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3 killer mistakes women make when promoting themselves
When it comes to raising your profile, particularly for mid-career women, the challenges can be overwhelming and at times, disheartening. It’s easy to feel invisible, writes Karen Eck.
Karen Eck
Research by Dame Changer, an Australian professional women’s collective, showed many of its members needed help in putting themselves forward; they lacked know-how, ideas and momentum. Despite being highly skilled and experienced in their jobs, many had experienced a career “crisis of confidence”. This is not unique to one industry; anecdotal evidence suggests mid-career women experience the same challenges in all businesses whether they’re in banking, technology or law.
Firstly, change your concept of “self-promotion” to “backing yourself”. Make sure you surround yourself with people who have your best interests at heart. Have at least one person in your business who’s in your corner and will give you a pep talk when your confidence reserves are running low.
Mistake #1: You think your work speaks for itself
No, it doesn’t! If it had a voice, it would say: “Look at moi, ploise,” as Australian TV icon Kath would say. You need to make it as easy as possible for others to notice and care about your work. Ask key people to hear your idea, back your newest project or support your cause.
The best way to allow your work to stand out is to provide opportunities for others to discover and comment on it. Third party endorsement gives greater credibility. It is why positive publicity is considered more valuable than paid advertising. If a popular and well-respected person in the public eye endorses your work, that carries gravitas.
Key takeout: Give your work a strong voice with clear purpose and consistent messaging. And in order to do that you need good-quality branding. Which brings me to…
Mistake #2: You’re asset-poor
Every publicist will tell you that you need to have good-quality digital assets. At the very least you need an updated headshot and a personal biography (no more than 400 words or a page). Use this copy to update your LinkedIn profile. Look for images from past and current projects. Create a “Visibility Assets” folder on your computer (even better, save it to the cloud so you can access it anywhere, at any time). If you have decent hard-copy photos gathering dust, take hi-res images on your smartphone. The quality is surprisingly good. It’s also important to label your image captions left to right.
Key takeout: Being asset rich and asset ready will save you time and angst. You’ll be able to react quickly to media interview requests or industry invitations which will give you the winning edge.
Mistake #3: You are overwhelmed, so you do nothing at all
Let’s consider for a moment that all paths lead to the same destination but with different time frames. Whatever path you choose, it’s key to get going. Even if it’s two steps forward and one step back. You’re still moving ahead.
Imagine if you spent just 20 minutes a day focusing on your personal branding? A networking phone call, an introductory email, organising your publicity assets or taking time to plan. It all adds up. Doing nothing gets you nowhere. Getting off the starting line is the first step.
Key takeout: Start and don’t look back.
Karen Eck is the founder of publicity agency eckfactor.
