Many years ago, I used to train communication professionals to write for the web.

At the time, writing for websites was still a relatively new thing and organisations were just realising that you couldn’t simply put the contents of a written brochure online and expect people to read it.

Because people behaved differently online. They scan rather than read. They land on a page with little context. And they are usually looking for something specific.

The principle behind almost everything I taught back then was:

Don’t make them think.

More than twenty years later, I still live by and teach that principle.

But there are two other ways that thinking matters when communicating your value.

And they are becoming all the more important in today’s information-rich world.

Because we no longer live in a world where information is difficult to find. There are few answers we can’t find from a quick Google search, a conversation with ChatGPT or an evening on YouTube.

Experts don’t need to compete by simply adding more information.

Our opportunity is to help people make better sense of it.

And that requires three distinct kinds of thinking.

1. Don’t make them think

This is still where good communication starts.

Your reader shouldn’t have to decipher what you mean, work out where to find something or connect the dots for themselves.

Your ideal clients are busy. They aren’t studying your website or scouring your LinkedIn back catalogue. They just want straightforward answers to their questions, now.

More specifically, they want to know: Is this relevant to me? Does this person understand my situation? Can they help me? What should I do next?

This is why clever messaging can sometimes work against experts.

When you’ve spent years immersed in a subject, it’s tempting to communicate all its complexity. You want people to appreciate the nuance, the methodology and the depth behind what you do.

And while they may come to want to know your subject in more depth later, first they need the basics covered.

And it’s worth remembering that complexity isn’t the same as value.

Your clients shouldn’t need to know your subject to understand why it matters.

And while our brains are brilliant at thinking, they don’t like doing it. Their main role is to keep us safe and conserve energy. So any message requiring effort to understand risks not being listened to, watched or read.

So the first role of thinking is this: your marketing should aim to remove unnecessary thinking on your clients’ behalf.

Make it easy for the right people to recognise themselves in your message from the first sentence. Make your value easy to follow and grasp. Make your offers easy to understand. And make the next step obvious and easy to take.

You do the thinking, so they don’t have to, and their brains can save their energy for something more useful.

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2. Give them a better model for their thinking

As I’ve already highlighted, your clients can find an extraordinary amount of information without you.

What they can’t necessarily do is determine which information is right for them, right now.

That’s because they don’t have your experience.

They haven’t seen their problem play out dozens or even hundreds of times. They haven’t observed what tends to happen next, which apparently sensible solutions fail in particular circumstances, or which overlooked issue needs resolving before anything else will work.

Very often, the problem someone believes they’re solving isn’t actually where they’re stuck.

They may be trying to fix chapter five when their real problem is that something in chapter three still isn’t working (see: ‘Are your clients stuck in the wrong chapter?’).

For example, someone who isn’t attracting enough clients might reasonably conclude that they need greater visibility. So they start posting more, launch a podcast, rebuild their website or invest in advertising.

None of those solutions is inherently wrong.

But if the people already encountering their business don’t understand why its expertise is relevant or valuable to them, more visibility isn’t necessarily the right next step.

The missing step is further back.

This is where an expert, like you, can provide something far more valuable than another list of things to try.

You can give people a better model for thinking about the decision.

That doesn’t mean telling them what to think. And it certainly doesn’t mean manipulating their understanding of the problem until your solution conveniently appears to be the answer.

It means giving them the context they don’t yet have; showing them the question that needs answering first, the connection they may not have noticed, or the wider system their immediate problem sits within.

Then, armed with this insight, they can make a better decision for themselves.

This distinction matters enormously now.

When information was scarce, knowing the answer had considerable value. Today, answers are everywhere. But not all those answers will be right for this person, at this stage, in these circumstances.

Knowing what you could do is very different from knowing what you should do next.

That requires context and judgement: understanding which information is relevant to your circumstances, what matters most at this stage, what can safely be ignored for now, and how one decision is likely to affect another.

And judgement is valuable and builds trust.

It also gives small expert businesses a much more effective way to approach their marketing.

Instead of continually asking, “What else can I teach my audience?”, try asking:

“What does my experience allow me to see that could help my audience think about this more clearly?”

That might be a far more valuable piece of content, and a much better demonstration of why someone might want your expertise to guide them over that of a competitor.

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3. Own your own way of thinking

The third kind of thinking happens before you ever communicate anything: recognising the value of your own thinking in the first place.

Most experienced experts have developed their own way of seeing their clients’ problems, often without necessarily realising it.

You may ask questions your competitors don’t ask. You might notice patterns other people miss. Perhaps you disagree with a piece of conventional wisdom in your industry, have learned that certain things need to happen in a particular order, or instinctively connect ideas that other people tend to treat separately.

Over time, those observations become so natural that you stop seeing them as expertise.

They’re simply how you think.

And because they feel obvious to you, you may omit them from your marketing and, as a consequence, end up sharing the same content and sounding the same as everyone else in your industry.

You explain what you do rather than the thinking or story behind why you do it that way. You teach established best practice rather than sharing what years of applying that best practice has taught you. You market your qualifications, methods or deliverables while some of the most distinctive value your business offers remains invisible.

This is why recognising your value has to come before communicating it.

Once you can see the principles, perspectives and judgement that make your approach yours, you can do far more than turn them into content.

You can bake them into your business, so everything you do feels aligned, unique and stands out for all the right reasons.

This goes beyond creating nice marketing messages. It shapes the way you position your work, the offers you create, the questions you ask in sales conversations, the way you work with clients, the experience you give them and the results you help them achieve.

Your thinking stops being something you occasionally share in a LinkedIn post.

And becomes part of the experience of choosing and working with you.

That’s when your perspective starts becoming something much more powerful: a reason to choose you.

In a world of infinite answers, give people a reason to choose yours, because this is one of the biggest opportunities for experts right now.

AI isn’t making genuine expertise irrelevant. But it is making information alone much less differentiating. Your clients can find an answer to almost any question within seconds. What they can’t find so easily is the judgement, context and perspective that helps them understand what that answer means, and if it’s right for them.

That doesn’t mean you should stop answering the questions your ideal clients are asking. Quite the opposite.

Answer them. Answer as many of the relevant questions as you can.

But don’t simply add another generic response to an already enormous pile. Bring your thinking, philosophy, insight and stories to it.

What does your experience tell you someone searching for a particular answer might need to consider? What tends to get overlooked? Where does the conventional advice fall short? What needs to happen first? When might the obvious answer be entirely appropriate — and when might it not be?

This is how you create a rich body of useful content without simply creating more information.

Your audience may find you because they searched for an answer to a question. But they’ll like and trust you because the answer they found feels highly relevant, and helps them understand their challenge from an entirely new perspective.

And when they encounter your thinking consistently — across your articles, podcast episodes, social content, website and conversations — they begin to understand something much more important than the answer to the question that brought them to you.

They begin to understand why your expertise might be right for them, and confidently take the next step towards working with you.

I'd love to know: what's one thing you know to be true in your work that you've never quite said out loud? Share it in the comments — I read every one.

Finally, if you’re wondering what your distinctive way of thinking is, you’re not alone. The closer we are to our expertise, the harder it can be to recognise the perspectives, patterns and judgement that have become second nature to us.

That’s why the first stage of Value Whispering is recognition: uncovering the value in your expertise before trying to communicate more of it.

In the opening chapter of my best-selling book, Value Whispering, I show you where to start.

Download the first chapter FREE here

There are few things more frustrating than knowing you’re exceptionally good at what you do while watching your dream client choose to work with someone who appears less experienced, less capable and, if you’re honest, not nearly as good as you.

(With the exception of thinking you’ve found the one empty space in a busy car park, only to drive up and discover there’s already a tiny car in it. But I digress...)

When the right clients overlook them, most experts assume they have a visibility problem. So naturally, they conclude they need to post more on LinkedIn, start another social media channel, improve their website or somehow become ‘better at marketing’.

Sometimes that helps.

But more often, they amplify the real problem: you are being overlooked because while people see you, they don’t get you.

Over more than three decades working in marketing and communications and advising founders, leaders and experts, it’s one of the most common, yet least recognised, problems I’ve seen.

Most experts don’t have a visibility problem.

They have a value recognition problem.

The frustrating part is that the more experienced you become, the easier it is for this to happen.

Your expertise evolves gradually over the years, while the language you use to describe it often remains attached to the visible parts of your work rather than the depth of value you create for your clients.

And the truth is, people won’t invest in value they don’t recognise.

And value recognition always comes before a decision to buy.

Once you start looking through that lens, you notice something fascinating:

The experts who struggle to attract clients usually spend most of their time describing who they are and what they do.

The experts who become the obvious choice spend far more time helping people understand what their work makes possible in the lives of their clients. They make the value of their outcomes clear, tangible and easy to recognise.

In this article, I want to explore that difference and show you how to communicate your value in a way that helps the right people quickly understand why you may be exactly the person they’re looking for.

The difference between information and meaning

One of the most common pieces of sales and marketing advice is that features tell and benefits sell.

And while that’s true, I don’t think it goes far enough.

This is how I see it.

Features provide information.

Benefits give that information meaning.

Meaning is what allows people to recognise themselves in your work. Until someone understands not only what you do, but why it matters to their life or business, they have nothing meaningful to say yes to.

That’s why I believe recognition always comes before persuasion.

Think about how often we describe our offers like this:

• Six coaching sessions

• A private online community

• Weekly accountability

• A strategy workshop

• A personalised report

There’s nothing wrong with any of those things.

They’re simply incomplete. They tell people what they’ll receive, but give them no reason to understand why any of it matters.

Imagine meeting someone at a networking event and they proudly tell you they offer a personalised report.

Your first thought probably isn’t:

“Wonderful. I’d love one.”

It’s far more likely to be:

“OK... but what does that actually do for me?”

That’s the question every potential client is quietly asking.

Not because they’re sceptical, but because they’re human. Our brains constantly filter information for relevance. Before we decide whether something deserves our time, attention or investment, we instinctively ask ourselves whether it matters to us.

So once you start explaining the meaning behind the feature, everything changes.

Now they understand exactly what that personalised report will enable them to do differently, why it matters and whether it’s relevant to the outcome they’re trying to create.

The feature hasn’t changed.

