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!

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The Five Essential Skills You Need to Find Clients

Some of you who have read my previous blogs must be wondering what I think are the essential business skills a Marketing Introvert needs to master. Here they are in a nutshell.

1. Strategic Planning
2. Business Communication
3. Marketing
4. Sales
5. Organization and Time Management

If you want specifics, see the list below. This list can look overwhelming to a true Marketing Introvert but if these essentials are put in place marketing will move forward much more smoothly and easily. For someone who isn’t crazy about doing marketing and sales in the first place, this is crucial! By mastering these, you will spend less time marketing and be more effective!

1. Create a (sufficiently detailed) vision of what kind of business you want in the future
2. Set goals (daily, weekly, monthly, etc)
3. Make firm decisions on the revenue sources you will offer and your pricing
4. Learn how to talk about prices easily to anyone
5. Identify your ideal clients and why they spend money on your type of product or service
6. Develop a marketing message based on #5
7. Learn the psychology of business communication
8. Develop a brief but attention-grabbing way to answer the question “What do you do?”
9. Learn how to network effectively with other business owners
10. Create a 10 minute presentation on your business
11. Develop several talks if public speaking will help you get in front of your target clients. Learn the secret to getting permission for you to call interested people after the talk BEFORE they leave the room.
12. Design 3 to 5 marketing strategies you will use on an ongoing basis that will get you directly in front of your ideal clients or people who will refer them to you.
13. Research and use methods of getting attention for your business on the internet
14. Create a structured way of speaking with potential clients (doing sales)
15. Understand what sales techniques work and which don’t
16. Be organized in your office so you don’t waste your precious time
17. Create an “ideal” work day template for yourself and stick to it as best you are able. Again this will save you up to 8 hours a week in lost or wasted time.
18. Be good at time management for your business since, especially if you are a sole proprietor and do everything from provide the service/oversee manufacture of the product to being the Bookkeeper, VP of Marketing, VP of Sales, Filing Clerk, and the Janitor.
19. Regularly assess your business progress and make navigational changes to your work plan.
20. Be able to work with yourself to continue becoming a more savvy, effective business person

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