Have you ever been to a chamber of commerce event or any kind of networking event, where there was that one self-promoting person that comes up to you, hands you their business card and says something corny like, “If you ever need a ______, I’m the one for you”…
Think about how you feel when you are approached by someone that is trying to push you in a direction to hire or buy, do you feel good or do you want to get the heck away from them? This is why selling has such a negative image today.
I am very surprised about how many “gurus” online are telling us that we need to “sell” ourselves. But I am going to have to disagree with them! And here is why…
Selling is annoying
I have found that people that are always trying to sell themselves are often very self-centered, annoying, pushy and willing to throw people under the bus to to make themselves look good. Now, if you like those qualities, you might want to stop reading and go to another site that promotes annoying your prospects, but for those of you that don’t, there is a better way.
It’s important to know that you may not always be trying to sell yourself, but you are always branding yourself. Everything you do, say, don’t do, and don’t say is branding you. In other words, people are creating an image or perception of you by what you are expressing. For example, if you are a very caring person that is always doing nice things for people, others will see that and have that image about you. But, if you say you like caring for people, but you are always a jerk to people, you will be viewed as a hypocrite and will have a negative image in their minds.
The same holds true for your business, everything you post via social media, every interaction you have with a prospect at Starbucks, every email you send out, it’s all telling others something about you… Your brand.
So if you are always branding yourself, why would you want to try to sell yourself? If you can express a brand image that others will love, there is no need try to sell and promote yourself. In fact, once you start trying to sell yourself, you risk turning people off. Keep in mind, I am not talking about big corporations like Apple where you expect to see all their updates about them and their products. I am talking about your personal brand that can carry over into your corporate brand.
My own experience with a self-promoter
There is a lady I know online that is a consultant, she is always promoting herself. She will post pictures of quotes from famous people and add her web site link at the bottom of the picture, as if her company is responsible for what Abraham Lincoln said. She will promote her web site or a sales page 95% of the time via social media, instead of engaging people. What she is doing is selling herself and let me tell you, it’s getting old! But, at the same time she is also branding herself.
She is branding herself as a self-promoter. Isn’t that a shame?! I’m sure she is very good at what she does and if she focused on adding value instead of promoting her, she would hold a totally different image in my mind (and most likely many others as well).
The main point here is, you should be strategically branding you and don’t worry about selling yourself. People do not like being sold, so why would you try to do something they don’t like?
Here are 4 steps that you can do to make sure you are strategically branding you and not self-promoting:
- Have a clear definition of what your brand is. Know what you are wanting to express and what you are not. Define what you stand for and what you don’t. Know what the message is you want to express. Be real and not fake.
- Focus on offering value to your target audience. This does not mean you spam them with self-promotional posts, Tweets and updates. Know who your target audience is and what they like, then give them that. This way, when you post something like your latest blog post or something you are offering, it wont come across as spam. When you offer value, people will begin to take notice and view you as an authority.
- Engage and build rapport. This is where you build the approachability factor in your brand. Which means you show people how you are a real person that cares about them. You strategically engage your target audience and build relationships with them. Because after all, isn’t business built on relationships?
- Be clear on what selling is and in what ways you do not like being approached, promoted to, mentioned, tagged, etc. and then, don’t do those things! In fact, do the opposite and you will stand out even more to your target audience.
We really need to stop selling and marketing to people in ways we do not like being marketed to ourselves. We need to be careful who we are taking business advice from and examine everything to make sure it is in-line with our core brand image and message.
Have you ever been approached by a self-promoter? What how did you feel? Please leave your comments bellow.
@PaulCooley
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Great article. Once in a while we must be reminded of certain things to keep us focused, this is one of them.
Thank you! :) A good reminder is always good!
When you keep in mind that you are branding yourself, rather than selling yourself, you have a much better chance of making a positive first impression. No one wants each person they meet to walk away rolling their eyes and mumbling curse words, now do they? I sure don't!
loooovee this: "When you keep in mind that you are branding yourself, rather than selling yourself, you have a much better chance of making a positive first impression." Very well put!
Thanks! Appreciate the appreciation!
So very true Mallie! Yeah, not so much of a fan of people mumbling curse words at me! :)
I love how you differentiate between branding and selling. It's such an important distinction. Thanks for such a great post. :)
Thank you for your kind words Kim! You rock! :)
Nice job Paul! I think a lot of people need to take a step back and think long term about their brand and whether it's being tarnished by the "in your face" selling methods.
Thanks DJ! Yeah, it seems like sometimes we focus so much on getting the first sale, we forget about building a relationship and the possibility of having them as recurring customers or clients.
Congrats on the launch of the site!! Go #SMrebels! :)
Love this post Paul!
I see way too many people always talking about themselves, and trying to push a sale. Concentrate on personal branding, and making people trust you. Good advice!
Thanks Daniel! :)
Some great advice… a hard sell is very rarely appropriate today. Persuading people to engage in relationship marketing can be quite an uphill struggle but more often than not it is the right way to go.
Very true Kittie. I have found people love to talk about themselves, so when you make your business about them and not you, things seem to happen much more quickly. :)
This reminds me of that phrase, "People don't want to be sold. They want to be understood." This image of being a pushy self-promoter is what scares a lot of entrepreneurs away from marketing and sales. They think selling is being an aggressive, annoying braggart who hammers on people until they say Yes. As someone who helps entrepreneurs market their businesses online, I have to help "heal" people from this misperception before they can find ways to joyfully and authentically market their businesses by cultivating relationships of trust and respect.
Thank you for contributing to the cause with this post!
Self-promotion, like selfishness, is a double-edged. It can be positive or negative depending on how it manifests. Both are necessary to a degree.
Hi Tamara!
Thanks for your comment! That might depend on what motivates you. Like, if I am motivated to inflate my ego and makes lots of money to I can impress people, that is one thing. Or I might be motivated by providing for my family and adding value to my clients and customers and make money in the process. I do believe you can express and expose your message without being all self-promotional. Where the rubber meets the road is the results that are produced by our actions….
Thanks again Tamara! :)
I totally agree. It baffles me when people are so forceful with their selling techniques they forget how obnoxious they sound.
Pretty crazy huh Anita?!
Thank you for your comment! :)