Its meaning has.

Even the famous drill example has ‘holes’

One of the first marketing lessons I ever learnt came from Theodore Levitt, the Harvard marketing professor who famously said:

“People don’t buy a quarter-inch drill because they want a quarter-inch drill. They buy it because they want a quarter-inch hole.”

I heard that example throughout my marketing studies.

Then one day I realised something.

Nobody wakes up thinking:

“Today’s the day I finally get that hole in the wall I’ve always dreamed about.”

People want a hole in the wall for a reason.

Perhaps it allows them to hang a treasured family photograph. Perhaps it’s somewhere to display books they’ve collected over a lifetime. Or maybe it’s to display a piece of art that gives their house the final touch that finally makes it feel like home.

The drill isn’t the goal, and neither is the hole.

Both are simply steps towards something much more meaningful.

That’s exactly how your expertise works.

Your clients don’t really want coaching.

They don’t really want strategy, a workshop, a framework or a ninety-minute session either.

Those things matter only because of what they make possible afterwards.

The mistake most experts make is stopping one step too early. They explain the drill. Sometimes they even explain the hole. Very few explain the life their client is hoping to create on the other side of it.

Your job is to understand why your client wants that metaphorical hole in the wall and communicate that. Not the drill. Not even the hole.

But the life they’ll be able to create because of it.

Why most experts accidentally hide their value

This is where I see brilliant experts unintentionally making life harder for themselves.

As your expertise grows, more and more of what you do becomes instinctive. You stop noticing the value because it feels obvious to you.

Features are also safer to talk about.

It’s easy to say your programme includes six sessions, a framework or a personalised report. It’s much harder to articulate the transformation those things create, because doing so requires you to recognise the value of your own expertise first.

That is often the very thing you’ve become blind to.

So you begin describing the journey instead of the destination.

You talk about your methodology, qualifications, programme structure, discovery call or years of experience.

All of that information has a role to play.

Just not first.

Because none of it answers the crucial question your client wants answered before they’re willing to invest the time to understand more.

“How will my life be different because of this?”

Or, put more simply:

“What’s in it for me?”

Take something as simple as a complimentary discovery call.

Most websites simply say:

“Book a complimentary discovery call.”

That’s information.

It tells people what’s available, but gives them no reason to understand why the call matters.

Because the value isn’t the call itself.

It’s the opportunity to ask questions without pressure, understand their options, explore whether this is the right next step and make a confident decision.

Exactly the same call.

Completely different meaning.

One describes an activity.

The other helps someone recognise its value.

Keep asking one simple question

Whenever I’m helping clients improve their messaging, there’s one exercise that consistently helps them uncover the value hidden inside what they do.

The question is simply:

Which means...?

Take one feature of working with you.

Ask yourself what that gives your client.

Then ask:

Which means...?

And then ask it again. And again.

Keep going until you reach something your client can genuinely feel.

For example, let’s say the first step in your offer provides your client with a personalised strategy.

Which means … their priorities become clearer.

Which means … they stop wasting time on marketing that isn’t working.

Which means … they finally have confidence that their effort is moving their business forwards.

Notice how each answer moves further away from describing your business and closer to describing your client’s future.

Most businesses stop after the first answer.

That’s one reason so much marketing and messaging sounds alike.

Every time you ask “Which means...?” you move one step away from your process and one step closer to helping your client recognise the future they’re hoping to create.

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Help people see their better future

This is where Value Whispering takes a different approach to traditional marketing.

Traditional marketing often asks:

“How do I promote my offer?”

Value Whispering asks:

“How do I help someone recognise themselves enjoying a better future through my offer?”

Think about the last holiday advertisement that caught your attention.

It probably wasn’t full of airport queues, delayed flights and cramped aeroplane seats, even though that’s what the journey actually involves.

It showed warm evenings, white sand, laughter around a restaurant table and memories waiting to be made.

The holiday company wasn’t selling the journey.

It was helping you imagine the life waiting at the other end of it.

Your expertise deserves the same level of thought.

Your clients aren’t looking for another framework.

They’re looking for what that framework allows them to achieve or become once they have implemented it.

What changed for Kate

When I first started working with Kate, her business was struggling.

She assumed she needed to become better at marketing.

She didn’t.

Like many experts, she described her service in almost exactly the same way as everyone else in her industry. The only obvious difference was that her prices were significantly higher, so she found it hard to attract clients.

Once we uncovered the value she consistently created for clients and, more importantly, why that mattered to the people she most wanted to work with, everything changed.

She stopped describing the mechanics of her service and started communicating the transformation her clients were really looking for.

Within a week she had attracted four new clients who never even asked for her price list because they immediately understood why she was the right person to help them.

Within three months she was making a profit for the first time in two years.

Three months later, she had a waiting list of high-paying clients.

She didn’t become more visible or do more marketing (in fact, she did a lot less).

She made her unique value easier to recognise.

Before you write another word...

The next time you’re tinkering with your website, updating your LinkedIn headline or describing your offer, pause for a moment.

Ask yourself:

Am I describing what I do?

Or...

Am I helping someone recognise why it matters to them?

Because clients rarely choose the expert with the longest list of features.

They choose the expert whose value they understand most easily.

This is why I believe marketing is rarely the real problem.

Value Recognition is.

When people recognise the value you create, saying ‘Heck Yes!’ to working with you no longer feels like a leap of faith.

It feels like the natural next step.

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Making Your Value Easy to Recognise

If you suspect that Value Recognition could be the issue that’s keeping your dream clients from saying ‘Heck Yes!’ to your offer, here are two ways I can help you:

1. Get a copy of my book: Value Whispering - The Smarter Way to Market Your Small Business you can find it here.

   
   Or for a quick taster, you can download the first chapter free here »

2. Consider joining the Value Whispering Blueprint. This is my signature programme where I’ll guide you step by step through the process of getting your value clear, communicating and marketing it to your dream clients, creating your signature system and offers and developing your customer journey and sales process, all while working on your mindset and creating the right conditions for your success.

   
   Click here to learn more and arrange a time for us to discuss your needs and whether now is the right time to join the programme.

A woman recently booked a call with me because she was struggling to define her unique selling point.

She’d spent decades working in her profession, had retrained in a specialist area she loved and, despite approaching retirement age, had no desire to stop. She still had so much she wanted to contribute.

Yet, within a few minutes of our conversation, she said something I (sadly) hear remarkably often:

“Everyone else seems to have the same qualifications as me. Some probably have even more. I don’t know what makes me different. Why would a client choose me?!”

The irony wasn’t lost on me.

Here was someone who had accumulated a lifetime of knowledge, experience and wisdom, yet all she could see was a list of qualifications that looked much like everyone else’s. Even though, in the same conversation, she had already told me about the value she brings to her clients — so much value, in fact, that she wasn’t ready to stop and retire.

The call didn’t lead to us working together, but the conversation stayed with me because it illustrates a pattern I’ve noticed for years.

The experts who have the most to offer are often the ones who find it hardest to explain why someone should choose them.

At first glance, that doesn’t make much sense.

Surely expertise should make marketing easier?

In reality, it often has the opposite effect.

Why more expertise can make marketing harder

When you’re new to your profession, your expertise is relatively easy to describe. You’re a designer. A therapist. A coach. A consultant. You have a defined set of skills and a clear description of what you do.

As the years pass, though, something changes.

You don’t simply accumulate more knowledge. You develop judgement. You notice patterns that others miss. You draw on experiences that can’t be taught in a textbook. You combine ideas from different disciplines. You refine your own philosophy, system and approach. You stop following frameworks quite so rigidly because you’ve developed the confidence to know when they apply and when they don’t.

Ironically, as your value increases, it becomes harder to explain. And harder for you to see and appreciate, because the things that make you so valuable lie in the nuances that have become so deeply ingrained in your work, they feel natural rather than special.

In other words, your expertise has evolved faster than your ability to see it and describe it.

You still see yourself as the same as everyone else in your field, while the reality is very different.

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The Expertise Blind Spot

Your evolution creates what I call an Expertise Blind Spot.

The very things that make you exceptional have become so familiar that you stop noticing them. They no longer feel like expertise because they’re simply the way you think and act.

You assume that everyone:

… asks those questions

… spots those connections

… brings that perspective, and

… instinctively knows what you know.

Of course, they don’t.

And those are precisely the things your clients value most about you.

I suspect introverts are especially prone to this blind spot. Many naturally downplay their strengths, preferring to let the quality of their work speak for itself. They often assume that if something comes easily to them, it can’t be particularly valuable.

When the opposite is usually true.

The insights you’ve earned through years of experience don’t feel remarkable because you’ve lived with them for so long. To someone encountering them for the first time, they can completely change the way they see a problem.

When I speak with a new prospect, I can usually spot their Expertise Blind Spot in minutes. Not because I’m looking for what’s missing, but because the value is almost always there already. Most of the time, being blind to the true value of their expertise and experience is exactly what is making their marketing feel so hard — and preventing potential clients from seeing them as their ideal choice.

Why better marketing tactics aren’t enough

This is also one of the reasons why traditional marketing advice so often falls flat for experienced experts.

It tells you to write a compelling bio, identify your USP or talk more boldly about your expertise.

It’s not bad advice.

But it skips over the hardest part: identifying your value.

And you can’t communicate value that you can’t yet see, appreciate and believe in.

That’s why, when I work with clients, we don’t start by polishing their LinkedIn profile or rewriting their website.

Those things matter, and we absolutely get to them. It’s part of the work we do together to refine their positioning, messaging, offers, business model, marketing strategy and sales process, ensuring every part of the business coherently and precisely expresses the value they’ve learned to recognise in themselves.

But first, we do something much more fundamental.

We uncover the value that has become invisible through familiarity.

Only then does everything else begin to make sense.

Your message becomes clearer because you’re no longer trying to describe your profession; you’re describing the difference your perspective makes.

Your marketing feels more natural because it reflects who you’ve become, not just what you do.

Your confidence grows because your message is rooted in evidence rather than performance.

And as a result, you stand out as the obvious choice for your dream clients — without resorting to loud, pushy or complicated (or expensive) marketing and sales tactics.

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The real question isn’t “What makes me different?”

This is why I believe the biggest challenge for many experienced experts isn’t visibility.

