I was embarrassed to share my work when I first started publishing blog posts and articles. Weirdly, it wasn’t because I thought my work was bad. I just didn’t want people to look at it and tell me it was good unless it actually was.
To this day — over 15 years later — there is still part of me that believes anyone who says they enjoyed something I published is lying. Or stretching the truth. Maybe they enjoyed it in a supportive way, but don’t actually think it was a good interview or essay or message.
Over time, I’ve learned to push these feelings of insecurity and doubt so far down inside that I’m able to promote my work without dreading people’s reactions to it. For the most part. And if I can do that, you can do it, too.
No One Sees the Work You Never Talk About
Social media and the way we interact with art on the internet has changed a lot since I started blogging. A lot of the rules we used to follow about promoting ourselves as creators don’t work as well as they used to. But one thing for sure has not changed: If you never talk about your work, no one will see it.
And this is perhaps a more important rule now than it’s ever been. Before algorithms dictated our feeds, someone could quite easily stumble upon your blog or website without you ever venturing out into the digital social landscape. Now, even when you do post links and images of your work, you’re lucky if anyone outside your followers — heck, even within your circle of followers — ever sees that post.
But you’re not doing yourself any favors if you stop posting your work altogether. Having it online is better than not having it up at all. Always remember that even if social media doesn’t do much for your exposure, search engines like Google still could potentially help you. Not as much as they used to, but again … something is better than nothing.
No One Will Get Excited About Your Work If You Don’t
People are drawn to other people’s energy, both positive and negative. If you want other people to engage with the things you make, you have to create an energy around the things that makes people want to see what all the excitement is about.
In other words — if you want people to read or view or listen to your work, you have to hype it up to the extreme whether you’re excited on the inside or not. You are the biggest seller of the content you make. If you don’t bring the energy, people are less likely to stop scrolling long enough to see what you’re up to.
Fake it ’til you make it. Then keep faking it even after you make it. We’re all doing it. Most people promoting themselves and their work aren’t nearly as excited about every single thing they publish as it might seem. We’re all playing a game trying to retain an audience, and we keep doing it because for many of us, it somehow keeps working.
Be Proud of Your Work, Even When It Isn’t Perfect
Not everything has to be faked or exaggerated! Amidst all your hype, you should try to be genuinely proud of the work you’re doing. There may always be room for improvement, and the thing you publish today may not be the best thing you’ve ever put out there. You don’t always have to be at the top of your game. But never forget that at least you’re still putting in the work.
Confidence doesn’t come strictly from affirmations or other people telling you how they feel about your work. It comes from consistently publishing work and doing what you can to celebrate your efforts — not because you’ve earned the right to do so, but instead because you deserve it just for trying.
You published that! You! No one else did that, YOU did that. Who cares if it’s not the best thing you’ve ever made? You still did it, and someone else might end up loving it. Self-promotion is hard, and it’s often not fun, and many times it doesn’t exactly yield the results you hoped it would. But it’s still important. Possibly more important now than ever.
Meg Dowell is the creator of Brain Rush, dedicated to helping writers put their ideas into words, and Not a Book Hoarder, celebrating books of all kinds. She is an editor, writer, book reviewer, podcaster, and photographer passionate about stories and how they get made. Learn more
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