How to Market Your Business as an Introvert
So you’re wondering how to market your business as an introvert? Well from a fellow introvert, here is everything you need to know to honor your introvert status and create the thriving business you desire.
If you want to know how introverted I am, I am writing this article from my couch, under my blanket, with absolutely no noise. No TV. No music.
I spent the day (8-4:00pm) working with clients and all that time of being “on”, has officially drained me. I usually need about 3-5 hours to recover from socializing and human activity.
Nope, that’s NOT an exaggeration.
Some days are just to people-y.
If you are an introvert like me, then you completely get what I mean and you’re probably here to learn if it really is possible to run a successful business as an introvert.
The answer is 100% yes.
You can honor who you are as an introverted entrepreneur, your preference for the amount of human and social interactions, and the amount of energy is balanced enough for you to expend in the “extrovert” moments.
Here’s what I want you to remember: There are countless ways to do all things in this life and in business. The ones that work best are the ones that work best for you.
Honest talk: When I started this business, I started out honoring my “introvertness”. I started building my business by focusing solely on my blog and email list. And it was working swimmingly.
My email list was growing. People were joining my Joyful Life Challenge, hiring me to coach them, joining my facebook group, reading my blog. It was lovely!
Then the outside world started to get LOUD. People were telling me I had to blog differently, that if I wanted to really get people to know me, I had to be on Instagram, I had to do facebook lives, and I had to host workshops.
Did I eventually learn to love those things? Maybe the Facebook lives and masterclasses, but the amount of effort and energy it took for this introvert to put herself out there was overwhelming and exhausting.
With a little practice, I did learn how to balance those “extrovert” moments with setting boundaries, and giving myself long breaks afterwards to recover. Now that I’ve stopped FORCING myself to be like everyone else, be LOUD, and to be like “here I am. Look at me.” I’ve noticed my energy and anxiety has settled down.
But, it’s ok if public speaking isn’t your thing. It doesn’t have to be and we are going to dive into how you don’t need to be public speaking to be successful.
I recently decided that public speaking was taking too much energy for me, so I recently revamped my business and marketing efforts in a way that I feel can be sustainable. Trying to be an extroverted entrepreneur for the long haul was never going to be sustainable. In fact, it burned me out to the point I had to step away from my business.
Now, I don’t feel that constant energy rollercoaster of getting nervous because I HAVE TO BE ON, or the anxiety of actually getting out and being “loud and seen”, or getting quiet because I need to recover. When you are on this rollercoaster of forcing yourself to be on and then needing recovery, you actually are stifling your consistency. You aren’t stepping out showing the best of you. You’re exhausting yourself.
So here we go. Let’s dive into how you can market yourself and your business as an introvert and find you the best marketing strategy that will honor who you are and give you the results you desire (without draining your energy or freaking you out!)
Shall we?
1. Understand Your Introverted Strengths
In this loud, loud world where follower count, and number of engagements and comments are put on a pedestal as a form of validation that you are successful, I am here to tell you that it’s a mirage. It’s a vanity metric that has no basis in reality.
We often hear that you need to be seen. People need to get to know you. You need to compete with the other loud voices. It’s simply not true. You can be completely successful in countless ways, the way that is going to be best for you is there one you pick ONCE you are honest with yourself about your skills, what feels safe, and good, and energizing to you.
If you build your business based on things that are energy drains, you won’t have room for your own creativity. You will burn out and not want to show up, and your business can’t survive like that.
You’ll find yourself procrastinating and talking yourself out of showing up in your business.
Fact #1: You don’t need millions of followers, email subscribers or clients to be successful. You can’t simply be for everyone, nor can you be present for all those people.
You’re an introvert. Think less is more. The cool thing about business is that it is all about 1:1 interaction and relationships. And, as introverts, we shine when it’s 1:1. So, it’s ok to offer services to only one or a few people at once. You can be wildly successful when keeping your community, audience, and client list small and intimate. It’s how you thrive.
There’s a powerful mindset shift that introverts should focus on in business – you are only ever talking to just one person. Even when you are posting on instagram, or hosting a live class to a group of people, or even to a 1,000 people. No matter how small or large the audience, you are only ever having an intimate conversation with one person. That’s because people are experiencing you from their own unique perspective. They are listening to you because they connect to you, they are learning something from you that will impact THEIR lives and where they are at this moment. They aren’t thinking about the other people that are already listening in or reading or engaging with you.
When you can shift your mindset to this perspective, you can feel more comfortable and intentional in how you show up in your business. Your skill is intimate relationships and conversations. Honor that strength.
Fact #2: Introverts often excel at expressing ideas through writing. This is such a great skill to highlight and design your business around. You can be highly successful sharing your knowledge, skills and experiences through the written word. That could be blogging, creating email newsletters, creating an online magazine, or writing social media captions. You can also draft scripts to read as a podcast.
You don’t need to dance on REELS, or show up and share your life via video to succeed. Think of the countless other introverts that prefer to learn through reading blogs, reading their emails, or listening to podcasts. You’re creating valuable content for people just like you!
