Recently I had a series of conversations with a woman who is attempting to promote herself and her business endeavors. During the course of our conversations, it occurred to me that we had very different views (actually apposing views) related to what it means to be a woman in a business community (and more importantly) what constitutes acceptable self promotion practices. As a result of our conversations, I found myself thinking about the different ways business women have promoted themselves over the years. And I came to some interesting conclusions – which I will discus later on in this series.

But for now, if you are thinking about promoting yourself, try asking yourself these question? What type of impression do you want to make on the world? How do you think what you say and how you act influences your chances of achieving your goals? To narrow it even further, think about this: If someone from your target group (the businesses or persons that you are hoping to attract as clients) was asked to describe you using the first thought that came to their mind, what do you think that would be?

If you’re not sure, ask a friend, a family member or a co-worker (who you think will be honest with you). But keep in mind, your friends, family members and co-workers have gotten to know you, so it may be difficult for them to describe you from a first impression standpoint. So ask them to describe you in three words or less and see what they say. You might be surprised. Its such a cliché but so completely true – you only get one chance to make that first impression. Bad promotion i.e. bad first impressions can be career suicide.

© 2007 Stacie Clifford All rights reserved