I've known a couple of people in my day that were shameless self promoters. They couldn't eat dinner without trying to turn it into an "event" or a "gig." I've known some people that did amazing innovative work on the net and Rolling Stone and The New York Times somehow found them. I guess the point is the work was their publicity. They didn't need to promote themselves. People just wanted to be in on what they were doing at the time.
Myspace is a place for shameless self promotion. Bands and their labels promote on myspace as do artists of every medium and that makes sense I guess. Lately I'm starting to see one thing about myspace self promos and that is the artists are promoting to the same people over and over. Oh sure they have a fan base, but won't the fan base make a point of checking the official website for tour dates and news?
I tried shameless self promotion once for a short time. It was fun for about a minute and then I felt like I was spinning my wheels and it got old. One time I was chatting with a friend who pointed out to me that she is in fact a "local celebrity." Well, if you have to tell people that you're a local celeb....... you get the idea. On another occasion I met someone whom I thought could be a potential friend. It turned out that his interest in me was simply as another person he could promote his "events" too. I quickly realized all his "friends" are people who religiously attend his parties. That made me sad for him. It's like the person who is a room full of people and feels all alone. From what I've seen his funeral will be a planned event with $2 drinks.
I guess another point of being a shameless self promoter is geography. I can promote myself all I want but the bottom line is I'm still here in Philadelphia. Good old blue color, Rocky Balboa, Philly town. Talk about a glass ceiling. You're only going but so far here. Wouldn't the idea be to move to NYC and shake things up there a bit?
Maybe I'm just not a good salesperson but I'm starting to feel the only true way to promote yourself in through your work and making time for real relationships will fuel your inspiration. Some celebrities never do talk shows or award shows. Maybe they are busy living real lives and letting their work speak for itself?
Posted by Liz at December 2, 2006 10:41 AM| Posted by: Pax Romano | December 2, 2006 12:42 PM |
Wise words, Lizzy! Remember that old disco song with the line, "Where did all those yesterday's go, when you still believed that life could be like a Broadway Show". Sadly, it's called growing up. Have you ever noticed that my blog lacks any photos of me, or my friends? I don't want people to really know me, it's all just a fun thing, it's Pax Romano, not the real me. Screw self promotion, I prefer quiet reverence from my subjects (wink, wink). |
| Posted by: Liz | December 2, 2006 03:17 PM |
Your blog gets a lot of traffic and that's because it's fun and updated often. Self promotion simply is not necessary most of the time and can become rather borish. |
| Posted by: robert | December 3, 2006 08:50 AM |
i hear you about my space ... for me, many of my posts are promotional in nature since i use the internet as a promotional tool (which is pretty obvious) and keep much of my personal life and personal friendships offline ... i never warmed up to the idea of using the 'net on a personal level until this year with my memoirs blog, but that was more of a project for me, if that makes sense... |
| Posted by: The Divine Ms. Jimmi | December 4, 2006 11:09 AM |
New York City is lame now because all the folks from New York are moving here. Some guy told me that "Philly is a fun town!" Well, we always knew that--however; if you can't find fun in NYC, well--how lame is that? Like Flava Flav said a long time ago, before he pimped himself to reality TV--Don't believe the hype!! |
| Posted by: Liz | December 4, 2006 02:32 PM |
I said it before and I'll say it again, NYC is fun if you can afford it. It's not the kindest place to live and be broke, I've had friends that tried. I also know others that live comfortably there because there families set them up. Nothing wrong with that. |
| Posted by: robert | December 4, 2006 04:33 PM |
yea - over the years i have had a chance or two to head to nyc, but i really enjoy the ease and control of being a big fish in a small pond, which is almost next to impossible in nyc ... here, it just seems easier to be creative with events and such... |