EP 305 - How to Attract Clients as an Introvert (Without Being Loud or Everywhere)

Marketing

Jan 7

Getting clients as an introvert doesn’t have to be hard. You don’t need constant visibility or to be at every networking event. There’s a better way than forcing yourself to be someone you’re not. Let me show you how to market in a way that actually fits your personality. If you’re an introverted coach who feels drained by traditional marketing advice, this conversation will give you a clearer, more sustainable path.

In this episode, I’ll break down introvert-friendly ways to attract clients that rely on depth, consistency, and trust instead of volume and noise. We talk about why introversion is not a disadvantage in business, how quiet strengths create strong client relationships, and which marketing strategies work best when you value energy, focus, and meaningful connection. I’ll walk you through practical ways to attract clients through one-to-one conversations, written content, referrals, email, and simple consistency, without needing to be on every platform or show up constantly. We also talk about choosing the right marketing lane, setting realistic expectations, and protecting your energy while still growing your coaching business.

If you want to attract clients as an introvert without burnout or overwhelm, this episode will help you build a marketing approach that feels natural, grounded, and effective.

Inside this episode, you’ll learn:

How to attract clients as an introvert using strengths like focus and depth
Which marketing strategies work best for introverted coaches
How to stay consistent and visible without exhausting your energy

Want to grow your coaching business? Join us in the Business Building Boutique. Schedule a call here: https://debbieshadid.com/schedule

Free Resources for coaches:

- Canva Workshop: https://coaching.debbieshadid.com/canva

- Free Masterclass to Grow Your Coaching Business: https://coaching.debbieshadid.com/masterclass

Tools I recommend for coaches:
- Flodesk (email marketing): https://flodesk.com/c/DEBBIESHADID
- Descript (video editor): https://get.descript.com/cj4n2vzke4vu

Connect with Debbie:
Website: https://www.debbieshadid.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debbieshadid/

If you find this video helpful, make sure to subscribe on YouTube for more videos to help you grow your coaching business: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz6RS8kQGMLJqJrK9uKdjtg

Disclaimer: Some of the links shared in this description are affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools and resources I use and trust to support your coaching business.

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#DebbieShadid #LifeCoachBusinessBuildingSchool

