There’s a common misconception, especially among those interested in social media, about content and self-promotion. Some argue that people shouldn’t worry about self-promotion and shouldn’t attempt to promote their commercial activities.
This attitude has prompted some of the thoughtleaders of social media – those who share outstanding content day after day – to constantly defend their own activities that are, or could be perceived as, commercial in nature.
I was excited to see Chris Brogan, Darren Rowse, Brian Clark and Sonia Simone launch Third Tribe yesterday (I joined). I was unhappy to see that Chris included a few paragraphs for the “naysayers” – explaining why he was launching this new venture. Here’s what Chris wrote:
Any time I talk about money, I get a bunch of emails telling me that I’ve jumped the shark or that I’m a sellout. I did when we published Trust Agents. I did when I took my first affiliate ad for Thesis. I’ll just say my part about this up front, and you can blog whatever about it elsewhere.
The reason for building a membership forum site is that we can share information that we use for our businesses. It’s not what we want to post on our blogs. It’s something people are paying to learn and hopefully use for their own business efforts, and because of that, we think it’s of value. Don’t want it? Don’t buy it. I do plenty for free, and that’s still useful, too.
It’s not for everyone. It’s for those who want to step up their online marketing game.
The attitude and rhetoric of the naysayers – especially directed towards people who legitimately share great resources and knowledge – is appalling. The rhetoric – often driven by ignorance and jealousy – has caused much damage. Trust in information from friends and peers has dropped significantly over the past year.
Much of this damage has been caused by confusion over, and misunderstanding of, self-promotion. Everyone, whether they intend to or not, self-promotes.
Let me repeat that: everyone self-promotes.
Whether or not your online (or offline) activities support or are supported by commercial interests, you self-promote. When Marc Cuban writes in his blog, he self-promotes. He may not always intend to do so, but he does self-promote. Every time. So do I, whether I intend so or not. Sharing IS self-promotion.