It isn’t confidence.

It isn’t even marketing.

It’s perspective.

So perhaps the question to ask isn’t: “What makes me different?”

Perhaps the better question is: “What have I stopped noticing because it has become second nature?”

The answer to that question is often where your greatest value has been hiding all along.

Exploring the value in your expertise

If this article has made you wonder whether you have your own Expertise Blind Spot, I’d love to help you explore it.

Together, we can uncover the value that has become invisible through familiarity, translate it into clear, confident messaging, and build it into a marketing and sales approach that supports more consistent business growth.

If that sounds like the conversation you need right now, you can book a call with me here.

What have you stopped noticing?

I’d love to know what this article brought to mind for you.

Has it made you realise there’s an aspect of your expertise that has become so familiar you’ve stopped recognising it as valuable? Or maybe that understanding this value is the missing part in your marketing?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

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Meanwhile, the truly brilliant people are quietly overthinking their website, rewriting their LinkedIn headline for the seventeenth time, or telling themselves they just need one more qualification, one more framework or one more piece of clarity before they’ll finally feel ‘ready’.

I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

In fact, I think one of the reasons brilliant experts struggle with marketing is directly connected to the reason they became brilliant in the first place.

The Reason You Became An Expert

Over the years, I’ve worked with many highly intelligent, deeply capable people. Some have PhDs. Some are medical doctors, scientists or specialists in incredibly complex fields. Others have built decades of experience and insight that genuinely sets them apart in their industry.

And yet, despite everything they know, many of them struggle to communicate their value clearly and confidently.

Not because they lack expertise.

Quite the opposite.

The challenge is usually that what they do has become so natural, nuanced and instinctive to them that they can no longer see the brilliance in it themselves. They assume everyone else can do what they do. Or they struggle to simplify it because they can see all the layers, variables and exceptions involved.

And underneath that, there is often something else quietly happening too.

I’ve come to believe that brilliance usually has a backstory.

The people who become exceptionally good at what they do are rarely driven purely by confidence. More often, they are driven by a quiet need to prove themselves in some way.

To prove they are intelligent enough.
Capable enough.
Credible enough.
Worthy enough to be heard and taken seriously.

So they study harder.

Work harder.

Prepare more thoroughly than everyone else.

They become the person who double-checks everything. The person who stays late. The person who reads one more book, earns one more qualification or spends one more year refining their expertise before allowing themselves to fully step forward.

And of course, this drive often creates extraordinary people.

But ironically, the very thing that drives someone to become exceptional can also make it difficult for them to fully recognise how exceptional they already are.

Because true experts know how much they don’t know.

As much as they understand complexity, nuance and context. They also understand the limitations, grey areas and the variables that less experienced people often miss completely.

Which means they tend to speak more carefully.

Meanwhile, people with far less depth often communicate with enormous certainty simply because they cannot yet see the complexity that an expert sees.

And I think this is one of the reasons so many brilliant experts quietly struggle to build businesses that truly reflect the quality of their work.

Because while they capable and fully deserving of success.

Their deep awareness combined with hidden self-doubt causes hesitation

Why Sensible Actions Hide Your Self-Doubt

Self-doubt can show up in sneaky ways that look productive and sensible from the outside, but ultimately serve to hold talented experts back and erode their self-confidence.

Sensible things like:

Overthinking the LinkedIn post you’ve been working on for two weeks, because you keep questioning: “Who am I to say this?”, “What if others disagree?”. Or

Constantly tweaking your website because it doesn’t yet perfectly capture every aspect of your work and how you help others. Or

Delaying visibility until things are ‘perfect’, but your bar of what perfect looks like is so high, you never achieve it, so you stay invisible.

You wait to put your dream offer out into the world, as you feel you need to get one more certification before you’ll be seen as credible and feel ‘the best’ at what you do.

I could continue, but if you are an expert who is struggling to put yourself and your business out there in a way that feels comfortable, you’re probably getting the gist.

But beneath so much of these sensible, but delaying actions is fear.

Not a loud fear.

But a quiet and incredibly powerful fear.

The fear of being misunderstood.

The fear of being judged.

The fear of saying something publicly and getting it wrong.

The fear that maybe, despite all your experience, you’re still somehow ‘not enough’.

This is why, when I work with clients on their marketing and messaging, we rarely begin with marketing.

We begin with helping them see themselves more clearly.

How Your Expert-Ease Changes Your Marketing

Before you can communicate your value confidently, you first need to recognise the depth of the value you already bring.

You need to see the patterns in your brilliance and the things you do naturally that others find transformational.

In other words, you need to gain a deep appreciation of the unique combination of experience, perspective, insight and ways of thinking that make your work different. I like to call this Expert-ease.

And interestingly, once you gain this everything else changes too.

Even before we officially work on strategy or messaging, my clients often begin showing up differently. They speak with more clarity. They stop hiding behind complexity. They describe their work with more confidence and conviction.

And almost immediately, opportunities begin appearing.

New clients.

New conversations.

New invitations.

Not because they suddenly became more brilliant overnight, but because people can finally feel and understand the brilliance that was already there.

This is also one of the reasons I became a certified mindset coach alongside my marketing work.

Because I realised that for many brilliant experts, the challenge wasn’t simply strategy.

The deeper challenge was self-trust and self-belief.

After two years of helping people articulate their value more clearly, I saw that I also needed to be able to help them to move through the doubt, fear and hesitation that quietly sit underneath visibility, growth and success.

Because once you truly begin trusting your own brilliance, marketing becomes a very different game. And I call it that because it becomes more instinctive and enjoyable. When you fully believe in your true value…

You stop trying to sound impressive.

You stop trying to market yourself like everyone else.

You stop hiding behind complexity or over-explaining every detail.

Instead, your marketing starts to feel like a natural extension of the work you do and the value you already create.

It becomes clearer, calmer, more natural and more human.

There’s no need to attempt to cajole or convince people, because your dream clients begin recognising you far more easily because they can finally feel the depth, clarity and conviction behind your work.

After all, nobody else has your exact combination of insight, experience, perspective, passion and expertise.

Your brilliance really is unique.

And it’s already more than enough.

It just may not have been fully recognised yet.

Including by you.

Feel Familiar?

And if this article felt a little uncomfortably familiar, there are still a couple of places left in my Magnetic Marketing Bootcamp, starting Monday 25 May.

The four-week programme is designed to help brilliant experts communicate their value clearly, confidently and naturally, so they can attract more of the right clients without feeling loud, pushy or performative in the process.

Click here now for 50% off the full price.

About the Author

Melitta Campbell is a multi-award-winning business coach, marketing strategist, TEDx speaker, three-time best-selling author, and host of the globally ranked podcast, The Art of Value Whispering.

Known as The Value Whisperer, she specialises in helping brilliant experts, service-based business owners and value-driven introverts communicate their value clearly, market their business naturally, and attract more of the right clients without needing to be loud, pushy or performative.

To learn more about Melitta, visit melittacampbell.com

Or, if you’d like support in growing your business in a way that feels aligned and authentic, you can book a Get Acquainted call with her via the website.

She had made it with her father, who was a silversmith, and she gave it to me to say thank you. Not for a birthday or a special occasion, but because, in her words, I had helped her feel more confident and find her place at school.

I remember feeling completely confused and a little guilty, as I didn’t think I had done anything to deserve such a thoughtful gift.

But that moment has always stayed with me.

Looking back now, I can see that moment more clearly. And how helping people recognise their value and quietly believe in themselves, has always been something I’ve done. Long before I recognised it or had language for it.

And how over the years, while my work has taken different forms, this idea has always been a central theme. From my roles in marketing and branding, to corporate communication and consulting, to business and leadership communication training and coaching it was always present. Today, I’ve named this approach: Value Whispering, or here simply as smarter marketing for introverts.

On the surface, it might look like my work has evolved over the years. In retrospect it has barely changed.

Because at its heart, it has always been about the same thing:

Helping people (and companies) see, appreciate and believe in their true value … before finding a way to express it naturally, so others can see it too.

Most people don’t struggle with value. They struggle with seeing it clearly enough to stand behind it and put words to it.

Smarter marketing for introverts

I think that’s why I find the whole conversation around marketing so interesting.

Because what so many people see as ‘marketing’ to me are just tactics and not what I would call marketing at all.

Because it’s not a single activity, it’s a flow.

Marketing isn’t what you do to get clients.
It’s how clients experience you before they choose you.

Therefore, marketing done well is an intentional journey you create that helps the right people to find you and, step-by-step, know, like and trust you, to the point where they believe you are the perfect person to serve them (or not).

Each step in that journey should be created to help people think, feel and act a particular way. That requires deep thinking and care. And when that’s missing, even the best tactics feel random and rarely lead anywhere meaningful.

The thing to know here is that all of this is something that thoughtful, capable, experienced experts and business owners, especially those who are more introverted, naturally excel at - once they have the right framework and support to create this flow.

But without this understanding of marketing, these same caring, brilliant people struggle when it comes to attracting clients.

They start to question themselves.
They overthink what to say.
They hesitate to put themselves forward.

Or they try to follow advice that, on paper, makes sense… but in practice feels heavy, or forced, or just not quite right.

It often sounds like this:

“I know I should be doing more, but I just can’t seem to make it work.”

And for a long time, I think many people quietly assume that means they are the problem.

That they’re not confident enough.
Not consistent enough.
Not cut out for business in the way others seem to be.

But the more I’ve seen this, the more I’ve come to a different conclusion.

It’s not that they’re doing it wrong.

It’s that they’re trying to do it in a way that doesn’t fit. And anything that doesn’t fit will always feel harder than it needs to.

Quiet marketing is invisible

Most of the marketing we see is, quite naturally, the loudest kind.

The people posting every day.
The bold claims and flashy videos.
The high energy launches.

And there’s nothing wrong with that. If it works well for you and your personality, wonderful.

But because this is the kind of marketing we see most often, it quietly shapes what we believe marketing is supposed to look like. It starts to feel like this is the way, perhaps even the only way.

Visibility skews perception.
We assume what we see most is what works best.

We see something similar when it comes to sales.

When people hear the word ‘sales’, they often picture the loud, pushy car salesman from years gone by. That slightly uncomfortable, high-pressure experience.

