I’m pretty sure everyone out there has heard this piece of advice before. Especially when it comes to running your own business. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If you’re not bold, there’s a good chance that you’re missing a very good opportunity somewhere.
If you’ve noticed, I haven’t been blogging as much (which makes me feels like I haven’t been around even though I’m not far from the internet). Those few moments before bed where it’s peaceful and quiet that I used to use for blogging just simply don’t exist right now. It’s really hard to find peace when you’re in a lifestyle transition limbo. So if I’m crazy sporadic on blogging, I extremely apologize.
In all honesty, I haven’t been around my computer as much. Sure I’m plugged in to the internet through my Blackberry and compulsively check my email like the next person, but my fingers have seen less and less full keyboard action lately.
Instead I’ve been running around Washington doing something that I have been avoiding since I arrived in Olympia: meeting people at networking events. Real life I-don’t-know-your-twitter-handle-or-if-we’re-even-friends-on-FB business owners.
And let me tell you. While the above sounds rather strange and silly (I mean, you don’t really need to scan someone’s social media presence as a precursor to talking to someone), it’s actually scary. Not having a twitter feed to scan, a name to Google, or a blog to read to get more information? If your main business and primary form of interaction is through the web, it’s oddly scary.
Not only do you know nothing about these people you’re talking to, they know absolutely nothing about you. They don’t read your blog. They don’t know your tweets. This is their first point of contact with you and you can’t use the nice, cushy safety net of content and personality and taste that you’ve built up through your blog over the years.
Your blog and your social media is a nice, tight summary of everything you are and everything you want to grow into and be. And if people like you, people contact you. If they don’t, they ignore you. It’s very simple, and the internet is great for shy business owners. Your business brand on the internet is your security blanket.
And when you step into a networking event where you’re the new kid on the block, you’ve just lost access to all of that.
Holly talked about on the Complete Flake how she was afraid of going to a conference where everyone could finally see the copywriter behind the screen. And that freaked her out. I have the opposite issue. All that nice protective armor of authority and comfort that Cottage Copy brings is just gone at the snap of my fingers the instant I step away from the screen and onto the floor. I get a lot of blank stares when I say what I do and why it’s valuable. And that feeling brings into a very clear light that the world is even much bigger than the internet.
The venue I feel the most comfortable communicating through has always been through a keyboard and a screen that no one can see me sweat behind. And I bet I’m not the only one who finds this true about that computer monitor shield. Not having it is very, very nerve wracking.
It’s very much like stepping out on a stage naked. You feel like you’re not prepared. This is something new. Why should I do something new when it makes me this uncomfortable? Didn’t I work and slave building up a system on the internet so I wouldn’t have to feel like this anymore?
Part of this is still very very true for me. I love the internet and how it can bring you to your Right People a hell of a lot faster. Also, I’m an introvert. I can’t stay chatting in person (or even online) for very long without feeling burnt out after a few days. So the internet, and that shield is very important to my personal maintenance. It helps me stay healthy and sane.
But at the same time… staying on the internet all the time is staying within my comfort zone. Not venturing out and seeing what else is out there is not good for my growth. As much as I can’t stay exposed to the outside world for prolonged periods or I wear out, I also can’t take in all of my lessons from a computer screen.
Every time I don’t step out that door and try, I am missing a chance to help someone with their business. I am missing a chance to show people what is so great about the internet. And I am the one who has to take the initiative, I can’t wait for my Right Person to come. Because some of my Right People? Are not people who know they need me and Holly yet. Are not people who know where to find us. Because the internet is still a vast and scary place, and sometimes it’s so vast and so confusing, that the act of looking for your Right Thing when you don’t even know what your Right Thing is? Might as well not even try.
A lot of us might be afraid to step offline for their business, but there are people who are afraid to step online, where all cues of acceptance and friendship are showed through emoticons, social media following and friending, and written words.
As for me, I still get really nervous explaining what I do, and I turn into hermit mode after a few days of doing this. But every time I give someone our web address in real life, I’m bringing someone new to the blog who might not have ever found it unless I was there with a smile and a card to make it less scary. Just like there are networking groups out there that treat you like you’re their family.
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