Tips for Introverts: How to Show Up in Business
Aug 24
I got a great question from one of my viewers the other day. She asked “how can I feel more comfortable with putting myself out there?”
If I’m being totally honest, I think self promotion and “putting yourself out there” is one of the hardest parts about entrepreneurship.
I am actually very much an introvert, myself. And I used to feel so much stress and pressure every time I’d post to social media or try to show up in my business. Because of that, sometimes I’d not post at all.
But over the years I’ve developed a few tricks to help me show up confidently and consistently for my business—in everything from social media and YouTube, to Podcast interviews and speaking engagements. And I’m sharing my top 3 tips for introverts with you in this video.
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Here are my top 3 tips for introverts—how to show up in your business with confidence. Let’s dive in.
Tips For Introverts #1: Be Genuinely Helpful
One of my favorite business books, which has also had a huge impact on me personally, is How To Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie.
In the book, among other great and timeless advice, he shares that one of the best ways to connect with people during conversations is to talk about the other person, not yourself.
I think for most of us, the tendency to talk about ourselves, our own lives, and our own points of view is just natural.
We are incredibly self focused. But that’s okay, because so is everyone else.
And you can use that information to your advantage.
When it comes to striking up a conversation with a new business connection, you can gain their admiration and more importantly their attention by making the conversation about them.
You can also use this concept in building your brand and “putting yourself out there.”
In fact you should use this concept.
A big marketing mistake
Most businesses and entrepreneurs mistakenly go into marketing and promotion making everything about themselves, their business, and their products or services. But if we remember that human nature dictates that we are all individually self-focused—it’s easy to understand why these types of marketing campaigns don’t work.
Put more simply: Your clients and your audience don’t care about you. They care about how you can help them. And that distinction is everything.
One of the most effective and quickest ways to build your brand is to be genuinely helpful to your audience. You are the expert that has the solution to their problems. Help them solve it!
It also takes so much pressure off of you, when your main objective is to just be helpful.
If you had to give a speech in front of 100 people about either: a) how amazing your business is, or b) a simple solution to their biggest problem—which would you choose?
I would definitely choose b. You are suddenly transformed from sleazy salesperson, to teacher or mentor.
Can you feel the difference in the energy between those two?
Be Helpful and Build an Audience
If all you’re doing is shamelessly plugging your business to anyone who will listen, you build animosity and resentment. If, instead, you approach your audience with a genuine interest to help (whether they’re paying you or not), you build goodwill and rapport.
And overtime, those people will buy from you.
This also puts you in a different mental state—that of a teacher. Instead of feeling pressure to be absolutely flawless and have a sleek sales pitch, you are providing value and not expecting anything in return. It takes so much pressure off.
I personally hate public speaking. But I LOVE teaching others. I love helping them and witnessing their ‘aha’ moments—and feeling like I’ve had a real impact on their businesses and their lives. So every time I’m asked to speak, I approach it with a teacher’s heart.
And I don’t just do this when I’m speaking. I do it with my YouTube videos, blog posts, emails, and social media.
So if you’re feeling uncomfortable (or downright icky) about something you’re about to post or share—reassess it. Maybe you’re being too salesy. Or maybe you’re just talking too much about yourself. Turn it around and see how you can make it about them—your audience, and ideally your ideal client.
For a deep dive into this concept—including how to figure out your ideal client’s biggest problem and help them solve it, check out my 50-page guide, Client Breakthrough. The link is in the description down below.
Tips For Introverts #2: Plan and Schedule Everything Ahead of Time
One of the biggest sources of anxiety that I’ve noticed in introverted entrepreneurs, like myself, is the stress of posting in the moment, on social media.
To me the idea of trying to come up with the perfect thing to say, in the moment, and then expecting that instant feedback of likes, comments, or shares, is really overwhelming.You can get caught in this negative spiral of tweaking and adjusting—trying to make it absolutely perfect before hitting publish. When I used to approach my social media and content marketing this way, I’d usually just shut down and not post anything at all.
