A Little Shameless Self-Promotion
From where I sit (which is arguably not a position from which I should be opining on the subject), veiled—or even cleverly disguised—self-promotion is not only pointless, it’s annoying. The best work I’ve seen in this vein simply shouts “Hey! Over here! I’m amazing! Go ahead, beg me to work for you." This week, I tried an experiment. Given the limited success (okay, utter failure) of cold-calling agencies for appointments to look at my book, I decided I needed something to sweeten the deal. Turns out it was as simple as that. It seems that acknowledging how busy these people are—as well as the fact that they could probably use a good sugar buzz at 3 o’clock in the afternoon—goes a long way toward a good working relationship.
The whole scheme (they’re sugar cookies, for those of you without a sweet tooth) involved little more than a trip to Michael’s for some extra decorating tips and disposable piping bags, a lazy afternoon between the oven and the mixing bowl, and the new Elizabeth and the Catapult in the i-Tunes mix.
Aside from one adorably addled front-desk-person who could not figure out why I was trying to market baked goods to an advertising firm, they seemed to go over tolerably well. Obviously, I didn’t have many Creative Directors tearing down the hallway to meet with me, but I feel pretty confident it will at least make it to their desks. So, for $20 and ¼ that many hours, I got at least my toe in the door of more than a dozen top Salt Lake agencies (and no, that’s not quite every agency in the state).
It won’t likely appear in this year’s CA Design Annual (especially since the submission deadline was June 2) but I’m hopeful it will garner a few chuckles, some feedback, and maybe even a job or two.
We shall see.
