Most of us have something we are good at. For the 60 finalists of the second Yakezie Writing Contest, they have the ability to convey beautiful messages through words. All finalists should be very proud of their writing skills and story-telling abilities. Good communication is what makes harmony sing to goodness, and goodness dance to happiness.
Being good is sometimes not good enough. In every stage of life you will face this peculiar issue. You may be qualified to get into a great school, but so is everybody else who enters your school too. As a result, you’ve got to do things to differentiate yourself, otherwise people won’t see you. You could be good computer programmer, but if nobody every notices your work and guides you towards the right projects, you may never be good enough to create that next amazing software.
WHO WILL WIN?
The three people who will win the second Yakezie Writing Contest will not only have written good essays, they will have also successfully marketed themselves to as many people as possible to gain the most number of votes. Marketing yourself tactfully is a very important skill for anybody who wants to get ahead in any organization. Look around carefully in the workplace. Notice how those who’ve risen in the ranks have developed a very strong network of friends who support them. They’ve spent the time getting to know others on a personal level.
Meanwhile, there will always be someone within your organization who is outstanding at what they do, but doesn’t seem to get very far, or at least as far as they should. Some have the mistaken belief that if they do fantastic work, other people will automatically praise, notice, and promote. That’s seldom the case in a world where relationships mean everything.
MY OWN EXPERIMENT
One of my articles entitled, “Making Six Figures” was entered in Free Money Finance’s March Madness competition. I was curious to see how it would stack up against Elle’s Debt Reduction article if I did no promotion. I figured I had a chance given my article has over 100 comments and 25 tweets. In fact, it had no chance at all as it got out-voted 5:1!
I have a default assumption that people believe increasing their income is infinitely more interesting than paying down debt since there’s no limit in how much one can make. But, perhaps I was wrong given how little votes my post got. So, I did a quick Twitter survey to see whether people would like to read more about increasing their income, or reducing their debt on Financial Samurai, and it was a unanimous 8 for 8 that everybody was interested in reading about earning more income! Share your thoughts in the comments below.
The conclusion as to why my post lost is simple. Marketing and encouraging others to vote makes all the difference. I wish Elle the best in the competition as well as all my other Yakezie Members! Denver Eric is hosting a Yakezie only blogger of the Year competition that you’re welcome to check out too. Go vote!
The second Yakezie Writing Contest will close its voting booths at 6pm PST on Wed, March 16th. Winners will be announced the week of March 21st. Good luck everyone!
ADMINISTRATIVE UPDATES
We recently upgraded Yakezie.com to WordPress 3.1. As a result, we have experienced bugs such as the temporarily lost functionality in the Yakezie Forums, an error in the mozRank feeds on our Yakezie Network page, and non-updating Tweet buttons. Things should be good to go now, but please report in any bugs you might find so Yakezie Webmaster Chris can bug squash! You may have also noticed that we have a new “Writing Contest Essays” tab next to the “Yakezie Network” tab below to streamline the homepage.
Finally, we’ve put together our own Yakezie Zazzle Store! At the Yakezie Zazzle Store, you can find a whole host of neat items which helps support the Yakezie and represent our Network with pride! We’ll be creating more T-shirt designs overtime. How cool would it be to rock a Yakezie t-shirts at a conference such as South by Southwest or the Financial Blogger Conference!
Best,
Sam
I loved your post! I’m a big believer in doing both – paying down debt and increasing income. Being in the Yakezie has helped me realize how important promotion and reaching out to others are with blogging.
I think FMF is doing a fantastic job promoting other bloggers, his site, and helping some great charities with his March Madness contest. I propose an interview with for the Yakezie site!
FMF is an inspiration to me for how much he gives to charity via his sight. It’s a model for us all! Good luck in the rest of the competition!
Hey Sam, no doubt that marketing in a non-sleazy way is the secret. That is why Guy Kawasaki, and Seth Godin have sold so many books. The techniques they espouse really do work, and that is what is going on at Yakezie.
Everyone here has chosen to be here to support each other, and themselves, a true win/win!
I’m excited to check out Guy’s book, Enchanted. Definitely something right down our alley for online ventures.
Yeah marketing can really make a difference. It’s an art in itself. I learned to keep track of all the various projects and improvements I do at work and then blast the list to my manager during the performance review process. Even though I keep him updated during the year he has a bad memory and I want to make sure I have every chance possible to be rewarded come bonus time. Cool work on the Zazzle store!
Yes, managers are notorious for BAD MEMORIES! That’s why if you are to mess something up, best to do so in the first three months of the year!
Glad you like the Zazzle store!
How about a Yakezie conference in the good ol’ city of Charlotte, NC. Just let me know when and we can set it up :) Charlotte’s a great city for event hosting.
I donno about Charlotte, NC Romeo. I think Hawaii might be better… or Cancun!
Sam, the store is great. I’ll definitely be rocking a Yakezie t-shirt at the Financial Blogger conference. We should plan a group meetup during free time.
Cool! That’s neat you are going. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it, but if you’re ever in SF, let me know. We’re going to add more designs to the shirts too over time.
I love the Yakezie store, that’s great! I was just thinking I needed an apron. ;) What better way to promote than through wearing the name!
Sweet store! Definitely might be buy a shirt to sport around at my gym haha. Man, I wish I could go to the conference! I say the next one is in sunny San Diego, who’s in?!
the premise is very true. as someone who is always looking for undervalued websites to buy, turn around and sell, i am continuously amazed at how many excellent and useful websites are out there that are so poorly marketed and monetized. you are right, being good simply isn’t enough
I always like to learn about ways to make more money. I once heard that to get ahead of your debts you have to either make more money or cut back. I picked make more money!
Oh GREAT… A store! (Okay, so I like to shop :). Can’t wait to check it out. This post had an excellent lesson!! Many times the best marketer wins!! Not the one with the best product!
I totally agree with having to differentiate yourself. Marketing can be a headache but it’s worth it.
[…] essays and publish one a day during the month of May. Winners will be announced in June.Remember, being good is sometimes not good enough. Besides encouraging people to develop their writing skills and go out and seek their success, we […]
That’s pretty cool about the store! Might have to go pick up a mug or something else. :)
[…] one of the last YWC’s winners.Once you are a finalist, please take note that sometimes being good is not good enough. It takes tasteful self-promotion and marketing to get ahead in the competitive real world. We […]