One of the toughest… and most important… parts of running a small business is self promotion. If you’re in a service business (like, say, this one) or a content business (like several others I run) it becomes even more important, as the “product” you’re really selling is your own work and expertise.

Clearly, I’m not the only person in that position, so I thought I’d share this blog on self promotion, written by my About.com colleague Alyssa Gregory. This passage seemed particularly apropos.

If you want to effectively promote yourself without pissing people off, my perspective is that you MUST be willing to promote others. It irks me when I see people promoting themselves to the extreme, asking others to do the same for them, and offering not even a whisper of support in return. This is simple reciprocity, folks.

via How to Promote Yourself without Being a Jerk | Small Business Bonfire.

For the record, I make a point of promoting my clients’ businesses whenever possible/appropriate. If you ever have good news to share, please send it my way and I’ll alert the masses.

Facebook and Twitter are particularly useful venues for such things.