Social Media 101 will tell you that listening is the number one thing you can and should be doing to get the most out of marketing in the Web 2.0 world. It’s all about listening to your clients, customers, and community – paying attention to what they’re talking about and where they are talking – then, after spending a lot of time lurking, listening, and waiting, figuring out the right time to jump onto the dance floor and start that whole “customer engagement” tango everyone talks so much about.

While listening is imperative, critical, and tremendously important to the process – the engagement point is where the rubber hits the road.

But what if you’re impatient, what if you have a product or service you want to share with the whole world. How do you proactively promote yourself, without coming across as a huge jerk? Here are three ways to self promote, without coming across as a jerk.

Get over the “it’s not cool to self-promote” mentality

It IS cool…or at least, a necessary part of the process. No one will know you’re talking if you aren’t talking. Sounds pretty obvious right? Content may very well be king, but content doesn’t get found unless someone – aka – you put it out there for people to find. Don’t be afraid to promote your own work, products, services, and ideas – if you believe in them, and believe that other will find value in them – there should be no guilt in promoting it.

Promote other people 3x as much as you promote yourself

The quickest way to come across as a jerk is if ALL your doing is promoting yourself. Promote yourself, sure – but promote the heck out of other people. Find the influential people in your “market” or community and promote their stuff. A RT, a link in a blog post…these things equal respect. At the end of the day, you may have your own personal goals in mind, but everyone responds well to positive promotion for others. Give credit where credit’s due.

Be aggressive, but not intrusive

Let people know you’re out there, but also know when to back off – when to hold back and when enough is enough. If you rub someone the wrong way – don’t keep pushing your stuff on them – explain to them what you are/were trying to do, but don’t attempt to force them to buy into whatever it is your “selling”. Promotion is important, but there is a fine line between too much and “just enough”.

There is a “right way” to self promote the good things you are doing – take some of these thoughts into consideration and get out there and let the world know who you are (and more importantly why they should care).

Matt Cheuvront is the mastermind behind Life Without Pants. Take the next step by saying hello on Twitter and subscribing to his blog today!