Marketing for Introverts: 5 Lesser-Known Ways to Get Clients
This one is for my introverts, my socially awkward friends, the ones who get so nervous about being more visible -- who also know that visibility is important for your business.
Any other tactics I’ve shared? You just go, “I just don’t want to do them, Erica, but I don’t know what else to do.”
I’ve got you.
These things do not get talked about enough and that’s a real bummer because they work! They create new connections that can grow into supportive business relationships with anything from collaborations, new clients, or referrals on the table. You want to be known as the expert you are--these are ways to make that happen.
This post will cover five alternative approaches that almost anyone can do with a small amount of bandwidth.
Strategy #1: Participate in Paid Communities
Paid communities can be memberships with a monthly fee, or groups attached to a paid program or course (eg. Facebook group, Slack, Mighty Networks, Member Vault Portal, etc).
But when you are in a paid community, especially if you are b2b, you're already in community with people who are making business investments. They’re treating their business in such a way that they are making investments to learn and grow.
Whereas, a free community doesn’t necessarily have that spirit. Plus they can just be a mass of people pitching constantly.
But if it's a membership, they have intentionally joined because they're at the very least willing to invest in growth and be with other people who are investing.
And I’ve just noticed for myself that once that facade is dropped and people are just in community together, people can actually make real, valuable connections with each other. Folks are being more themselves, already being a little bit vulnerable by being in a place where they can say, “I’m here because I need to learn something.”
Now, I’m not saying to be the gross person who's just pitching within the paid community.
Instead, I’m saying utilize the paid community to make real connections with people. Friendships made there are just as genuine and valid as ones made in the “real world.”
Strategy #2: Try a Digital Networking Event
So a few months ago, my friend Lindsey hosted a digital speed networking event.
It was only an hour. Everyone put their info in a spreadsheet: social handles, website, blurb, special promos, etc.
Then everyone had two minutes to talk about themselves and who they serve and give a little pitch.
You could follow up with people who seemed super interesting.
And I actually did that!
I reached out to several people after to set up coffee chats. It was a great way to leverage that one event into more ongoing connections.
So if you don't know of anyone doing one, you could always just set up your own.
And a lot of former in-person meetups or organizations have moved online. And they've done it in a way where it's a little less overwhelming than being in a bar or a conference room where you're just awkwardly standing around.
Strategy #3: Be helpful in Hobby and Special Interest Groups
You might not get as many leads from hobby and interest groups since folks aren’t explicitly there for sales strategy or whatever you do.
However, the nice thing about being in those communities is that you already speak the language and the lingo of that community.
So I like to knit and I'm in a group on Facebook that’s for people who are into true crime and into knitting, right?
There's already those overlaps there.
And when a lot of the people have their own fiber related businesses, there can be a way for me to build support and reputation. It can be the kind of thing where, if I see someone ask a question, I can step in and be helpful and utilize my knowledge and experience to help them.
One of my current clients is somebody from a niche group and who I had never, ever, ever, in my wildest dreams imagined would hire me.
But I was just being helpful and being myself and then she actually reached out to me!
So it's just that kind of awareness of people knowing what it is you do. People in that group might not necessarily need you, but if they know you do that thing, then it's helpful.
On the flip side, I have a client right now who is in the roller derby world (like me!).
There are lots of experts who could help her with her business goals.
But the fact that me and this client speak the same lingo, and because her product serves the roller derby community, it’s a bridge that helps her to trust me more. I really get not just what she's trying to do but who she's trying to serve.
Again, this isn’t about spamming. It's just that by the nature of you being in a community with a shared language, you can actually help people in that group.
Strategy #4: Try out Virtual Coworking
Claire of Conquer Your Content does biweekly coworking on Zoom. And it's really cool because it's just holding space for people working on their content.
If you need help to be really consistent with your content, you could show up and do that there. And it’s in a small, intimate community so it’s easier to get to know the people.
And again, the people there might not ever hire you directly, but now they know who you are, and they may refer other people to you going forward.
Even if you don't know of anyone that does virtual coworking, set one up yourself!
I've known a business financial expert who hosted an event to work on your business finances with a community around you.
And it's often a thing that people push down on their to-do list and they don't get around to doing it. So the invitation to participate and the experience in the room is not pitchy, pushy, or awkward.
It's allowing more people to be served in a unique way and know more about who you are and what you do.
Strategy #5: Schedule some Coffee Chats
The beauty of the digital era is that it's so easy to do virtual coffee chats with people from anywhere.
These don’t have to be really long and they don't have to be super involved or high stress / high pressure.
It can be a great way to connect on a human and biz support level, just asking from genuine curiosity, “Who are you? Who do you serve? How do you help them? Who can I connect you with? Are you taking on more clients or have a group program or a course that you offer that I could share with my audience?”
It’s a nice, low-key way to have a conversation with somebody and really get to know them.
I've had all sorts of really cool opportunities come out of coffee chats!
There’s a lot to say about coffee chats, so if this has piqued your interest, check out my blog post all about coffee chats.
In Summary:
What to try if you don't want to be internet famous and don't need or want to have a million followers when you just need some organic connections.
paid communities
digital/virtual networking events
being in free or paid groups that center around a hobby or special interest of yours
virtual coworking
coffee chats
Try one of these introvert-friendly marketing methods out for a little bit and tell me how it goes!
