Raising my profile. An old friend expressed his surprise at finding me on Twitter, and I responded that I was trying to raise my profile. I accidentally responded in such a way that everyone could see it. That was good, because it made me think.
To be honest, a number of things that I do on the Internet are intended to do just that: raise my profile. I don’t think I’m unusual in that; I’ve noticed that people that write a blog put their blog address when they leave a comment on my blog. We want people to see us, to be aware of us.
Having recently finished writing a book with Steve Ridgell, who also works with me at Herald of Truth, I’ve been aware of what they call “your platform.” Writers need a platform, that is, a group of people that would be interested in reading what you’ve written. Publishers want writers that have platforms. Writers do certain things to create an awareness of them and their writings so that their books can be sold.
This puts me between two things that pull me in opposite directions. One is the need to create an awareness of our ministry, which personally means trying to find a way to promote myself. I’m not good at self-promotion. The other thing, however, is the “monster within” that I wrote about the other day. I want to be noticed and admired, lauded and applauded.
For now, I’ll press on, in some ways: trying to attract more readers for this blog, for example. But I won’t actively seek more friends on Facebook nor get into one of those schemes to get 1000 followers on Twitter.
What do you think? Is it too crass to think in terms of “raising your profile,” of making people aware of who you are? Do you find yourself doing that in any way on the Internet? What are appropriate ways and inappropriate ways?
{Photo by Barun Patro, www.sxc.hu}
I used to think that it was all about trying to get the numbers. I really wanted it to feed my ego. But, for some reason, I have just lost all interest in playing that game. Do you ever truly win? What is it all for? I just enjoy the friends and the conversations. As I have seen it grow and expand on twitter, it becomes more loud, obnoxious and annoying. I want real, not superficial.
There is nothing wrong with self-promotion, it just needs to be done in moderation and with tact. I have a good friend that has a link to his MLM website on almost every tweet. I guess we all just battle the monster within. The bad thing is, I know it and still battle it. I’d like to just kill it!!!!
Tucker, I went through the same thing with the numbers. I really stressed over the ups and downs connected with this blog. It took me a while to remember that I write this blog to share ideas that are percolating in my brain so that others will help me refine and sharpen those ideas. When I focus on what writing does for me on its own, I forget the numbers and just enjoy the process.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
P.S.–I find what you are doing on your blog (http://thetractorcab.wordpress.com) today to be interesting. Haven’t had time to make it over there yet (staff meeting in 10 minutes), but I will.
Tim, you may have to hire a P.R. person :) or do something so unique we just can’t ignore you any longer. good luck in your endeavor.
You know me… it’s all about the fame and fortune.