Fact #3: As an introvert, you are a great listener, which means you are great at knowing what your potential clients need. You hear what they are saying, what they are struggling with, what solutions they desire. Your listening skills make you relatable, easy to have meaningful conversations with, and help build a sense of trust with your audience quickly.
That makes you a magnet for like-minded individuals and they feel more drawn to you. They know they can trust you because you understand them.
If all of this sounds like you, I want you to think of this as sharing your gifts in a way that ignites your energy. People can feel if you are comfortable or uncomfortable, in your zone of genius or not, out of your comfort zone or right where you belong.
When you choose a medium of communication that best fits your personality and that you can feel naturally showing up in, you’ll show up more often, procrastinate less, be more consistent, and your energy will be a magnet for the ideal clients you desire to work with.
2. Marketing Strategies That Work for Introverts
To be honest, when I started my business I thought I had to step completely outside my comfort zone in order to be successful. All I saw was everyone on video, sharing their life, being loud.
It just didn’t feel good. I did eventually get comfortable on video BUT, I couldn’t be consistent. I’d freak out and get nervous every time I had to show up. I felt like I was trying to be something I wasn’t. I was trying to design and run my business as an extrovert and because I couldn’t be consistent and needed a lot of rest between this type of content marketing, I wasn’t building a relationship with anyone.
Here is what I’d love for you to know: you can build and run your business in a way that feels so good and ease-ful for you. That doesn’t trigger you to be too far outside your comfort zone in extrovert territory. You can choose the marketing methods that are the perfect fit for you.
There are a variety of different ways you can market your business and the best thing is that it can be done YOUR own way.
Let’s look at some examples:
Blogging and Newsletters:
What do we know: The people you want to help are the people that are trying to find a solution to their problems. They want a direct answer from a reliable source. They want something they know who has the knowledge. They want something they trust, that they can connect with, that gets them. And in the case of us introverts, you are probably going to attract other introverts.
Blogging and Newsletters are perfect for this demographic. You don’t have to have direct contact with them. They don’t have to have direct contact with you. They get to consume your knowledge and experience and you get to share your knowledge and experiences in a way that resonates with both of you.
The people on your email list or that read your blog are people that appreciate that you aren’t in their face or pushy. They are there because they want to be there, they want the content. And they are getting it in a way that highlights you at your best.
Social Media Value Sharing:
We tend to correlate social media with going viral, but it doesn’t have to be about that. Social media is like your little community. People follow you and consume your content because they want to. And if they don’t they scroll on by.
It’s also like a business card where you can highlight your knowledge and skills. Highlight the things you want people to know – your offers, your knowledge, your experiences and stories.
You may hear from people that you have to be consistent, show up everyday, etc. etc.
That’s just not true. You get to share your content and engage with others at a pace that works for you. Those that you have built a relationship with will look for your posts, expect them.
You can once again create written content with captions. You don’t have to do Reels or Tik Tok videos, or Facebook lives, or IG stories. You can simply stick with captions. Your people will read it. And people that discover you will connect with who you really are.
There are people online that I know will post pictures and captions, others I know will create Reels, and others I know that focus on Stories. Each of those people have found their comfort level of sharing. You can find yours as well.
All ways of sharing on social media work.
And since it’s more about quality or quantity for introverts, you don’t need to worry about going viral or gaining thousands of followers. You can just focus on staying in your lane and catering to your smaller perfect-for-you audience.
Email Marketing:
This is one of my favorite ways to build relationships as an introvert. Think of email marketing as a fantastic tool to build community with like-minded people. If you love email marketing, your audience will love it too!
Once again, with emails, people are experiencing your emails on their own AS IF you are sending that email message just to them. Your emails are like a love letter to your email list. They tend to be a little more personal than your blog posts or other forms of content. Think of old school letter writing. It was this personal correspondence just between you and them.
It’s as simple as sending a weekly email to your list. In your emails, you get to share more personal stories, relatable stories, and anecdotes. Because it feels intimate to the reader, your content feels like it was made just for them. This is such a low pressure setting to build relationships with your readers.
I find email marketing like a more intimate version of Facebook groups. No, your readers aren’t all interacting together, but they are YOUR community. They all probably have a lot more in common than you think because they are all just like you in so many ways.
Email marketing is a powerful tool for introverts. And the best thing about email marketing is that you get to do it in the comfort of your own home! (who doesn’t love working from their bed in their PJs?!)
Networking in Small Settings or Online:
Does the word NETWORKING trigger a fear response in you? Like “EEK, how awkward!”
I get it. Traditional networking events are everything introverts like to avoid.
Networking is so invaluable to your business. The more you network, the more people you meet, the more opportunities and collaborations you are opened up to. Networking can not only lead to potential clients, but it can open you up to cross marketing opportunities, new ideas, new niches or reach in your business.
Networking doesn’t have to be scary!
Here’s what I’ll tell you: There are plenty of ways to Network that feel more natural. You don’t have to waltz into a room of a lot of people and then just start chatting people up.
