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Jan 24, 2020

Why do we find it so hard to promote ourselves and why is self promotion often looked upon as a dirty word?

There is so much stigma around it.  Blowing your own trumpet and bigging yourself up.  Especially it seems for women, as research suggests that we are looked at in a more negative way than men are when we talk about our achievements and success.  It’s crazy and needs to change.

We all know that person who can’t stop talking about themselves and you can’t get a word in.  So when does self promotion become self obsession and can you know the difference to make sure that you are doing it in a purposeful way that others will warm to.

So many women tell me that they just won’t do it.  They want their work to speak for itself. And this is a great way to showcase your expertise - show your work, share feedback from customers, use their words to promote your work.  But assuming that your skills will speak for themselves and will be noticed is not a sold strategy to rely on.

So ask yourself this - are you talking enough about the work you can do - your skills - your experience or are you hanging around waiting for people to notice what you are all about?

I always ask all my clients whether they work in corporate and want that promotion or whether they work for themselves and are ready to raise their profile - what do you want others to say about you when you are not there?  What do you stand for?  

This is what I mean when I talk about self promotion.  Being visible in your opinions and ideas. Sharing these so that others absolutely know who you are and what you do.  And when you get recommendations or referrals from others you know that it is working.

So how can you do this and still feel like yourself? We don’t want any of that fake it until you make it rubbish.  How can you show the real you?

I am not going to say what everyone says and say BE YOU.  Of course that goes without saying but HOW do you do that when the spotlight and visibility is just not your thing.

You find your strengths.

You focus on those.

How do you connect with people now? What works?  Is it a coffee date on a 1-1, maybe it's being strategic about the networking events you attend. maybe you prefer Linked because you have more control about who you want to connect with.  Whatever it is - do more of that. Stop wasting time thinking you have to do everything else because you see it working for other people. It doesn’t mean it will work for you or more importantly feel good to you.

Do you have a self promo strategy? And stop cringing - you need one if you are ambitious and want to move to the next level in your industry.

It takes more than performance in this day and age to get to where you want to be.

No more assuming that others know how great you are

No more underplaying your skills and experience 

No more second guessing if you have told them enough about you

Time to stand apart and be proud of who you are and how you can help other people.  After all that's why we do what we do isn’t it - to make a difference.  

So self promotion strategies…. 

These could include things like 

Networking at events

Connecting online

Introducing yourself in meetings 

Being clear on what you do and what you want

Saying no

Saying yes

Reaching out to the right people 

Raising your profile

Having impact and presence 

Then take those that resonate with you and go deeper, find purpose, what do you actually want and how can you help others first.

How does posting online about your work help others unless you can show them how it could impact them?

Always think about others first and take the SELF out of self promotion.

It's not really about you is it - its about how you can serve others and how you are the real deal.

As you must know by now this is an area that fascinates me - and because of that I am conducting some research around the correlation between female introverts and lack of self promotion (and links to the gender pay gap too).

So if you consider yourself to be awesome and introverted and have some experience or opinions around this then I would love it if you got in touch with me - there will be a generic survey soon but in the meantime I am receiving messages and emails giving me examples of how women feel their introversion either helps them back or helped them when it comes to self promotion.  There is something to be said when you get comfortable with who you really are you can do or be anything you want and do it your own way.   

#IntrovertsInspire #DoWhatYouCant

Work with Gemma Stow in 2020:
If you're serious about raising your profile and showcasing what you are truly capable of, then why not book a call today? Let's have a chat about it now to see how I can help you do that.

http://bit.ly/12Coaching

Download your complimentary Introverts Inspire workbook here: https://gemmastow.lpages.co/introverts-inspire-action-planner 

Connect with your host Gemma Stow:

Website: https://www.gemmastow.com/

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