A Morning Thought
Actions, not words, are the greatest means of self-praise.
There are times when you will be asked to put yourself forward, to compete for a position or a contract, and you will have to speak about your accomplishments.
Naturally, you will want to put the best foot forward. Be certain, however, that when you do so, you are confident that honest inquiry will support what you say about yourself.
If your actions have been wise and responsible, the record will show this. Leaders in any organization are those who say, “Let’s get going. Let’s do something rather than wait around to see what happens.” When your past actions demonstrate that you are a person who accepts responsibility and shows others the way, your career and relationships will benefit you accordingly. ~ Napoleon Hill
I'd rather say – in this era of social media and competing breaking news stories – Actions Are The Loudest Form Of Self-Promotion.
There is no doubt that action speaks louder than words.
And yet in the world of social media- we are bombarded with the words of those who would try to convince us that they know more…do more…are more…
than those who are actually succeeding and moving forward.
Do we know the difference? Can we see past the words?
As one who would prefer to be in the background – to let my actions speak louder than my words – I struggle with self-promotion.
What I do to show my successes with clients is a softer approach than yelling “MY CLIENTS LOVE ME” or “MY PRODUCTS ARE AWESOME”. I share snippets of conversations with clients. I will share a review that a client was kind enough to give me. Sometimes I will share a short story of how I work – beginning with the initial research into the client and their program and moving through to what I found as I researched their market.
As someone who offers marketing strategy and How To sessions…I do more for my clients than I do for myself. And can relate to the saying “the plumber's house has leaks” or “the carpenter's house is unfinished”. My marketing can be lame sometimes! And that's a step above my self-promotion. Just recently I created and released a product. Want to know how I promoted it? Sent an email to my list and posted it on Facebook. That's it. I know – lame, right? I barely had time to write the sales page and add a Buy Button because I have client projects I want – and need – to tend to.
As a copywriter, I do more for my clients than I do for myself. Every day I write emails for clients. Every week I work on a sales page or VSL or direct mail cover for a client. Yes, I send emails to my list – though if you saw my endless list of “unfinished emails” I have in my Work In Progress folders you would think I had enough to send three emails a day [by the way…I actually do have enough, I just haven't sent them]. And I do have postcard mock-ups and have ebook covers half-done. Get the picture?
None of this means I am failing. Oh no. I am succeeding.
- I am living the life I want.
- I have a business that survived and grew through the recession of 2008.
- I have a business that thrived during the pandemic in 2020/2021.
- I have friends and family who love me.
Yes, I want more.
I aspire to be more.
I am motivated to learn, grow, and share so others can succeed.
It's why I'm still in business and why I continue to offer services and products. It's why I'm here today to share my thoughts with you.
