Promotion is about People

// The Field

The You Are the Media lunch clubs kicked off their new season this week with the first happening in London last Thursday - they are an informal, question-filled foray into the world of marketing and this session was no different. The focus was on curiosity and whilst I was sat at the back of the room, I watched.

I watched the people, focusing on the other people who made up part of the panel all talking about curiosity and I watched them listen, take notes and ask questions - everyone was engaged and they were listening to what the panel had to say.

The thing about this panel was - they weren't up there to specifically promote themselves, they weren't there with their brand logos on their caps or a piffy slogan emblazoned on their T-Shirts, they were there to engage with the people in the room and offer up an opinion.

By being on the panel though, they made themselves known - for that short session, they were the focus and they made the difference in the room - all taking their lived experiences and sharing a little part of themselves. They didn't need to show off, they didn't need to shout loudly about what they did - they focused on others in the room, delivered something for them and now.. they'll be remembered.

Once the 'event' had concluded, everyone got to mingle in the bar and they chatted, swapped stories and got to know one another. The thing about lunch clubs is - there is no hierachy, there are no cliques and you can talk to everyone - it's a free for all.

But I took the time to plot another video - we recorded it, it was a bit of fun but again - the people in the room stopped, watched, took photos and enjoyed the fact that for a split second, they were the star of the show and they were going to be a part of something. It was about them, it wasn't about me recording the video, it wasn't about the panel, it was all about sharing something for others so they can feel a part of something.

Because something clicked with me on Thursday... promotion is about people - not yourself.

// The Mistake

When we talk about promotion - whether it’s for your business, your event, or even yourself - it’s easy to believe the goal is to push harder and to say it louder - most people try to make sure the spotlight is angled just right so people can’t miss you and that it's you that they need to see. If you shout louder and you make the most noise then people will remember you but it's never about you or your event - it's about them and how they feel.

If you think that shouting louder is the way, it doesn’t mean anyone is listening.

And yet I still see so many people falling for it. There are tons of posts of about what we’ve achieved or what they've achieved. I'm as guilty as anyone - when we forget who we're trying to talk to, we end up just shouting (metaphorically) in the middle of a field into the big void about ourselves and hoping others listen.

We craft websites about what we do, we throw events to masquerade as being about others but we make it about ourselves - this is why I sat in that room on Thursday and realised that the lunch clubs aren't about one person, no one person stands at the front of the room and makes it their show, no one person is leading a crusade or making it a mission - its about everyone else in the room.

The problem with shouting only about yourself and your things is if the only character in your story is you, then everyone else is left outside of it.

And people rarely step into a story they don’t see themselves in - it's never good to be the main character.

// The Shift

Here’s the thing people struggle with - promotion isn’t really about you at all. It's never about you.

If you want people to come to your event? Show them how it belongs to them - what they’ll experience, who they’ll meet and how they’ll feel walking away. That's what we tried to do with the little promotional video we made for the YATM Lunch Club on Thursday - creating something fun, letting others (those people that were there) be a part of it - so people can say 'I'm in that'..

If you want someone to buy from your business - you need to speak to the frustrations that keep them awake at night, and the quiet hopes that carry them through the day - sales is exactly the same as promotion - it's not about you or your product/service, its about what your product/service can do for them.

If you want someone to listen to your story - you have to remind them that their story matters inside it - I'll say it again so we're not misinterpreting what I'm saying - promotion is less about announcing and more about including - this is something that will make you stand out from the rest - because when you stop shouting about yourself and start inviting people in, something shifts as it stops being a broadcast and it becomes a conversation - just like that panel on Thursday.

And conversations are where trust lives.

No-one is leading it, no-one is being the 'voice' - its about everyone and when everyone feels a part of it, they want to bring others in too.

// Same

I have to remind myself of this all the time, I'm exactly the same as you - I fall into the same traps and I make a conscious effort to never try to overpromote myself - I think we all do the same thing.

It’s so tempting to slide back into self-focus, to write an email like a press release or to share a project as if the work is the whole point and I (probably going too far) make a point to try to never promote myself or share my work because I never want to forget that, on the other end, is a person who might be tired, or busy, or full of doubts and my one little foray into self promotion might be the straw that breaks the camels back.

It's a hard line to tread - I see plenty of examples of people promoting themselves or their 'thing' and they're doing it the wrong way - going so far as to masquerade their personal quest for recognition and appreciation as social change and a movement - that's still not about the people but their own cause - it's a constant quest to remind yourself over and over again that if they can’t find themselves in what you’re saying, then they’ll scroll past.

They’ll delete the email.

They’ll walk by the poster.

It's normally not because you don’t matter, but because you didn’t make space for them.

In the early days of trying to push myself out there - I would share all the things I was doing - (you see the problem - the things I was doing) - and it doesn't resonate with anyone. Now, I've found a happy medium - I try to share things that I'm doing for others whilst also supporting the things that others are doing - bringing the spotlight on others to help them build the spaces their in and allowing them to shine.

// The Invitation

So - here’s the shift I keep coming back to and I want you to take away -

Promotion isn’t standing on a stage shouting, “Look at me.”
It’s walking into a room and saying, “I see you.”

The first one grabs attention - thats a given, but the second one builds belonging.

And belonging lasts longer than any spotlight.

That’s the real power of promotion, it’s not the polished words or the perfect lighting, it’s whether the person on the other end felt like they mattered.

I watched that happen on Thursday, the panel didn’t need to plaster themselves in logos or rattle off their CVs because they listened, they responded with kindness and they gave a little piece of themselves away. And by doing so, they created a space where everyone else felt part of it.

That’s why people will remember them, not because they shouted the loudest, but because they included others in the story and isn’t that what we’re all really looking for? Not just to be noticed, but to be invited in and to be part of something and most importatnly, to matter.

Promotion, at its best, is simply the act of opening the door and saying:

“This isn’t just mine. It’s yours too.”

That’s what sticks. That’s what spreads. That’s what turns a field full of noise into a room full of connection.