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Transcript

If the thought of marketing yourself just makes you wanna hide, if you dread going to networking events, if the idea of going live on social media sounds awful, I have good news for you. You don't have to be an extrovert to have a wildly successful coaching business. In fact. Some of the most successful coaches I know are introverts, and today I'm gonna show you exactly how to market your business in ways that work for your personality. I'm gonna actually give you eight different ways to market your business. I'm Debbie Shadid. I've helped over 10,000 coaches not only build, but grow profitable, successful boutique style coaching businesses. So let's get this straight from the very start. Being an introvert is not a liability in your business. It's not something that you need to overcome or fix. It's just the way you are and that is okay. It comes with some real advantages. But I have to tell you, I know that's hard to believe because everyone out there, including me, is telling you to market, market market. Now, I do understand many of our clients, in fact, probably most of our clients identify as introverts. So we have to find a way that works for them, and that's what I want you to hear today. I'm gonna cover some ways that you can market your business where you can feel comfortable ways for introverts to market so that you don't feel exhausted all the time. So let's talk about what actually works when you are someone who needs. That time to recharge who prefers deep conversations over small talk who would rather write an email than have a cold call, I'm gonna talk to you about what might be holding you back. And first I wanna address some of these myths. That are running in the background of your mind or that are being perpetuated out there. The first one is that you have to be loud to be noticed. Now, yes, I am kind of bold and loud, but you don't have to be that. In fact, I believe that most people that I talk to tell me, they can hear the sincerity in my voice like they hear that I really do care about their coaching business. On this episode, even though I am talking with a loud, strong voice. So yes, you can have lots of energy and many coaches like that do very well. But there are also lots of quiet, very thoughtful coaches who even do better. People are drawn to you. If you are authentically you, when you are trying to force yourself to do something that doesn't feel right, it won't work. So I want you to experience some actually connection while you're doing your marketing. I want you to show up as yourself. Calm, thoughtful, genuine, and I'm telling you, you'll resonate with the right people. People are attracted to the kind of energy that you have. I always say, if you come work with me, you're not surprised by the way that I coach you, because I am very direct and straightforward and you hear that on this episode and on every other episode that you listen to. The next thing I wanna talk about is networking. You do not have to go to a room of people that you don't know to network, and I know if you're an introvert, that sounds horrible, crowded places. Like the place you want to avoid handing out business cards to strangers, honestly sounds awful to me too. It does feel exhausting, especially if you're an introvert, but networking does not have to look that way. I always tell people, this is just building a relationship. If you're an introvert, then just figure out a way to have a deeper connection, a more meaningful conversation with somebody. You can just do it differently one person at a time, which is also one of the strategies that I teach. I tell people, make one connection with somebody a week. One person at a time. So that can work for you too. You can do it over coffee instead of at a networking event that counts as networking. In fact, that kind of networking, I just have to tell you, often will lead to a better result because there is that real deep connection. Another myth I want to dispel and really put an end to honestly, is that you have to be everywhere on social media and no, you don't. In fact, I say pick one place, one platform, and show up consistently. That honestly is enough. You don't have to do anything crazy. So many women that I talk to are like, oh, I don't wanna put myself out there on social media. But we have this picture in our mind, and I always hear people say this like, I don't wanna dance on Instagram. I can't even remember the last time I saw somebody in my demographic dancing on Instagram. I do what works for me, and that's what I would want you to do. So pick one platform that you love. Then if you get really great at, then add something else. But for now, just find the place that you feel most comfortable. And I'm gonna be honest, for most of you women that are over 50, that's on Facebook. And I have to tell you, Facebook personal pages, in my opinion. Are being overlooked. I think there's a lot of opportunity there. So you might just be in the perfect place on your personal Facebook page. The next myth I wanna dispel is that successful marketing means that you have to have constant visibility. I know for some of you who know me, you've heard me preach consistency, But what I wanna make clear is that consistency is based on. What you think consistency is. So if you Doing one thing a week every week is what you would do. That's what I'm saying. When I talk about constant visibility, I'm not talking about seven days a week, seven times a day. I'm talking about what works for you. This is a key piece. When we work with clients, I always say set yourself up for success by deciding what your amount of consistent visibility is. Don't just say, I am gonna post on social media every day if you've never done it. Decide like three times a week or two times a week, and then do that consistently. So one thoughtful post or something that is really meaningful shared from you is so much better than a whole bunch of graphics shared from Canva. Lemme tell you the advantages that you have as an introvert. Number one, introverts tend to be the best listeners. I know it's a skill I wish I had better. That is a superpower in your coaching. It is also a superpower in your marketing because marketing starts with you, understanding your audience. It does. It starts with you listening Really carefully to what people are saying. Introverts tend to be very thoughtful communicators. When you write, you choose your words more carefully. Look, I'm guilty of sending