For many nurses and researchers, the very idea of 'marketing themselves' smacks of self-promotion and an undignified narcissism (Davidhizar & Lonser, 2004; Duffy, 2017). Some authors have claimed that breaching socially accepted "modesty norms" are a particular challenge for women (Smith & Huntoon, 2013). Gender issues acknowledged, I propose here that Nursing as a profession has similar, deeply ingrained "modesty issues" that must be disrupted (Harrington, 2011). Marketing is equated with snake-oil sellers, telemarketers and at worst, with slick, well delivered lies. A major challenge facing today's researchers, early career academics and even experienced researchers is how to promote and publicise themselves and their working in ways that make such 'personal branding' (Nolan, 2015; Kheder, 2014;Trepanier & Gooch, 2014; Labrecque et al, 2011) acceptable. The current research world is intensely demanding of demonstrated impact, outcomes, measures, esteem indicators and more. This world will not look kindly on researchers or academics who claim that they are their School's 'best kept secret' or who take pride in 'hiding their light under a bushel'. For these reasons, this session could not be more timely.
Purpose:
The purposes of this presentation are:
To make marketing and 'self-promotion' not only 'acceptable', but necessary research skills.
To alert researchers to the changes and social forces that are re-shaping the research, funding and dissemination landscapes.
To show participants how best to 'work their publications' for maximum impact.
To help participants discover approaches to self-promotion, personal branding and research publicity and impact that are absolutely congruent with nursing and research values.
Methods:
Methods used in this presentation will be a combination of dialogue, Socratic questioning that challenges and provokes new understandings, illustration of 'real world' research examples and drawing upon current literature on 'research marketing' in all its forms. The concept of a researcher's 'Marketing Gravity' will be explained and strategies to enhance this will be proposed.
Results:
Participants attending this sessions will learn and develop:
Greater awareness of the ‘new world’ of research, funding, impact and influence.
How to use Social Media for research impact and dissemination (Duffy, 2017).
Concrete strategies and approaches to self-promotion and the promulgation of research and scholarship that are neither arrogant, narcissistic nor egotistic.
Practical and do-able ways of ‘getting out there’ and ‘getting your work out there’ that all researchers can live with and indeed embrace.
Conclusion:
The approaches to developing our research and research careers that worked 10 years ago are highly unlikely to work for the next 10 or 20 years. The research world is changing and nurse researchers need to change with it. A key element of such change is the ability to promote ourselves and our work and to develop our personal and research brand in ways that are personally and professionally acceptable.