Awkward Like an Elizabethan Collar

Elizabethan Garden, originally uploaded by Madame Meow.

I know an insane number of Elizabeths.

Well, maybe "insane" is not the right word-- and as far as I know, most of the Elizabeths I know are not insane either. But definitely, the occurrence of this name within my circle of acquaintance is relatively high; not as high as the Christinas I know, but it's up there and it's more than five.

Plus I couldn't find any pictures of a Christinian Garden. So there.

Anyway, I'm not naming names, ironically so, but some Elizabeths in my garden are battier than others. So maybe there is something to the insanity here. But fear not, gentle reader --and especially gentle reader named Elizabeth: this post is not about you if you're named Elizabeth.

Or is it?

This post is about self-promotion.

I recently received a request on the Evil Feybook to please become a fan of someone with whom I've had very little contact since high school. The request was a thing of beauty. It read,

"[Name of friend]-- You have been invited by [Name of friend]"

So delightfully circular.

I realize she's an actress and, as such, it is important to self-promote. A fan page is appropriate, really: it's how she gets her name out there.

But it's still funny: like the ultimate Valentine to one's ego, if you will, the self-promotion of one's own fan page is narcissism of the highest degree. And that is pretty funny.

Which brings me around to the question: how do people promote their talent and keep their integrity and their face, if you will, intact? How do you get past the awkwardness of heralding your particular brand of awesome, if you ever do?

How do you put yourself out there and avoid being someone's blog entry and instead get people to pay attention to you?

Any ideas, blogiverse?

_________

(Incidentally, after this post is written, I will become a fan of hers. And then I'm sending her an invite to become a fan of my blog. So there.)

Comments

[Ghosty]

Be humble. Blow your own horn, but don't play "I'm Too Sexy" on it. Just show your stuff and let the people decide. Get what you do in front of eyeballs, and let everyone else decide how good it is.

And always look to be someone else's blog entry. Any publicity is good publicity, as they say. People will decide for themselves what they like.

[LJ]

I think it's different to have something like a blog you're promoting unless you're someone really famous. I get really annoyed being bombarded by random "recommendations" on FB and I feel like sometimes it is inappropriate. At least with a blog, you're keeping a door open for communication - to say hey there's new content or something like that.

You're not a director. What does she need to plug to you? Are you going to cast her? Some people who've asked me to "fan" them aren't good friends nor are they to my knowledge fan worthy. Is that too harsh? Maybe, but it's how I'm beginning to feel.

Between that and Farmville, FB makes me crankypants sometimes! ;)