Introverts
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[00:00:00] Hi everyone. Welcome to SEO Cashflow. Today we are going to talk about how it is like to be an introvert. As an SEO consultant, I am a huge introvert. I have been scared of even talking through video to people. I always had problems talking to people over the phone, so I have a lot of challenges with that.
[00:00:24] I have overcome a lot of them, but. Today we, the three of us met to discuss that and discuss what are some of the things we can do to help us deal with that and what it is really like to be, so tell me, are you introverts or is it just me? Big time. Big time. Huge. Yeah. Oh yeah. I've been an introvert my entire life too, I think.
[00:00:48] Yeah. Without even realizing it. I thought I was like an extrovert introvert for a while. Cause I take those online tests that are like, I. You know, you're an extrovert introvert, but No, I'm just, I'm just an introvert and I'm okay with that. Yeah, me too. I've also been scared to talk on the phone for ages, but every job that I've had in the past has forced me through uncomfortableness of.
[00:01:10] My introvert ism. My first, my first job was working at a movie theater where I physically had to pick up the phone and talk to people. Uh, my second job was at a music store where again, I had to pick up the phone and talk to people. And then I ended up being on a client support desk where I literally had to be on the phone and talk to people.
[00:01:28] So I had, I was lucky. I had no choice. I was lucky cause my first job was
[00:01:38] so, um, I am a camo extrovert. Let me explain. Like I camouflage quite well, but if you see me at a conference, know this, I have a maximum bandwidth of three days before I want to roll up in the blanket and ignore the rest of the world, even my loved ones. Okay? Like I use the quiet room because it gets overwhelming.
[00:02:04] So, I am rather introverted by nature. I recharge on my couch away from people, my best friends. The favorite things I love to do with my loved ones is to not see anything and be in the same room. The end totally, like 100%. So it's one of those things where a lot of people think I'm super outgoing and I'm No, no I'm not.
[00:02:38] And I function. By having coping mechanisms and it's not because I'm really good at talking that I love doing it. It gets very tiring. It does. So that's why we're here talking about what it's like to be an introvert. Because when I first saw, and when all of us see Olga going on social media and doing like interviews with everyone and like posting and all these articles, and I'm like, I would not be able to deal with like a quarter of this.
[00:03:12] This is, this is overwhelming. And apparently Olga, when you see me go, you're also like, Hey, you do this, and I would not do that. I'm like, yeah, I'm scared. I, I bring a hand puppet on stage to calm me down, but I still go. So I think this is the common theme we have. We all overcome a lot of obstacles that we have and we all make money.
[00:03:36] Without being extroverted, without being like the best at networking in a room. And that's fine. So Olga, tell us, how did you build your empire? How do you handle it? I just set up a plan that I need to do that, and this is basically the only way, because for a very long time I was like hiding. I didn't have any social media or I had them hidden very well, and I knew that if I want to make really a change in my SEO career,
[00:04:10] I have to come out and show myself, show my face. This was very hard. I did it. I started with just putting this website, putting one photo there. Then I set up Twitter, then LinkedIn, and then kind of other SEOs started to notice my articles. They started to reach out to me, and then I got this proof that maybe what I'm doing is not that stupid.
[00:04:35] Maybe I actually have some idea about seo, and then I kind of. Kept going, and this is what I still do. But very often I have those thoughts that, okay, maybe it's time to like delete all the accounts and come back to being this hidden SEO who just does, for example, affiliate SEO o or does the stuff like no one knows about, but I keep going.
[00:05:02] So that's kind of how it's, it's it's working here being, I'm trying to be consistent and simply so, Stick to the things I planned. Consistency is key. That's something that I realized a lot of people value consistency over being flashy. Just you showing up and being there is very important. What about you, Jess?
[00:05:24] How did you build your empire in secrecy? Yeah. Um, I wanna give Olga big props because I know it's hard and I I give you a lot of props for being like one step at a time. I think that's, thanks. Amazing. And I think a lot of people don't do that because they get overwhelmed with the big, you know, goal. But you're, you're doing great things, so congratulations.
[00:05:45] Thank you. Honestly. Yeah. Um, I've, I've done it kind of a different way. I've spent. Years and decades working in companies, um, and slowly getting over a lot of this introvert stuff and finding people who are like me, who can, who are, um, champions like me, who work with me and that I've built up and I've done good projects with, and I get along with.
