Marketing Yourself in Public

The better handle you have on your personal brand, domain, business value, or your coding skills, the easier time you will have marketing in public. Everything we’ve discussed up to this point is useful in public, so I’ll just leave you with a few more pointers to consider whenever you engage and want to promote yourself online.

Pick a channel

The best marketing channels are the ones you’re already on. Whatever the reason behind your enjoyment, you have a natural affinity for it. For me, it was Reddit and then Twitter. Dev communities like Dev.to are great, too, as are the ones you build on your own (aka your mailing list).

Just be aware that some platforms are less rewarding than others. For example, Facebook charges you to reach your own subscribers, LinkedIn is full of spam, and Reddit and Hacker News don’t show an avatar, so you don’t get to imprint your personal brand. I think Instagram and YouTube are huge areas of opportunity for developers. Just pick one or two, and go all in. A lot of people use social media tools like Buffer and crosspost, but I think this is misguided because you end up underinvesting in every platform and everyone can tell you aren’t there to engage.

Don’t lie

Most things are taken at face value online, and this is wonderful for getting your message out there. However, if you misrepresent what you were responsible for or straight up fabricate something, you will eventually get found out. We like to think that things live forever online, but I think it’s actually easier to erase something from Google than it is to undo the reputation damage caused by a lie.

People will hold it against you for years, and you will not have a chance to defend yourself or atone for your sins. Stephen Covey calls this the “Speed of Trust”. Once you lose trust, everything you say gets run against a suspicion check, and you have to put up more proof points to be taken seriously. This also applies to promises of future commitment — if you simply do what you say you were going to do, you will stand out.

Don’t share secrets

You will gain more privileged information over time as you grow in your career. This is advantageous to you, and you should do everything you can to show you are a trustworthy guardian of that information. People might flatter you to get that information or offer an information swap, but the only way to encourage more information flow to you is to show that you can keep a secret. If it helps, I’ve started by flatly saying, “That’s not my informatin to discuss,” and people usually get the hint.

I always think about Christopher Lee, who fought in the British Special Forces in World War II before his legendary acting career. When pried for information about what he did in the war, he would say: “Can you keep a secret? Well, so can I.”

Inbound vs. outbound personal marketing

I borrowed this idea from Hubspot’s Inbound marketing and Seth Godin’s permission marketing. Outbound personal marketing is what most people do when they look for jobs. They only do it when they need to, trawling through reams of job listings and putting their CV in a pile with everyone else’s. Inbound personal marketing is what you’ll end up doing if you do everything here right; people (prospective bosses and coworkers, not recruiters) will know your work and your interests and will hit you up for exactly the things you love to do.

Market like nobody’s watching

Probably nobody is when you’re just starting out. This is okay, it is your time to experiment, screw up, and find your voice. Because marketing yourself doesn’t ordinarily fall within normal comfort zones, you should try to do a little more than you’re comfortable with. An aggressive form of this advice? If you’re not getting complaints about how you’re showing up everywhere, you’re not doing it enough. This advice makes sense to some people and is way too upfront and annoying for others. We each have to find our own balance — it’s your name on the line, after all.

Market like one person’s watching

Marketing is more effective when it is targeted at a specific someone instead of just everyone. Customize your message to the audience that you choose. People often don’t know what they want or why they care, so focus on what’s in it for them and tell them why they care. Quote their prior selves if possible.

Market for the job you want

This is a variant of “Careful what you wish for… you just might get it.” You’ll probably end up getting what you market yourself for, so make sure it’s something you want!