Introverts N Business

I was excited to create a new HomeBizFreedom Facebook page  and to invite my Facebook contacts to “like” it. With a goal of 25 or more  – reached last week – so I could get a dedicated URL for the page, I got more and more invigorated as I watched the list of fans grow.  I thought, “yes, this is the portal through which all my endeavors can be funneled. ” Plus, Home Business Freedom, who doesn’t want that? So much fun and fully aligned with the work I do, too.

It was not long before my visions of grandeur were brought back down to earth.  In a conversation with my marketing consultant I was reminded that followers, “likers” and friends are great, but I would be wise not to substitute my efforts to build a Facebook following with efforts to build my direct subscriber list. Instead, she suggested, I would do better if I looked at my Social Media portals as “outposts.” Outposts?

With a groan (I often groan when I talk to Laurie), I realize that she is probably right.  Social Media “outposts” are an avenue through which to more easily stay in touch with people you know well (friends and fans) and to become visible to people you don’t know yet, or at all, to make that first connection with them.  Furthermore, as Laurie pointed out, it is easier for people to “like,” “follow” and “link” than to give up a name and email address in exchange for a report, blog posts or a newsletter. Why?

1. They can “like” or “follow” you and rarely see what you put out, either because they’re infrequent visitors or they use their settings to control their degree of exposure.

2. Messages that come to you through email are must be acted upon! Read, respond or delete. Unfortunately, it’s not always simple to take decisive action, as we ALL receive more than we can process in a day.

What Does Fear Have to Do With It?

Greater evidence for Laurie’s counseling can be found in my own response.  I’m far more uncomfortable asking people to subscribe to my newsletter than inviting people to “friend” me.  I’m reminded that I will do anything I can to avoid the feeling that I’m pestering people, (especially those who ask to hear from me – how crazy is that?) which I feel more often when I invite people to subscribe to my Dare to Thrive newsletter.

In truth, I feel the same level of respect/concern for those who have and will “like” HomeBizFreedom as I do for those who subscribe to my newsletter, but my resistance indicates that I do know there is a difference.  Laurie was right when she gently suggested that I have to press through the internal resistance associated with taking a more proactive approach to building my newsletter list. That does not seem as easy! Groan, groan, groan, groan.

In case you want to know who this marketing consultant is, if you’re a Twitter subscriber just look up @MarketingHabit.