Promoting Yourself Doesn't Mean Becoming an Ollie North Clone

Somehow mentioning self-promotion techniques and Ollie North in the same breath makes some people uncomfortable. So let's do little comparison:

Think about Ollie North at Iran-Contra Hearings:

1. How would you describe the image he projected?
2. What adjectives would you use to describe him as he presented himself?
3. What was his message?
4. What image did he project?

Now think about yourself in promoting your business:

1. How would you describe the image you project?
2. What adjectives would you use to describe yourself as you present yourself?
3. What is your message?
4. What image do you project?

No matter who you are and what your goal is, you have to project your image in a way that resonates with your audience and gets your message across. The objective is to create visibility and credibility because they are the linch pins of achieving success in your business.

Specifically, visibility is not only being seen but also being seen as synonymous with your message. This means that you have to believe in your message and that it is important for others to believe too. Your credibility is your expertise, legitimacy, and professionalism in what you do in your work and how you promote yourself.

Part of your legitimacy is what you say and how you say it. It is fashioned by your personality and values. You're not creating a character out of whole cloth - or being an actor - who is spouting things in which you do not believe. Seeing you as being honest and truthful about what you say makes you worthy of your audience's belief and trust.

Your image determines how your audience views you, values you, is attracted to you, identifies with you, trusts you, and wants to interact with you. Your image defines how you want your audience to think about you and your message and then respond to you and it.

Remember: Your image grabs your audience's attention. It creates expectations and sets the tone for potential interaction. Your image is what gets your foot in the door so you can present your message to your audience and persuade them of its benefit to them.

To work on your visibilty and credibility you need to examine your image and message and ask:

1. What image do you want to project?
2. What image are you currently projecting?
3. How is your audience perceiving you?
4. How are they responding to that perception?
5. What is your message?
6. What do you want your audience to know?
7. How do you want them to respond to that information?
8. What is your goal in concrete, specific behavioral terms?
9. Are you getting your message across as efficiently, effectively, and economically as possible?
10. Are you achieving your goal?

Creating visibility and credibility for yourself is not a once-in-awhile proposition - at least, not if you want to get your message out and achieve your goal. Doing this requires continuous effort, looking for more effective ways to hit your audience up-close and personal.

That is not to say that all audiences are alike - they're not. As a result, you have to recognize that each audience may require a slightly different approach to your image and message. This may sound slick, but it isn't. It is simply acknowledging that each group may be different, knowing what they want, and demonstrating to them ways you personally and honestly can understand them and identify with them so you're speaking their language.

This is precisely what Ollie North did. He knew his audience. He communicated with them in a way that would show he was one of them. He appealed to their values, expectations, and interests. He let them identify with him as "underdog" and fight along with him to overcome perceived "injustice."