For a lot of people, the hardest part of a project is what happens after it’s done.
It’s one thing to start a business, write a book, make an album or become a photographer.
It’s another thing to tell people you did one of those things.
The creation is hard, but for lots of people, the marketing of it is even harder.
The temptation is to go quiet, to get shy with our work.
I don’t think you should do that.
In fact, here are 3 reasons we need you to shout:
1. People will miss it.
Whenever we do a book tour, I do my best to tell people about it online. I blog about it. I tweet about it. I post it on Facebook and LinkedIN and Instagram. I feel like I talk about it so much that I’m bothering people. The day after each tour stop, I post a photo of the event. Every time, someone sees the photo and says, “I wish I had known you were coming to my city. I would have loved to come to your event!” I might have felt like I was over-talking it but the reality is that the only person who sees everything you say, is you. Most people miss most things you say unless you say them more times than you are comfortable.
2. It’s not for the haters.
There might be people who get mad that you’re talking about your thing, but guess what? They’re not your audience. Those handful of people weren’t going to buy your thing anyway. Whether you promote it 10 times or 100, they weren’t going along for the ride. Knowing that, why should we let them dictate how we promote our thing?
3. We need it.
If you’ve got something you believe will help people, hiding it isn’t humility, it’s cowardice. We get this in other professions. If my toilet explodes and you’re a plumber, not telling me you can help isn’t a kindness to me. I don’t think, “I’m so glad they didn’t over promote.” I think, “I wish I had a plumber.” If you believe in your work and it will help people, share it.
The biggest thing you have to remember is this, if you’re worried about sharing it too much, you’re already in a good place. You know who never worries about over promoting? People who are over promoting. The act of concern indicates you’re already going to be taking a careful, considerate road.
I know I am. My new book Finish comes out in less than 5 days. If you haven’t ordered yet, today is the day.
Why do I promote it? Simple, I believe Finish will help you finish the things you really care about. I think you’ll use it to finish a book, a business, a diet or a million other things.