How do you balance marketing and self-advocacy against your personal brand and reputation?
I think a lot of the PH community can relate that we have a lot of pride in our projects/software and want as many people as possible to see and use it. As a result, we often self-promote across platforms like Reddit, LinkedIn, X, etc.
On the one hand, I call this self-advocacy, because no one else will post about you and what you've dedicated hundreds of hours to. On the other hand, self-promoting too much can lead to reputational harm, getting marked as a spammer, and being lost in the sea of other "self-promoters."
How do you find this balance? I think I tend towards being too conservative. Any tips on successfully getting your message/product out there without being a shill?
Final thought: it feels like self-promotion is okay for already successful companies, but up and comers are seen as spammers. Bit of a catch 22?
Replies
Cal ID
It’s a tightrope walk.
Early on, I made the classic mistake of blasting “Check out my product!” posts everywhere, only to realize I was invisible, just noise in a crowded room. These days, I try to add value first. Share something useful, make people laugh, or tell a short story about why you built what you built (I'm even doing a Build in Public series on all the platforms). When you post, think: am I being a channel, or just an ad?
If you’re genuinely adding to the conversation, it doesn’t feel like spam. Even if you mention your project. People smell hype, but they respect results and a little personality. And yeah, it’s unfair that bigger brands can drop links all day and look “active,” while founders look desperate. But building trust beats looking “cool” any day.
So yes, I plugged that I'm building in public - its a free Calendly Pro alternative and will count you in to test it soon haha.
My rule these days: if you wouldn’t click it, don’t post it.
What helped me balance this: one proof, one principle, one ask. Proof could be a user result. Principle is the why. Ask is specific and time-bound. Which of your recent posts could you reshape with that trio?
CalPulse
I suggest focusing on storytelling—share your journey and lessons learned. Engage genuinely and align posts with community discussions to avoid coming off as spammy. What have you tried?