Do you share your work? Sometimes feel a little hesitant? Don’t want to feel like you’re spamming people with your links? Don’t worry you’re not alone. Many bloggers feel the same and have to learn how to overcome their fear of self-promotion. They have you overcome it, as not promoting yourself would have negative consequences to the success of your blog. In an online space if you’re not sharing your work, believe me others will be sharing their’s, driving traffic and expanding their audience. You need your work to be out there too; people can’t discover it if you don’t.
Sometimes we hold ourselves back from self-promotion; we don’t want to be judged as cocky or overconfident and we tend to feel it’s more gracious to be humble and hide our light under a bushel. This is NOT how to grow your blog or your business.
How to overcome fear of self promotion;
Firstly, I am not suggesting that we lose all sense of social awareness and turn into those people who won’t stop talking about themselves; we all know people like that don’t we?! However, you need to be your own cheerleader, promoting yourself and your blog when and where appropriate.
Often our blogs are personal and I think that’s where the difficulty lies for many of us, but we need to remember it’s work.
1. Know your target audience
If you aren’t confident about your content, it follows that you won’t be confident about promoting it and yourself. Drilling down who your target audience is means you will be creating content specifically for them. That way you can be confident that you are producing great content which your audience needs.
2. Ignore negative self-talk
We are often our own worst critics. So when that nagging voice appears on your shoulder saying you’re not good enough, make sure you smack it off by countering it with something you like (or appreciate) about yourself. You are JUST as good as everyone else. Don’t let these nagging voices win. Also don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.
3. Identify your fears
What scares the most? Are you worried about what others will think? Of being rejected? Do you feel more vulnerable when you share your work? To rid yourself of these fears you have to know what specifically what they are and where they stem from.
4. Love your flaws
This won’t happen over night, but start to be more compassionate towards your own flaws. Give yourself the same levels of compassion that you would give others.
5. Be your own cheerleader
How do you feel when someone gives you a compliment? I’m guessing you feel happier, maybe even more confident. As grown adults we shouldn’t have to rely on others to give us this validation. We need to do it for ourselves by being realistic, but positive.
6. Take the ‘sell’ out of it
Promoting your content can feel like hard sell, especially if you have a virtual product to sell such as an ebook or a course. Just remember why you wrote the ebook or why you wrote that last blog post. It was to help people and to give them information they want or need. So by reaching out to them, you are in fact helping them.
7. Push your comfort zone step by step
Don’t expect miracles overnight, but do remind yourself that there are people out there who need what you have to offer. Your job is to let them know where the content is that can help them. Write down 7 promotional activities that would make you feel apprehensive and do one each day for the next week. These could be writing a guest post, getting a collaboration going, sharing posts more thoroughly on social media.
8. Rote learn your elevator pitch
Imagine you’re at an event and your dream brand asks you about your blog. If you can’t quickly summarise what your blog is all about, it will be hard to feel confident. Stumbling over your words will make any confidence you have quickly evaporate. So write your elevator pitch; a couple of sentences which epitomises the ethos of your blog. Now learn it rote. Memorise it until it trips off your tongue without you even having to think.
9. Support others
Learn from the people you know who are confident with marketing themselves. Enjoy being in the presence of these amazing people and start believing that you’re one of them, rather than feeling that you don’t belong in their company.
10. Believe in yourself and your blog
She believed she could and so she did
Our minds are a very powerful tool and while they can negative impact on our lives, they can also positivity affect them, if we work hard and believe in ourselves. If you’re not confident about your content, whether that is vlogs, podcasts, posts or ebooks, no-one else is going to feel confident in you. You’re producing great content, you are worthy of the success you want, believe it and show people.
Do you ever feel nervous about promoting yourself? What will you do to overcome your fear of self-promotion?
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Comments 28
I’m absolutely rubbish at self promoting. Will take all this on board and attempt to overcome “the fear”. My biggest problem is number 9 I don’t really feel like I belong, I don’t feel like a real blogger. Brilliant post for those like me who rarely self promote.
Oh lovely I needed this – its something I really struggle with. I am so in awe of all these bloggers who can put themselves out there. I am trying though – small steps.
Completely flippin’ love this Aby! True words all and great advice for anyone who’s nervous about self-promotion. Useful not just for bloggers but all small-business owners too! x
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Thanks huni, so glad you liked it x
I can definitely relate to this post. I am new to the blogging world, and really starting to have self-doubt. Thank you for the boost.Thanks! #sharingthebloglove
I definitely get hesitant around self promotion. I’m new and feel a bit nervous about it. I love this post, some great reminders.
