5 Secrets to Building Business Relationships When You're an Introvert

I've tried any number of ways to market my business: attending networking functions, joining professional associations, exhibiting at trade shows, just to name a few of my tactics. However, despite my best intentions, I've gotten little or no business as a result of my efforts. I know that part of the reason for a lack of return on my investment in these items is my poor follow-up with contacts I've made, but I think it goes a bit deeper than than.

I just simply don't enjoy those activities. There now, I've said it, and it's out in the open.

I'm a card carrying introvert (INFP) on the Myers-Briggs scale, and while I can be extroverted when at a meeting or a networking event or a trade show, it takes a great deal of energy and effort for me to do so. I feel as though I'm playing a role (and I am, to some degree -- the role of an extrovert) and am not as authentic as I am when I'm speaking with someone that I know well.

In any business marketing book or course, you'll hear that if you don't toot your own horn about your business, no one else will. So, what's a good introverted girl to do to get the word out about her business?

Instead of continuing to beat my head against the wall and continue to do those things that I dislike in the hopes that something will change, I've made a 180 degree turn in my marketing efforts. It's much more comfortable for me, and I'm much more authentic, since I've decided that I want to get 95% of my clients from online means. So, instead of spending a great deal of time and money out of my office trying to drum up business, I'm refocusing all marketing efforts to building relationships online.

What's even more surprising is that I'm pretty good at it. I've developed close business and personal friendships will people all over the US and Canada, most of whom I've never met face-to-face. However, I know that if I were to show up in their city, I'd be welcomed into their home or at least be invited out to dinner, as we know each other quite well, without having ever met.

What's my secret? I'm a great writer, and have gotten much praise and acclaim throughout the years for my writing efforts. Many introverts love to write, and that skill alone can help you begin to forge great relationships online. Here are my 5 secret strategies to building business relationships as an introvert:

1. Email Newsletter: I've been writing my email newsletter, Work Smarter, Make More Online, for almost 5 years now. For the first 3 years, it was a real hit-or-miss proposition, as I published the newsletter only sporadically. However, about 2 years ago, I decided that I needed to publish on a weekly basis, and in that I needed to write articles that truly reflected me in each issue. I'm now starting to see the results of the writing I do each week. The results include readers calling or emailing me for coaching, to sign up for a program, to sit in on a teleclass, or to form a strategic alliance with them. Just exactly what I'd would happen. You can read more about how I publish my email newsletter at:

2. Writing and Submitting Articles: Once I have written my email newsletter for the week, I now have a usable article to place on my website as well as to submit to article banks, directories, and announcement lists. As a matter of fact, as I was sitting here composing this article, I received this week's email newsletter from Entrepreneurnewz, and the email had an very familiar subject heading -- the title of an article I had submitted to article banks about 3 weeks ago! The service that I use to submit my articles is called SubmitYourArticle.com, found at http://www.submityourarticle.com. I can keep track of the articles that I submit and go in and pull out a plain-text version of the article to send to new sources.

3. Creating Your Own Blog: Blogging is now all the rage, and it seems that every newspaper, magazine and business has its own blog. Blogging is a great way to get noticed online, and it helps both returning and prospective clients get to know you and your business better. I just started a blog in mid-2005 and have experienced greatly increased traffic to my website. You can get started very easily using a free service like Blogger, http://www.blogger.com, or work with a service like the one I use, TypePad, http://www.typepad.com, that permits you to customize the look and feel of your blog.

4. Participating in Online Discussion Lists and Blogs: Many of the people I know today I have gotten to know through my participation in online discussion lists. I belong to a great number of lists, but only really participate in a select few. In order to make this work, you need to participate consistently on the list or blog. When others see your regular posts or entries, more people remember you and it becomes easier for them to refer others to you and your business. Initially, upon joining a list or subscribing to a blog, you need to lurk (read without posting) to see how others respond to posts, and you'll also want to read the rules of the list that you should have received when you joined the list. A great resource for finding groups in which your target market might hang out is Yahoo Groups, http://groups.yahoo.com, and I use BlogLines, http://www.bloglines.com to subscribe to blogs. When you begin to contribute to these lists or blogs on a regular basis, you'll start to become known as an expert in your field.

5. Conducting Teleclasses: I've been told I'm a pretty good speaker, but having to dress up and travel around my local area to speak to various groups isn't the most productive use of my time. Instead, I can reach people from the comfort of my own home through the magic of teleclasses. Teleclasses are conference calls conducted via the telephone in which you can deliver content, answer questions, or hold a brainstorming session. You'll need a telephone bridgeline to conduct the call, and I get mine free of charge at http://www.freeaudioconferencing.com. Both Teleclass.com and TeleclassInternational.com have great resources and training for anyone who wants to create teleclasses as a part of their marketing strategy.

You can sell yourself and your business, even if you're an introvert. Finding a marketing style that's comfortable for you is key, and when you're comfortable and authentic, prospective clients will beat a path to your door!

Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps self-employed professionals make more profit in less time online. To sign up for more FREE tips like these and claim your FREE ebook, TurboCharge Your Productivity: 50 + Tools To Help You Automate Your Business and Make More Profit in Less Time Online!, visit her site at http://www.OnlineBizCoachingCompany.com .
Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps self-employed professionals make more profit in less time online. To sign up for more FREE tips like these and claim your FREE ebook TurboCharge Your Productivity: 50 Tools To Help You Automate Your Business and Make More Profit in Less Time Online! visit her site at http://www.onlinebizcoachingcompany.com/. 

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Success Secrets of the Rich and Happy If You're Asking "I Want to Be Rich But How"

I want to be rich but how can I be rich and happy with little or no effort?

That's the question - "I want to be rich but how", is what most people want answered, and they want it answered now! The thing is, first you need to determine, what does it mean to "be rich and happy"? Some people have all the money in the world, but they're not happy. Others have to scrape the bottom of the piggy bank every day, but they seem relatively happy. Because to be rich and happy both requires all six basic human needs to be met. So you need to ask yourself, where are you on a scale of 1-10, within each of the following basic human needs:

Need #1: The need for certainty.

We all have this need and we all find different ways to satisfy the need for certainty. Some of us fall into habitual schedules where we do the same things every day, which satisfies this basic need. Others turn to their religion for something to depend on but we all need to feel like there's something in our life to keep us stable, something we can depend upon. If you look back in your life and recognize that somehow you've always managed to pull yourself through the trials that life handed you, then you are more equipped later in life to feel certain about your own abilities. Of course, the greater life's difficulties that you've had to bear, the more certain you can feel about your own accomplishments.

Need #2: Just because God has a sense of humor, we also have a need for uncertainly.

Many people think that the secret to life is to make so much money that you don't have to work anymore. But, if you examine people who have actually accomplished this, you'll see that actually is NOT the secret to life. Folks that have all the money in the world without having to go to work anymore are notably unhappy. Why? Because they're bored.

The fact is that we see those people usually starting another career or business once they attain their "rich goal" because they're bored out of their mind. We all have a need for excitement and surprise, which is uncertainty. That's why many of us will watch a movie that we've seen before, because we're certain that it's good, but we hope that we've forgotten just enough to make it uncertain and surprising.

Need #3: We have the need for significance.

Many of us tend to stray in this area and try to find significance by taking a "short cut", as with violence. A man from the slums who was brought up with no feeling of significance about himself is likely to turn out this way, because, once he puts a gun to your head, suddenly he is significant, and with a lot less effort than the guy who has chosen to attain his PhD for significance. In some way, though, we all want to "stand out", if even just to appear to "be rich and happy". But are we really?

Need #4: The fourth fundamental human need is the need for love.

We all connect with something or someone. It could be a life partner, child, pet, or nature. But we need to satisfy that fundamental need for connection and love.

Be careful here, because sometimes conflict between needs 3 & 4 can keep you from your goal, "I want to be rich but how"...

Just as needs 1 & 2 are in opposition of each other, so is the same dilemma between needs 3 and 4. Some people who have found the life partner of their dreams often wind up in divorce because one partner may grow to have more significance over the other, and this depletes your own personal feelings of significance.

The above are the four fundamental needs, and we all manage to attain them, whether derogatory, or in a way to helps us grow and evolve.

Of course, if you can find a way to meet those needs to grow and evolve, then you're on your way to the real "success secrets of the rich and happy", because to be truly rich and happy depends on meeting needs 5 & 6, which most people rarely do.

Success Secrets of the Rich and Happy: "I want to be rich but how" By fulfilling 5 & 6!

Need #5: The need for growth.

If you have chosen the right direction to meet your first four basic human needs, then you're beginning to fulfill need number 5, the need for growth. And yes, this usually does take some time, but as they say, it's not the destination; it's the journey that is the real success secrets of the rich and happy.

Need #6: And finally, to truly be rich and happy, you need to give back to the world more than what you have received.

It is in giving that we receive. And I'm not just talking religious "gobbelty-gook" here. The fact is, if you track the lifestyles of those who have truly lived fulfilling lives, you will notice that their business practice included giving back to the world more in value than the dollar amount they receive. It's the reason why I'm writing this article.

Because I believe that we all deserve to be rich and happy in our life, and I'd like to show you the way I'm doing it.  Life is a journey, but it can be so rewarding when you begin learning how you can earn money while you grow, evolve  and give back - all at the same time!  The success secrets of the rich and happy are waiting for you when you CLICK THIS LINK and begin learning how 100% commissions (from a guy who preaches giving back more than you take, by the way) can put point you in the right direction as you learn how to be rich and happy!  So the next time you ask, "I want to be rich but how", you will know the answer if you've clicked the link above!

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