Marketing yourself doesn’t have to make you feel uncomfortable.
The secret to getting more attention for your work lies in improving its quality (and quantity), serving those who consume it, and being willing to share your expertise with the world.
Here are six simple ways to do that…
1. Make (a lot of) things and put them into the world.
Your work is your greatest marketing tool.
People may ignore what you say, but they’ll pay attention to what you do.
The more you make, the higher its quality, and the more willing you are to share it with the world, the more people will discover and spread the word about you.
It takes more than just quantity to get noticed, but don’t be fooled: Quantity of output is a key driver of attention because quantity typically leads to higher quality.
One recent study found the top performing 5% of creators had actually created 400% more stuff than the average creator.
I’ve personally found this to be true as well.
My For The Interested newsletter is successful in large part because I’ve published it 249 times…and counting.
2. Help people.
Be known for being generous.
Not only is it the right thing to do, but you’ll get noticed by the people you help and the people they know.
Selfish doesn’t spread.
Gary Vaynerchuk’s empire wasn’t built on his hustle – it was built on his generosity and jab-jab-jab-right hook philosophy.
3. Overdeliver.
An adequate job doesn’t get talked about.
No one talks about the person who did a “good enough” job on work they hired them to do.
To get noticed, you must exceed expectations — not simply live up to them.
Here’s Judd Apatow’s take on the power of overdelivering:
4. Respond to everyone who reaches out and acknowledge everyone who mentions you.
You don’t have to have an answer to every question you get asked and you don’t have to agree to every request you receive.
But you do to have to respond to them (unless they’re just a troll).
It’s amazing how many people and companies want a bigger audience while ignoring their existing one.
Everyone is worth your time when trying to grow your audience.
I repeat: Everyone is worth your time.
You have to love the audience you have in order to grow the audience you want.
5. Share what you learn.
That thing you learned today? There are millions of people who haven’t learned it yet, but would love to.
When you share your journey, it makes people want to come along for the ride.
There are lots of complicated ways of doing this, but it can be as simple as sharing what you discover one paragraph at a time.
6. Teach what you know.
Your knowledge is an asset that becomes infinitely more valuable when you share it.
Create vessels — mine include my For The Interested newsletter, This Is How I Do It, and blog posts like this one — to teach what you know to people hungry to know it.
Teaching not only attracts an appreciative crowd and creates opportunities, but it also unlocks a deeper understanding of your subject matter for you in the process.
Want proof?
After writing this post, I know more about how to market yourself without marketing yourself than I did when I started it.
I hope you do too.