Welcome back!

Before we dive in, I want to share that Marketing Ethics for Acupuncturists (2 NCCAOM PDAs in the Ethics category) is on sale this week for 30% off!

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My goal for Marketing Ethics for Acupuncturists was to make it:

1) Quick and easy to complete
2) Interesting and fun, with info that we don’t usually learn in an Ethics class

I know Ethics PDAs can be pretty dry, so I did my best to inject some fun into this one! We even watch a short Monty Python skit in the “Ethics of Email Marketing” chapter.

This is a pre-recorded online course, so you can go through it at your own pace. The PDAs are NCCAOM-approved.

If you need to get your Ethics PDAs out of the way, this is a great choice!

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Let’s talk networking.

If you’re an introvert like me, you probably don’t LOVE networking events.

But there ARE steps you can take to make them easier, more comfortable, and more productive. And that’s what I want to share with you today.

I’ve noticed that, at least where I’m located, in-person events are slowly making a comeback.

My local Chamber of Commerce hosted an in-person networking event this month, for the first time in over a year.

But my marketing students who identify as introverts have let me know that they’re not exactly prepared to dive back into networking events – they’re out of practice!

I’ll be honest – I feel the same. It doesn’t matter how long I’ve been in business or how long I’ve been teaching marketing, networking isn’t my strength.

So I use these five tips myself to make networking more comfortable and help me get visible in my community.

If this is something you struggle with, too, then these tips are going to help a ton.

These tips are taken from Chapter 8 of my online PDA course, Acupuncture Marketing for Introverts. If you’re an introvert and you’re wondering what kinds of marketing will work best for you, and not create friction with your introverted personality, this course is for you! I share all my best tips and tricks for fellow introverts. 😊

Let’s get started!

🎙️ Five Networking Tips for My Fellow Introverts:

Show Notes:

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Transcript:

Welcome back!

This week I want to talk about networking. If you don’t know already, I am an introvert. I really enjoy being an introvert. I think there’s so many strengths to this personality type.

And I find that most of my acupuncture marketing students, my followers on Instagram and my email subscribers also tend to be introverts. So if you’re an introvert, heyyyy, you’re in good company.

I did a very unscientific poll on my Instagram account. Actually he first time I did it was two years ago, roughly, and then I did it about two months ago again. Where I asked all of my acupuncturist followers (I have over 9000 followers on Instagram), “Do you identify as introvert or extrovert?”

And 80% both times identified as introverts. So again, if this is you, you are in such good company. There’s a lot of us.

I have found that pretty consistently that my marketing students who identify as introverts come back to me with the feedback that they don’t like networking events. That they find them difficult and stressful.

I absolutely understand that. I do not enjoy networking events and I don’t think that I will ever truly be good at them. Sometimes I’ll read networking advice online and it says things like, “Learn how to work the room,” and it just makes me want to poke my eyes out, because I have no desire to be good at working the room. I don’t think it’s something I ever will be good at.

Thankfully those are not the kind of tips that I’ll be sharing today. I want to share tips that help you manage your energy as an introvert.

Let’s talk really briefly about the definitions of introvert and extrovert. You might already be familiar with this, but just to make sure we’re on the same page.

In general, introverts are energized by spending time alone and internal thought processing, and they are drained energetically by things like large crowds meeting lots of new people, that kind of thing.

And of course extroverts are the opposite. Extraverts tend to be really energized by meeting new people, large crowds. And kind of drained by too much solitude, lack of socializing. Of course, introversion to extroversion is a spectrum, so you might identify more towards one but still have traits of the other.

If you’re an introvert that means that the definition of a networking event is kind of naturally going to be draining and maybe a little stressful.

So again, these tips are sort of about managing your energy in the best way possible for you as an individual, as an introvert.

And the reason that I want to share these tips with you now is that I have noticed that, in my community at least, I’m in upstate New York, COVID restrictions are easing and people are cautiously having gatherings again.

I saw recently that my local Chamber of Commerce is hosting their first networking event in over a year and I think that’s true of a lot of places. Although, of course, it it really depends on where you live and what the situation is like there. But I’ve noticed that more and more places are hosting their networking events in person again. I think that my Chamber of Commerce was hosting Zoom networking events, like coffee hours, each week in the morning.

But basically, in-person is making a comeback. And I realized that I’m certainly not ready to just dive back into a networking meetings, and neither are many of my introverted students.

This past year has been – there’s been, I think, just a lot more solitude and a lot less people. It’s been less peopley for many of us.

And my introverted marketing students have also been telling me the same thing, that they’re also not prepared to just go back to networking events as if they hadn’t just taken a whole year off from it.

So that’s why I really wanted to share these tips with you this week, in case you are faced with a networking event and wondering, “Should I go, should I make the effort for this,” or, “I have to go and how can I make it bearable?”

One thing that I will add before I dive into these tips is just that I always advocate that you do not have to do marketing that you don’t like.

