Some people are like magnets. When they enter a room they attract a crowd. Some call it charisma or chalk it up self confidence. But the bottom line is that these people are born salesmen. They are good at self promotion and know how to work a room.
This power of attraction translates easily into the online world. Making friends on social networking sites is a breeze. Sending out shouts and messages, and saying “hey, stop by my site”, is second nature. Before you know it, Mr. Popularity has a strong following and a profitable blog.
But other people are more private in real life. They are quiet and conservative, and have a small circle of close friends. These people are cautious when it comes to meeting new people and quite modest. Embracing the power of the web can be difficult for people with this type of personality.
A friend of mine has just started her own CafePress site. She is just beginning to explore social networking on the web. She called me one day with alarm because someone had asked to be her friend. “But, I don’t even know them!”, she cried. To the uninitiated this could seem like an invasion of privacy.
Someone with a cautious personality may find it difficult to try new things, like new affiliate opportunities for instance. They also may find it hard to abandon an unsuccessful blog. Even writing posts can take longer. Time is spent hashing and rehashing ideas until they are perfect instead just taking an idea and running with it.
Age can also be a factor in online success. Those that grew up in the internet generation have a distinct advantage over those who did not.
And how about gender? Is there an equal amount of successful women bloggers as there are men? This one may be different depending on what niche you are looking at. But I do know that many of my offline friends that are women are not using the net the way I do. This makes it harder for me to market my blog offline.
Whether you are an extrovert or an introvert you must treat your blog like a business (unless, of course, it is a personal blog). You, as the business owner, must learn to self promote and speak with confidence about your blog both online and offline. Overcoming the fear and learning from the extroverts amongst us will lead to online success.
photo by jurvetson
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey, i enjoy reading this post although it is dated quite some time back. Well, i feel that most of time, we are always promoting and marketing ourselves. Whether it is getting a job or selling something, we always present our own personality, together with the object we are selling, to the potential prospects.
Larry,
That is an interesting observation. Even when we are not working on our businesses, we are still marketing our personalities to build our personal or social networks.