But when sales is done well, we don’t call it sales at all.

We talk about how someone really listened.
How they asked thoughtful questions.
How they took the time to understand what we needed, and guided us towards the right decision.

Good sales rarely feels like selling.
It feels like being seen, understood and valued.

And because we describe it so differently, we don’t always connect those experiences back to ‘sales’. So our old assumption stays firmly in place.

It’s the same with marketing.

If the only version you see is loud and highly visible, it’s easy to assume that’s what’s required.

So if your natural way of working is quieter, more thoughtful, more relationship-led, it can leave you feeling like you’re constantly slightly out of step. Like you’re either not doing enough, not doing it properly, or that you need a personality transplant to succeed.

What we don’t see as easily are all the businesses growing in a different way.

The ones built on clarity rather than noise, trust rather than urgency, depth rather than constant visibility.

Because these businesses don’t spread their marketing wide.
They use an approach that resonates deeper with the right people.

They’re there. They’re just not everywhere.

Which is often why they are also the ones quietly building the most trusted businesses.

But because we don’t see them as often, we don’t always realise that those approaches are available to us and can be highly effective.

Value over Volume

I think this is where the idea of smarter marketing for introverts really comes from.

Not as a label, but as an invitation to ask:
”What would marketing look like if it actually worked with me?”

“What if marketing started with how you naturally think, communicate and build relationships, rather than something to layer on top?”

For me, it always comes back to value.

Not in the abstract sense, but in a very real, grounded way.

Can you see the value in what you do?

Not just intellectually, but clearly enough that you can describe it in a way that someone else immediately understands why it matters. Because until you can see and articulate it clearly, you’ll always feel like you have to work hard to prove it.

This is where I often talk about your Value Sweet Spot. And why I have made it the first step in my three-part Value Whispering methodology.

That place where what you’re naturally brilliant at, what you care about, and what your ideal clients genuinely need… all overlap.

When you’re working from there, something shifts.

You’re no longer trying to ‘position’ yourself in a way that sounds right.

You’re expressing something that already is right.

And that makes everything that follows feel lighter and more natural. It’s also easier to manage in a way that works for your personality and lifestyle (I’ll come back to this idea in a moment).

Because from there, your marketing stops being something separate that you have to “do”.

It becomes something you begin to weave into how you already work.

Into your conversations and how you explain things.
Into your offers and the experience and transformation you create, and
Into the way you show up for and guide your prospects and clients.

This is what I think of as Value Weaving.

Not adding more on top, but allowing your value to show up more clearly, more intentionally, and more consistently, in everything you’re already doing.

It’s not about doing more marketing. It’s about making what you already do more visible, more intentional, and easier to understand.

And when that happens, people don’t just notice you more.

They understand and connect with you more quickly. Because clarity shortens the distance between you and the right client.

Value Weaving over Marketing

Value Weaving changes how you think about client attraction and growth.

There’s less pressure to be everywhere, all the time, because you’re not trying to capture attention from anyone who might be listening.

You’re much more discerning. You focus your energy on finding and speaking to the people who are most likely to recognise themselves in your work and value your approach to solving their problems.

Value Weaving also tends to be more sustainable, and perfect for:

Attracting better-fit clients.
Developing stronger, more meaningful relationships.
Engaging in work that feel energising, rather than forced or demanding.

But for this to work, there’s another piece that matters just as much.

And that’s how you lead yourself within your business.

Because even the most aligned strategy will start to feel heavy if it asks too much of you, or pulls you in directions that don’t suit you.

Sustainable success isn’t built through discipline.
It’s built through alignment.

Being Self-Full for Sustainable Success

The third part of the Value Whispering methodology ensures that success becomes sustainable and enjoyable.

It’s all about developing the right mindset and beliefs, and managing your time, energy and environment, so you consciously set yourself up for repeatable success.

This is where boundaries become so important.

Not just in the obvious sense of saying no to clients or opportunities that aren’t right, but in how you design your days, your energy, and your focus.

What do you say yes to?
What do you protect?
What do you allow to take up your time and attention?
Where can you afford to be flexible?

For many people, especially those who are thoughtful, generous, and deeply invested in their work, this is where things can quietly become overwhelming.

And if you’re someone who is neurodivergent like me, this can be even more true.

Traditional advice around productivity and consistency often assumes a very linear way of working.

But in reality, many of us work best in a much more dynamic way.

When something genuinely interests you, you can focus deeply, move quickly, and produce incredible work.

When it doesn’t, everything feels harder than it should. And no amount of willpower fixes a system that doesn’t fit you.

So rather than trying to force yourself into a system that doesn’t fit, the questions become:

How do I build this in a way that supports how I naturally work?
How can I build novelty and interest into my activities in a practical way?
What are the conditions that support my success?

Because that’s what allows you to stay motivated and consistent without burning out.

When Marketing Becomes Meaningful

When all of this comes together, something quite subtle but powerful happens.

Your marketing starts to feel less like ‘marketing’ and more like a natural extension of who you are and how you help.

Effective marketing feels like an honest reflection of how you already think, work and help. That’s how it attracts the right people, those you resonate with and value what you represent.

It feels more like sharing ideas, having meaningful conversations, helping people see things differently, and offering clarity where there was complexity or confusion.

In other words, it starts to feel like a natural extension of the work you already do.

And, maybe like me you’ll start to see how the work you do now, isn’t so different from how you showed up for your friends back in junior school all those years ago ; )

So if I could leave you with one final thought it’s this:

You don’t need a louder strategy.
You need a truer one.

And if finding that truer strategy is something you need help with right now, I’m here to support you. You can book a call to discuss how with me here.

Value Whispering Book
Get the First Chapter Free

If this way of thinking about marketing resonates with you, and you’d like to explore it more deeply, you can download first chapter of my book, Value Whispering: The Smarter Way to Market Your Business for free here.

This chapter will help you start to see your value more clearly, and give you full permission to start marketing your business in a way that feels natural and true to you, and attracts the right clients.

You can read it here:
www.melittacampbell.com/chapter

Paid Subscribers: Go to the tab ‘Resources for Paid Subscribers’ at the top of this page to download your a full digital copy of the book instantly.

Invitation - Free Marketing Webinar 30 April

If you are finding your marketing isn’t quite clicking, or feels harder than it should, I’d love for you to join me on 6 May for a live webinar.

I’ll dive into the five most common reasons why, the small shifts that make the biggest difference, and how you can create your perfect marketing strategy.

Register for the free webinar >

The idea that there is one ‘right’ way to market your business is one of those ideas that sounds helpful on the surface, but quietly causes a lot of problems underneath.

Because when you have that belief, you’ll always be searching ‘out there’ for:

• A single strategy that works.

• A subscribed set of steps to follow.

• Something you can apply for instant results, if you just do it properly.

It’s a comforting thought, especially when your current marketing strategy isn’t working as you’d hoped, because it gives you something to aim for. It suggests that the gap isn’t anything fundamental, just that you haven’t quite found the right approach yet.

So you keep looking.

You try different tactics, follow different advice, tweak things, refine things, and tell yourself that with a bit more time, a bit more money, or a bit more consistency, something will eventually click into place.

But what if the problem isn’t that you haven’t found the right strategy?

But that you’re assuming there is one?

Shifting from ‘One’ Perfect Strategy
to ‘Your’ Perfect Strategy

When I’m working with clients, one of the first shifts we make is to step away from tactics and look at marketing in a much simpler, yet more connected way.

At its core, marketing is the start of a relationship.

It’s how someone moves from not knowing you exist, to recognising themselves in what you say, to trusting that you can help them, and finally to believing that you are the ideal person for them to work with.

And once you see it like that, it becomes much harder to believe that there could be one ‘correct’ way to do it.

Because relationships don’t work like that.

They depend on the people involved. On what matters to them, how they think, what they’re navigating, and how they make decisions. Even small differences can change everything about how that connection needs to begin.

The way you would speak to a new parent who is overwhelmed and exhausted, for example, is very different from how you would speak to someone later in life who is reflecting on what they want next. The emotional landscape is different, the priorities are different, their availability is different, and so the way you communicate has to be different too.

Which means that the idea of a single marketing strategy that works for everyone doesn’t really hold up.

And yet, so much of the advice we see is built as if it does.

The YouTube Guru Trap

When your marketing isn’t working, and you find yourself awake at 3am watching yet another YouTube video that promises to reveal the ‘one thing your missing’, their advice is often to show up more, be more visible, follow a certain structure, and use a particular platform or funnel.

And it makes sense. Especially when it’s shared with such confidence and powerful case studies. So you find yourself sucked in. Heck, these guys are so persuasive, even I’ve been sucked into them - more than once! They pitch their strategy in a way that makes you think ‘I’d be stupid not to do this’, even when your gut is telling you ‘this doesn’t feel like me’.

But, what’s usually missing in these videos is the context that made the strategy work in the first place.

And without that, it’s very easy to assume that if it’s not working for you, the issue must be you.

I see this especially with introverted business owners, or those who are naturally more thoughtful and relationship-focused in how they work.

They try to follow advice that is built around visibility, volume, and constant output or outreach, and it doesn’t just feel uncomfortable, and quickly becomes draining. Like they are constantly pushing against themselves just in order to keep up, let alone thrive.

So they start to question their consistency, their confidence, or their willingness to show up, rather than questioning whether the approach itself actually fits.

And that’s where things begin to unravel.

The Doom Cycle of Buying into Extroverted Strategies

Because once you believe that the strategy is right, you don’t really give yourself permission to step away from it.

You either keep searching for a better version of it, or you double down and try to make it work. Many of my clients are in this exact situations when we start working together.

Their marketing isn’t working, and in the absence of a better plan, they do more.

• They post on social media more.

• They work longer hours.

• They invest in more ad spend or another ‘expert’.
  

But the issue isn’t them. It’s that the underlying approach isn’t aligned with them or your clients, so all that extra effort doesn’t lead to better results. It just leads to more frustration, and a sense that they aren’t good enough.

Over time, that can become heavy. And it shows.

Their marketing starts to feel like a chore, something they have to force themselves to do, rather than a joyful activity that supports the business their building and creates a connection with your dream clients. It feels disconnected from the work they love, and from the way they naturally communicate with clients.