one line emails because I just wanna get it done. an introvert's email starts out like, hi, how are you? I hope you're having a beautiful day. My email. I have to work to start it out that way. Okay. So you can actually probably create more compelling content that will deeply resonate with people. Introverts tend to prefer that deep connection. Over lots of connection. Okay? So deep connection with one person or five people, over 50 people. In business those five deep relationships could lead to the same 50 connections because when you have a deep connection with somebody, they will refer you. So seeing yourself as introvert. Is not a weakness. It's actually a strength that I want you to know how to use. Let's talk about the ways that you can market yourself that will work best for you. As an introvert, I wanna get really practical. There are strategies that you can do to effectively market yourself without completely draining your energy every day. Now, let me just say before I dive into these strategies, when you are starting something new. It does drain your energy no matter what. Building a business takes work, it takes commitment, and you have to do uncomfortable things. So please know the difference between that discomfort and the discomfort that I'm talking about with marketing. So let's find strategies that work for you. Number one. The first strategy that I've already talked about is focus on those one-to-one conversations. This is your sweet spot. Find one person to reach out to every day. That's it. One person, one genuine message to someone without a pitch, a real conversation. Checking on someone. Commenting on something that somebody's posted. Ask how you can help somebody. How can you contribute to what somebody is doing? These conversations where you share support actually build really good relationships, and those relationships will lead to referrals and to clients. When you are on Facebook and you see a post where somebody needs something and you actually answer it from a really sincere, thoughtful place. I'm telling you what people see that I know in the coaching groups that I'm part of. When I answer a question, let's say about a piece of tech that I recommend. The person who asked the question isn't usually the person who connects with me. It's somebody else who read the post and saw that I was an expert and then reaches out via DM to me. So you just need to talk to the right people one at a time. The second strategy is to use written content. If video feels like that is way too hard, then lean into writing. I think it is so fun that blogs are actually coming back. I know. It is so crazy because blogging was such a big deal and now it's kind of coming back in style. So maybe it's writing posts, writing emails, writing articles, another really big marketing strategy that often gets overlooked Even writing newsletters. I have a former client, Ann Thomas, who's literally written so many beautiful newsletters. She's making it into a book. That's what you can do with thoughtfully written content. Some of the most successful coaches I know, they rarely do videos. They've built their entire business on the strength of written content. If you use that as your strength. You never know what could happen for you. All right. The third strategy is to choose one platform and go all in that one place. I've already mentioned this might be your personal Facebook page. You're gonna go all in on that. You're gonna focus there. Maybe you're gonna find some Facebook groups or communities that you can connect to if you're a professional. Maybe it's LinkedIn. If not, then hang out on Facebook, or maybe it's Instagram, whatever it is. Pick that place. I'll tell you, LinkedIn and Facebook do allow for kind of longer posts. So if that is you love to write, then maybe those places are the best places for you. But whatever you choose, the main deal is you wanna commit to showing up there consistently, whatever that looks like for you. It might be three times a week, maybe it's four times a week, or maybe it's one. Alright, the fourth strategy. Is to batch your content. I know we talk about that, but this is a game changer for introverts. You don't have to be on all the time. In fact, a lot of people say to me, well, I have to get camera ready. You know me, I'm camera ready every day, but a lot of people don't show up to work like that, so they need to get themselves ready. And I think it's also get your energy ready. So batch your content. Set aside one time a month, one time a week where you can even do B-rolls. B-rolls are a really interesting way to get visibility without talking. It can be you sitting at your desk writing. It can be you flipping through a journal, reading a book, making a cup of coffee. You guys know how it is. Now, everybody's popping a diet Coke. I mean, they're making B-roll out of anything, so that might be something else that you can do. You could record several of those at one time. Also, please hear me on this. You do not have to change your clothes every single time. I do change my clothes when I batch videos like I am today. I'm batching YouTube videos like six of 'em today. So I do change my clothes in between, but you don't have to do that. I see people who have a whole bunch of posts on Instagram and they're wearing the same outfit, and I don't think anything about it because here's the deal. We don't actually go look at people's feeds anymore. All we look at is the most recent posts that they did that Instagram decides to show us. The same way with Facebook. We don't see everybody's posts, so nobody remembers what you wore yesterday, so do 'em all in the same outfit. Whatever works for you. If you do it all at once, then you can spend time of refueling yourself. You can do that behind the scenes work, which really recharges you, and you can be visible to your audience in different ways. The fifth strategy is to leverage email marketing. I already talked about that with Ann Thomas. She sends these beautiful emails every single week, and I remember several years ago when I was teaching about email marketing and really talking to people about doing lots of email marketing, I literally said, this is an introvert's best friend email marketing. If you feel like you wanna hide, then write an. email Growing your email list is going to be so key for you because you can communicate even to your list in a more one-to-one way. You think about that one person that you write your message to, and you just write the message to them so