Being Your Own Evangelist
- May 4, 2015
- Posted by: Rochelle
- Category: Audience Building, Personal Brand
It’s a tricky thing being your own evangelist.
Crowing to the rooftops is not such a stretch when you’re selling your snazzy new product or the team of awesome people behind you.
Bragging on someone—or something—you’re excited about comes effortlessly.
Where it gets sticky is when you need to sell YOU.
When you are the pivot point.
When you want to be chosen. As the keynote speaker. As the first choice for a bet-the-business challenge. As the soloist competing against the name brands.
Selling yourself—your talents, passion, experience and commitment to getting the job done—is the difference between winning big and going home with your tail between your legs.
Because if you don’t believe what you’re preaching who will?
That’s why you need to become your own evangelist, without crossing over into carney barker territory (or becoming an insufferable narcissist shouting—“Look at me, look at me!”).
The key?
Focus on your outcomes: the visceral, emotional transformations you make happen.
Approach each one as a story. Who was your client? What was his backstory before he met you? How did she know it was time for change? What did you do together that made all the difference? And how is he better off now for that experience?
Because when you tell these experiences as stories, you’ve made the journey human—relatable. Suddenly, you’re not bragging, you’re helping.
And the right people will be drawn to you like bees to honey.
So start working on those stories. Tell them to yourself. Carry them around with you so sharing them at the right times becomes like breathing. Put them on your website and weave them into your content. Share them with your circle and they may just share them with theirs.
Being your own evangelist isn’t about twisting arms to buy your stuff.
It’s about changing the world in ways only you can.
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I often get the sense that you have a sense of whatever I am working on and write about it that week. Once again your timing is right on target. I spent a good part of the last week selling myself. It is continuing this week. I created stories to prove points. It worked just as you described because we are having meetings again this week to negotiate the outcome.
Rochelle, you are special.
Thanks for making my Monday Ed–good luck with your negotiations!!
Hi Rochelle,
We all have stories to tell and have others who want to tell it for us. I establish myself as being competent but it’s my audience who establish me as being trustworthy.
I have believed for over 20 years and proven right time and again that when we service our clients well they will do the sales for us in whatever capacity we ask of them.
That’s the key, so many of us spend so much time talking about ourselves that we miss out on allowing others to talk about us. It could be in the form of written or video testimonials. It could be in personal referrals via email, phone or any other means.
The better we are at taking care of them; the better they will get at taking care of us. I’ve made a career and business out of building deep relationships with my clients that support my efforts; and I them.
Then, it makes it easier to be your own evangelist when you have those who you’ve converted behind you.
Great post Rochelle!!!
Have a great week.
~ Don Purdum
Love how you think Don! Thanks for joining the conversation…
Great post as usual. I was asked this week by a potential client how I was different from a very well known and established consultant. Here is what I said,” For me it is personal…my clients are my baby chicks and I am the mother hen. If they need me they can reach me…I am all about a custom, one on one relationship…no layers between us…I am here for you.” We will see if that matters and if so this is my ideal client. If they desire the big machine then they are not for me anyway. Another lesson learned from you!
You betcha Debbie–it’s all about being clear on your best client…
I often tell folks the hardest thing I found in transitioning from government advising an elected and promoting their issues and policies (often ones I devised and strategized how to advance) involved promoting myself and what I offer and do. I often tend towards self-effacing — perhaps sometimes to my detriment, often happy to let the others around offer the shout outs and hype my work. One of the concern I have involves not giving up strategies in discussing the process of help in contrast to the (successful outcome). As I look at my “projects” section of my website, commit to a new hard look at some real portrayals of my work, not just linking to >products.”
The use of the url, strategicpublicpolicy.com does help giving interested parties an inkling of what I do (best),