Everything you know about Self-Promotion is a powerful Lie because most of what we’re advised to do can easily BREAK your business before it ever gets a chance to breathe fresh air.
Whether it be for writing, blogging, or your online store. These Self-Promotion “tips” cannot be done anymore. Easily, anyhow. And definitely frowned upon no matter how “professional” it looks. It’s not like it was a decade or two ago. Things have changed drastically. And not for the better.
Self-Promotion: What Does It Mean?
Technically Self-Promotion means an act when a person tends to promote their own work.
Self-Promotion: What It Means Now
Nowadays it’s considered an arrogant act of selfish and obnoxious promotion of ones own work and not someone else’s.
When you search “how to do a self promotion” you’re instantly bombarded with articles upon articles telling people to be less annoying, obnoxious or jerks about their Self-Promotions. And from what I’ve seen, people are not being any of those things when they do it.
Besides that, sometimes you have to be a little bit aggressive with your marketing because not everyone can afford ads or paid marketers. Honestly the ones complaining most likely just wouldn’t understand the struggle.
The only people I tend to see complaining about it are the same ones who post on their website telling people to do that very thing.
Plus, why would they tell you anything that ACTUALLY works? You’re their competition. They may say “oh no we’re all in this together” but then they continue to sell you harmful advice.
Advice I’ve followed and crashed doing so. Whereas me, I don’t have a reason to feed bad advice. My entire site is dedicated to Breaking the Bull in day to day lives about calling out bullshit like this.
Ways To Self-Promote
We’re often instructed to do these things below:
- Write Up A Newsletter
- Start A Blog
- Host A Giveaway
- Pay For Ads
- Word of Mouth
These are all very good things to do and consider. It sounds good on paper but how would you spread word about these?
Word of mouth is only useful if you know/have enough familial support.
Paying for ads is alright to do but speaking from advice, they don’t usually turnover as well as organic reach does. And they’re way too expensive when you’re promoting something that has zero monetary gain.
Which also leads into the whole hosting a giveaway topic. If you’re not selling anything then that’s not really going to help any.
Writing a newsletter is only useful if you have a pretty decent following already from your website or blog.
And a website’s SEO will only get you so far. Check this below:
These are real stats from my own website. That tiny blue sliver is from organic searches. SEO. The giant yellow block is from social media reach.
Utilizing Social Media Correctly
Social Media is the key to get all of those things listed above working in your favor. However due to faulty advice you find everywhere online it rarely makes any difference. And the difference it tends to make is not what you want. I’ve learned this the hard way so you wouldn’t have to if you haven’t already.
Things To Avoid Doing That We’re Told To Do:
- “Post in groups that are relevant to your content.”
- 99% of groups and subreddits actually tell you NOT to self promote and it will get you banned on all accounts doing so.
- The ones that do are literally just dumpster fires at this point. It may have over 100k people but that’s not people interested in what you have to offer. Those are people who are also trying to promote themselves.
- And in groups I’ve joined that actually did show promising results backfired immensely. Once reached 600 people organically on a post just for the Social Giant to tell me they’re making my post invisible unless I pay for an ad slot. Paid for the ad slot and only reached 5 total people.
- And groups that either do or don’t support this feature NEVER allow people to share their links in the comment section of a relevant situation the person may be asking for. Got banned once for doing that.
- “Join groups that participate in a follow 4 follow”
- I’ve done this and was disappointed by the outcome. One being that the followers were there but the engagement was not (ex: 75 twitch follows 0 avg views)
- Another bad outcome was gaining the followers, then I would follow back, and then they would remove their follow from my page instantly.
- Besides that, most programs actually tell you not to participate in farming followers and WILL GET YOU BANNED.
How To Get Self-Promotion To Work For You Via Social Media:
- Create a separate account from your main one specifically for what it is you’re trying to advertise.
- Post relevant content to your preferred account choice. Or share your blog posts to those accounts. (Scan some top businesses to get an idea of how they utilize their social accounts)
- Use no more than a max of 4 hashtags per post. I had better engagement doing that rather than using 10+.
- Use funny or relevant memes to gain attention to your page/profile with the link attached to it. (Feel free to check out my page on FB for inspiration)
- And no matter what, have a website. It’s a great way to keep all of your projects, thoughts and ideas in a more accessible manner for those who don’t use social media. Plus a website makes it easier to keep track of subs and donations.
Now Heed This Warning, However!
Not everyone who joins your group(or discord) is going to do so solely for supporting you. The mass majority of people who join your groups are going to be doing so in order to use YOUR platform to get ahead. Some care about that, others don’t. But if you’re new and just starting out I wouldn’t recommend keeping those people around.
Sure they’d give you a high following count, however your engagement will be non-existent. And it never looks good when you thousands of followers but zero likes/comments on your posts. Just makes it look like you’ve gone and bought those followers.
People are greedy! It sounds harsh but it’s true. You may not be like that and actually hold up your end of the deal but not everyone has the same outlook as you do. Not everyone wants you to succeed, most just want the followers you’ve collected. And that’s not okay. Honestly, it’s the lowest form of Self-Promotion there is.
For More Advice Check These Out:
It’s a total catch-22: if you don’t self-promote, you won’t be known to those who hold the keys to whatever kingdom you’re interested in unlocking. If you do self-promote, you might catch the gatekeepers’ attention, but pray they don’t read your self-promotion as needy or navel-gazing. Pray you don’t violate some unwritten code of class conduct or seem too eager. You have to appear to have a lot to offer without appearing to need anyone to take it. What a strange psychic and social predicament we’ve put ourselves in.
https://onbeing.org/blog/courtney-martin-the-case-for-self-promotion/https://www.marktoland.com/blog/50-ways-to-promote-yourself-without-social-media#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16527941821679&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.marktoland.com%2Fblog%2F50-ways-to-promote-yourself-without-social-media
“How will you promote yourself?” they asked, as if there was no other marketing option except to be on every social media account.
https://www.marktoland.com/blog/50-ways-to-promote-yourself-without-social-media#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16527941821679&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.marktoland.com%2Fblog%2F50-ways-to-promote-yourself-without-social-media
The truth is, since deleting social media I have had more work than any previous year of the past decade, not to mention I’ve been happier, calmer, less anxious, and had far more spare time to be creative, write, read, and enjoy my life.
Summary:
Do What Is Right And Trust Your Gut. Take ALL Advice With A Grain of Salt. Yes, Even My Advice. Because What Works For One Person May Not Work For Another.
Conversationalist, and Avid Reader with a Love for Questioning the Norm. Owner and Founder of Break the Bull. Podcaster and Gamer. Lover of All things Creative Looking for Ways to Reach Out. Please Feel Free to Show your Support here.