[00:06:09] Um, and that I've done good work with. Um, as well as finding places that I can kind of fit into. So the online world has always been a safe place for me, a safer anyway. Um, I've always been a fan and an early adopter on any technology, so I'm the first to jump into like a Twitter or, uh, a Mastodon or anything.
[00:06:29] Um, and I love them. I've, I spent my weekends on threads, I'm not gonna lie. Um, so I find it very easy to socialize online. Um, so that's been kind of my way Yeah. Of doing that with combining my long history of working with people, uh, in the real world. So I kind of harness the real world people with the online people and try to find that.
[00:06:51] I also love a Slack group. I collect them like Pokemon, so they feel like, like a safer place that I can hang out in. Um, and that's where I feel like I can be an introvert still and not have to. You know, I can still sit in the corner and recharge my, my batteries while being out there. Uh, make notes folks.
[00:07:12] Um, if you need to know the best groups, contact Jess. She's got your number. Yeah. For me, my introversion actually plays out differently. I am not on groups, Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, slack. It's so overwhelming to me that I actually have missed out on a lot of opportunities because people try to get in touch with me through that.
[00:07:37] Like I have 35 messages on Instagram and I gave. Being tagged into things and I'm like, thank you for thinking of me. That's so sweet. And I say that three years later. Um, yeah. Yeah. I have missed out on opportunities in Slack as well. And like it creates a lot of fomo for most people. It does not for me. I cannot bring myself to face this.
[00:08:00] It's too stressful. So you see how I'm like different? I don't. My safe zones are different, and I have found that the best way for me to relate to people is to snark. I am sarcastic, I am snarky. I am sassy. Basically I will be the person to give you a hot take on something. So as Olga says it, like my rents are good, I'm learning that this awesome to like embrace this.
[00:08:35] But I've also gotten feedback that, um, one of the things that works in my favor, cause I ask people, I was like, why does everyone care about me? I've been in the dark for 15 years doing my own thing. Why is it that people. Want to ask me questions? Why is it that people value my input? I'm confused. I'm on a couch like with the Soviet wallpaper.
[00:08:58] Actually, the couch changes all the time, like. I'm not the person you see everywhere, and yet people care and it's tied apparently to speaking with authority that you feel comfortable because you've tested your stuff, you know your stuff, and you may not be the person that's always shouting about every latest trend, but when you do say something, People take it at face value and give it value like it counts.
[00:09:26] So if you are introverted, my tip, if you're like me, is. There's two tips. Number one, you can be like a seamstress. You measure twice and you cut once. You don't have to say everything about everything. Just have to say stuff that resonates with other people, but that matters to you. So stop chasing or exhausting yourself.
[00:09:50] Trying to be like everyone else. They're already taken. Be yourself. Go at your own pace. Find a way to plug that pace into a way that people can, you know. Resonate with it. And the second thing is, um, when I started going to university as, as a child, I was already super shy. I did not like to be on the phone.
[00:10:15] When Jess was describing her first jobs, I was cringing. I'm an ex librarian and before that I was a librarian. And before that I was a librarian. Okay. I started doing a student job as a librarian at 13. I like books, I like peace. I like the authority of telling people, no. That's what I was good at. People would be sent to my desk and I would go, no.
[00:10:37] And to me, I. Having to be like super active. Everywhere is stressful. So what I would do in university is like be super loud and answer all the questions that the teacher had during the first week of classes. So they would expect me to always raise my hands. So they would always ask after that. Other people, cuz in their head I was always raising my hands.
[00:11:01] So I'm not the one you would ask cuz I would volunteer. But I didn't. I did that the first week and that first impression stayed with them and I got to be quiet for the rest of the time, and that was nice. So I do the thing when I go to a conference, when I go to a party, when I go to Meetup, I am loud when I arrive.
[00:11:20] You remember that I was there and I fucked off really fast. Irish exits.
[00:11:35] I think being an introvert enables you to lean into more of a demand generation, so you know that people come to you because they have a need versus you going to reach people to generate that, that those leads, right? Yeah, totally, totally. So as an introvert, you should create your ecosystem to not replicate what everyone else does online, but to make sure that your thing works.
