Tags
business, Calgary, community, connecting, Diana Schwenk, ethics, generosity, Hump Day Chronicles, integrity, marketing, mission, passion, Purpose, Self-Promotion, Selling yourself, The Other Bottom Line, vision
As most of you know, I’ve hung out my own shingle, so to speak, with the intention of offering counsel to small non-profit organizations who may, or may not have staff who look after fund development and communications.
Now I find myself in a place where I need to develop some kind of brochure that I can use to market my little company. It’s easy to talk about the services and packages I offer. But to be honest, when it comes to selling myself, I have written and scrapped countless attempts! It all sounds like blah blah blah with a touch of I’m-so-special-and-here-are-my-outstanding-credentials-aren’t-you-impressed-with-me-ness. Yuck! I choke on the words. My inner Bull Shit meter registers off the scale! It doesn’t feel like me.
I know who I am. I know what I believe. I know who my target audience is. I understand ethical fundraising. I know the rights of donors. I know that engaging the community in dialogue instead of monologue is important and more effective. I know stories connect us. I know what works. I know what doesn’t work. I’ve been doing this in one way or another for 20+ years. I know my stuff – bottom line!
As luck would have it, someone recently gave me a copy of The Generosity Network – new transformational tools for successful fund-raising. Inspired by its approach to story-telling (which resonates so well with me), I think I’ve found a way to impart who I am and what I do by painting a picture with words in a way that feels sincere.
We’ll see how it goes. I’ve written a first draft and given some thought to how it will look. I’ll come back to it in a few days.
~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~
How do you sell yourself?
