The Difference Between Self Promotion and Self Adulation

Following on from Stacey’s excellent article last week about The Fine Art of Shameless Self Promotion, it was quite a coincidence that a thread on a forum on which I am very active was highlighting over the top self promotion that some people use in the Comments on posts. And it got me thinking about the difference between Self Promotion, which when done properly, and as outlined by Stacy, is OK and Self Adulation, which is definitely not OK.

So, today I am going to discuss the distinction between perfectly acceptable promotional behaviour online and the unacceptable behavior that will quickly earn the disdain of our intended audience.

Nathan Hagan defines Self Promotion as:

the art of spreading ideas, concepts, and a greater vision

Self-adulation is:

just the promotion of accomplishments, deeds that have already been done

Hagan makes the point that by promoting ideas, especially if they are something that will benefit people in general and not necessarily just yourself, you are giving others something to cheer for. It is ideas that inspire not achievements.

There is a great comment on an article written by Nathan Hagan (see link below):

Self-promotion vs self-adulation is like self-belief vs arrogance. The former is about your positive place in the world, and the latter is simply about you

Oh yes, I think that that sums it up very succinctly!

For me, the Comments Box on any page, whether it be on Squidoo, Wizzley, a blog or a website, is a place where you can have a conversation about the content you have just read. If you have information you can share to add to the conversation then that’s great. If you don’t have anything you want to pass on but you just want to express your genuine appreciation for the content you have just read, then that’s great too.

(And by genuine appreciation, I don’t just mean commenting with the expectation of reciprocal visits!)

What you don’t do is hijack someone’s front yard, climb on your soapbox, get out your megaphone and shout:

Hey, look at me. I do stuff better than this person, come see what I have got to offer and you have to listen to me, because I have been here longer than they have, I have done more than they have and I am just so experienced, I know what I am talking about!

So when trying to promote a new concept or idea, no one needs to try to establish their credentials by highlighting their own achievements. All it will do is turn people off to the message, because they may just assume that the message is actually all about building the “Kingdom of Me”!

A great post, written by Nathan Hagan on Copyblogger, The Art of Shameless Self Promotion also gives tips on how to create a Self Promotion Platform – go check it out. It makes for very interesting reading.