Helpful tips to highlight your success without the cringe.
There are two types of brands out there — those that make a lot of noise and others that actually do their mission statement.
Loud brands grab the attention and opportunities even though they may lack the necessary values. Quiet brands consistently add value behind the scenes silently but rarely receive the appreciation and recognition they deserve.
Fear of entering the spotlight and worry that showcasing their accomplishments will seem boastful limits their potential — their contribution remains confined to the brand’s audience as they never proactively highlight their value and strengths.
Value creation and appreciation of that value don’t occur by merely doing great work — your brand also needs to promote itself and become visible. It doesn’t require being loud or boasting about your and your brand’s knowledge and skills. Just the right intent and a few effective practices will do.
Once, I hesitated to promote my brand at a major conference, missing a golden opportunity to showcase our unique solutions.
The lesson was clear: visibility matters and silence can cost more than just missed connections—it can mean missed opportunities.
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Tips to help you and your brand shine
Here are the five practices that can help your brand share its knowledge and experience without appearing boastful:
1. Don’t wait for your brand’s turn
If your brand shares its knowledge and experience only when asked, it may never get the turn. Others will not know that your brand has something valuable to contribute because it won’t be able to share its ideas and opinions.
The less your brand speaks, the less others will know about its skills and strengths. The less they know about your brand, the less they will be inclined to seek it out as a solution.
Don’t expect others to know your brand’s vision or the value it brings to the table. If your brand wants to be seen and wants to be heard, it should speak up without being asked.
But be careful. No one likes unsolicited advice or a brand that acts like it knows it all. It’s also hard to trust advice or a solution from an unknown brand.
When starting out, you and your brand should resist the temptation to tell others what to do. Even if you know the solution or have a better idea of how to do something, you shouldn’t share it just yet.
Instead, take the time to connect, build meaningful relationships, and try to earn their trust. Introduce your brand, share its background, and give them the necessary details to get to know it better.
Only when they seem comfortable, ask if they will be willing to hear your brand’s opinion. Seeking permission is a great way to showcase your brand’s value without appearing boastful.
Others will value your brand’s thought process and appreciate its suggestions once they see that its intent is to enable a transformation, or solve a real pain point, and not to show off its brilliance or appear smart.
Remember, focus on creating value for others; let others brag for your brand.
Key takeaway: Showcase impact through stories. Share real-life examples where your brand made a significant impact. This approach highlights achievements without needing to overtly praise your own brand.
2. Help others build valuable skills
Your brand can create a meaningful impact by applying its knowledge and solution to problems, but working within a box will limit its value.
The value your brand creates gets multiplied only when its solution works for others, not in that box.
When others learn your brand does well, its work is seen, recognized, and appreciated by many. Proactively looking for ways to contribute to a wider audience (a.k.a those outside the box) magnifies and expands your brand’s circle of influence.
If your brand wants to showcase its value, it shouldn’t limit its contribution to one audience. Don’t refuse to share knowledge. Instead, do this:
- Sign up to communities. Being active in a community builds credibility.
- Genuinely show interest in helping others.
- Be part of problem-solving discussions and forums.
- Identify which problems will deliver the biggest impact but are getting ignored. Take the initiative to solve them.
- Identify your customers’ unmet needs. Find ways to address them.
Having authentic conversations is very important when engaging with others. Don’t fake knowledge your brand doesn’tpossess. Don’t try to put on a show.
Furthermore, your brand’s value won’t be diminished by saying “I don’t know” to something it actually doesn’t know.
Confidence is good, but confidence without humility turns into arrogance.
Finally, you’ll see the power in this approach. Why? It leads to the power of others talking about you on your behalf.
Key takeaway: Leverage testimonials and reviews. Let the voices of satisfied clients or customers speak for you. Their endorsements are powerful and come across as genuine, external validation of your brand’s value.
3. Document your learnings and make them accessible
If your brand is an expert in its domain, knowledgeable in a specific field, or has done something that might be valuable to others, don’t leave it all in your head.
Document it.
Many brands shy away from sharing while building, waiting for a perfect success story. They fail to share their value because they think they don’t have anything valuable to say.
But good learning lessons aren’t just about your achievements, they’re also about your mistakes.
Make your brand’s knowledge accessible to everyone by documenting and sharing it with everyone. It could be a problem your brand solved, a decision it made, a project it led, a rebrand, or just about anything.
