Self-promotion can be used to educate customers, keep them engaged, and help you stand out. It is how you’re going to attract new customers and keep people in your funnel long enough that they want to invest!
Every business owner knows that part of a strategic marketing plan includes self-promotion, yet many of us shy away in fear of sounding too “pushy” or “sleazy.” Even though we KNOW self-promotion often results in the growth of our business, it can be a hard step to take.
So if your feeling like:
“Self-promotion is against my nature.”
“I feel cheap when reaching out to my customers in that way.”
“I have total imposter syndrome.”
You’re not alone. A lot of us feel this way. I don’t need to tell you this, but in order to grow your business, you have to redefine your view of your product/service and realize that your future customer is WANTS to hear from you!
In 2013, Harry Potter actress Emma Watson revealed “It’s almost like the better I do, the more my feeling of inadequacy actually increases because I’m just going, ‘Any moment, someone’s going to find out I’m a total fraud, and that I don’t deserve any of what I’ve achieved.”
Change Your MINDSET
It will probably take some time to overcome, but try not to be afraid to promote yourself and your business. Your work deserves attention and it’s perfectly okay, and important, to get it out there. Once you’ve taken that first step and mindset shift, you can come up with creative and meaningful ways to connect with your audience and drive sales.
Repeat after me: “I am worthy, I am good at what I do, and people want to hear from me.”
Here are some easy ways to start promoting yourself:
Valuable Content
One way to go about self-promotion is by establishing yourself as an expert. Provide your audience with useful content, this could include blogs, thought leadership videos, worksheets, or informational PDF’s. Reach out to your customers and offer to TEACH them something. As many of you already know, at Make Your Mark we teach classes and host a weekly LIVE LEARNING on our Facebook page. This is a way for us to reach out to our audience and teach them something new. This method isn’t a direct sale, but it is great for building trust, establishing yourself as an expert in the field, and stepping outside of your comfort zone.
STORY
If you are looking to make a DIRECT sale or a special offer, your story is a great place to start. It gives you a chance to promote without a long term commitment. Unlike shooting an official promotional video, your story expires after 24 hours and you can always try a new approach, engage your audience in new ways, and be a little more casual in speaking and selling to your audience. Don’t be afraid to tell them who you are and how you are going to help them. Need help selling in a “not sales-y” way on your story? Click here.
Create an Email List and Newsletter
Talking about yourself and your promotions all day on social media is not appealing to ANYONE! But you can use social media to create new marketing avenues. Remember that valuable content we talked about earlier? If you can use that content to start collecting emails, you have a new path to reach out to your customers! You can also use the opportunity to tag them and categorize your lists so you can target specific audiences. Sending out newsletters is a great way to connect and stay in front of your followers’ minds. Learn more about email marketing strategies here.
At the end of the day, it is important to remember that you are awesome! Every business NEEDS to self-promote and it isn’t something to feel “yucky” about. YOU’VE GOT THIS!