Self promotion is getting other people to WANT to do your promotion for you. Peter Shankman personifies and lives this notion. He is well known for HARO, which has changed how media, individuals, and companies connect. His presentation at SXSW was powerful and mind changing, enough so that I’m promoting right now. It is about creating win-wins. These wins can also be good for the environment as Val Casey pointed out in her Keynote speech. So how do you do good and be that guy or that company that everyone talks about and make money?
Val states we as humans live lives based on three simple narratives: sad to happy, happy to sad to happy, and sad to sad to cockroach. To invoke change and to win friends we need to get out of the third narrative. You can’t spend your life on twitter, facebook, or in networking events stating how much life sucks. Instead you need to find and present ideas to people that make them happy. You need to share ideas that can change not only your world, but have a positive effect on those around you. These ideas must have a perceived value greater than the value it has in promoting your cause.

It is realizing that less bad is not equal to good. You shouldn’t focus your marketing around how you did less bad this month. People don’t really want to hear it and worse it might make them apathetic to the very cause you are trying to promote. Instead focus on the message itself on making sure you communicate the reasons behind your actions and empower people to act and share your message. Peter recommends that everyone learn how to write. In today’s world you only have 2.7 seconds to grab someones attention.

This means you need to as Val states pull the right levers to invoke change. We need to change our mythology to change the world. Value perceived is value realized as Peter puts it. This starts by creating the right measurement of success in why you want to do good. By creating a system for change you can achieve it with greater success. This system should have a purpose, focus on interconnections, and include elements of success. When possible don’t recreate these things, but re-purpose what is already available.

By doing what needs to be done without being asked, by not wasting peoples time with things that are meaningless to them, by having the answer, and doing things that make you look good, you can become “That Guy.” “If more people in world actually HELP in their self-promotion, more people in the world will be HELPED.” — Peter Shankman

“Every profession bears the responsibility to understand the circumstances that enable its existence.” — Robert Gutmam

Help those who help you in your success. Do this and the money will follow in a sustainable and socially responsible way.

Val Casey Notes

Peter Shankman Notes

Peter Shankman

Val Casey

Pictorial Val Casey

Sunni Brown Mind-Map