you don't have to be behind a camera. You just write messages that feel good to you. So if you're not building an email list, start today. This is a marketing strategy that would feel more natural to you. And I'm just gonna tell you, email marketing is the most effective thing that I do in my business over everything else that I do. The sixth strategy is to ask for referrals. Please tell people what you do and ask them to refer you. You can even do that on Facebook. You don't even have to go live to tell somebody that or to ask somebody that, right? You can just say, Hey, look, I'm looking to work with people like this. If you know anyone, can you refer me? Many people are happy to do that. You just have to let people know what you do, and I wanna let you in on one really big clue. Don't prejudge who you're telling about your coaching. Tell everybody about your coaching because you don't know if that guy down the street knows a woman who needs your coaching, or vice versa if that woman might know a man who needs your coaching. So ask for referrals. It is really an incredible thing when you get a referral and somebody comes to see that's been referred to you, they convert so much higher because there's already built interest. The seven strategy is to create valuable content and then repurpose it. When you are in the beginning of your business, you're in that project stage and you are doing more content because you don't have anything. Okay? You're doing lots of emails or blog posts or whatever it is, and then later down the road you can start to repurpose those. There's a point that you're gonna get to where you're like, okay, this one email could turn into six social media posts, or this one email can be resent in 10 weeks. Yep. You can resend the same emails. there are new people coming into your world all the time. And also nobody can remember what you wrote about. Okay. And if they do, that's a good thing. If somebody emailed you back and said, Hey, you just sent this email 10 weeks ago. I would be loving it because that means they're really paying attention to you. Okay. The final strategy, the eighth strategy, is to partner with others. We've had some clients that have done this beautifully. They have found other coaches in different niches, not within your same niche, but in a different niche where they partner together. Sometimes they do Zoom videos together. They can put on YouTube because they're talking to each other, or they do workshops together. This is a great way to actually take two small audiences, your audience and their audience, and bring 'em together and even write emails to each other's lists. Okay? So you'd write an email and your fellow coach friend would share those details where you would be saying like, one of my best girlfriends is a coach who helps with this. I wanted to share a little bit about how she's supporting coaches. So that's a great way to do it as well. But here's the most important thing is to protect your energy. Yes, it takes work to build a business, but you don't have to be on all the time. Marketing as an introvert means that you have to manage how you feel. This is something I have really learned because I have a daughter that's an introvert. I have a granddaughter that's an introvert, and I can tell it my granddaughter's three and I know it already. She gets drained and she needs that time to recharge. So you gotta build your marketing plan around that. If networking exhausts you, don't go to those events. If I tell you to go to a networking event and it is not what you wanna do, then talk to me about what you wanna do and let's find something that works for you. Customize a marketing plan that fits not only your personality, but also your schedule, your lifestyle, all those things. So you don't have to do video, you don't have to do social media except for the way that you want to. You can go connect with people and build incredible relationships again through Facebook groups. Go connect with old friends. Tell 'em what you're doing. Give yourself permission to do it in a way that works for you. Don't go live every day. It's not gonna work for you. It is not sustainable. What will happen is you won't get your business built because you think, and I'm gonna do air quotes here, you should do it a certain way. There is no should of a certain way. You have to do it in a way that works for you. don't let this be the thing that will keep you from helping people. You choose the way you wanna market and make it non-negotiable. You choose how often you're going to market and commit to do that. The coaches who succeed are the ones who are going to stay in it long term. I wanna invite you to comment the word private. I also wanna tell you that there's a link in the show notes. There's a link right below this video where I'm gonna share with you our private podcast series. Comment the word private. It is four episodes that are a private podcast. The world is not gonna hear 'em. You can send 'em out to who you want to. You record 'em by yourself, and now we know we can edit things so easily. But that is another way for you to market people through a private podcast. So come with the word private. Listen to my four episodes. I literally tell you exactly what you need to know to build. A beautiful coaching business on your terms. That's what a boutique style coaching business is, so build a marketing plan that you will actually do. I would love to hear from you in the comments. If you're an introvert and you identify as an introvert, I hope I've given you some relief. Tell me what your favorite way is to market. Please make sure you subscribe before you end this video. Subscribe because I have so many really great things planned for you in the upcoming weeks. I wanna make sure that you don't miss any event, there are practical strategies for building a coaching business on your terms. One where you will not get burned out in the process. So hit that subscribe so you don't miss anything. Being an introvert isn't a disadvantage. In fact, there are so many beautiful qualities that come with you. As an introvert. They really can become your strengths. So marketing in a way that honors you and you'll attract the clients that are meant for you. You can build a business. That will sustain you for the long haul. I'll see you guys in the next video. Have a beautiful day. Don't forget to get my private podcast series. Comment the word private, and I'll see you soon. Bye-bye.

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