And that’s when the doubt starts to creep in.

This Happened to My Client Emma

Emma, who was caught in exactly this pattern.

She was doing everything she had been told to do. She was consistent, committed, and putting in a significant amount of time each week, but no matter how hard she worked, the results never came.

So she did what most of us would do in that situation. She assumed that the answer was to do more. More content, more effort, more time.

But instead of improving things, it created a constant tension in her life. She felt guilty when she was working because it wasn’t paying off in the way she’d hoped and it was taking her away from her family - the reason she started her business in the first place. And she felt guilty when she was with her kids, as she felt she should be doing more to make her business work.

It wasn’t sustainable, and it certainly wasn’t enjoyable.

The turning point wasn’t a new tactic or a better platform. It was much simpler than that.

She stopped trying to make that strategy work, and we started to build something that actually fit her.

We looked at how she naturally communicated, what her clients really needed to hear, and where her true value sat in relation to their needs. From there, we created a much simpler way for her to express the value of her work, one that felt clear, straight-forward and personal rather than generic.

And that changed everything.

Not because she was suddenly doing more, but because what she was doing finally made sense.

Within six months she was working less, while attracting more perfect-fit clients. And a year later she’d grown from low 5-figures to close to 7-figures. Not by doing more, but by focusing on what was meaningful and worked for her and her clients.

If you can relate, join my webinar on 30 April.
I’ll be diving into this exact topic deeper, and showing you the most common reasons why your marketing feels harder than it should - and the better way to attract clients, without being loud or pushy.

Register today >

The Best Strategies are Formed, Not Found

This is the part that often gets overlooked.

The most effective marketing strategy isn’t something you find and can instantly apply to your business. It’s something you develop over time, based on a deepening understanding of yourself and the people you want to work with.

It starts with recognising what actually fits you. Your strengths, your preferences, the way you think and communicate when you’re at your best. And then it connects to your client, not just in terms of who they are, but how they experience the problem you solve and what matters to them about solving it.

From there, your strategy becomes something you can shape and refine. You test ideas, you notice what resonates, you adjust, and over time it becomes clearer and more effective, not because you’ve found the answer, but because you’re learning what works in your specific context.

For introverts, this is often where things begin to feel lighter.

Marketing stops feeling like something you have to perform, and starts to feel more like an extension of the conversations you already have and the work you already do.

It becomes less about being everywhere and saying anything and everything, and more about being in the right place, saying the right things in a way that genuinely resonates and connects.

Pause and Ask This

If your marketing has been feeling harder than it should, take a pause and reflect on these questions:

Where are you following advice that doesn’t quite feel like you?

Where are you doing something because you’ve been told it’s the ‘right’ thing to do, rather than because it feels good, and makes sense for you and your clients?

And if you were to strip that away, even temporarily, what would feel more natural? What would feel more aligned with how you actually want to show up?

You don’t need to have fully formed answers straight away, but asking those questions can be enough to start shifting how you approach your marketing. And prevent you from falling into the trap of trying strategies what aren’t a good fit.

Because the problem isn’t that you haven’t found the right strategy.

It’s that you’ve been trying to find something that was never going to exist in the first place.

And once you let go of that idea, you can start building something far more useful.

Something that fits you.
Something your clients recognise.
And something that works because it was designed that way.

So, now you know this, what are you most excited to explore or shift in your marketing? Let me know in the comments.

If you can relate, join my webinar on 30 April.
I’ll be diving into this exact topic deeper, and showing you the most common reasons why your marketing feels harder than it should - and the better way to attract clients, without being loud or pushy.

Register today >

Melitta Campbell (me): host of ‘The Art of Value Whispering’ podcast

Joanna Rawbone: host of ‘The Flourishing Introvert Talks’ podcast

David Hall: host of the ‘Quiet and Strong’ podcast

Emma-Louise Parkes: host of the ‘Ambitious Introvert’ podcast

You can listen to the full discussion here:

Have you ever been in a meeting and had a genuinely good idea — one you were still turning over, still sharpening — only for the conversation to move on before you were ready to speak?

Or perhaps been told you seem shy or unimpressed (I get that a LOT), when really you were just thinking?

When this happens, it can be easy to think that there is something wrong with you. That the way you show up is somehow not loud enough.

Or at least that’s how I used to feel.

And seeing just how often the term ‘introvert’ is taken to mean ‘quiet, shy, reserved or unconfident’ I decided to set the record straight - with the help of some friends.

I invited three of my fellow introverted podcast hosts for a candid roundtable discussion on what it really means to be and thrive as an introvert.

Together, we pulled apart the myths, highlighted the real strengths, and built a practical toolkit from our combined personal experience.

What follows is everything we wish someone had told us earlier.

The strengths you may be overlooking in yourself

Let’s start with the good stuff. Because when introverts list their strengths, they tend to underestimate them, qualify them, or leave them off the list entirely.

So here they are, named clearly.

You think before you speak — and that is a feature, not a fault

“We think before we speak. We tend to have a ‘Think, Say, Think’ communication process. And I have found this to be a very good thing. It saves a lot of unnecessary conflict and minimises misunderstandings.”

— Joanna Rawbone

David described it even more directly: introverts think and then speak, while extroverts speak in order to think.

Neither approach is wrong — they are simply different processes.

But when you do not understand your own process, it can feel like a deficiency.

David shared the moment this clicked for him:

“One of my big epiphanies came while I was being certified to give the Myers-Briggs personality assessments. The facilitator explained that introverts think and then speak, and extroverts speak in order to think. And I’m like, oh, okay. That makes sense to me.”

— David Hall

Once you understand that you are not slow or hesitant everything shifts.

Your considered response is not a delay. It is processing and preparation. And that’s simply how introverts are wired. And it’s a method that often allows us to spot the gaps or opportunities other might have overlooked.

Emotional intelligence runs deep

Emma Louise named something that often gets overlooked in conversations about introvert strengths: emotional intelligence.

The ability to feel the energy in a room, to read subtext, to hold nuance and to make people feel genuinely safe.

“I know that for myself and my clients, the feedback they get a lot is: “I felt so comfortable with you”, or “I felt safe with you”, or “This felt like a very safe space” or “That was such a nurturing conversation”.

And I think emotional intelligence is something we’re gonna see — well, we’re already starting to see — more companies looking for now, particularly with the rise of AI.

They’re looking for the skills that run alongside that. And to me, I just think introverts just embody that naturally.”

— Emma Louise Parkes

In a world increasingly shaped by automation, the capacity to truly connect with other humans is not soft or secondary.

It is the differentiator.

Deep listening builds real networks

In our discussion I shared something from my own experience that I had never quite articulated this clearly before: that I became known for my extensive network not by being the loudest or most outgoing person in the room, but simply by listening.

When people told me what they did, what they needed, what mattered to them — I listened and absorbed. Then, I could connect the dots and help them see value in their experiences and personality that they hadn’t recognised before.

This skill was deeply appreciated by my new friends, and enabled us to build a meaningful relationship over time. It also meant I could connect people with just the person they needed at any time, because I understood my network on another level.

That is not an extrovert skill.

That is an introvert superpower.

The myths that needs to stop

An important thing I wanted to explore, were the myths about introversion that are harmful and need to be challenged or changed.

We asked each other: what is the one misconception you are most tired of encountering?

We each had different answers, but they all pointed in the same direction.

Being thoughtful is not the same as lacking confidence

Joanna told a story that I suspect many of you will recognise.

She was a delegate on a training course — already a trainer herself — and the facilitator asked her a question. She paused to think, and before she could answer, the facilitator moved on to someone else.

At the end of the day, the feedback she received?

“They gave me this feedback that I was a low responder who lacked confidence. And for me, that’s one of the biggest misunderstandings — that when we are taking time to think clearly, we don’t have an answer, or we are on the fence somehow, or we’re struggling, rather than acknowledging the fact that we are thinking about our answer.”

— Joanna Rawbone

And from that, she drew a conclusion that feels important enough to repeat in full:

“Therefore, when it comes to the way we lead, we lead by listening. We are leader material. We are just not those fellas out front. We’re the quiet leaders who listen and take people with us for the right reasons.”

— Joanna Rawbone

Introverts DO like people

David has heard this one so many times he has dedicated two podcast episodes to the issue.

Often, people say to him: “I need alone time, but I can’t be an introvert because I like people”.

“We all like people. Only a very, very, very small percentage of the population don’t like people — maybe 1%. We like people. We just might need people in different doses. Or we might want people in different settings.”

— David Hall

The difference is not whether you enjoy human connection. It is how you sustain your energy around it.

Introverts often thrive in one-on-one conversations or smaller groups. Large, high-stimulation environments are not where we do our best work, at least not for a sustained period of time — and that is fine.

It does not mean we are antisocial. It means we know our conditions.

No two introverts are the same

One of the richest parts of our conversation was simply noticing how differently introversion shows up for each of us.

Joanna describes herself as an ‘open introvert’ — she is not shy, happily talks to strangers in queues, and can access extroverted traits. Though her battery depletes in large groups.

Emma Louise, meanwhile, is energised by groups but overstimulated by the environment — the noise, heat, overlapping conversations all layer up and drain her.

David is highly analytical and approaches empathy more logically, through imagination rather than feeling.

And I have a tendency to be shy, particularly if I haven’t consciously planned for a particular environment or situation (see my post on my VICTORY Formula for more on that).

However, in my corporate career and in many of my entrepreneurial groups, I have a reputation for being quietly reflective and have a knack for seeing what others have missed, which led to colleagues (often far more senior than me) specifically seeking out my perspectives.

The point is not to fit yourself into a single description of what an introvert is.
Instead, understand your own version, it’s quiet strengths and the boundaries you need in order to feel at ease and perform at your best.

Joanna put it simply: if your business does not rely on public speaking, do not give yourself a hard time about it right now. Focus on what you actually need. The other things can come later — or not at all.

“Not all weaknesses are equal. Some of them are allowable weaknesses.”
- Joanna Rawbone

A toolkit built by introverts, for introverts

We each contributed something practical to the conversation to help our fellow introverts. This was not generic advice, but things that have actually made a difference in how we run our businesses and protect our energy.

