Shift your mindset: Self-promotion = education

So often, women talk about self-promotion as though it’s an inherently selfish, aggressive, competitive act. But as new research I commissioned shows, most women find it valuable to hear about other women’s accomplishments. It turns out, self-promotion isn’t selfish at all — in fact, it’s altruistic.

Think of yourself as a teacher.

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

I’m reminded of a marketing webinar I took with business owner Joy McCarthy. She said to think about marketing as a way to educate people about how you can help. This made me feel so much more comfortable about marketing my own business. I started to think of my blog and social media posts as a chance to show people how telling their story could help them — rather than thinking of it as thinly veiled harassment (“give me your money! I want your money!”). Suddenly, I had a million things I wanted to say. It helps that the mission that powers my business comes from deep in my soul. I want to evangelize this stuff, whether or not it pays me anything.

Marketing-as-education is a frame that works for self-promotion, too: Instead of thinking of telling your story as bothering or assaulting people with “me! me! me!”, think of it as a chance to educate them about how you can help. What have you done before, and what are you capable of? If you don’t tell us, we’ll never know.

Does this mindset shift make self-promotion feel more accessible to you? I’d love to know — share in the comments, or shoot me a note.