The Shy Marketer’s Guide To Insane Online Success

Oh my.

For me, it's the morning time, and not only did my Get Up And Go, Got Up And Went, but it apparently also developed transported technology and beamed itself to the happy lovely land of outerspace coffee growth.

ie,

But I digress.  🙂

Recently, I engaged in a discussion about the merits of phones with Maureen Sharib. Now, Maureen is beyond godlike when it comes to personal interactions; the woman could cause a granite block to become more talkative than a preschool class hyped up on jellybeans. 

Guess what emerged during the conversation?

The key fact that one of the components to my personality, my rather insane shyness, has been the direct cause of much of me online success.

Now, I've always known this (living in my body will do that to you, you know) and I've never really thought too much about it.  Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives (and no, I didn't just date myself, why do you ask?  🙂  ) my innate shyness … well, it just *is*.

I accept it, I embrace it, I don't try to change it…I make it work for *me*.

Maureen thought that would be a nifty thing to teach and so arose my free eclass, Internet Marketing For Shy People.

And for the 2nd lesson, I promised to explain how shyness has benefited me.

'course, that then starts talking about me me me, and not you you you, and if you're going to take a class from me me me, I'd much prefer to *talk* about you  you you!

Did that make any sense?  🙂

Thus, the second lesson has been totally changed, but now contains a direct link to this post so students can learn the behind-the-scenes adventures that made me into the Barbara Ling of today.

Thus, without any further ado, let me begin:

The Shy Marketer's Guide To Insane Online Success

I can sum it up in just one word.

"Leverage your strengths."

Okay, that's three words.  Actually, it's a sentence.  No, it's a sentence fragment!  But at least there's no chatspeak.

When starting out, shy marketers rock it out there when they accept who they are….and don't try to force square pegs into round holes.

They do not force themselves to try to call and network with people.

They do not attend bunches of conferences to rub elbows with their niche.  Why would they?  They're shy, dammit!  Instead:

Shy marketers patiently explore their niche without the unnerving detail of real life people interactions scaring them off.

• They read the blogs of the movers and shakers.
• They watch and learn from OPS (other people's successes) and then apply it gently to themselves.
• They don't let other people tell them they cannot succeed on their own. 
• They take ownership of their own learning and don't depend upon having to ask others.

See?

When you're a shy marketer, you simply *have* to learn on your own (because quite often, you're too shy to ask for help).  And that's okay too….'matter of fact, that gives you an extraordinary edge over the rest of the Internet.

How?

Simple!  When you learn on your own, you develop abilities that enable you to find how to do just about any technique/skill/etc…..by yourself.

Case in point.  I'm the original pioneer of Internet recruiting training….yet I've never truly spent time as a recruiter.

I wrote The Real Estate Pros' Internet Edge, a Product Pick by the National Association of Realtors…and yet, I've never been a real estate agent.

You name it, I can find it, learn it, and then teach it.

Actually, any shy marketer who believes in himself can do it.  All you have to do is give yourself permission to be…who you really are.

Next:

Shy marketers embrace *anything* that's not face-to-face or voice-to-ear, ie… email and Twitter and Facebook.

When you're a shy marketer, you quail at the idea of picking up the phone and *gasp!* calling someone.

So forget about that.

However, when you send email, you're safely hidden by a screen!

You can take on whatever persona you choose.

And Twitter and Facebook and social networking in general….why, that gives you bleeploads of opportunity to interact with people….*without* having the scary notion of Real Life impinge on your conversations.

Point, click, type.  And if someone figuratively gets in your face, close the application.  Case closed.

Another point about shy marketers:

Shy marketers build their list.

When you're shy, you have to, really.  That's the main way you communicate with your future customers.

Now, a list by itself doesn't have to be scary at all! 

It could be your newsletter.

Your ezine.

Your free eclass like Internet Marketing for Shy People!

A white paper your autoresponder delivers that solves your customer's questions.

Because shy marketers are, well, shy, they need to stay in contact with their future customers *something*.  And because phones or meetings etc. are out, a list….definitely is *in*.

Next:

Shy marketers give themselves permission to think outside the box.

Because you're shy, you simply can't call people for business networking, or run your own webinars, or what have you.

So you need to find what works for *you*.

Case in point – because I'm shy and hate direct selling, I decided instead to tackle affiliate marketing.  All that required was for me to get my affiliate links out to buying peoples.

Well, I could have built one site….or, I could build hundreds of portals that automatically generated the sites for me.

I chose the second.  Even back then, there was software that let non-techies do this (does PG Insider ring a bell, Adam Short?  🙂  ) …but being a geek meself, I built me own.

This was back in 2004 or so…that glorious time when I broke the Google Code and netting 250K (receiving 10K per month from Google Adsense and eBay and Amazon was dizzying, let me tell you!).

Again, if I wasn't shy, I wouldn't have focused on making money without having to talk with people.

So you need to ask yourself,

"Jeepers self, what do I love doing that doesn't require dealing with people?"

and then zoom off in the direction and explore.

I personally think the main key for successful shy marketing is the following.

Forget what other people tell you – do what works for *you*.

Because when you give yourself permission to grow…you just might find yourself blossoming beyond your wildest dreams.

Grow strong,

Barbara Ling

ps – want to grab my free eclass, Internet Marketing for Shy People?  It comes with a complimentary copy of my flagship product, Income Fitness!  Sign up below and then start holding onto your socks.  🙂

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