Instead, what I recommend is planning out and scheduling everything ahead of time. That way, you’re not feeling the pressure of having someone read your post or watch your video minutes after it’s been created.
Also, the more time you give yourself, the less emotional attachment you feel to that piece of content. And if it’s pre-scheduled it will be shared with your audience while you’re busy working on other things.
Plan Ahead to Focus on Your Other Work
I do this with almost all of my content now. It’s planned months in advance, created, and scheduled—so it’s running in the background while I’m focused on other things.
We also do this for our content marketing clients—and I think it’s a huge part of why they’ve seen so much growth since working with us. All of their content is scheduled out in advance as well so it takes a ton of pressure off of them (when most were just posting in the moment previously).
Another added benefit of planning it all out ahead of time is that your overall content marketing will be much more effective. When you post in the moment it’s typically reactionary and not well thought out. However, if you have an overarching content marketing strategy that you’re working from there will be intention behind each post and piece of content.
So I’d love to know—how many of you post in the moment, and how many schedule ahead of time? Let me know by either saying “in the moment” or “schedule ahead” in a comment down below.
Tips For Introverts #3: Stay Focused on Your Path
For introverted entrepreneurs, like you and me, there are two really big issues that can be our downfall:
- Shiny Object Syndrome
- The Comparison Trap
And they really go hand-in-hand.
We all know what it’s like to be scrolling on instagram and suddenly see that another entrepreneur in our niche is launching some fabulous new program, or service, or website… or whatever. And suddenly we think 2 things:
- “Oh my gosh, I need to do that too!” [hello Shiny Object Syndrome]
- “She’s doing that?? I’m so behind.” [hello Comparison Trap]
The thing is, whatever she’s launching, it was probably planned out months if not years in advance.
Shiny Object Syndrome and The Comparison Trap make us incredibly reactionary. They make us feel like we constantly need to pivot to catch up and even stay relevant. Or worse, it can make us feel left behind and irrelevant—which leads us to not putting ourselves out there at all.
But really these things are just distracting us from what we should be doing—focusing on our own path.
You should have your own plan for your own business—which means you know what you’re doing and why. It doesn’t matter what those other entrepreneurs are doing.
Show Up With Confidence When You Have a Plan
When you have a plan and you know your path, you know how to show up in your business. And that gives you the confidence to share your message proudly with your audience—regardless of what any other entrepreneur is doing.
So stop worrying about what those other entrepreneurs are doing. Stop scrolling if you have to—I did.
I talked about this in my last video, Work from Home Productivity Tips for Entrepreneurs—click that link if you want to check it out.
Social Media Detox for Better Productivity
I actually quit Facebook and deleted the Instagram app from my phone because I realized that I was wasting precious time worrying about what my industry peers were doing—instead of staying focused on my own path.
Since getting rid of Facebook and all but getting rid of Instagram, I’ve actually nearly tripled my income. And I don’t think that’s a coincidence at all.
I’ve been head down, focused on my business, and it’s paid off. Big time.
Speaking of staying focused on your own plan, this really aligns with my previous tip—to plan and schedule everything ahead of time—like your social media.
If you want to know more about how I stay focused on my own path and create consistent content that attracts my ideal audience, then grab my free guide—Your Social Brand Guidebook—to help you craft your own social media marketing strategy.
I know it’s not easy building a business and feeling the constant pressure of having to “put yourself out there.” So hopefully these tips for introverts are helpful to you!
Let’s make a pledge to show up in our businesses and not worry about what other entrepreneurs are doing—or trying to make everything perfect, or go viral, or get enough likes.
Let’s just show up with confidence because we know we have something valuable to share with the world.
You’ve got this—as always I’m cheering you on.
If you want to know more about creating an audience of raving clients and fans, then check out these posts:
- Ideal Client Avatar For Life Coaches: 5 Steps To Getting Booked Out
- How To Be A Leader In Your Niche
- How To Attract Higher Paying Clients
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