Audacious Introverts: Self-Promote

A few years ago, I thought that putting yourself in the spotlight was arrogant.

Surely, the people who decide panels, speakers, colleagues, or even collaborators would notice my expertise in the topic?

But long story short, that’s not what happened.

As a former PhD, it can be daunting to work four years on the same goal and project and not be perceived as an expert. Four years is a pretty darn long time.

What is going wrong?

PhDs, like many solopreneurs, have one thing in common: they hesitate to self-promote their knowledge, understanding, and problem-solving skills.

We think that self-promotion is associated with a negative connotation. Plus, we don’t believe that you have to self-promote when you clearly have a track record.

Jumping into the online world, I realized that you don't self-promote because you lack expertise. You self-promote to offer and make your expertise visible so that people who need your help can find you more easily.

In summary, it means not waiting for permission or for somebody to awaken to the existence of your skills.

These matters have to be taken into your own hands.

• Go where the party is: for business (calling out the obvious) the social platform to be on is LinkedIn.

• Create your own content and build your expertise online. You are the expert offline, but how do you demonstrate it to a potential lead and new customer by consciously building and designing your online reputation? When you talk repeatedly about the same topic day in and day out, people will start to perceive you as THE expert.

• There is only one true ingredient: consistent, human, value-packed thoughts. People want to hear not only from you and your expertise but also from your personality. What kind of person will they be working with? How does this person differentiate from the hundreds of others?

Create your public profile, share atomic essays that demonstrate your thinking, engage with a community of like-minded people, find your tribe, and reach out to potential individuals who could benefit from your offer.

Audacious introverts self-promote by attracting people with quality content.

Keep up the audacity,

Laura