How to overcome the fear of self promotion

As an entrepreneur, self promotion is an important component building awareness - of who you are and what you do. However, for many people, the fear of self promotion can be paralysing.

If you’re in this camp then, trust me, you are far from alone. 

But here’s the good part. The vast majority of those who are good at consistently promoting themselves and their business online also started out feeling the same way as you.

Over time they’ve simply applied proven techniques to overcome this fear, in order to become more confident in promoting their business and brand.

Which means you can do it too.

I was firmly in this camp, by the way. I spent years knowing that I needed to be more present and build my network and public reputation. I knew that it would help me exponentially and yet I still couldn’t push myself to do anything about it.

So, believe me when I say that I know how you feel and also that I know these techniques work. As I have zero issue with it these days and that’s something I wouldn’t have believed a few years ago!

What are the benefits of self promotion?

Quite simply, the more people that know who you are and what you do, the more opportunities will come your way.

You will build a much stronger network over time and we all know that the best opportunities come directly from those 1:1 connections.

Whatever you’re looking to do, be it gaining more customers, hiring a contractor, raising investment, getting speaking opportunities, etc - the more people you know, the easier it is to find someone who can help.

Is self promotion bad?

This comes down entirely to how it’s done. No-one likes a bragger. That’s a surefire way to put people off.

But as long as it’s done in a way that focuses on igniting a positive reaction in others then people LOVE to see self-promotion.

We’ve all been around that person that exudes light and energy because they’re 100% behind what they’re doing. You can’t help but cheer them on when you see it.

That’s self-promotion done well.

So let’s look at ways to overcome your fears of being that icky bragger and get you feeling pumped about sharing your light for the world to see.

Acknowledge your fear

The first step in overcoming your fear of self-promotion is acknowledging it. Accepting that you feel this way can be challenging, but it's a crucial step in moving forward. 

Recognise that self-promotion will make your success so much easier, and that fear is a normal and natural reaction to putting yourself out there.

Heal your shit

If you really want to move to a place where you’re 100% comfortable in promoting yourself then you need to dig into why you currently don’t feel that way.

What has happened in your life to date that makes you feel like it’s wrong to shine your own light so publicly?

Try and be really open here. Write down absolutely everything that comes to mind when you think about being loud and proud in public.

Then question each line you’ve written, asking ‘is this the ultimate truth?’ and ‘how can I see this differently, in a way that would support me better?’.

We all have soooooo much shit to heal from years and years of receiving messages from those around us and the world itself. But these beliefs that we’ve formed are not immovable.

What thought patterns can you start to build instead that will help you get more comfortable in putting yourself out there.

Reframe it as a service

If you’re an entrepreneur then you have created something that you believe the world needs.

If you’re promoting something that the world needs then it would be highly irresponsible not to promote you / it as much as you possibly can.

That’s a truth right there.

Visualise the people who need what you’ve created. You don’t want to be the block between them and your incredible product or service.

By promoting yourself and your brand you’re helping to ensure that incredible solution you have reaches many more people.

Aka, it’s not about you, bragging about you, just because you feel like it. It’s you raising awareness of what you do in order to help people.

It is in service.

Think positively about the outcome

There’s a saying that I love: you are yet to meet all the people who are going to love you.

Ain’t that a thing of beauty.

When you’re preparing to start opening up more publicly, think about all the wonderful connections and collaborations that will come from it.

New friends you’ll make, new peers you’ll connect with, new things you’ll learn about.

The more you build your profile, the more of the world you’ll gain access to, which will in turn lead to limitless new opportunities.

Find role models

Sure, there are icky people online, who are the exact reason why you think that self promotion is a bad thing. I get it. We all have to deal with them on a daily basis.

It’s yuk central.

But there are also people you feel magnetised towards online. Who’s light shines so brightly that you want to be around it whenever possible.

Find people who are using self promotion in a way that you find inspiring and not at all gross. And then study how they’re doing what they’re doing.

If you don’t find it off-putting with them, why would you think it’s bad to do it yourself?

Take action

In other words, feel the fear and do it anyway my dear. 

As with anything scary in life, it won’t magically get less scary by reading about it, thinking about it and planning it (to death).

Take action. Whether you feel ready or not.

Allow yourself to be imperfect and remember that no-one is thinking about you anywhere near as much as you think they are (harsh truth). They’re all too busy thinking about themselves.

Start small

When you’re ready to start taking action, start with small, achievable goals that will help you build your confidence. 

Start with one platform and commit to consistently showing up, so that people have the chance to come to know and trust you.

As you start to see the positive effects of your efforts on this platform, it’ll give you a new energy and confidence to branch out even further.

Focus on your message

When it comes to what you share, it's essential to focus on your message rather than yourself. Instead of worrying about how others perceive you, focus on the value that you can provide. Whether it’s personally or via your business.

Always write from a perspective of adding value. Think about who your message is for and write with them in mind. Ask yourself: why do they care about this?

Be authentic

We would all rather connect with someone who is human and flawed over someone that appears to be shiny and perfect.

It’s critical to be 100% yourself online and not try to emulate anyone else - it will be evident if you do.

Show your personality. Tell your story. People want to connect with real people. So show them who you truly are.

When you let your message flow from a place of true authenticity it’s noticeable to others and builds trust. Which is critical to forming great relationships that you’ll lean on further down the line.

Schedule your posts

This one is really important. You do not want to be doing all of this in real time.

Putting space between your writing process and the posts going live / receiving reactions makes a huge difference to how you feel about them.

Once your posts are scheduled and running you can view the results more as data than a personal boost / attack. You can take note of which ones worked better than others and create more like that.

When we’re posting in real time we have a tendency to take the performance of each individual post to heart. Which is not what matters.

All that really matters is that you’re building more awareness and a stronger network over time.

Practice, practice, practice

It’s a cliche for a reason but practice really does make perfect, so the more you practice self-promotion, the easier it will become. 

Be gentle with yourself in the early days and trust that, over time, you’re getting better and better by the day.

Develop a support system

If you want to fast track you journey to feeling perfectly fine about self promotion then surround yourself with other people who are already there.

The last thing you need is to be having regular conversation with others who are fearful, as this will perpetuate the idea that it’s a big, scary thing.

Work with a coach or find other, confident entrepreneurs who will make you feel like ‘of course I can smash this’.

Because you can.

Celebrate your successes

By this I don’t mean whether you perceive your post to be a success or not, I mean the mere fact that you’ve taken epic action towards one day being perfectly comfortable promoting yourself and your business online.

Acknowledge where you started from and every step you’ve taken along the way. This will send signals to your brain to keep going and help you stay motivated and on track.

To wrap up

I reeeeeally want you to get over your fear of self-promotion.

You’re doing something amazing and the world needs to have as much access to it as possible.

It’s just as possible for you to feel like damn fire online as much as that other entrepreneur you see doing it all week long.

So:

• Acknowledge your fear

• Heal your shit

• Reframe it as a service

• Think positively about the outcome

• Take action

• Start small

• Focus on your message

• Be authentic

• Schedule your posts

• Find role models

• Practice, practice, practice

• Develop a support system

• Celebrate your successes

I know you can do this. And there’s no time like the present.

So, go get it tiger.

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As ever, if you want more hands-on support in launching and growing your business reach out to me about 1:1 coaching. There’s really nothing you can’t do with the right support.