Bit of an oxymoron, that title? Let me say at the outset that I think most of us are very good mannered, or certainly have that intention, as we set about marketing our services as coaches, therapists, consultants etc.
Recently I observed an online discussion around ethics and marketing. There was a fair bit of 'of course we're ethical' going on, and I'm sure that most of us are, but the debate fed into a line of thinking I have been following for a while.
I had noticed that, in certain parts of the marketplace, Twitter is being used as a tool with which to bombard all one’s ‘followers’ with marketing messages. When I expressed my discomfort with this on a forum I received a series of emails in which 'how to use Twitter to market yourself' was painstakingly explained to me. In truth, I 'got' that already, but didn't like it at all, either as a receiver, or as a potential Twit.
Recently I started to spend less time on my @webstuffwoman twitter dashboard and more on @groovy_granny - using it to build relationships and to specifically NOT follow anyone who did the 'in your face' marketing thing. What has happened has been quite life changing, and I choose that expression deliberately.
Firstly it has been validating - yes, there is a buzzing Twitter community who are not of the 'I'm having a ham sandwich for lunch' brigade, neither are they ... (see above)!
Most importantly, though, I've found is an authentic community which uses a polite, modest approach. Two of my new Twitter friends have posted in ways which underline this:
Kicking it analog old school in this new digital world
Their subject matter is different but the basic premise is old fashioned good manners and let's hear it for modesty and humility.