Joanna Rawbone: Boundaries — and believing you deserve them

These boundaries are not rigid rules set in advance, but something you discover through lived experience. When something feels wrong, that is where the boundary is. And when they show up, note them and adapt the way you approach that aspect of your business or life in the future. Step-by-step you’ll set yourself up for greater success.

David Hall: Play to your strengths

Identify what you genuinely do best and do more of that. Delegate the rest as soon as you are able. Analytical? Lead with that. Deep thinker? Build that in.

Emma Louise Parkes: Physical boundaries — especially around tech

Emma Louise as removed all work apps from her phone. Her laptop stays in the office. And she is firm on her ‘no working from bed’ rule. This clear delineation between on and off helps her to manage her energy and perform at her best.

Melitta Campbell: Permission to do it your way

Test what works best for you. Push the edge of your comfort zone a little, then learn from what works. There are many things I’ve tried that I didn’t think I’d enjoy or be good at - like networking and public speaking, that turned out to be real strengths. While other things left me feeling drained. I’ve noticed that the word “could” is often a gentle warning sign that something just wasn’t designed me or my personality.

Perspectives that stayed with me

Throughout our conversation, there were a few points the others made that I hadn’t heard or appreciated before. And these have really stayed with me.

On boundaries, Joanna shared:

“The people who object most to your new boundaries are those who benefited most from you having none.”

— Joanna Rawbone

On confidence, David pointed out:

“Sometimes it’s not the activity we are not good at or confident about. It’s the particular people situation that surround it.”

— David Hall

And Emma Louise made the case for energy as the foundation of everything:

“I want to operate in an energy first way. So I don’t want to get to the end of the day, the end of the week and be depleted because I didn’t recharge at the start. I want to make sure that whatever I’m heading into, I know that my energy’s protected around that, and that there’s gonna be an ‘off’ at the end of the day.”

— Emma Louise Parkes

The real takeaway

If there was one thread running through everything we discussed, it was this: self-awareness is the foundation. Not self-improvement in the sense of fixing what is broken.

Self-awareness in the sense of genuinely understanding how you work, what you need, and where your strengths already live.

“Strip away this stereotypical introversion, these different traits — because it’s all on a spectrum. We’re all different... Come back to the common factor, and it’s our energy. The way we use, drain, recharge our energy. If we can strip away the personality traits and actually just focus on — ‘right, where am I energised and where am I not spending enough time getting energised and what’s draining me?’ — then the rest becomes a lot more manageable.”

— Emma Louise Parks

And David added the reminder that your path to success may simply look different from someone else’s — and that is not a problem to solve.

“I can be a great leader, I can be a great public speaker, but my path to success may look different from my extroverted friend, and that’s okay. Don’t compare yourself to others, but compare yourself to how can you be your best.”

— David Hall

Joanna closed with something that applies to every introvert who has ever held back out of a fear of getting it wrong:

“Nothing is forever. Everything’s an experiment, and we just need to remember to learn from each step. Very little is fatal. Some things you might be embarrassed about, but hell — isn’t that life actually.”

— Joanna Rawbone

And as for me…

“You do not have to shout louder. You just need to resonate deeper. And the way you are already wired? That is exactly what makes that possible.”

— Melitta Campbell

What’s your perspective?

What would you add to our Introverts Toolkit?

And what quiet strengths have you come to appreciate over the years?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on introversion - please do share these in the comments.

And for more content like this, be sure to subscribe to ‘Smarter Marketing for Introverts’, here’s a handy button to make that easy ; )

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As an introvert, who grew up feeling shy and awkward around strangers, networking was always a terrifying prospect for me.

So, you can imagine how amused I am when I’m told that I look like such a natural networker, or when someone remarks, “I could never have your confidence”.

Little do they know that it’s taken me close to two decades and a lot of hard work and courage to reach this stage. And that, if I’m honest, I still have butterflies in my stomach and shaky legs, but I’ve just learned that these are just the temporary signs telling me I’m in the right place.

It was a move from London to Switzerland that prompted me to finally do something about my fear of networking. When I arrived, I didn’t have any friends or contacts here, so I was really going to limit my ability to progress in my career, and have fun, if I didn’t step up.

My early attempts at networking were pretty disastrous.

I would stumble over my words, and generally feel like a rabbit caught in headlights. I thought it would help me to observe what other people did, and copy their approach.

But, as most of them appeared to feel so at ease as they moved from one conversation to the next, it didn’t really help me.

I needed another approach. One that would match my own personality and that would enable me to be remembered for my own skills.

It was only later that I realised just how right that early belief was. Because it’s only when we can show up as our true self that we can attract the right people and opportunities to us.

Learning ‘Networking 101’

I bought some books to help me learn networking best-practice. It was great to finally understand what I should be doing, and many of the tips shared were helpful. Some I still use today.

But none of the books I read helped me prepare mentally for the challenge ahead of me. Some seemed to be written by people who loved to network and couldn’t understand why others wouldn’t feel the same. One or two had the clear view that introverts ‘should just get over themselves’ or ‘push themselves to be more extroverted’*.

Then one day, at a leadership training event, we were taught ‘self-coaching’. We were encouraged to find a problem we were experiencing, then brainstorm solutions before categorising them and making an action plan.

That was the birth of my VICTORY formula.

*Side note: The idea that introverts need to be more extrovert is one I’ve come across more times than I care to remember. It’s not true. Introverts have many amazing qualities that are needed in the world. If they weren’t we’d be long extinct! I’ll come back to this in another post, but for now you have my full permission to ignore any advice of this kind.

My VICTORY Formula

The formula mapped out my way forward.

V = Vision

It started with creating a clear Vision, so I could connect with why mingling with strangers was important to me and worth the effort.

Once I got clear on my Vision, I noticed that my prior negative mindset, especially the idea that I didn’t belong, eased off. Not completely, but enough to make it easier to walk into a room of strangers and say ‘Hi’, and once I started, each conversation became easier and easier.

I = Intention

The next step was to get Intentional about showing up and mastering the skills I needed. It was interesting to see how once I made that clear decision, following through became the natural next step. I stopped second guessing myself.

C = Courage and Confidence

I used to believe that confidence is something you have or don’t have. Therefore, believing that I was no good at networking and didn’t belong in certain rooms massively held me back. This is what Carol Dweck would call a ‘Fixed Mindset’.

However, once I started to courageously step into different situations and start networking, I noticed how my confidence started to grow. I now know that confidence comes from taking action.

However, this is a challenge for many introverts since we have a bias for thinking. So in challenging situations, we can get stuck in a loop of overthinking and stay stuck as a result. Whereas extroverts, with their bias for action, will take some small steps and build confidence faster. Recognising this pattern has helped me in many situations. If I catch myself overthinking, I’ll stop, brainstorm the actions I could take instead, get intentional and courageous, and move forward.

T = Be Your True Self

A key aspect of formula is to be true to yourself. Early on, I felt like I should be anyone but myself. But when I tried to network like other people, I just felt fake, misunderstood and depleted. It soon became clear that I wasn’t going to feel comfortable or attract the right people or opportunities that way.

Instead I took time to think through who I really was. What were my values? What interests me? What makes me valuable to others? What could I share from my own experiences that might interest or help others? How would I like to be remembered?

One thing that stood out to me from that exercise was how I preferred to listen deeply, and that I had a skill in spotting the patterns and insights that most people miss. So I leaned into that while networking, and quickly built some amazing contacts. As I knew people on a deeper level, I could also introduce them to just the right people, which built my reputation and network quickly. I became known as someone who always knew the most interesting people in the room.

O = Obstacles

No one knows better than you, the obstacles that are most likely to trip you up, so this part of the formula is about getting clear on those obstacles and planning ahead to determine how you could respond to each one.

This practice built my confidence further, and helped me navigate each networking situation smoothly.

If one of your obstacles is knowing how to introduce yourself confidently, and in a way that feels natural and starts a great conversation, check out this article: How to introduce yourself while networking.

R = Rules

I then created a set of rules to guide my actions. These gave me permission to grow at my own pace, to make mistakes and call them ‘fascinating’, and celebrate all my achievements no matter how small.

These rules removed a lot of the pressure I had previously placed on myself to do things perfectly.

Some of my rules included:

• If I show up to an event and after 5 minutes I’m not feeling comfortable, I can leave.

• If I feel my energy dipping, I can take a break and walk outside or sit in the lobby to recharge.

• If I felt drained by a particular conversation, for example if someone was dominating the conversation for too long, I could smile politely, say ‘ excuse me’ and move on.

• Do something every day that scares you. This is actually a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt. I later learned that she was extremely shy and hated networking. So I like to think that this was one of the rules that helped her start networking confidently too.

Y = You’ve Got this!

Finally, to regularly remind myself ‘You’ve got this!’

Sometimes the simplest pep talk can make all the difference.

This formula has played a central role in my ability to learn, grow and start feeling more comfortable while networking.

So much so, that I started being asked to give talks and workshops on how to network. And eventually, I expanded that talk into my first book: A Shy Girl’s Guide to Networking.

I’ve devoted the half of the book to guiding readers through my VICTORY formula with others who are looking to elevate their networking confidence. And the second half to the three stages of successful networking.

I hope you will have fun with this formula and making it your own.

Do come back share how it helps you, I’d love to know.

For Paid Subscribers - Scroll to the bottom of the page for Your downloadable VICTORY Formula Workbook, including bonus Networking Checklists.

AND a digital copy of the book: A Shy Girl’s Guide to Networking.

A World of Possibility

Through my networking, I’ve met a wide range of interesting people, expanded my knowledge, and have been offered many exciting opportunities that I would never have learned about otherwise.

My network has also enabled me to launch three businesses at zero cost and become an international public speaker, TEDx speaker and 3x best-selling author … I met my mentor and publishers through my networking contacts!

You just never know where your next ‘Hello’ will take you in life, and that’s an exciting prospect!

If you are eager to build improve your skills and enjoy building your networking confidence, all the knowledge and guidance you need is in my highly actionable book: A Shy Girl’s Guide to Networking, A Practical Guide to Networking for Business Success.