[00:12:09] So if you're not going to go and schmooze with people and like sell yourself super well, your website should do it. Your website should communicate. This is what it's gonna feel like when you're gonna work with me. So it does the selling for you and. To me as a teacher, teaching is marketing, so of course I'm gonna go to a conference and shout about things I don't like.
[00:12:33] So hopefully we fix them. But you don't have to do that. And you don't have to be comfortable doing it. Like I feel it's necessary to get it done. So I go, my knees still shake after more than a decade of giving conferences. Oh yeah. And Olga, you do it your own way with. These videos, which, oh, I'm so not comfortable with that.
[00:12:57] But I trust you. You seem like you know what you're doing. I know that you know what you're doing. We're doing it. So we each have our way. And Jess, what's yours? How do you operate? Um, I've, I worked with a career coach a very long time ago, and she used to talk about feeling your, well, like that, your emotional.
[00:13:22] Physical, all that embodiment comes from like think of it like a well right? And that all the things that drain your well, especially as an introvert, are a lot, right? So find the things that fill your well as it gets drained. And I think I've taken a lot of that throughout my career. So if sitting in a room by yourself after doing all these things is how you end up filling your, well, make sure you do that to recharge yourself is my biggest.
[00:13:46] Tip. So whatever drains you, find something that equally fills you. Which is why I think I'm able to do the hard stuff. Like talking on the phone is terrifying, right? Like it is a terrifying thing. Yes. But then I make sure to reward myself after by like, Watching a YouTube video for 10 minutes or something, you know, cuz then that will fill my well back up.
[00:14:08] Um, to not just jump from task to task, to task, to task because it makes it a little easier in the long term. So I do things like that. Um, and I've noticed even with my daughter as an introvert, these are her headphones by the way. Um, she has to wear headphones because she is my daughter in loud spaces.
[00:14:27] Um, if it's really loud or if I'm vacuuming for a really long time, I think she's an introvert in that way. So introverts can be a whole bunch of different ways that you end up filling your Well, she has to put on headphones while I'm vacuuming because that fills her well back up because it's too much to have that there.
[00:14:43] So I say whatever you're doing to empty it, find something to fill it. And Olga, how do you feel? You're, well, like I know that you're making choices to be more visible. How do you recharge? So for me, something that actually gave me wings, I would say was. When I started working remotely, and this kind of let me like balance those things out because I used to work like normally as an s e o, go to office every day.
[00:15:12] And to be honest, this was very, very, very hard for me. I thought there was something wrong with me. Because I always kept sit sitting with my headphones, listening to my own music and not necessarily talking to people. And people kept talking there are taking coffee breaks, taking breaks for games, playing, socializing, and there was this light, which was too, too bright for me.
[00:15:36] Right. I didn't, I didn't feel good at, in the office. And It took like many years, but it was very, very difficult for me. And when I finally got to work remotely, this was like, I. Like a game changer for me. Yeah. So I used to play music that would cancel out my colleagues, uh, voices.
[00:15:55] It's not even that I enjoy the music, it's that I like, even with the noise canceling some people's voices, it just go through. So I think if we were to, to recap the session, and we can maybe have another one depending on if people want us to expand on the whole introvert, uh, portion of working in seo, but, Figure out what you're good at.
[00:16:17] It doesn't have to be something that you enjoy or that fills your, well Figure out what you do well to promote yourself, figure out what assets you have, your website, your network, your whatever. That gives you visibility so people come to you versus you having to go to them. And the third is, Fill your, well, like Jess said, so you may need to work from home like Olga or all of us.
[00:16:47] Uh, you may need some headphones like Jess or some good YouTube videos. That would also work. Or you may need certain periods, like I do not have meetings on Mondays. This helps me fill my, well face the week. So find what works for you, but know that being introverted, um, shows up differently. I think we are all three different flavors of introversion, um, and that there are coping mechanisms and there are also well, Some real realities.
[00:17:21] You have to do the hard stuff, not all of it, but there's some hard stuff that you don't like that you will always have to do to be able to work, and that's fine. Find what motivates you to get over that hump and get it done. Just do not waste your entire energy trying. To do the stuff you see other people do.
[00:17:42] You are not like them. Find what works for you. Thank you very much for listening to us and we'll see you very soon. Thank you. Bye-bye.