It’s always a better use of your time and energy to focus on marketing that you either like or at least don’t hate.

You’ve got to be realistic about what you are going to be willing to do over the long term. Because for marketing to be truly effective, you have to keep repeating it. You’ve got to be consistent.

And I probably sound like a broken record. I know I say this a lot, but this is a central tenet of successful marketing: repetition and consistency.

For the most part, I don’t recommend going to bimonthly networking meetings for my introvert marketing students because I just think that, if that’s going to be a huge drain on their mental energy and their resources, then there’s probably something else they could do instead that will serve them much better.

Some other marketing that they could manage for the long term. Whereas, you know, really pushing through and trying to do marketing that you hate for the long term is just going to burn you out.

At the same time, I also understand that sometimes you agree to go to a networking event and you have to go because you said you would. Or it feels important. Maybe there’s a new business that’s opening in your community and the Chamber of Commerce is hosting an event at this space and you really want to be supportive. You think that’s important.

So there are lots of different reasons why you might not enjoy networking but still choose to do it, or feel like it’s just an important part of the way that you show up in your community.

But I just wanted to make sure that I emphasize: I don’t want to tell you that networking is difficult and painful for introverts but you should totally just grit your teeth and do it anyway and use these tips. No.

Instead, my point here is more like, you decided you’re going to go and how can you make it better?

Okay, so let’s talk about it.

The very first thing I recommend is to bring a friend. This is probably the most important tip and if you don’t do anything else, I would say just do this one thing.

Bringing a friend provides accountability. So it makes it that you actually show up. You can’t come up with an excuse at the last minute for why you don’t want to go, because someone is waiting for you.

Plus, obviously, bringing a friend means that there is no point at this event that you are awkwardly standing by yourself trying to break into a group of strangers to introduce yourself. I think we’ve all been there. I personally find that very difficult.

But when you have a friend with you, those sort of ice breakers or introductions are always a little bit easier. Plus your friend might know people at the event that they could introduce you to.

The second tip is to set a time limit before you go and give yourself permission to leave when you’ve hit the time limit. And it doesn’t have to be long. You could say, “I’m only going to go for 20 or 30 minutes and I’m just going to talk to the people that I have the opportunity to speak to in that time, and then I’m going to politely excuse myself.” Say, you know, I have a prior engagement.

I find that this is really helpful for my introvert marketing students, to get them to actually go. And then once they get there they sort of like ease into it a bit and they usually end up staying a little bit longer than they anticipated.

But it helps a lot to know that you are in control of the situation and that you can leave anytime.

I actually had a really big networking event that I went to just before COVID. It was massive. I did not realize it was going to be so large, like so many people, and I was pretty intimidated. I think I was there for a total of 17 minutes because I didn’t know anyone, it was at this huge venue, and I felt like it wasn’t going to be a good use of my time to feel stressed about trying to introduce myself as I was surrounded by hundreds of strangers.

So I talked to a couple people, I said hello to the Chamber of Commerce president and then I just made my way home without guilt, because it wasn’t quite what I expected.

So again a lot of these tips are focused on managing your energy as an introvert and knowing that you are in control of the situation.

Tip number three is to decide in advance how many business cards you’re going to give away or how many new people you’re going to introduce yourself to, and then once you hit your goal you can leave.

And again, it doesn’t have to be a lot. It could just be handing out four business cards or meeting three new people and then leaving.

Number four is a really helpful one that I wish people would use a little bit more often. It’s just so simple. It is just to take breaks when you need to. You can literally hide in the womens’ room or the mens’ room, wherever, right. You can go outside.

Again, a lot of managing energy for introverts is kind of taking a break and having some solitude and stillness. So if you find that you can’t just leave whenever you want, you can totally make an escape to a quiet place where no one else is. Give yourself five or ten minutes until you sort of feel like your energy and your stress levels are manageable, and then you can go back out.

Then my last tip is to practice your introduction of yourself or your elevator pitch out loud to yourself before you go to these kinds of events.

I have found that many introverts have a little bit of trouble speaking up and with the visibility that comes along with that. And hearing the sound of their own voice can almost be startling, especially in this past year. As I mentioned, you know, there’s been a lot more solitude and to suddenly be at an event where we are expected to talk the whole time, and keep introducing ourselves over and over to new people, kind of requires practice.

So in order to speak with the most confidence, practicing out loud is essential. I like to do this when I’m in the car by myself. But the idea here again is to get used to the sound of your own voice, get used to speaking up. The more practicing out loud, introducing yourself, that you do, the easier it gets.

All right, that is everything that I have for you today. I really hope that if you’re an introvert and you’re planning on going to a networking meeting sometime soon that you will put these tips into action. They really are effective.

Don’t forget that number one, most important tip that makes everything easier, which is to bring a friend. Honestly, friends just make everything better anyway.

As always, I love talking all things marketing with you. Can’t wait to talk to you next time!