If you clicked on this video,
chances are you identify as an introvert.
We tend to be quiet creatives with big ideas,
but our shyness often holds us back from sharing our gifts with other people.
You probably have an awesome business and amazing products to sell,
yet it's really hard to reach out to people who may be interested in buying them, right?
Does this sound like you?
If so, you are part of the forty percent of the world's population of introverts.
The good news is some of us have learned how to harness our introversion
and use it as an advantage, to make more sales in business.
So keep watching to find out how.
Hi, my name is Mei Pak and I help artists, designers,
and makers make a living selling their handmade products online.
In today's video, I want to help out my fellow introverts by sharing
what I know about how to reach out to people to sell your amazing products to,
even if you feel like it's super inauthentic
and it makes you uncomfortable.
Coming from someone who is introverted and shy as well,
I can say that I totally understand what it's like,
I've been there, and it is definitely something that can get in the way of achieving
your greatness, even for me, even today,
But you know what?
There are a ton of Pros to being introverted,
and once we understand what they are and how to use them to our advantage,
we will overcome the nervousness and anxiety.
we feel when it comes to selling.
The first thing I want you to know is that the best salespeople are introverts.
Now, I know, we tend to think that the charismatic energetic people are the best at selling.
And don't get me wrong. I have a lot of respect
and love for those who have no fear of putting themselves out there
and actually thrive from that kind of energy,
but from an introverts angle,
because of our usual default quietness, that actually makes us really great listeners.
Now. I know there are some very vocal
and outspoken introverts, but by definition,
introverts tend to spend more time in our inner thoughts
and ideas.
This gives us a great opportunity to take the time to fully listen and absorb.
What someone is saying to us,
and think about what to say in response to them.
We can genuinely contribute a conversation with a potential customer
based on what they're actually telling us
rather than assuming what we're hearing.
This is great, because this makes us accurate problem solvers.
Have you ever walked into a car dealership
and felt that the salesperson was a bit disingenuous?
I don't blame them.
They earn money off of commissions,
and they're just trying to make their living.
Nothing wrong with that, and I'm not saying all car salespeople are like that.
But have you ever been put off by the animated energy
and felt like they weren't really listening to you,
but rather just trying to get you to check out as soon as possible?
That probably made you feel like you couldn't really trust them on a deeper level, right?
I can't tell you how many times I've been on the receiving end of customer
or sales service that you can tell
they totally didn't even read my question
or listen to me to begin with,
and then gave me a canned response that was completely irrelevant to me.
That's not exactly the recipe for sales, is it?
Customers will trust you more
and be more likely to buy your products
when they feel that you're genuine, which introverts are naturally already great at doing.
Number Two: introverts come from a place of service,
and are highly personable.
Now, despite our quietness, introverts are actually really personable
and can form deeper connections with people.
We easily understand where someone else is coming from
and really care about what would actually be of service to them.
We're really great at empathizing.
Sometimes, this means that promoting our products in a conversation,
especially right off the bat,
isn't the way to go.
And that's okay.
Sometimes what a potential customer really needs,
is someone with open ears to just talk to.
Introverts tend to come from a place of service first,
and if that means coming in the form of just talking to the other person
and getting to know more about them and their lives, families,
hobbies, or even their problems, you will build a better connection with them.
And when your business or product naturally comes up in the conversation,
then feel free to have at it and tell them all about it.
Making them feel like you truly care about them
and aren't just waiting to plug your products where it
doesn't seem to naturally flow in the conversation,
is what will make them feel more open to hearing all about your business.
Number Three: realize that you're actually doing them a favor.
If you hear someone talking about a pain point in their life that
your product can actually help them resolve,
don't be afraid to tell them about it, right?
In fact, if you keep your product to yourself knowing that it could help them.
It would be doing them a major disservice.
Why would you not want to help alleviate someone's problem if it's within your power to do so?
Now I totally get that talking about anything
involving money, like selling our products
and getting money out of it, can feel a little awkward or uncomfortable
sometimes, but those feelings really come from a place of doubt in yourself
or even some social anxiety.
That could also be rooted in some deep-seated money stories from
your past, all the way back to your childhood.
Maybe your parents taught you that rich people are bad people,
and maybe growing up, you learned that money creates problems in families.
So it's no wonder there's guilt and shame and bad feelings.
revolving around money. It will be a journey,
but it is good to start letting go of that doubt,
fear, and anxiety, because chances are people will be so grateful for you
for providing them a solution to their problem.
For example: think about phone mounts for your car windshield, right?
Many of us have experienced the problem,
or the inconvenience, of needing to drive to a new place,
but needing directions at the same time.