You can find ways that protect your space, limit who you interact with, and make it easy to connect.
You can join Facebook Group based on your business industry or your interests. This is a safe way for introverts to connect on a small scale, where it is easy to find topics and interests in common and an easy way to strike up conversations.
You can also join networking groups like the Female Entrepreneur Association and meet fellow introverts through there. They host monthly networking online events where you get separated into small pods of entrepreneurs where you can meet 4-5 people to interact with.
You can even start your own networking group where you invite people in to join. Then you can make it as big or small as you’d like. A few years ago, I invited fellow entrepreneurs to join me for a Zoom coffee chat once a month just to get to know one another.
Networking gets to be what you want it to be. There are no rules!
Overall, your marketing activities get to be what feels ease-ful for you, that protects your energy, and allows you to express yourself in a safe and yet helpful way.
3. Building Authentic Connections with Your Audience
One of the scariest things about being an entrepreneur is getting visible and sharing your knowledge and offers. It’s a big, big world out there and it can be intimidating to have all those people watching you.
It can also feel like you need to be loud, in your face, energetic, vibrant, and all over the place in order to succeed.
Here’s the good news: It’s as easy as being yourself. You don’t need to be someone new. You don’t need to turn yourself into an extrovert or overextend yourself or your energy.
Your audience, the ones that are perfect for you, want you to be you. They will connect to your energy. They don’t expect you to try to be someone else.
I’ve seen so many entrepreneurs that start off genuine then try to get louder, more kitcky, more “look at me” and you could feel the unalignment in their energy.
Your people will connect to your genuine approach. This is where you get to embrace your authenticity. Embrace your introvert-ness. You will do this best by honoring who you are and what feels good for you.
You will naturally attract like-minded people that prefer genuine connections, connecting to you in a calm, quieter, more intimate way.
The dream clients and customers that are perfect for you are most probably introverts themselves. They most likely have the same interests as you as well.
Most of my clients that I attract like the same hobbies like reading similar book genres, or going for walks, or the same TV shows and movies. Most of them have similar values to me.
Like attracts like in alot of ways in business. Celebrate this! You don’t have to change at all. It gets to be as easy as being yourself!
This is where you leverage the best ways to connect and communicate with YOUR people. This could be DM conversations, emails, one on one conversations, private clients.
I love doing 1:1 coaching and small group coaching programs. I remember being told by coaches that you can only scale so far with 1:1 coaching. I then tried other methods of coaching, other containers to attract larger amounts of new clients and it freaked out my nervous system. I realized I couldn’t be the best coach I wanted to be in a larger coaching session. I honored my preference for coaching individually or small groups of no more than 4 people at a time.
And now it feels SO good in my business.
Be honest with yourself on what would be best for you.
4. Tips for Conserving Energy While Marketing
Here is where the magic will happen in your business as an introvert. Being efficient with your energy.
Introverts only have so much “on” energy, so much energy for engagement and interacting. So balancing your time and boundaries will be INVALUABLE for you. You get to determine the amount of time you spend in outward-facing activities. In fact, this is a great mindset shift when looking at business activities – outward-facing activities vs. inward-facing activities.
Outward-facing activities are the activities that require engagement, interaction, connection with the outside world and people. So this is your conversations, one to one client work, phone calls.
When you batch your time and create your own schedule, set boundaries around these activities. Choose the amount of hours each week that you want to expend this type of energy. Make sure you schedule that in.
You’ll also want to consider scheduling “recharging” time around those outward facing activities. This will help you recover your energy, honor your introvert personality, and give you time for self-care. Alone time is so important as an introvert. It is what refills your tank and reconnects you to your own inner guide and inner voice.
Truth is, as introverts, we can burn out fast if we are expending too much energy on activities that are a bit out of our comfort zone. We NEED recovery time. So make sure you are balancing that in AND creating a boundary around that time.
Another great time management tip is batching your content. Create content in batches ahead of time SO THAT you aren’t needing to be engaging on the daily. This will help you keep your social engagement activities consolidated which will leave more time for recovery.
These time management methods will leave you room to honor your unique strengths and preferences. It sets your business up for success because you are working with what is BEST for you, maximizing how you best function, which will ultimately help you highlight your knowledge, gifts, experiences, and personality in the best light possible.
Conclusion
All this to say, that as a fellow introvert, I am here to tell you that you CAN market your business successfully by working with their strengths. You don’t need to be full of energy 24/7 or be loud, or dance on reels, or doing anything outlandish or out of your comfort zone to be successful.
You just have to honor YOUR gifts and strengths.
Make sure you join the email list where I share THE JOURNAL articles that will help you create the life and business that is PERFECT-FOR-YOU.
And if you need some support and guidance to design and create your life and business your way, let’s jump on a free 30 minute Momentum Call and identify the shifts and support you need to more forward with ease and confidence in YOUR zone of genius.
Next Steps
If you need some support and guidance to design and create your life and business your way, let’s jump on a free a free 30 minute Momentum Call and identify the shifts and support you need to more forward with ease and confidence in YOUR zone of genius.
