A Quieter Way To Grow This Year (Especially If You’re An Introverted Entrepreneur)
It’s January, which means the pressure to race out of the gate is here.
Everything in January is about setting big goals, being way more motivated than we were on December 31st, reset, reset, reset, and the overwhelm creeps up quickly. We always say, “This year is going to be different,” but somehow we start every year the same.
I definitely understand the “fresh start” energy, especially if your year before wasn’t awesome. I also feel the allure of the fresh start, reset energy.
However, quiet growth is also a valid and strategic choice. For introverted entrepreneurs looking to create sustainable online businesses, this concept feels like a breath of fresh air. But to those who aren’t introverts, this option is not an option.
I cannot stand messaging, “If you do XYZ, then you’re doing it wrong,” or “If you aren’t doing XYZ, then you’re doing it wrong.” Seriously, when is that messaging going to fade from the internet? For most online coaches, the concept of quiet marketing, quiet visibility or quiet growth doesn’t make sense. They always talk about how it’s “playing small,” “hiding from success,” or my least favourite, “shyness is just a fear/weakness you can train yourself out of.”
But you and I both know that shyness is simply just some people's natural communication style. It’s valid and a strength.
Why the New Year hustle narrative doesn’t work for everyone:
There’s common advice you hear all year long, but especially this time of year, when everyone is trying to capitalize on your motivation and goal drive. We hear a lot of:
Post more (Post on TikTok and Instagram 3x a day)
Be everywhere (in order to make sales, you need to be top of mind for people)
Push harder (do you really want it if you’re not willing to push hard?)
But none of that is sustainable even for extroverted entrepreneurs. Really, the only people that strategy actually works for are content creators (or businesses who have hired social media people). But this approach particularly impacts introverted entrepreneurs, sensitive creatives, or story-led business owners.
While this advice doesn’t work for those people at any point during the year, it especially doesn’t work at this time. Think about it… Sure, January 1st is the start of the year, and we are supposed to be motivated and energized, but we are still in the heart of winter. You can’t tell Nature that it’s go time because it’s still dead and barren, covered in snow, creating stillness and peace, and the animals are hibernating.
Following the balance and flow of winter means that this is actually not a good time for the get-up-and-go approach. In nature, this is a period of rest and recovery. It’s not about doing more, but about restoring your soul for the Spring season (which is a lot more get-up-and-go). Typically, sensitive people and introverts are more in tune with nature’s ebbs and flows, so their bodies naturally feel more aligned with the energy of the season.
What does ‘quiet growth’ actually mean?
Realistically, quiet growth is not passive. It’s not about being lazy and letting things just happen. There is still action being taken, it’s just not as in-your-face as other styles. It’s also not unambitious just because we bring the energy of slow to it. If you’re an introvert or sensitive soul, you can testify that you aren’t unambitious. We are actually highly ambitious and have big goals and desires. And, just because it’s a gentle approach doesn’t mean it’s ineffective. There are lots of introverts who make a great deal of money in their online business and are highly successful at reaching their goals.
Quiet growth is more about:
Intentional visibility–We are visible, it’s just not about throwing everything we’ve got and hoping something sticks. It’s intentional and strategic. There are lots of ways to be visible that don’t require you to talk on a video every day.
Clear messaging–While this is great advice for all businesses, it’s especially important for introverts doing quiet marketing. In order for people to find you through the noise and the crowd, your message needs to be clear and direct. Quiet growth is all about simple is better, and confidence comes from knowing who you are and how your business supports your audience.
Relationship-based trust–I’ve been seeing a lot of content that brags about their reach on reels being 100% non-followers. But for quiet growth, that’s not the goal. It involves building trusting relationships with your followers. Yes, you need to grow and reach new people, but people followed you because they want to be in your world. You should be making content for them, instead of getting the follow and then tossing them aside.
Story-based teaching–Typically, quiet introverts align more with story-based content. Story-based content is softer and more connection-focused, which is more our strengths as sensitive souls.
Gentle doesn’t mean it’s not impactful. Just because it’s not someone yelling in your face about all of your problems and telling you you’ve been doing things wrong for years, doesn’t mean it’s not effective. It’s just appealing to a different type of person. Personally, I’d rather not have someone tell me I’m doing business wrong. I prefer solution-forward messaging.
What are the benefits of choosing a quiet strategy this year?
1. More energy for meaningful work
The most common strategies online that promote bigger and more don’t align with the energy system of an introvert. Oftentimes, they can drain you really quickly, and since you have to do it all again tomorrow, you don’t have time to recover. This leads to many introverts never being able to do meaningful and quality work. They just keep pushing on to get things out. What ends up happening is the strategy doesn’t work for them. They don’t grow, they have poor views and engagement, and all of the coaches teaching these strategies simply say, “You must be doing it wrong. You need to do more. Be bigger. Show up with your face. Talk to the screen.”
But realistically, for most quiet introverts, that’s not their natural communication style. Which is often never mentioned by those coaches. It’s never seen as something that impacts the success of content and business strategies… Which, honestly, makes no sense… Of course, it impacts your success. It’s probably the most important factor for success.