And we all know, at least, I hope we all know, that driving while looking down at directions is,
of course, very dangerous, but this invention has become a successful solution.
to a problem that people were facing.
But imagine if the person who invented it
never promoted it, less people know about it,
and went continue living their daily lives with that same problem,
and we may have a lot more car accidents than we already do.
Now. I know what you might be thinking:
my product doesn't solve a problem like that,
or cure cancer.
It doesn't have to.
Sometimes people have problems like
they're struggling to find the perfect birthday gift for they're niece.
They're bored of all the common gift options out there,
and they're looking for something unique and special.
This is a problem myy jewelry business,
Tiny Hands,
solves every day.
So have faith in your product, and know that it can actually help someone.
Number Four: people actually like being sold to.
I know it might seem counterintuitive.
We've all seen those no soliciting signs,
or have maybe even gotten a bit annoyed ourselves
if we've been in places where people come up to you
and try to sell you stuff on the street or at the mall,
or getting daily, scammy calls trying to sell you
a car warranty you don't need.
But in reality,
If your product is a good fit for them,
and actually something they need and are looking for at that moment,
trust me when I say: you are not bothering them at all.
They'll be welcoming you and asking lots of questions about your product,
and maybe even end up buying from you.
Now, the big difference between when we hate selling and when we love it, is the relevance.
Are we selling to the right person at the right time?
Here's an example:
I have students that sell bereavement gifts for the loss
of loved ones, like family members or pets.
It would probably feel pretty inappropriate to promote those types of products
to people who haven't recently experienced a loss,
but I would argue that I would personally still appreciate learning about such a product,
because that situation will inevitably come up one day,
and I may be in need of a gift like this.
I may not have been a customer right away,
but later on, when the situation arose,
It's all about timing.
Me personally, I
love seeing the different Facebook or Instagram ads,
because oftentimes these are a lot of cool products
that I'm interested in buying,
but I just never knew existed.
I also love when my friends tell me about new tools or products or software or services,
because these things can actually add value to my life or my business,
allowing me the opportunity to grow and make my life better or solve a problem I have,
or can even be a simple as treating myself to a nice gift.
That's right: your products don't always have to be a solution to a problem.
They can also be something that simply adds a little bit of joy,
relaxation, or entertainment to someone's life.
Number 5: introverts do better with one-on-one interactions.
So let's use that to our advantage.
So being in a room filled with people can feel very overwhelming for a lot of us introverts, right?
You might feel paralyzed
or nervous when trying to start a conversation with someone,
and even when we do,
we still clam up and not get into those deep conversations that we normally like
All that small talk about the weather can also make us pretty anxious, right?
So knowing that introverts do better with smaller one too few interactions with other people,
how can you apply that to your business marketing?
It's no wonder something like social media feels so draining to so many of us.
That's a one-to-many platform.
It's just not in alignment with your personality type.
On the other hand, consider media outreach
Media outreach is as simple as direct messaging on social media,
or sending out email pitches.
You are reaching out to and interacting with just one person,
and let me tell you:
those interactions can be super powerful for your business
if you connect with the right people.
I'm talking about magazine editors,
TV show producers,
bloggers,
social media,
influencers,
and even celebrities.
If you can get your products in those people's hands,
and they like your work enough,
they will be happy to shout from the rooftop
and tell all their friends and family and their entire audience about you and your product.
I have an entire workshop in the description that talks about this in a lot more depth,
so sign up to watch that for free after you finish this video, if you want to learn more.
Tip Number Six: create an automated sales machine using email marketing.
Now, you don't always have to do the selling yourself.
But what's the alternative?
Use software to do the selling for you.
Because I get it:
Some days you just don't feel like interacting with other humans.
The thought of selling just feels like the last thing on Earth. You want to do,
yet your business needs to keep running
and you need to make those sales so you can pay the bills, right?
An automated sales machine works for you 24/7,
never asks for vacation days, or take time off.
It works at converting people who come visit your shop
or your social media following,
into buyers over time,
Email marketing is the perfect way to do something like this.
And the best part is: this can be totally passive for you.
So once you set everything up,
you've got a system that just keeps working day in and day out,
and you don't have to lift a finger to turn out those sales.
For extra guidance,
I talked about this a whole lot more in my free workshop in the description below.
Let me know if you're an introvert
and if you have any other tips for selling your products in the comment section below.
Or ,comment and let me know which tip was your favorite.
I really hope this was able to help someone out there,
and if you did find it helpful, hit the like button and subscribe to my channel.
Stay tuned for another helpful handmade business tip video playing next.