I am pretty self-contained. Which has pluses and minuses, one of which is that I have a hard time promoting my artwork, my writing, and my business. It is a challenge. And it is one, that I am told, many people have to deal with, learn to overcome or learn how to get around.
For example, I have been blogging since the 90’s. Back then it was called Web Log, like journaling, and it quickly became shortened to Blog. Of course back then I was using VI Editor on my emails and bulletin board posts, and belonged to a group called The Well in the San Francisco area…one of the few women involved in the web as it was starting to catch on back then. I don’t tell people about that very often, because in the past 20-30 years women have gotten much better at tech in general and the web specifically (which I am delighted about). It does grant me some measure of perspective, though…in an old-fashioned “I remember when” sort of way. And it makes participating in the Dan McGuire Blog Challenge all the more fun because I have a feeling of history as I am writing.
Participating also allows me an opportunity to practice promoting myself. If only very passively, through reposting some of my writing and referring to some of the books I’ve self-published. Practice, as I have mentioned in previous posts, is important in order to get a handle on doing something – whether it is creative writing, painting, drawing, sculpting, upcycling, well – you name it, the more you practice, the better and more confident you become. And this is the medium I am most comfortable in, the written word…if you know me well, you know I greatly dislike speaking on the phone – and yet I will do it when I know it is the preferred method of communication for the person I need to or want to interact with (or when there is no other choice, although that requires me to steel myself in preparation).
Some of you are great at promoting yourselves and your work. And some of you are like me, putting stuff out in the world and tentatively promoting with a social media post here and there, and maybe a specific signature mention in your emails. Some have even started their Facebook Page (I have a few) and newsletters. I think that a part of learning to promote my work, and I can only really speak for myself, is finding what is just a tad over my comfort zone and pushing there until it becomes part of the comfort zone. And overcoming my own introvert tendencies… LOL.
I am starting some new projects (while still working on existing projects) and realize that I need to plan in the promotion tasks or I will conveniently “forget” that part.
And so I am asking you – if you are reading this, for your advice…what ways have you promoted your stuff (work, art, services) that have worked best for you? And why did those ways work?
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