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Contents:

: Quick Resources - 12 ebooks and tools

: Best-selling Books - Download full copies of my 3 Best-Selling business books

: Masterclasses - Dive into key business growth topics with 13 instant access masterclasses

QUICK RESOURCES

Click the links to download these eBooks and tools:

• An Introvert’s Business Growth Playbook

• Success Walks: Podcast episodes to upgrade your skills and business

• The Art of Value Whispering Podcast
  300+ episodes on business growth and mindset

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I nearly didn’t have a book launch party.

I’m of course extremely proud of my book; I poured 12 months of hard writing and editing into it - and, if I’m honest, 5 years of over thinking and procrastination before that too!

But after putting my heart and soul into the book, I didn’t have much energy left to promote it so the idea of organising the event felt overwhelming.

However, I’ve learned two things in life that helped me through.

1. The power and joy of asking for help.
   There was a time when I did everything myself, for all the usual reasons. I told myself things like: “no one will do it quite like me”, “it would be quicker to do it myself”; some part of me felt duty-bound to do everything on my own; and, if I’m honest, I was scared to ask.

   But having kids while living abroad, quickly taught me that I couldn’t do it alone and I started asking for help. And when I saw how easy it was and how genuinely happy people were to help out, I never looked back.

2. The genius of opposites.
   I learned this from Jennifer Kahnweiler, author of ‘The Introverted Leader’ and other titles. Through her research, she discovered that when you pair the right introvert and extrovert together, their natural strengths complement each other and they can create magic!

   You can hear us discussing this on my podcast here.

So, with these two lessons in mind, I reached out to an extroverted friend Jenny for help, and she was delighted to jump in and take the event organisation off my hands. We walk our dogs together a couple of times a week, and so she had been very much part of my book writing journey and she felt honoured to play such a key role in it’s conclusion. And she did the most wonderful job.

When discussing the agenda, she asked when I’ll like to read from the book.

My blood ran cold at the thought of it. It felt both too vulnerable and too indulgent, especially since not everyone in the room was a small business owner or had an interest in marketing. I worried the excerpts might not land with people who weren’t already in that world.

But thanks to some gentle encouragement from Jenny, I changed my mind and read a few passages from the book, and I’m so glad I did.

For each excerpt, I gave a little personal introduction and shared what was happening behind the scenes when I wrote it, why I included it, or how it was showing up in my life and the lives of others. And what came back to me was something I hadn’t expected: people told me it was one of the most special parts of the evening. They felt privileged to hear me reading my own words and to be let into the story behind them. And some even cried!

So I wanted to share those ten passages with you here, along with my personal reflections on each one. Because what the launch showed me is that these moments matter—not just to me, but to the people reading the book too.

Get Your Copy of Value Whispering

Here’s a little video of the evening, shot by Jean Chessex, to give you a flavour of the event before we begin:

The first excerpt I shared were from the opening of the book, where I shared some background as to how I came to develop ‘Value Whispering’ as a marketing and business growth concept and process.

1: Get Clear on Why

The following section from the introduction of Value Whispering shares one of the biggest insights I learned from my first business:

“Two months after the birth of my first daughter, it became clear that returning to the corporate career I loved was not going to be possible.

“Not wanting to withdraw from my career completely, I started a communication consultancy during nap times, and within a year I was advising communication teams and leaders within some of the world’s largest organisations, such as Lloyds Bank, Nestlé and the UN.

“It was exciting at first, and I loved the chance to be the kind of Mum I wanted to be, while still getting to use my marketing and communication skills to earn an income.

“Eight years on I looked like a big success. But on the inside, I found myself facing burnout. I had forgotten to ask myself an all-important question: Why? As a result, I was attracting well-paid contracts, but it wasn’t work that gave me joy, meaning and energy. Every day became a chore.

“Then I read a quote that changed everything: “If it’s no longer fun, stop doing it”. Sir Richard Branson’s words hit home for me instantly. Heeding his advice, I looked for a different way to use my skills and experiences to help others.”

How often do we keep going for the wrong reasons - mostly because we haven’t stopped to ask ourselves what the right reasons are?

Success means something different to all of us.

It’s important to understand what success means to you before starting your own business, or any new project. Then you can make the right decisions for you, and you’ll be far more in tune with what is working for you, and what doesn’t, so you can make adjustments along the way, or stop before you burn out.

And that point reminds me of another point I make in the book, which I’d love for you to always keep in mind so you feel more comfortable following your own path:

“If it works for you, it works. Period.”

2: Embracing Your Hard-Won Insights

So often I see business owners, founders and leaders struggle to not just communicate their value, but to recognise their true value.

One of the reasons for this, is because much of what makes us so brilliant is wrapped up in the memory of all the ways we’ve struggled, wobbled and failed - so it’s hidden from view. So in chapter two, amongst other things, I talk about how to dig deep to find that hidden diamond within, and surface it so it can shine.

“At school, we’re often taught that failure is bad. Failure results in bad grades, and bad grades condemn us to a career cleaning toilets (or at least that’s what Mr Jenkins told me and my Year Four classmates).

“With such dire lessons learned, we come to fear failure and dare not admit when we’ve messed up. This lesson is further drummed into us when we start work. We soon learn that, if we fail to meet our targets, our annual bonus – even our job itself – might be at risk.

“But there are few things we get right first time, especially when trying new things and pushing our boundaries. No one gets far in business by playing it safe.

“And no you has ever built your business before. Mistakes and failures are inevitable as you figure things out, and these mistakes are an important part of the process. They will teach you everything you need to know about what it takes for you to succeed.

“We should therefore celebrate our failures with the same rigour and joy as we do our successes.

“Those hard-won insights are highly valuable, both to ourselves and others. They add practical experience to our natural talents, learned expertise and personal values.

“List all your mistakes and rumble with what each one taught you. Consider what these experiences added to your value, and how these lessons can be incorporated into your work to help you stand out and generate meaning for yourself and others. You’ll soon see that you’ve been gifted a one-of-a-kind perspective.”

This one-of-a-kind perspective is highly valuable to others, and will help you to naturally stand out in your market place. I’d encourage you to show it gratitude and appreciation to help you fully embrace it.

I talk about this more in my TEDx Talk which you can watch here:
An Introvert’s Guide to Having Quiet Impact

3: Focus on Your Dream Clients Only

I often see people struggling when it comes to defining their niche. So I spend quite a bit of time in the book helping readers to not only find their niche, but also tackle and fears and doubts they may have around narrowing their focus.

This passage shares one of the key reasons why you want to focus solely on your dream clients.

“Not everyone will be your Dream Client, and that’s perfectly okay.

“It’s crucial to work with clients who align with your values, respect your processes, and are genuinely committed to getting results.

“These clients will appreciate your expertise, boost your confidence, save you time, energy and resources, and refer you to other people just like them, contributing to the growth of your business.

“By contrast, working with the wrong clients can destroy your business, and fast.

“You may feel that, to get started, anyone willing to pay you is worthwhile. But working with the wrong clients can be a slippery slope. This was exactly what led me to burn out while working on my first business.

“While I was attracting high-paying clients, and doing work I could do well, it wasn’t work that felt fulfilling and energising. I could keep going for a while, but I soon started to feel the effects on my energy and mental health.”

We often underestimate the negative impact that working with the wrong clients can have on us and our business. It’s why in the book I also help you to define your ‘red flag’ clients, so you can avoid working with people who will be more hassle than they are worth, and preserve your time, energy and creativity for where you can have the most impact.

Get Your Copy of Value Whispering

4: Knowing Your Value Sweet Spot Is Better Than Building Confidence

Your Value Sweet Spot is a key concept in the book. Once you know this, everything else start to feel more straight-forward and meaningful.

This is the part of the book where I introduce Your Value Sweet Spot:

“Focusing on what you do best, and how your existing awesomeness can create the most impact for others, naturally helps you to stand out. This is the ideal scenario – and it’s exactly what happens when you know your Value Sweet Spot.

“Your Value Sweet Spot is the unique overlap between what you do best, the difference it makes for your clients, and what your Dream Clients value most.

“It’s the place where your skills, passions, and proven results meet your clients’ real needs, making it easy for you to communicate your worth, stand out authentically, and attract the right opportunities.

“In short: your Value Sweet Spot is where your brilliance meets what your Dream Clients value most.

“When you show up from that space, you will create the most impact for your Dream Client and marketplace – and without being loud, feeling pushy or changing anything about who you are or how you show up. All of your work will begin from and lead back to your own individual zone of genius; occupying this space, you won’t just feel confident, but proud of the impact you create.”

5: The Client Journey

So often when I speak with business owners who are struggling with their marketing, I notice that they are tackling their marketing, sales and delivery as different activities, so nothing quite comes together and flows. This also makes it hard to manage.

It’s much more helpful to see the experience you create for your clients as one seamless journey, and then to map all your activities to this.

Then everything feels much more natural and easy for you - and for your prospective clients. Meaning you both get better results and enjoy the journey more.

I go into this process step-by-step in the book, but here’s a short passage that provides a story from my childhood to help put it in context:

“Your messages and offers click into place once you know your Dream Clients’ journey, and what resonates most for them at each distinct step.

“When helping my clients map out their client journey, I encourage them to think of it like a flight of stairs.

“When I was a child, my friends and I would often challenge each other to climb the stone steps home from school two or three steps at a time. It’s not an easy or comfortable thing to do, and it often resulted in us going home with grazed knees – again!

“Needless to say, as an adult, I walk up every flight of stairs one step at a time. It’s easier and far more comfortable. And that’s the point.

“When you know your client’s journey, you can create a series of steps that feel easy, comfortable and natural for them to take.

“And, as the old army saying goes: slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.”

6: Creating your Signature System

Creating a signature system is my favourite way to communicate your value as it marries the emotional pull of working with you, with a logical explanation of why it works.

I talk about this more on the Art of Value Whispering podcast here. And here is where I introduce the idea in the book:

“Have you ever been asked what you do and found yourself struggling to give a clear answer?

“For many business owners, the honest response is often, ‘Well… it’s complicated.’

“Other times, it’s not that what you do is complicated, but that you have so much expertise you don’t know where to begin. Years of expertise and experience mean you could talk for hours. But while your answer might be truthful, that doesn’t mean it’s clear, or that the person you’re talking to will stay engaged long enough to hear it all.

