Because I spend so much time in the CommentLuv community, I often forget how different it is from the traditional world view.
Just recently I was invited to join a group on LinkedIn, probably because of my recent promotion of Small Business Trend’s BizBookAwards or my Top Small Business Books post.
I joined and thinking that was why I was invited, I shared that post. Oops.
I did not stop to think – it never even occured to me –
that sharing information would be breaking the rules of that group
because while sharing our recommendations is the norm in our community,
sharing links to my own blog is “self-promotional”
in the traditional world view.
I elected to leave the group because I know it is only a matter of time before I would see some great new book reviewed by a blogger I trust and thinking “this would be perfect for that group” – share it – and end up in breaking their rules again.
I want to share here my response to the creator of that group because I feel it is important for people to understand why the traditional thoughts in this area are limiting our choices and the good changing them can do for us and others.
I did not request her permission to mention her name or the group in this post because until she sees what I write I don’t feel she would know whether she did or did not want to be mentioned. After she reads this I will add links for her and her group to the post IF she wishes me to do so.
Many groups have rules against self-promotion and we have all seen marketers – even people we know – who start threads and search groups and blogs and Q&A sites like Quora as part of a deliberate marketing campaign.
Self-promotion is NOT what I am advocating here. There is a difference between trying to create marketing opportunities and sharing what is truly valuable that is HIGHLY RELEVANT.
Here’s the challenge: the lines are gray
Yes, it requires a judgment call about the difference.That is true – but I feel it is WORTH IT to make those judgments.
Most self-promotion is so blatant that we all know it when we see it.
Delete that stuff.But don’t keep the door closed on sharing what is truly of value
because you’re afraid it opens the door to self-promotion.
Here is how I explained why I chose to leave her group:
Traditional World View:
I do understand – really I do. That is the traditional old-fashioned way of the world. It just isn’t my way and I know myself well enough to know that I would be really busy – see some great book and share a link to a book review I read somewhere and end up breaking your rules again.
The reason that post even exists is because another blogger I know who has a similar worldview in some ways wrote a book review of Marketing Shortcuts. I know that blogger fairly well and the review praised it so highly I contacted the author Patrick Schwerdtfeger – and being a social media savvy and wise author – he sent me a review copy.
Marketing Shortcuts is the best book I’ve seen on marketing
because it is full of actionable strategies.
Even though it has “for the self-employed” in the title
it is beneficial for ANY small business or blogger.
If Tia had written a typical review I would never know that. If she had not prefaced her review with, “I was a bit marketing-book’d out, you know what I mean?” and said THIS book WOWED HER I would have paid little attention. I did because she wrote:
“I haven’t been wowed by a book in a long time. This book wowed me, personally, because it crushed some of my preconceived notions about marketing tactics. There are a lot of chapters with very detailed information about topics such as online classified advertising and publishing articles online that I originally felt I already understood very well – that is, until I read his examples of how to use them, and then my opinions were changed.”
I have several pages dog-eared, and I underlined many points throughout the book. Among them, from Chapter 4: Problems + PAIN = Profit
You owe it to yourself to read the rest of Tia’s Marketing Shortcuts review
about what she learned from that book.
When the Small Business Trends Biz Book Awards came around I was amazed that book was not even nominated. So I nominated it, decided I wanted to know what other books were really worth having, and ended up as a media sponsor promoting the awards.
In the traditional view we all pretend we are impartial journalists and refuse to recommend or “self-promote” and we are stuck with only bland choices put forward by those with the deepest pockets who can afford to buy advertising.
Collaborative World View:
In our new view – our being myself and others who see things in a different way –
we want THE BEST CHOICES and are willing to put our reputations on the line to recommend them knowing that our audience knows that we can’t foretell the future.
I know that many don’t understand that recommending and sharing does NOT mean advertising yourself and the get-rich-quick type of self-promotion. None of us want that. But when someone knows of a solution or book, product or service worth having then WE want to know about it – even if the only person who can tell us at first is who created it.
We (the DoFollow CommentLuv bloggers who collaborate with each other) are creating a new world that we like better. We can collectively identify, share and support exceptional individuals, companies, products and services. I write about how often:
- How CommentLuv Grows Businesses and Blogs
- How to CommentLuv Your Way to Business Prosperity
- For Bloggers Who Hate Comment Spam
While there are benefits to interacting outside of the DoFollow CommentLuv community, I feel my time is better spent within it.
Together we can have a collaborative influence
where the most exceptional can gain enough visibility
to actually change the world.Where small business can create economic stability
and a decent standard of living for all.Where WE collectively decide – not the wealthy few.
If you are with me on this, please make yourselves known:
- Comment
- Connect with me on Twitter @GrowMap.
- If you have one or more blogs, add your blogs to Bloggers Promote Your Blogs here. Be sure to fill out the questions so I know which lists apply to what you’re doing.
If you are interested in blog collaborations, please see Blogging Collaborations Best Practices.
