May 29th, 2011
Promoting Yourself Means Promoting Your Business
As a small business owner I spend time promoting myself as it tends to bring in business through novel avenues. You may ask if I mean promoting my company rather than myself? Well, yes and no. In essence they’re the same thing but by promoting myself I’m pulling people in to ask questions rather than pushing that information under their noses. This revelation came to me when I was invited to an event called Ignite Bristol by Alex Kavel.
Ignite is an American idea with the concept being that you have five minutes on stage to enlighten or humour the audience. You can talk about whatever you want to but it’s not a sales pitch. There is plenty of time to informally network between speakers so the opportunity to connect with others is apparent.
Although the concept prevents you from talking about your business on stage, it does mean people want to talk to you after. With over 150 people to do business with at Ignite Bristol, my friend had plenty of opportunities to engage people and wait for that all important question: “so what do you do then?” At this point he has a ripe introduction to what he ultimately wanted to talk about. Notice how he got there by promoting himself and not his business.
However, I’m not saying that you need to start public speaking regularly despite it being a great idea. What I am saying however is that you shouldn’t be afraid to engage in activities that aim to promote yourself, rather than focusing the spotlight directly on your business. That can include public speaking, getting involved with a charity or fundraising events, taking up a new team sport or a sector organisation, such as the Junior law Society.
If people don’t know who you are, they may never think to get behind your brand…
Ps. It seems fitting to point out that you can view my friend’s Ignite Bristol talk on YouTube by clicking on his name > Alex Kavel. Other talks worth watching include Paul Parry aka. the Literally Tzar and Oliver Humpage’s “a beautiful equation”.
First published in The Legal magazine, for legal and commercial professionals across Sheffield and South Yorkshire (issue 3). Editor Emma Waddingham Emma.Waddingham@civitaslaw.com