I don’t like networking. It doesn’t come naturally to me. It’s not my “thing”.
I know how to do it. I’ve done it enough. I just don’t enjoy it. I’d rather talk to someone on the phone or in a one-on-one setting over a cup of coffee.
Does that make me a bad person? Does it doom me to marketing failure?
No, not at all.
Marketing is (or should be) a mechanism for you to express yourself in a natural way. Marketing isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a mold you must contort your body and soul to fit.
So if there is some aspect of marketing you don’t enjoy (and you’ve given it a fair shake), don’t do it. Life is too short to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous marketing. Or whatever.
It doesn’t matter how well others are doing with a particular strategy, or how many goo-roos are touting the latest and greatest tool or technique. You have to do what’s right for you.
If you don’t like networking–don’t do it. Speaking give you the willies? Cross it off the list. Social media got you tied in knots because you don’t want to “talk” to strangers online? Choose something else.
If you force yourself to do things you don’t enjoy, you’re not going to be very good at them anyway, so what’s the point? Go try a lot of things, pick one you like, and go nuts with it.
Okay, I know there’s someone who’s dying to ask this: “What if I’ve tried every type of marketing and I don’t like anything?”
The answer to that is simple: get a job.
“Get a job”. David, you crack me up! I tell lawyers who are intimidated about learning how to use social media to educate clients and marketing their practice that’s it’s kind of like learning how to ride a bike. At first it seems hard but over a short period of time it get’s very easy. A bit of up front effort can lead to long-term rewards for those who can muster the tiny bit of energy needed to learn and take action.
But as you say, if marketing is simply too much work, then a good “Plan B” would be to work for someone else and GET A JOB 🙂 MJ