When the Product is You
Navigating the art of self-promotion
As I mentioned in my last installment, my plan for 2024 is a dual pronged approach:
Consulting with individuals, startups and emerging businesses who need product advisory services
Building a product lab, focused on the long tail of “smaller scale” ideas, nurturing a herd of diverse cattle, rather than pursuing the proverbial unicorn
These activities are conceptually quite different from one another, with one focused on empowering others to create, scale and fortify their businesses, while the other is focused on my own creations.
They do, however, share one attribute that I have historically had mixed feelings about: they both require me to figuratively sell myself, as in many ways, at this early stage, I am the product.
Given my background as a Product Manager, it might be a bit weird that I find this a little unsettling, as a key part of the PM job is advocating for your products and teams, but there is some nuance here given the lack of an intermediary thing to point to.
Of course, I already “sell myself” at times. We all do at critical junctions in our careers, like interviewing for a new role or advocating for a promotion, but I’ve typically been more of a “let the work speak for itself” kind of person.
That has worked often enough, but has also failed me often enough, that some new programming in this area is a welcome shift.
As I kickstarted these businesses just in January, I was initially very hesitant to set a target for Q1, but once I did do that, it pushed me to get out there and to get it. It’s a reminder that this muscle within me exists, but it’s not yet muscle memory. This year, it’s up to me to vigorously develop it.
Speaking of which, if anyone you know might be interested in a free discovery call with me about ways I can lend my product expertise to opportunities or challenges they’re facing, get in touch.
I recently worked with a startup founder looking to build out a new platform, helping them to think through their MVP, process flow and which capabilities it made sense for them to build, buy or defer at their current stage.
I’ve also been focusing on technical writing and API / developer experience as anyone who has worked with me knows, I live and die by good documentation.
That’s all for now folks. In my next post, I plan to talk a bit about my experience jumping headfirst into the world of Generative AI and ChatGPT, and the ways I think it can help me on both my tracks this year.