Self Promotion: How To Get Your Business Seen

Do you cringe when you hear self promotion?

It’s understandable if you do. You don’t want to be perceived as a braggart or arrogant when you promote yourself. Recent studies have shown that self promotion can backfire when we think that it’s working.

The important thing to remember is despite that, promoting yourself isn’t bad. It’s necessary if you want to be successful and you want people to learn about your business.

How else are people going to learn about your business if you don’t promote it?

Keep reading to learn how you can promote yourself and your business in a way that doesn’t put people off.

The Psychology of Self Promotion

Before we get into ways you can promote your business, let’s have a brief look at the psychology behind self promotion.

The reason why people perceive self promotion as bad is that it’s one-way communication. In other words, you’re talking at someone about yourself and your accomplishments. It can also come across as a hard sell, which is sure to put people off.

The way you go about promoting yourself in a way that’s not talking at someone is to talk with them. You have to engage them, ask questions, and add value to their lives.

When you do that while you’re promoting yourself, you will gain a following and build a community.

It does require a mindset shift. You might be a little embarrassed to talk about yourself and your accomplishments. If you focus on the fact that you have something of value to offer and you believe in it, it’s much easier.

You need to shift the focus from yourself to others.

Instead of thinking about the naysayers in your head, think about one person you’ve helped. There are probably more people like that out there and your job is to connect with them.

Ways to use Self Promotion to Build Business

Now you know the keys to promoting yourself are around engaging people and providing value, how can you leverage that to get your business seen?

We’re going to go over ways you can do that online and offline.

Write a Blog

A blog can serve many purposes. It can be used to position yourself as a thought leader in your field and improve your website’s SEO.

A blog can open many doors for you and your business. You can use it as an online calling card for people to see that you are a credible resource.

That can lead to more traffic for your business, new customers, more visibility and speaking opportunities.

What Should You Write About?

If you want to promote yourself to create visibility, what should you write about?

Writer’s block is a common issue. Instead of guessing what you think people might be interested in, how about asking them?

Go to online forums and see what questions people have. You can also send out a survey to your audience.

Write your articles on those questions and concerns. Once you complete your article, you can go back to the forum or notify your audience and post a link to that article.

Cross-Promotion

One of the best ways to promote yourself is to have someone else do the promoting for you.

That can be done through cross-promotion. Cross promotion can expose your expertise and your business to a brand new audience.

Cross-promotion builds immediate trust because your message is delivered by someone else. Not only that, but cross-promotion creates a win-win situation.

The key to successful cross-promotion is to work with a company that shares a similar audience. For example, if your business is a fitness center, you can partner with a chiropractor or massage therapist.

Social Media

Social media lets you promote yourself without having to leave the house.

You can take social media to another level beyond posting. Posting is one-way communication, and constantly posting about yourself will bore your audience.

To get around this, join Facebook groups or create one yourself. It’s your chance to help people and be a resource for them. Instead of posting about your business, ask people what they struggle with and answer questions that come up in the group.

Let’s say your business is in fitness. You can join weight loss groups with a similar target audience. You get to learn what their top concerns are by listening. Not only that, but you can position yourself as a resource by answering questions and concerns.

Networking

Networking presents great opportunities to tell people about your business.

The most effective networking isn’t centered on telling people about your business. It’s centered on building authentic relationships and asking questions.

The more you get people to talk about themselves and the more you listen, the more people are going to like and trust you.

If you’re not sure where to find networking groups, start with your local chamber of commerce. Meetup also has groups that are geared towards business networking.

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Promoting yourself to boost your business doesn’t just require a mindset shift. It requires overcoming fear and stepping out of your comfort zone.

How many times have you thought about doing something bold and talked yourself out of it?

You must stop doing that. The best way to do that is to keep the focus on helping people. If you know you can help people, you have a moral obligation to do so.

Do one thing each day to get out of your comfort zone. One way to do that is to interact with influencers in your industry.

There may be people on social media who you admire. Once a day, comment on one of their posts or send them an email.

Self Promotion Doesn’t Have to Be Shameless

You can learn to promote yourself in a way that can help you instead of hinder you. There are many ways you can use self promotion to grow your business and your brand.

As long as you focus on others, add value, and engage with them, you will be successful in getting your business seen.

For more ways to grow your business, check out our blog.