Some say extroverts make great entrepreneurs, as they already have the required level of expressiveness innate in them. Whereas Introverts may find handling a business a little challenging, and it’s sad that misogyny still exists today so that it can be extra challenging for women entrepreneurs.
Frequently, people misunderstand the characteristics of introverts. Being vocal and outspoken can be an advantage in business, such as in marketing, but being an introvert has its peculiarities that can be helpful in other factors in business, such as strategic planning and decision making. Some successful women entrepreneurs are introverts, too.
To succeed as an introverted businesswoman is to know your strengths and cultivate them. It doesn’t mean that you need to ignore the weaknesses; you’ll be able to learn how to deal with them eventually. Embracing your natural characteristics is empowering, and you’ll realize that being introverted can also be an advantage to the business world.
Below, 9 women entrepreneurs share their keys to personal branding success as introverted leaders.
Work on Your Personal Branding
It’s important to be clear about what your personal brand is and what you want it to be. Once you have a strong understanding of this, you can begin to focus on creating content that is aligned with your personal brand. This content can be in the form of blog posts, articles, social media posts, or even videos. Whatever medium you choose, make sure that your content is interesting, engaging, and true to your personal brand.
Focus on Building Strong Relationships
Strong relationships are essential for any kind of success, so make sure to nurture the relationships you have with your target audience, clients, and peers. You can do this by networking, collaborating, and simply being friendly and personable. It’s important to be yourself and your audience, your efforts and trust you.
Finally, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Yes, it can be scary to put yourself in the spotlight, but it’s also necessary if you want to build a successful personal brand. Get comfortable with promoting yourself and your work, and don’t be afraid to take risks. The more you do this, the easier it will become, and the more success you’ll see. Caitriona Maria
Promote Your Best Qualities
“I’m definitely an introverted entrepreneur, I’m not the kind of influencer who shares hundreds of videos on TikTok, Instagram, and Youtube. For a long time, I thought it was a limit. I wished I was extroverted and I thought I had to change and work on my personality for my business to thrive. Then, I understood I had to focus on my strengths, that is, writing and entrepreneurship. I started to focus all my time and energy on my blog, and on building my presence on social media where I could share my blog posts and quotes people loved to share. Since then – that is, since the moment I found my purpose, and my own path instead of imitating someone else – I’ve 3X my income.” Sira
Find The Right Channels To Connect With Others
Lean into your introvertedness. One of the great things about being able to not only be alone and work alone is that people like us THRIVE on being and working alone. I hate to even say this, as so many have lost so much during the pandemic, but quarantine and minimized social opportunities (and responsibilities) have had a silver lining for me and my business. I’ve been incredibly creative and productive during the pandemic. I’ve released several new products, completely redesigned another, and am working on a new product in an entirely new category. I’ve expanded my blog, increased my social media presence dramatically, and won awards for my work. I don’t want to say that a world-changing illness has been good for my business, but all that time alone has allowed me to really take advantage of certain personal qualities I already possessed.
Reframe Your Understanding Of Being Introverted
As an introvert, I’m predisposed to putting too much emphasis on my appearance. Rather, I concentrate on comprehending my value offer. What can I bring to the table? Then provide me with concise texts that express my beliefs and ideals. I don’t jump around, but I do keep an eye on things. I observe and take advantage of opportunities to engage with others through service. LinkedIn has also proven to be a valuable resource for me. Maintaining a current profile on the site allows me to be more focused on who I am, alleviating some of the nervousness that comes with meeting people in person. Theola Tinny
Work on your Public Skills
Fake it ’til you make it. Public speaking and sales are not in any introvert’s wheelhouse. But you can’t run a business without getting better at both of those things. I felt (and still feel) extremely uncomfortable about pitching my business, and chatting with journalists, and standing up in front of a group. But the crazy thing is that the more I’ve done it, the easier it’s become. I started developing “stock answers” to things – that now seem to roll off my tongue because I’ve said the same thing so many times. I started noticing that everybody seems to ask the same questions – so I no longer have to even think about my answers. As for sales – that’s still a work in progress, but the more pet stores I visit, the better I get at knowing what to bring with me, what to say first, what points to emphasize, and what I need to ask for at the end of my meetings. Dawn LaFontaine
Slowly Expand Your Comfort Zone
As an introvert, being behind the scenes you can thrive; but as a functional medicine health consultant and entrepreneur, you can’t exactly stay hidden! This is one of the biggest struggles when branching into the virtual world. I have never been a fan of putting myself on any social media platform. I don’t like to publicize my life, nor do I want to be subject to others’ judgment or criticism. However, when I decided to start a virtual business, I knew I had to step outside of my comfort zone. One of the first things I did was hire a coach that was very successful in the virtual world. Having someone to be accountable to was very important; they challenged me daily and I was forced to confront my fears. I took messy action, tried several strategies, found what felt good and aligned with who I was, and have since become more comfortable.
Venturing into podcasts has been even more challenging! But again, you take a step and the rest comes together. With practice, you become more confident and as that confidence in yourself grows, it gets easier! Brittany DeVall Heyden
Stay Authentic And Transparent
My tips for making your personal brand shine are to be yourself (introvert and all!) Too often, we as introverts feel that we have to become a “different” person in order to market and sell our services online. That couldn’t be further from the truth! People want more of whatever makes you yourself because this gives them permission to be themselves! Getting sold on the work that you do and the product or service you offer makes it so much easier to show up, come from a place of service, and genuinely make offers. Another important tip I would add is to remember that being an introvert is truly a superpower. Oftentimes introverts are the best listeners, pick up on social cues, and so much more. Use this to your advantage to be of service to others! Carrie Veatch
Focus On The Value You Bring
I think the biggest thing for me to remember is that although I try and provide content for my audience via social media, which can be very fast-paced and continually growing, it’s okay to take a break and regroup, such as I do when being in person with people. Those breaks are necessary for me to recharge my social battery and be fully present for my people. It’s easy for me to want to be “on” all the time and keep up with what everyone else is doing/bigger brands and continue putting out content and offers, but I can’t always do that. Especially with different times in my menstrual cycle, I’ll tend to feel more reserved and not as willing to do a FB live in my group or put out a blog post, etc. I have learned to work with my natural tendencies to shine and turn up the volume on promoting myself and my offerings, and then know when to turn inward and charge up my battery. I find that smaller group settings are also better for me so I can really get to know my people and support them on a more individualized level. Sydney Veloz
Publish Articles To Share Information Widely
As an introverted female entrepreneur, marketing my business is more challenging. I am not a person that likes to get up at 6 AM and go to a 7 AM networking meeting with a bunch of random strangers to try to talk about how good my business is. That’s just not my style and it often emotionally drains me for the rest of my day. Going to a networking meeting of 30 people it’s just not my thing. Also, I try to focus on writing SEO-optimized blogs and improving my website so people can find me on Google. I also find that posting videos in the local Facebook groups are a great way to get my brand out there. I do Facebook live videos which are more my style because I can be in my office or in my home and talk about a niche topic that I focus on and provide guidance and support to the local community. Writing pages on my website have been successful in helping people find me and it is more of an introverted style of marketing. I find that writing is a lot easier for me than physically going in person and meeting a bunch of strangers. I also think that my clients are in pain and may not be going to a networking meeting or asking about who is the best therapist for dealing with infidelity, an affair, or marital counseling. I feel like these are more private issues and people would be googling these in their own personal time. Katie Ziskind
