The best promotion, in my humble opinion, is to do what you do, do it very very well, and let others speak well of you if they are so inclined.
Self-promotion, in the 21st century, is a whole 'nother deal. It's a somewhat foreign deal.
I see some people who are good or great at modern self-promotion. Extroverts, likable, well-spoken, confident, connected (genuine relationships or not) and it helps to be talented (though not all self-promoters are).
Sometimes there's plain old arrogance and self-absorption, I think we've all seen some of this too. Where it's found, it's not entirely ineffective.
When I observe self-promoters I have a slice of envy and a slice of discomfort (or in extreme cases, worse).
In this age of blogging, tweeting, and feverish friending there's a certain crude benefit to audacious self-promotion.
But long before the internet or modern media, there was also a certain value ascribed to
graceful humility, a basic
commitment to excellence, the advantage of
signal over noise. Quality over quantity.
You know... a recognition that cream naturally rises to the top, rather than feverishly proclaiming, "Hey everybody, I'm cream! Please RT!"
In 2010, I find much of (post?) modern self-promotion to be crass and unsightly; such as when people RT (retweet) their own posts, and a majority of their social network activities amount to "look at me."
On the other hand, there is some sort of strange temporal sweet spot in modern so-called "social networks" for those who are well suited to tooting their horn as they chase after some measure of accomplishment. There is a sweet spot of quick results, followers, friends, respect, notoriety, attention, or other things that might be deemed good.
Is it worth it? What personality types are ideally suited for such ventures? What are the lasting fruits of these exploits? What life deficiencies lend themselves to audacious self-promotion? Where's
humility in the mix, does it matter any longer? When will the internet advance far enough to offer an "ego filter?" Where does self-promotion crossfade into spam?
(I would say that perhaps 1/3 of everything I see on twitter is essentially spam or noisy chatter with little signal. 1/3!!! Would you watch TV or listen to radio if 1/3 or more was noisy static?)
These are questions I have, more than any answers, or even my own conclusions. I'm trying to navigate these very waters. I transgress my own boundaries from time to time.
I have a degree of skepticism, maybe that's all I'm saying.
My instincts tell me: do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly.
Meanwhile, there are few things as rich as promoting the talents of OTHERS -- using twitter, facebook, blogs, and actual face-to-face REAL social networks... to point to the creative excellence and genuine exploits of other people, and encourage their endeavors.
Just some thoughts for the mix.
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