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  Kathleen Gran is having a great time working as an Image Coach and helping people achieve a strong, personal brand. Her mission is to get people to understand the power of their visual impact so that they can thrive and succeed.

  

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The best way to give your brand some credibility is telling people about it. But some folks are uncomfortable with self-promotion because they feel they are bragging.

So how can you impress someone without sounding boastful?

People will make a split second judgement about you when you get introduced or walk into a room. It is therefore important to position yourself quickly and efficiently in order to establish your credibility, role and intentions. You need to use self-promotion to reveal information about yourself, trigger interest and be remembered. Let’s look at 5 ways that this can be achieved.

1. Introduce a specialty. When you meet a person, you first share the basics: your name, your business, and what you do. Then begins the self-promotion. By introducing something that is unique to you, a specialty, or an unusual way of doing things, you will set the tone for an interesting discussion where you will most likely be asked to share more details. This will allow you to highlight your strengths without crowing.
2. Tell a story rather than give facts. Always keep a few of your accomplishments in mind. To relay those stories, use the problem-solving approach: outline the situation, identify how you resolved the problem and define the results. For example, instead of saying “I own…” – “I am…” – or “I do” – try telling the person about an experience you had. “I was faced with… I had to… and this resulted in…” – “I heard about… I decided to… and this turned out to be…”. Placing the emphasis on your challenges and the way you resolved them will allow you to emphasize your accomplishments without bragging.
3. Insert a dose of humility. Nobody is perfect and admitting to some errors will make you appear humble and trustworthy. You don’t have to beat yourself up, but using a little humour to express your slip-ups will only make you more human and therefore accessible.
4. Mention publications. If you have been interviewed/published in a magazine or newspaper or if you have a blog, invite people to find out more about you and your services by consulting these publications – “You may want to read about my speciality in…” – “If you want to find out more, why don’t you log on to my blog at…”.  It gives you credibility and is a compelling way for people to discover your true values.
5. Show your personal power.  People want to be around others that have self-esteem and confidence. By expressing what you do in a passionate and positive way, you will be promoting yourself as a self-assured, go-to person without being perceived as arrogant.

Judicious self-promotion is a critical part of establishing your brand, maintaining it and developing the required visibility and credibility for your business to soar. Just make sure to use it in good dosage in order to refrain from crossing the fine line between promoting yourself and bragging. 

Note: I encourage feedback but will never publish comments that arrive through spam.