Doing this will not only help others learn, but it will encourage them to do it too.
This is how to go about it:
- Give background/context on the work.
- Talk about the decision process. How your brand evaluates pros/cons, what inputs it considered, who all were involved, and how was the decision made.
- If it’s a design or process change, give details on the changes along with the thought process.
- Share challenges and obstacles along the way. How did your brand overcome them? What worked? What didn’twork?
- Your brand’s learnings and a key takeaway.
Do it consistently. Don’t wait for a big opportunity or a great story to share.
Start small. Think about your everyday work and what could be useful to others.
Building a knowledge repository like this is a great way to showcase your brand’s value without bragging.
Key takeaway: Educate, don’t brag! Use your brand communications to educate your audience about your brand’sfield. This positions your brand as a thought leader and adds value to your audience, making any mention of your achievements a natural part of your narrative.
4. Instead of providing answers, ask relevant questions
When others are blocked, don’t know how to solve a problem, or they need input to make a decision, rescuing them by giving them the solution can make your brand a hero, but it does not lead to value creation.
Giving answers shuts down dialogue. There’s no conversation, no learning, and no real connection. It also promotes dependency instead of empowerment.
Value is seen and felt when your brand enables others to develop critical thinking skills — when it makes them think and solve problems on their own.
Asking good questions is a great way to show value because only those with relevant knowledge and experience in a field can engage in a deep conversation:
- What problem are they trying to solve?
- What have they tried? What worked? What didn’t work?
- What other solutions are possible that they have not yet considered?
- What small steps can they take to put their ideas into practice?
- How can they implement a feedback loop?
Asking questions unlocks creativity and expands thinking skills. Enabling others to find their own solution leads to long-term value creation for brands.
Key takeaway: Engage in community and industry events. Participation in these events, whether through speaking engagements or sponsorships, can naturally highlight your brand’s strengths without the need for direct self-promotion.
5. Optimize your time to do work that matters
When your brand’s calendar is packed with meetings, tasks, projects, or other discussions, you may mistakenly equate“being busy” with “value creation.”
The Pareto principle states, “80% of outcomes come from 20% of effort.” This applies to your time too. 20% of the time spent leads to 80% value creation, while the rest goes to waste.
Identifying that 20% is a big deal. Most brands and their founders get sucked into the daily chaos of their job responsibilities — back-to-back meetings, stakeholder expectations, putting out fires, and rushing to meet deadlines.
Without being intentional about where and how they spend their time, less time is spent on value creation, and more is wasted on keeping busy.
Instead of working long hours or getting caught up in the busyness of doing meaningless work, prioritize spending time on activities that will make a difference:
- Focus on activities that drive your brand’s presence and eliminate or delegate the rest.
- Identify areas that will deliver the greatest results with the least effort.
- Instead of being swayed by the urgency of unimportant work, keep your sights on the future.
A free mind is essential to navigate the challenges and complexities of the work environment, to connect in meaningful ways with others, and to do work that matters. Jumping from one problem to the next without a breather in between leads to poor choices and bad decisions.
It also allows you as the brand’s founder to review, make corrections, and adapt to the future — a great skill highly regarded at work but possessed only by a few.
Value creation doesn’t happen overnight, and you can’t force others to see your worth.
Trying too hard to make your brand visible will only lead to disappointment, frustration, and stress.
Key takeaway: Focus on the why, not just the what. Explain why your brand does what it does. Connecting your actions to your brand’s mission can resonate deeply with your audience, making your achievements more commendable and less like a sales pitch.
Final thoughts
Showcasing your brand’s worth tactfully is crucial. Share stories highlighting your brand’s significant impact—this approach demonstrates success without overt self-praise.
Utilize testimonials to let client praises illustrate your accomplishments more authentically than any boast could. Rather than bragging, opt to educate your audience about your field. This positions your brand as a thought leader and naturallyincorporates your achievements into your narrative. Engage in industry events to display your brand’s capabilities and commitment subtly.
Also, explain the ‘why’ behind your actions. When your audience understands the purpose behind your work, your achievements resonate as meaningful rather than self-serving.
Remember, effective branding is about value, not volume. Let your brand’s mission and story guide how you share achievements, ensuring visibility without vanity.
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