The Art of Self-Promotion: An Interview With Ilise Benun

  If you're uncomfortable with the idea of self-promotion, meet Ilise Benun. Since 1988, she has been on a mission to teach people to promote themselves through her Marketing Mentor program.  Some of her clients say her approach has changed their lives. We caught up with Ilise the other day to see what’s behind her unique approach to helping businesspeople drop the idea that self-promotion is shameless, and in fact, something we should embrace.

Is the phrase “shameless promotion” an obstacle to self-promotion?  
Yes, and I think the reason people perceive self-promotion as shameless is because they don’t understand what it really is – or could be. It’s simply a way to create and nurture relationships that will one day deliver mutual benefit for everyone involved. For example, most of us are taught not to brag -- and incorrectly believe that promoting oneself involves bragging.  But, it doesn’t.  In fact, exclaiming “I’m the best (fill in the blank)” is actually bad promotion.

"Self-promotion has little to do with you. It’s about your prospect, client or simply the person you’re talking to."

Self-promotion is being curious, asking questions, listening to the answer, then responding with an idea, a resource, or relevant project you worked on. It's about communicating something that can help the person you're engaged with derive value from your knowledge and help. 

How can people feel more comfortable about the idea of self-promotion?
Most people think that to promote themselves, they need to get more comfortable talking about themselves.  While I would agree that's part of it, it's more important to start learning to transfer the focus from oneself to, well, anywhere else. 

By transferring your focus onto the other person -- onto their challenges or opportunities, you initiate a conversation. Or just talk about something that's happening in the world.

How does your approach work?  What makes it unique?
First of all, I am not the source of the ideas I espouse. I am constantly gathering ideas from everyone I hear and everything I read, whether it's directly related to marketing and self-promotion or not. I put it all together in a way that may seem unique, but I see my role as simply to digest ideas and then pass them along in a way that will be palatable to my network and my market.

What makes my approach effective is that I acknowledge up front that there is no quick fix.  In a world of hyperbole and guarantees that you will “master and perfect a new skill in 24 hours,” I address the reality that there is work involved in promoting oneself, that it takes time to change old habits and ways of thinking.

"The crux of my approach is building trust."

Many of my readers are technology managers in large firms – that see self-promotion as a way to reduce the threat of being outsourced. Could your approach help them?
Yes, I believe it can.  I've heard countless stories of people who maintain their visibility as a result of self-promotion. They are the ones who are appreciated by decision-makers and keep their jobs, or at the very least, get moved to a different part of the company.

"It's the quiet and invisible ones who go unseen and are let go."

How did you get the idea for your “seven word blurb” that encourages marketers to tell their story in seven words or less?
It’s simply a variation on the elevator pitch concept, in which you answer the question “what do you do?” 

"The seven-word-blurb offers a clear (not vague) statement about what you do and piques the listener’s interest. It is designed to motivate your audience into asking you a question."

Often, however, people answer the question with a label or jargon, which stops the conversation in its tracks, like “I’m a sysop” or even “I do internal communications,” neither of which tell anything what you do and who you do it for. 

My technology clients fail miserably at the seven-word blurb. Should we give them a break and increase their word count? 
I've actually increased that to 10 words in the past couple of years. But the point isn't to count the words as much as to say something concise and engaging with the goal of initiating a conversation with another person.  But you have to really want to do that and if you aren't interested in a conversation, no matter how many words in your blurb, the message you convey will stop the conversation.

What’s your seven-word blurb?
Here's mine (and it's about 10 too):

"I work with people who hate to promote themselves."

Notice that 1) it isn't about me, 2) it identifies the listener (who usually falls into that category) and 3) sets the stage for questions like: what exactly do you do -- and how do you do it?

Contact Ilise Benun at ilise@marketing-mentor.com or leave a quick comment.