When I was nine, I was obsessed with the Spice Girls. I literally could not get enough of them. Put Scary Spice’s face on anything and I needed to own it. NEEDED TO. IT WAS A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH. Ok, it wasn’t, but it felt like it was. Any time I saw Spice Girl paraphernalia in a store, my reaction was, “OHMYGOD. PLEASE! GIMME!”
There was no item trivial enough that I did not want to own it.
As I matured, my taste shifted away from Spice Girls onto more sophisticated things like nail polish and fun shaped candles (not even kidding. Find me a kid who didn’t go through a weird candle phase). But the desire to have MORE of the thing I wanted never went away.
It’s true for you too.
When we want things, we cannot get enough of them.
It’s also how your customers feel.
And yet, when it’s time to sell our goods and services, we decide to be what I call “Falsely Humble.” Learned False Humility (or LFH) is a disease that afflicts many of us who believe self-promotion is arrogant and boastful. It causes us to downplay or dillute our sales efforts in an attempt to be “respectful.”
The irony is, LFHer’s misconceptions about sales causes them to be more annoying and self-involved. They:
- Exhibit a deep fear of “turning people off”
- Hyperfocus on the opinions of people who aren’t their buyers
- Deploy non-committal language like, “maybe, if you want, no pressure”
Hold my beer.
IF YOU’RE SELLING, SELL. IF YOU’RE NOT SELLING, DON’T SELL.
Pick a team.
Fake modesty isn’t humble, it’s sloppy sales. And deeply – deeply – self involved. Which is precisely the thing we’re trying to avoid.
Self-promotion is the ability to tune into what people want – and then give them the opportunity to have that thing. That’s the secret to authentic self-promotion.
But this obfuscating thing we do when we’re afraid to go all-in, It’s killing me – and your sales. Which is why I’m yelling at it this week along with my co-host Hillary Weiss, in this week’s episode of, Hillary and Margo Yell at Websites: Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid to Shamelessly Self-Promote.
We explain why shameless self-promotion can be a good thing and how your execution is what sets you apart. And, yes, we have examples 🙂
In this episode, we discuss:
- The two reasons self-promotion feels weird
- Why depersonalizing self-promotion is the key to nailing it
- What you should emphasize when you’re self-promoting
- How to stop obsessing over your qualifications (and what to talk about instead)
- The antidote to “turning people off” or “annoying them”
Check out this week’s episode of #HAMYAW and tell us how you’ve overcome your discomfort with self-promotion (in the comments).
If you like this episode, like it, subscribe, and SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS.
And remember: The market is a 9-year-old girl obsessed with Spice Girls.
Give her what she wants!
Margo
PS: If you’re nervous we’re gonna tell you you need to be LOUDER and someone you’re not, fear not. We have examples of soft-spoken folks killing it at self-promotion and a whole episode devoted to answering the question Can Quiet People Build Big Personal Brands? (Answer: yes, duh. This is how.)
Check out: Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid To Shamelessly Self-Promote and learn the secrets to authentic self-promotion.
