Appointing Yourself

Mountains of Arizona
Partly Cloudy 85 Degrees
12:32 p.m.

A few days ago, I wrote about how I don’t call myself a “copywriter” and listed some of the reasons I don’t.

A reader responded with a good question:

“So what you call yourself instead?”

Frankly, I don’t call myself anything really.

And even though I created this world called the world of the Incomparable Expert, I would never call myself that. Because that phrase simply refers to an ideal that we aspire to. We are always on the journey. It never ends. We can always get better. We never get there. That’s not a problem, that’s the road to mastery. It’s the journey that stretches on before you forever.

So even though I haven’t appointed myself to this position, others call me that word all the time.

Do you see how that works? It’s the same word. But if YOU say it, you lose. If others say it, it’s a very different outcome.

I’ve read marketing books that recommend you appoint yourself to some position of authority and start telling the world about it.

I’ve tried that. It doesn’t work.

In fact, I’ve come to realize that doing this is an extremely WEAK move. It broadcasts insecurity and lack. Decades ago, bravado was enough to get you by when you made a move like this. These days, only truth gets you by over the long term.

There’s too much noise to rely on anything else. People don’t listen to what you say because no one believes you. People don’t care what you say because, for the most part, it doesn’t affect them.

Only when you arrive at the intersection of what you’re saying and what THEY care about does the attention shift to YOU.

But even then, that only gets you attention. From there, the ball’s in your court.

You have the power to transform that into trust, respect, even money if you choose.

And so rather than appoint yourself somewhere, you simply earn the right to be there.

Rather than talk, you do.

Rather than “market” yourself, you achieve.

You BECOME it so you don’t have to SAY it.