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Let’s be honest, some days you’d rather eat glass than “put yourself out there.” You’d rather ghost the entire internet than ‘be consistent’ online.

In fact, you know your work is good. You’ve got clients who love what you do. So why can’t your work just speak for itself, right?

From one introvert to another, I get it.

And yet… here we are. Stuck in a world where apparently doing good work isn’t enough anymore. Where we’re supposed to plaster our faces all over the internet and shout about our achievements from the rooftops.

It feels fake. It feels exhausting. It feels like everything we’re not.

But maybe there’s a way to do this that doesn’t make us want to crawl into a hole somewhere. Maybe there’s a way to do this without losing who we are or feeling we have to be something we’re not.

Which is why in this post I’ll be talking about 4 things you can do to build a personal brand online as an introvert, without hating every minute of it or losing yourself in the process.

1. Adopt Strategies That Work with Your Personality, Not Against It

You know how everyone’s always saying “Just be yourself” online? But then they hit you with a million things you should be doing at the same time?

Yeah, it’s a lot.

But despite the pressure to do everything and be everywhere at once, you get to decide how you show up.

If Instagram lives make you want to crawl under a rock, don’t do them. Instead of daily social media posts, you could try blogging or podcasting.

Find what works for you and play to your strengths.

2. Don’t Allow Your Voice to Get Drowned Out by Everyone Else’s Opinions

It’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking everyone else has the answers. And to be honest, the online business space is set up in such a way that it’s so easy to believe the answers are always outside of yourself.

But the moment you start believing that is when you begin to distrust your voice. And before you know it, you’re second-guessing everything you do and everything you say.

Yes, other people’s expertise is important, but their voices shouldn’t ever overshadow your own. Instead, develop a filter for external advice – use what works, and discard what doesn’t.

3. Trust Your Intuition

If something doesn’t feel right in your gut, whether it’s advice from an expert or something you read in a post, there’s likely a good reason.

Even if you can’t put your finger on why it feels wrong, even if you don’t have the perfect words to explain it – your gut is trying to tell you something.

I’ve been there. Listening and trying to apply advice that sounds great on paper but made me feel icky inside.

It’s easy to think we should ignore these feelings. After all, what do we know compared to the “experts,” right?

Wrong.

Your gut or intuition shouldn’t be ignored. I’m not saying ignore all advice. But I am saying trust yourself enough to question it. To say, “You know what? This might work for some people, but it doesn’t feel right for me.”

But what about when your gut is tied in knots 24/7? How do I know it’s intuition and not fear or anxiety?

Sometimes, that pit in your stomach isn’t your intuition – it’s fear.

But other times, that nagging feeling that something’s not right is spot on. Learning to tell the difference is where the work is. Especially if you feel like your gut can’t be trusted because of things like trauma.

It’s okay to admit you don’t always know which is which. And sometimes you’ll get it wrong. But getting it wrong isn’t the end of the world.

Here’s something that helps me when I feel unsure: having someone in my life I can talk to about stuff that ‘feels off’. Someone with good intuition whose advice I trust.

Not to make decisions for me, but to offer a different perspective when I’m stuck in my own head.

Remember, even if your gut isn’t always right, it’s always worth listening to. The biggest mistake we often make is completely ignoring it.

4. Adopt Strategies That You Can Maintain Over a Long Period of Time

We’ve all been there. You commit to something thinking it’ll be great, and then it becomes this huge dreadful chore. If doing a Facebook live every week is draining the life out of you, scale it back.

Find a rhythm that works for you. When it comes to using different strategies, think long-term here. What can you see yourself doing month after month, year after year?

Maybe it’s one solid blog post a week instead of daily social media updates. Or a monthly newsletter instead of weekly emails.

Whatever it is, make sure it’s something you can keep up without burning out. Your audience would rather hear from you regularly on your own terms than get radio silence because you’ve exhausted yourself trying to keep up with some arbitrary schedule.

I’m not going to lie to you – building a brand as an introvert isn’t always easy

You’ll have moments of self-doubt. And at times you’ll be tempted to just copy what the more extroverted entrepreneurs are doing.

But resist that urge. Because the world doesn’t need another cookie-cutter brand. So remember:

• You don’t have to be everywhere to be seen.
• You don’t have to change who you are to be successful.

What you do need is a brand that feels like you. Not the you that you think you should be, but the real you.

The you that gets excited about your work. The you that cares deeply about your clients.

The you that has ideas and insights that can truly help people.

And if you’re a female entrepreneur and you need support, I’d love to help you create an online brand (and website) that feels like you. Explore my services here

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