Have you ever heard of any of these people:

· Dale Earnhardt

· Dr. Phil

· Martha Stewart

· Donald Trump

· Madonna

· Billy Graham

Regardless of their chosen profession, business or discipline, each of them is successful for a variety of reasons; but one thing they all have in common is that they are or were relentless self-promoters.

Being a self-promoter can conjure up many different images in the minds of many, some negative, some arrogant, some self-serving and some envy; but, in the end, this ability separates the also-rans from the supper successful. If you think of Herb Kelleher, (the founder of Southwest Airlines), you might think he was a lunatic. If you mention Bill Clinton, you’ll get two very opposing reactions; and if you bring up the name Michael Jordan, you might get very consistent reactions. But one thing they all did was self-promote in one way or another.

As I was thinking about writing this book, I was wondering: Has anyone ever been super-successful who did not have self-promotion as their companion as they brought their ideas, products, or talent to the rest of the world? I couldn’t think of anyone. Maybe you can, but I’ll bet that if anyone has achieved enduring and satisfying success, self-promotion was high on their list of traits.

What exactly is self-promotion? Is it self-confidence? No. There are a lot of people with strong self-confidence who are not comfortable in self-promotion. Is it talent? No. Many very talented people have never been successful or publicly heard of.

I could also mention numerous people in specific professions, who are super-successful, but because they are not relentless self-promoters, you don’t hear about them; their success is not measured by fame.

Now don’t get me wrong here. I am not saying that fame or fortune equal success. I am only saying that self-promotion is one of the most evident traits of successful people. Let me illustrate this with familiar examples.

Is Donald Trump smarter than other corporate executives? Is Oprah Winfrey better looking than other media people? Was Bill Waldron (the founder of Wal-Mart) better educated than you or me?

I am telling you, education is important. Talent is important. Effort is important. Timing is important. The right contacts are important. But even if you have all of these, you can still never achieve greatness or sustained success without the willingness and ability to be a relentless self-promoter.