How many times have you heard that saying, Blow Your Own Trumpet? And how often do you do it?
I’ve had a similar conversation with three people this week, all about being able to stand up and proudly announce our achievements, and I know I’m guilty of not doing this myself.
Have you ever had some great achievement – you’ve just won an award, you’ve secured a meeting with a prospective client who you’ve been trying to meet for ages, you finally clear your in-tray, or maybe you’ve just secured some fantastic editorial in your nation’s largest newspaper. You’re sitting in your office. Alone. Nobody to share your excitement with (except maybe the cat or goldfish or your two-year-old who really couldn’t care less so long as they have your attention!) You phone your Mum or a friend who congratulates you with, “That’s nice dear. That should help when you finally decide to find yourself a real job,” (not that my Mum would ever do that – she’s very supportive).
These are the times when it can be easy to let the achievement pass almost unnoticed, especially if you’re a little on the shy side. But this is also the time when you really need to shout your win from the rooftops. Use it to gain more publicity or editorial for your business. Promote your achievements on your stationery or website if appropriate, and definitely blog about it!
From the three discussions I’ve had about this recently, they were all concerned that by announcing their win they were in some way big-noting themselves or trying to draw attention to themselves. Unless you’re naturally an arrogant person, most people won’t see your announcement that way. And as for drawing attention to yourself or your business… what’s wrong with that??? We all deserve to be recognised for our achievements and reaching our goals and milestones and I believe part of building relationships and being part of a successful networking group or forum is actually being able to share in others’ successes and give support and encouragement wherever possible. Who knows, perhaps you will then inspire others too.
So go on… share your success… let me know what achievements you’ve had this week, this month or this year.
Oh, and by the way… I’ll let you in on a secret… my business has just been nominated for the local Business Achievers Awards for the Professional Services category. Yippee!!!!!! (stay tuned to find out how I go 🙂 )