The awkwardness of self-promotion
Especially when you're Irish
They say do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life, right? Well, we all know by now that’s not exactly true. Yes, it’s certainly preferable when your profession revolves around doing things that make your heart sing, I can testify to that. But there are always downsides to every job you do for money, and mine is this - the unbearable task of self-promotion.
Those of you who follow me here likely already know that I have my own podcast. It’s called You Had Me At Hello, it’s all about romcoms, and it’s an absolute joy in my life. For the Valentines episode, I convinced my husband Joe to come on as my guest and it’s a lovely chat, if I do say so. I thought not only would it be enjoyable to record and to have for posterity, but I also knew it would do well - people are fundamentally nosey, especially Irish people, and I’ve never asked Joe to get involved with any of my work stuff before.
But I did pause for thought, because revealing any bit of your private life on the internet can be concerning to say the very least. Still, I figured the pros outweighed the cons, and you can listen here on Apple or here on Spotify if you like. Joe is utterly himself as always - gruff, succinct, sweet, funny, and doesn’t take any of my shit.
Trying to promote it is very frustrating though, because every time I mention the podcast on social media, the algorithm basically puts me in Instagram jail. Engagement in general is difficult for everyone at the moment, and there’s just no telling how to trick the Internet overlords in to actually sharing your content with the people that follow you. A picture of a sandwich on a random Tuesday? Everyone you’ve ever met sees it. Your podcast that you pour loads of time and effort in to? If you’re lucky!
It’s disheartening, but also how can we complain? Making ‘content’ is still very much seen as stealing a living. Every man and their dog has a podcast now (omg I wonder if Jacko would be up for doing one) so why should any of them deserve an audience? The simple fact is, they don’t.
The onus is on you to make sure it’s worth listening to, worth subscribing to, worth sharing. You have to find your niche, give it your all and be patient, which we know I’m not great at. Some AI bot scanning your stories for repetitive logos or imagery and relegating them to the bottom of the feed just doesn’t feel fair, though. It happens with books too - if you post that same cover one time too many, Zuck will punish you. (Insta is allergic to Substack too, btw. If you post a link, you’ll be lucky if your own ma sees it.)
Yet we keep doing it because what if it blows up? What if Booktok or Podtok or a hashtag actually work for you, and you become “a hit”? I put that in inverted commas because unless that translates in to actual sales or listens, it doesn’t mean much. There’s always that hope though. And another thing they say that’s accurate is, it’s the hope that kills you.
So I shall persevere, continue to shout from the rooftops about my creations. Because the audiences that do get a chance to engage do so fervently, and because reaching out to other people is the main reason anyone does what they do online. We all want to relate, to connect. Isn’t that what being human is all about? And what AI can never, ever replicate.
Please bear with your favourite creatives when they ask you for listens, downloads, comments, pre-orders, whatever the case may be. Because trust me, doing the asking is absolutely PAINFUL.
I feel this in the depth of my bones. I'm not built for this. And yet.... here we are.