I can definitely relate to this. I’m terrified of Facebook so I’m yet to do any blog promotion on there, I know more people! X
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Great post Aby, brilliant advice. Self-promotion doesn’t exactly come naturally but we all have to get out of our comfort zones to have success. I love number 8 in particular – so important!
I am a big believer in positive thinking and the power of the mind. But I also worry a lot about what people think and if I’m being too pushy. Starting this blog a few months back has really pushed me out of my comfort zone (right now I am waiting to hear back from someone who contacted me about writing my first sponsored post, and I have been feeling sick ever since I clicked the reply button!) Thank you for the encouragement to keep going #TheList
great post thanks Aby, really makes sense and there are a few points i need to work on. thanks for sharing #TheList
This is definitely something I have struggled with but am getting better at bit by bit. I completely agree with the point about being your own cheerleader – I try to tell myself positive things whenever I see them, as it really helps to counteract the negative voice that can so often crop up in my mind! #TheList
I’m struggling with the self promotion side of things. I have no problems on twitter and instagram as many of my followers have never met me, but on Facebook (which is probably where I am losing out a lot) I know everyone and need to be brave and share about my blog more openly. I don’t know what I’m scared of exactly – but there is something holding me back. Great post! #TheList
Such an inspiring post! I am rubbish at self-promoting and I know that this is something that I need to work on. I love what you say about your fears. I used to worry alot about what others thought of me. However, the process of blogging has enabled me to become braver and as a result I don’t worry as much. I think that I need to work on my pitch and get out there a bit more 🙂 #thelist
I need to get better at this, I have moments of doing it ok and then something will happen and puts me right back in my box. Great post huni and I will try harder xx
As a new blogger this is definitely something I struggle with, especially No.2, but Im working at it every day and slowly feeling more empowered by it. #TheList
I’m getting better at this. You’re right you can’t blog and then not talk about it on social media! Blogging can be good for your confidence but it can also generate self-doubt. Like your cheerleader tip. We all need a little sing song to pick us up and remind ourselves how we’re doing a great job and we CAN do this!! #thelist X Sunita
Great tips Aby, I certainly struggle with this myself and I am by far my own worst critic. As the commenter above said, its facebook and instagram that worry me most because they seem so much more personal. #TheList
I think I go up and down with self promotion, but generally I find it a struggle. I think having anxiety makes it a struggle for me. I am very confident in some areas of my life, but often put myself down. I have come so far though in the past 20 months, I used to be so hard on myself, but now I am so much stronger and my blog has helped me so much with that. I was never a confident child and despite doing well at school and graduating with honours from University I never believed I deserved it. I do now though, but sometimes that insecure girl comes out. Really great advice here, I think you are wonderful xo #TheList
Brilliant. I love anyone preaching positivity like this, we all need an injection of it from time to time. Touched a couple of sore spots for me, mine would be being brave and stepping forward for a guest post. I will remember reading this the next time that opportunity arises. Thanks 😉 #mumboss #TheList
As a new blogger I havn’t a clue what to do to self promote so there are some great tips here. Thanks Aby #thelist
Brilliant post hun. Believing in ourselves and what we have to offer is so important is we’re trying to get ourselves out there. Even if it’s just a post about a lovely day out, people really enjoy reading certain writing styles and we should be proud of everything we publish. Ps I hope you’re enjoying Camp Bestival! xx
I can definitely relate to a lot you have writen here but I believe you are totally right. It took me a good few months to start self promoting. social media meant nothing to me when I started blogging and to be fair it’s only recently I started using them to self promote. Thanks for sharing your Insight it’s always very helpful x
Great advice Aby!! Some really useful points to overcome fear of self promotion. I totally agree with the point about how our minds are powerful and if we let negativity creep in it can take over. Thanks for hosting #TheList X
Brilliant tips as always Aby, I totally agree that you need to believe in yourself. For me it is also important that I remember why and for whom I started writing! Thank you for hosting #thelist
Couldn’t agree more! Self-promotion doesn’t come naturally to us as Brits but without it your blog just doesn’t get seen. Thanks for the tips xx #thelist
I really need to do more of this! But even though I nod along in theory, putting it into practise is much harder, isn’t. I guess it’s a combination of following this kind of advice and naturally growing in confidence too, #thelist
Oh I always feel as though I spam!! But you are completely right others are doing it all the time! I am trying to get better – it’s Facebook groups I really struggle with! Must do some more work in that area. Thanks Aby great blog advice as always. Thanks also for hosting #TheList xx
Great post!