Alexander and the Gordian Knot!

There is an old story about Alexander the Great and the famous Phrygian Knot at Gordium.  The legend said that whoever could unravel the knot would become ruler of Asia.  When Alexander came through Gordium, of course  he wanted to take a stab at fulfililng the prophecy.  But when he examined the intricate knot he could find no ends.  They had been cleverly hidden within the knot itself.  Always a man of action, Alexander didn’t waste any more time on the knot.  He just pulled out his sword and sliced the knot in two.  Plenty of ends now!  He unraveled the knot and went on to conquer Asia (which he probably would have done anyway.)

A lot of times, Marketing Introverts tend to be more like the knot itself than like Alexander, a man who sliced through problems at a single stroke.  (This is not to say that the trouble he caused all over the civilzed world of his day was necessarily admirable.)  The reluctance we feel toward marketing and getting out into the world to find clients can seem to be a problem without ends to grab, without ways to unravel.  But this is largely an illusion based on unwillingness to grapple with the knot itself, which is not marketing or networking or sales, but finding a way to decrease the sense of fear and reluctance so that our minds can be freed to solve other more relevant business challenges.  Challenges like: Which marketing strategy is going to be the most effective for me?  Where are my target clients and how can I get in front of them. 

Remember that the most important thing is to not keep grappling with the knots in our emotional life, but to get on with conquering our ability to market effectively!

Read Full Post »

Lingering Symptoms

It has been a long time since the white-knuckle days when I first started public speaking as a marketing strategy.  Now I do public speaking all the time and I really enjoy it.  Its fun to share useful information with people and have potential clients line up for one-on-one complimentary consultations.  Speaking pays off in new clients.

But I will share a secret with you.  Even though I am 98% over my fear of public speaking I still notice lingering symptoms from time to time.  The biggest one is that when I stand up to speak I often find myself “breathless” during the first few sentences.  It is as if I just ran up a set of stairs to get to the podium, or as if I am exhaling all my air as I speak and somehow not taking air in.

I mention this because those of us who are genuine marketing introverts are probably NEVER going to find ourselves being ” total extroverts.”  I’ll share with you what I do in that moment when I suddenly find myself “out of breath” with 55 minutes of a talk left to go!

• I slow down.
• I relax my knees so that I can really ground through my feet.
• I use a little “pause for emphasis” between my sentences.
• I use that pause to take a normal breath and get my breathing back on track

These things are usually enough for me to catch my breath… and off I go!  Within minutes, I am laughing and enjoying myself with my audience.

If this sort of thing happens to you when you are out marketing whether it is a feeling of being ill at ease as you walk into a networking event, or a sense of nervousness as you sit down to talk to a potential client, you can make this “lingering symptom” become only a brief reminder that you an “introvert” and then let it go.  If you don’t panic about it, the feeling will subside, returning you to “normal.”

Give it a try!  It is very important for marketing introverts to remember that WE create our feelings… which means we have the power to create other ones!

Read Full Post »