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Paradox: Your Web presence isn't really about you

2009 August 13
tags: , ,
by paulbalcerak

…but it kind of is. “Personal branding guru” @danschawbel explained it pretty well earlier today:

Promoting other people actually helps promote you in the process.

It’s paradoxical, but it’s not really that hard to grasp: The more you promote people/ideas/etc. (and the more you become known for promoting good people/ideas/etc.), the more likely it is people will keep coming back to you for the latest insight on what they need to know. Jay Rosen explains this (essentially) probably better than anyone in his (now famous?) “Ethic of the Link” speech:

[youtube="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIMB9Kx18hw"]

It’s just like real life: No one wants to listen to a guy talk about how awesome he thinks he is. People are out looking to help themselves (they need a job, want to learn to code, etc.) and if you point them to helpful information, they’re likely to remember you and come back. That—the return trip—is when you come into the equation and make a connection with someone else who may be able to help you.

from → Social Media

  • http://eastlakeave.neighborlogs.com Curt M.

    This is akin to Bill Clinton’s First Rule of Politics: Never talk about yourself.

  • http://paulbalcerak.com paulbalcerak

    Though he may have wanted to update that rule last year: Never talk about yourself…or your wife. It didn’t exactly win the (Hillary) Clinton campaign a whole lot of fans when Bill went on the attack for her.

    There may be a parallel with blogging there, too: Maybe it’s just me, but blogging too often about your friends/kids/etc. … no thanks.

  • http://twitter.com/jayrosen_nyu Jay Rosen

    Thanks, Paul.

    “People come back to places that send them away. Memorize that one.” — Dave Winer. Another way to say it.

  • http://paulbalcerak.com paulbalcerak

    @Jay – Thanks—something tells me I’m going to be beating this drum for a while … the more wisdom, the better.

  • http://dalbright.com/blog/?p=468 » Blog Archive » Makeover Time

    [...] What was wrong with the old blog?  The purpose of my personal blog was to update anyone and everyone what I’m up to in my freelance videography career, but twitter has pretty much taken over that function.  I tried to remedy that by adding the “Twitter Digest” to the blog, but that just seems redundant, so follow me on twitter if you need constant updates on what I’m up to.  Besides, as Paul Balcerak put it your web presence really isn’t about you. [...]