Donna Gunter

I recently realized that much of my 1970's childhood upbringing both enhanced my natural tendency toward introversion and prepared me to own a virtual online business.  I grew up out in the country, about 10 miles out of town.  My friends lived 10 miles from town in other directions (about 20 miles from me), and my parents, having raised my siblings and me with a Depression-era mentality, didn't believe it was necessary to chauffeur us from place-to-place like parents do today.  In fact, other than getting to school each day on the school bus, we were limited to one trip to town per week on Saturdays.  There were no after-school trips or activities unless we could find alternate transportation back home, which was difficult, at best.  Is it any wonder I could relate so well to "The Waltons" or to "Little House on the Prairie"?  LOL 

There was also no vast array of cable television channels, DVD movies, or video game entertainment options available to us. We got reception for only 2 television channels on a good day, so we had to become adept at entertaining ourselves (or we'd be put to work doing household chores if we complained that we were bored).  I had only my cousins or siblings to hang out with, and if we were mad at each other, then I was on my own.  Hanging out by myself became my norm, as did responsibility for structuring my time. This was the genesis of my ability to work by myself at home.

This lifestyle meant that I could only talk to my friends during the time we were in school together.  Fortunately, we did have a phone, even though it was on a party line, as private lines weren't available in the country at that point. We essentially shared the line with 3 other families, 2 of which were our relatives.  Despite the challenge of navigating a 4-party line system, I still managed to spend 2-3 hours each night (and more on weekends or during the summer) on the phone with my friends, since we'd do homework together and talk about what had happened during the day.  This gave birth to my ability to collaborate virtually across distances using the telephone.

And, because our shopping was limited to White's Auto (my aunt and uncle's store that also carried toys, appliances, and household goods) and Gibson's Department Store, we ordered many things from catalogs.  In fact, my Christmas list was almost always exclusively chosen out of the Sears and Roebuck Wish Book, or perhaps from something I saw in the S&H Greenstamps catalog.  I spent many a summer afternoon pasting Green Stamps into Green Stamps books (these stamps were given based on the dollar amount of your purchase at the grocery store).  This gave birth to my ability to locate and purchase goods and resources remotely.

Because of our isolation, we eagerly awaited mail delivery each day, as that brought interesting material to read.  I was allowed to subscribe to a number of magazines, which I read from cover-to-cover. Because making long-distance calls wasn't allowed, I often kept in touch with out-of-towns friends and relatives through frequent letter writing.  This was the birth of virtual information gathering and sharing for me.

So, given this upbringing, it's no wonder that the whole idea of creating a virtual online business wasn't a new concept to me.  I'd been doing this all of my life, except that advances in technology now make the process MUCH easier than when I was a kid.  Add to that my natural inclination toward introversion, and it was a match made in heaven.

Introverts often take a beating in traditional employment, as by-and-large they are an outnumbered minority. Since extroversion is the more common personality trait, those who don't live their lives under those ways of being often don't fit into what society deems as "the norm."  In many cases, entrepreneurship is the way that introverts choose to make a living, as they can set their own rules, and the structure of an online business offers some key advantages for introverts.

If you are naturally an introvert, here are 7 reasons why an online business may be ideal for you:

1.  Home-based.  You can run your business from the comfort of your own home.  You don't have to get dressed if you don't want, nor talk to anyone all day.  Best of all, you completely eliminate any and all involvement in office politics and office gossip.

2.  Clients come to you.  If you engage in proper traffic-generating strategies and spend some time on search engine optimization for your web site, you can get 100% of clients online without having to go look for them.  I haven't actively sought out clients in years.

3.  Virtual networking.  An online business requires no 1:1, face-to-face networking, as many clients find you through Internet searches.  However, with the advent of social networking, you can even engage in this virtually, as well, if you wish.

4.  Telephone marketing.  No longer do you need to travel to a meeting to speak to your target market. Instead, you can speak to groups via a teleconference bridge line or webinar service and convey the same information with much less hassle. 

5.  Virtual client conferences.  All client contacts can be handled on the phone rather than meeting them face-to-face for coffee.  This may be a big leap for your clients to make, depending on your business and your target market, for you may have to train them to understand that you can be as effective by phone as you can in person.

6.  Little selling required.  Introverts generally hate the selling process.  Rather than having to engage prospects in a sales conversation, you can set up your web site to disqualify prospects.  Thus, only those "perfect" clients enter your marketing funnel, many of whom are already primed to hire you by the time you speak with them.

7.  Connect through information sharing. Introverts are naturally reticent about tooting their own horn.  So, instead, you can demonstrate your expertise by sharing what you know in articles and blog posts that you've written. Knowledge marketing makes is very easy for introverts to connect with their target market.

If you're an introvert and you desire to be self-employed but wonder how you'll ever be able to generate enough sales to make a living, take heart.  You can create an online business and use your natural introvert tendencies to make it a profitable business.

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