Climbing the Walls, Building Influence
Self-Promotion for People Who Hate Self Promotion
A memory from your childhood might be the secret to unlocking impact. Take it from this guy.
Last week I thought about influence in How To Make an Impact (Part 1 and Part 2). Writing a book is a key piece of that puzzle, according to people who know a thing or two.
It’s not automatic, though. Even if you have a great publisher, hire a great publicist, or otherwise enlist help like the smart person you are, the author is always going to be the linchpin in that machine. That’s because a) nobody cares about your book like you do, and b) even a perfect publicist is only getting you opportunities. You have to pick them up and run.
The rule is: say yes
This can be tough for people who hate the idea of self promotion. Discomfort can lead to hesitation, and even turning down opportunities. That can set your book back in ways that are hard to sufficiently emphasize.
The people you want to be buzzing about your book and who can invite you to talk about your ideas–people like news producers, journalists, politicians, business leaders–are all extremely busy (these are just off the top of my head, create your own list–I guarantee you they’ll be busy, too). That means that if you turn down an invitation once, it’s unlikely to ever come again. Next time they need someone to come on their show to talk about your issue they’ll go back to the same person they got after you said no. They’ll go to the sure thing.
So the rule is to say YES.
The time when this rule no longer applies will be obvious to you, because you’ll be killing yourself to do all the media you’re getting opportunities to join. When you get to that point, you can dial back and only say yes to the really good ones.
Promote your ideas, let your ideas promote you
It doesn’t have to feel like self promotion. You’re not going to be chanting “Buy my book. Buy my book.” But if you truly believe in your ideas, and that people will benefit if they spread, you owe it to everyone to do whatever you can to promote those ideas. What I want you to do is talk about the ideas, their importance, how they’ll change things for the people who understand. Your publisher or your publicist will pitch the book, and they’ll also pitch you.
The bigger your book gets, the easier it is to convince people you’re worth talking to. The bigger your name recognition gets, the easier it is to convince them that your book is worth reading and talking about.
Climbing the walls
It’s like a magical formula, and that’s where the picture above comes into play.
I used to love to climb the walls when I was young, and my kids do the same thing now. I can’t remember if I told them about it–maybe they were born with the instinct.
In case you were less…climby…here’s how you do it:
Start in a hallway. Place your hands on opposite walls.
Step one foot up to the wall on one side.
Jump your other foot up to the wall on the other side.
Apply enough pressure outward with your hands and feet (pushing as if to move the walls apart) and you won’t fall.
To climb, you can’t move everything at once. You have to go feet/hands/feet/hands.
(Probably don’t actually climb the walls—as adults we have to be satisfied with the metaphor of childlike play.)
And that’s the same way you’ll build influence. Build up your ideas to make it easier to pitch the book. Then use the book as a lever to open bigger doors, to get yourself into rooms you otherwise wouldn’t have access to. Finally, use your growing reputation (by the way, you’re the author of an important new book) to create more opportunities.
I’ve seen this process work over and over again, so I know it can work for you. To get started, you can simply start talking about it. You can write about it on social media, which is as low-stakes as it gets. Write op-eds if you want, or propose a talk or a panel at a relevant conference. You could even start a newsletter like this one (seriously, I’ll include a link below).
When you get going, some people who care will find you, and some of them will stick. And when they tell other people about your ideas ( in order to do so, they’ll be telling them about you, too), you’ve succeeded in creating a community around your ideas.
I encourage you to get started NOW. In that spirit, please think about sharing my newsletter with anyone who you think might be interested.