell you what's right for YOU because I don't know what's inside you. Only you can discover that. And if you ask yourself the right questions, and write so much that your brain stops working, maybe, just maybe, the answer will become apparent to you. Now that's something I'd be willing to bet on. Copyright (c) 2002 by Michael Knowles. All Rights Reserved. | 