When you acknowledge your natural communication style and embrace a quieter strategy, you have the energy and mental capacity to invest in more meaningful and aligned work. Your quality and stamina increase, and chances are… your overall happiness will too!
2. Stronger audience connection
When you embrace a softer style and quieter strategy as an introvert, you’re better able to invest your time in genuine connections with your audience. Think about it: when you show up in an inauthentic way, you are showing up as not yourself. When you are showing up not as yourself, the connections you’re making are probably not authentic connections. They aren’t seeing the real you. You have to act bigger and more outgoing, and that’s who they think you are.
But when you embrace the quieter strategy, you make more authentic connections with your audience. They get to know the real you, and they become invested in you. This makes their connection stronger and, in turn, makes them a stronger lead.
3. Less burnout, more longevity
I have written before about creating sustainable businesses. We aren’t looking for short-lived growth, a bit of fast cash, or pouring everything we have into something that will burn us out quickly. High-energy, high-demanding, “in-your-face” strategies very quickly burn introverts out. Introverts aren’t categorized by whether they are outgoing or not. It’s all about where your energy comes from. But shy/quiet introverts tend to feel the energy drain from people even more. Personally, I find that even showing up, talking to the camera and spending lots of time engaging and chatting with people online drains my energy. I can only keep that up for so long before I start to feel the effects of burnout.
But when you choose a quieter strategy that matches your energy and fills you up instead of always taking from you, you end up with fewer burnout experiences and less need to take long breaks or pause your business. Your business becomes more sustainable in the long-run and supports your health, your dreams and your life overall.
4. Better alignment with your personality
Ultimately, a slower, quieter strategy for introverted entrepreneurs is typically more in alignment with your personality. If you are an introvert who is considered shy and quiet, you’ve probably been told many times that it’s a weakness, a fear or something to get over. It’s something you need to “work on.” But that’s not the case. It is not a weakness, and you don’t just grow out of it or train yourself out of it. Those who say they have were either not actually shy and quiet or they aren’t truly outgoing now. Your personality is an important factor in how you show up online.
It’s all too common for introverts to feel like they need to stifle their personality in order to be successful with online business endeavours. But when you do that, you run the risk of losing yourself in the process. Trust me, I’ve been there. I manufactured a personality that I thought would match the strategies that worked for growth. I was told to work harder, keep trying or go all in. But it seemed like no matter what I did, it never worked. In fact, I actually lost followers. When I realized that changing who I was was doing the opposite of growing and converting, I stopped and tried to go back to acting more in alignment. The problem was… I couldn’t remember who I actually was or what was truly in alignment with my personality.
It took some time, but I figured it out. And this year is the first year I have committed to changing up my content strategy so it’s in complete alignment with my personality, my energy, and my natural communication style. Hello, Substack, Medium and more blogging.
What can a quiet growth practice be like?
Tune into what you gravitate towards. Do you enjoy public speaking or do you typically prefer to write more? Chances are, if you’re still reading this, speaking isn’t your jam. But taking some time to figure out what types of content you seek out, and remember, if you like it, there are probably others that do too.
Here are some examples of what you can do. But keep in mind, it’s not about following a series of rigid steps, but more about trying things and evaluating whether or not they feel right to you.
Writing over constant video–I know everyone is saying that reels and talking head videos are the only thing that works right now, but that’s not the case. At any point in time, there are a multitude of strategies that work. Writing is still a highly effective strategy when you choose the right platform.
Fewer platforms, deeper presence–Instead of being on a ton of different platforms, making content creation and growth a chore, limit where you show up and choose a few that excite you. It can be hard to learn a bunch of different platforms, all with different strategies, so choose just a few and learn them really well. Invest time in learning them and growing them.
Creating content that compounds–Social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok have incredibly short lifespans. The top creators on those sites are suggesting posting upwards of 3 videos every day. That content doesn’t last long. Within a week, posts are buried and forgotten about. Something that took you a bunch of time to create is gone before it has time to impact, unless you have a large number of followers. But investing in blogging, email lists and digital products compounds over time. Blogging is an excellent way to create content that lasts. People are able to find a blog post months (even years) after it’s been posted. And if you write about evergreen topics, it will stay relevant.
So, how can you start the year more intentionally?
Choose one or just a few platforms to choose from. Find ones that match the style of content you’d like to create that feel good to you.
Set a few broad intentions (not rigid resolutions). Focus on how you want to feel versus a specific thing you have to do or accomplish.
Reflect on what your boundaries are that will support your success and sustainability. What drains your energy, and what do you need in order to feel successful?
Create routines and practices that promote slow living, sustainable growth, quiet, and calm.
Focus on consistency over perfection. It’s not about getting everything right and never missing a day. It’s about creating lasting and fulfilling habits that support your health and well-being.
Everything I shared in today’s blog is what I am implementing in my business.
I am officially on Substack!
If this resonated with you, I invited you to join me on Substack. The once a week blogs will be more personal and inspired. I want you to get to know me and I want to get to know you.
I invite you to pop over there and say hi. Who knows, that platform might end up being the perfect place for you too!