“As I said earlier, a confused mind doesn’t buy or buy into anything. That’s why you need to be able to explain the journey on which you take your clients in a way that’s simple, clear and easy to follow.

“Your Signature System does exactly that. It’s a step-by-step process that shows your Dream Client how you take them from feeling stuck, lost or frustrated, to feeling clear, in control and confident about their future.

“Your Signature System is unique to you. It’s based on your expertise, experience, values and preferred way of working.

“It’s the essence of your True Value. It gives you a repeatable process for creating consistent, predictable results you can be proud of and that your Dream Clients love. It also helps you stand out, standardise much of your content and approach, and save time, energy and resources.

…

“When my client Sam tried to map out the milestones in her Signature System, she hit a roadblock.

“An expert in natural fertility and pregnancy with significant experience, she knew her work inside out, but as no two clients ever took exactly the same path, she found it challenging to find one ‘system’ that underpinned her work.

“However, as we talked, one truth emerged: every woman she worked with shared the same need. To be heard.

“Sam realised her process always began by listening deeply to her clients’ needs, desires and challenges, allowing these women their voices. She realised that her Signature System was the way she listened, organised her clients’ needs and created a bespoke plan for each one.

“When she started to map out this process, she realised that it had five distinct steps that spelt out ‘VOICE’. The realisation gave me goosebumps!

“Now, with her VOICE system clear, she could explain her work in one compelling sentence: ‘I give women a VOICE when deciding on the fertility and pregnancy journey they want to take.’

“It’s memorable, meaningful and positions her instantly as the expert.”

I’ve worked with hundreds of business owners on their signature system, but Sam’s story remains my favourite as she was so unclear on her process, yet when we talked it through it came together really quickly. And knowing how often women are not listened to by health professionals, the way her process spelt voice, still gives me goosebumps!

This section is part of a bigger section in the book dedicated to helping you define your core message, and start using it to attract more of your dream clients.
You can get your copy of the book, or download the first chapter free, here.

Get Your Copy of Value Whispering

7: Marketing Made Simple

Naming this chapter was easy, as one of the big reasons why I wrote Value Whispering, is because I see too many internet gurus making marketing feel overwhelming, complicated and expensive.

To my mind it’s none of these things. And for small businesses, it can often be incredibly simple, cheap, easy to implement, and fun - I promise!

“You don’t have to be loud to market your business, stand out and make a positive difference.

“A couple of years ago I was scrolling through a Facebook group for female founders when I read a post that made my jaw drop. This is what it said:

‘Six months ago I decided to stop marketing my business. Instead, I started showing up as myself and focused on delivering exceptional value for my niche, and guess what – now I’m getting clients!’

“I was horrified. Who on earth told this lady that being yourself and adding value wasn’t marketing?!

“Marketing (and sales for that matter) has nothing to do with being fake, pushy or manipulative. It’s not about wasting people’s time with a load of hot air and baloney. And it’s not about boastful self-promotion or ‘scratching the pain until it bleeds and then selling the Band Aid’, an awful phrase I’ve heard used more often than I’d care to remember.

“It’s about adding value, starting meaningful relationships based on trust and understanding, and it’s about deeply serving your clients with thoughtfully designed products and services that will transform their lives in a positive way.”

So now you know ; )

8: Bringing it All Together

Another reason I wrote the book the way I did, is because often sales and marketing are treated separately. And while this makes sense in a large organisation, when you are both the Chief Marketing Officer and the Sales Director for your company, it’s much easier to see the two as parts of the same journey.

So, I have dedicated a full chapter to the sales process, having natural-feeling sales conversations, and building your sales mindset.

In this excerpt, I lay out the benefits of creating a simple sales script to support your conversations:

“To help you have consistently great sales conversations, create a simple sales script. This should lay out the questions you want to ask, in order, and specify every point to make when you explain your offer in detail

“A clear, simple structure has many benefits.

“It means you can focus on your prospects’ words, rather than thinking about what to ask next. And it will ensure you cover everything you need to comprehensively guide your prospect to the right decision for them. Plus, having a logical, measured flow to your pitch will give your client confidence in your abilities as a service-provider.

“Following this structure will also help you avoid oversharing. Sometimes we can give too much information away, information that misleads your prospect into feeling they now understand how to move forward without any further help from you. This perception will almost always do them a disservice; unless your service boils down to one core piece of advice, it’s unlikely their problem can be resolved so easily.

“Once you have your draft script, check that it aligns with your Value Sweet Spot. To do this, ask yourself this:

“If you were to conduct the perfect sales conversation, one where you and your prospect were in total alignment with what was important and valuable, and where you both agreed completely on the nature of their problem, how would you feel during and after your call?”

The answer to this question will ensure you have sales conversations that are valuable to your prospect, and allow you to show up in a way that reflects your values and the way you ultimately help people. And this will also help you feel calm and confident too.

9: Mastering Your Mindset

Mindset is everything in business. But that’s not something I understood in my first business. I often wonder if, if I had understood this during the first iteration of my business, if I would have done things differently.

I’ll never know of course, but once I appreciated how crucial the right mindset is, and how much we struggle with this, I certified as a Mindset Coach six years ago, and became a co-founder of the Mindset Success School.

The school is no longer operational, but everything I learned from developing and delivering the materials for that business, and from coaching hundreds of entrepreneurs and business owners, can be found in the Mindset chapter of the book.

“You don’t have to be loud to make a difference, but you do need to be consistently visible to your dream clients. Your mindset is the key to doing so comfortably.

“In my first book, A Shy Girl’s Guide to Networking, I shared how my mindset used to make my life feel so much harder. I dreaded public speaking and networking, and the negative stories I told myself only amplified the fear, making these situations feel almost impossible.

“Then a few small mindset shifts changed everything. What once felt terrifying soon became second nature, and before long I was confidently speaking about my network on stages across Europe.

“Real and lasting transformation is possible for anyone willing to change the way they think, and this transformation can happen fast.

“In that book, I shared my VICTORY Formula, the simple steps I took to turn around my mindset and confidence for good.

“Since sharing this, I’ve been truly touched by the messages I’ve received from readers who used the formula to turn things around in their own lives. Reading their messages, I have gained a deeper appreciation for how powerful mindset can be, and how quickly small changes in our beliefs and thinking can open the door to a new world of possibility.

“From coaching, guiding and speaking with thousands of entrepreneurs, I have seen this consistently: one of the biggest challenges to our business growth isn’t our skills, budget or the economic climate. It’s not our messaging or marketing. It’s not even finding the time to do everything we need to. It’s our mindset.

“I could give you the perfect marketing plan, create your perfect sales process, and even add an extra five hours to your day. But if you are held back by negative self-talk, poor self-image or lack of self-belief, none of this will get you results.

“The stories we tell ourselves – or more accurately, the negative stories we tell ourselves – can hold us back and keep us playing small. And if you want to help people, that is not the space you want to be in.

“Mindset is everything, and when I finally truly understood this, I became a certified mindset coach so that I had the tools to guide my clients through any doubts or limiting beliefs. Only then could they consistently and successfully market their business with joy, ease and confidence.

“Along my own journey of reflection and growth, I reworked the VICTORY Formula into something deeper and more refined. I call it the TRUST Formula. Embrace it, and it might just change your life.

“That may sound dramatic, but I really believe it. Just imagine what would happen if you no longer held yourself back – back from that action that will grow your business; back from that practice that will organise your time.”

10: The Value Whispering Manifesto

I end the book with my Value Whispering Manifesto.

However, when I was signing books for people, I thought it might be nice to have it at the beginning too, to set the scene - what do you think?

The Value Whispering Manifesto

You don’t have to be the loudest to have the biggest impact.

Your value isn’t found in how loud you shout
– it’s in how deeply you resonate.

The right people – the ones who need your unique brilliance – will recognise you when you dare to show up with courage, intention and heart.

You are enough.

Your work matters.

Your voice is powerful.

Keep whispering your value.

And watch with pride as your business and impact grow.

Get Your Copy of Value Whispering

About the Book:
Value Whispering: the Smarter Way to Market Your Small Business … that just happens to be brilliant for introverts

If you’ve been quietly hoping there was a more natural way to market and grow your business, this book is for you!

Here’s the book trailer to tell you more:

Get Your Copy of Value Whispering

or

or read a sample first by
downloading the first chapter free here

Have you read Value Whispering?

What passages stood out most to you?

If you run your own business and have a quieter personality, there are a few truths that almost everyone eventually discovers.

And because most modern marketing advice comes from people who enjoy being highly visible, outspoken and constantly ‘on’, these truths can make you feel like you are doing something wrong, or that you’re not cut out to run your own business.

So I want you to know, you’re in the right place - you’re just trying to build and grow with the wrong strategy, one that was never designed with your quite thoughtfulness in mind.

Over the years, both in my own business and through coaching hundreds of coaches, business owners and founders, I’ve noticed the same patterns appear again and again.

Here’s what I have discovered are the 5 immutable truths of marketing your own business.

Let me know in the comments if you relate, or have any truths to add.

⭐️ The Immutable Truths
of Marketing Your Own Business

1. Promoting yourself feels awkward

Even if you have marketing experience, promoting your own business often feels uncomfortable or intimidating.

Marketing someone else’s brilliance is easy.
Talking about your own value is much harder.

2. Figuring everything out takes far longer than expected

While it’s true that everything is “figureoutable”.

It can be draining researching strategies, testing ideas and learning new tools. And it almost always takes three times longer than you hoped.

3. Conflicting advice creates overwhelm

There is no shortage of marketing advice.

But when every expert recommends something different, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, second-guess yourself and get stuck overthinking every decision.

Instead of moving forward, you stall.

4. Being louder rarely works

Many founders are told they simply need to:

• post more

• be more visible

• speak louder

• be more controversial

For most people, this doesn’t work.
And for introverts, it can feel completely misaligned.

5. There is never enough time

There are always more marketing tasks you could be doing.

So it’s easy to feel like you’re falling behind or failing, even when your business is actually making steady progress … especially on social media where comparing yourself to everyone else is all too easy to do.

If that sounds familiar to you, here is…

😭 Why marketing feels harder than it should

When marketing feels draining or ineffective, it’s rarely because you aren’t trying hard enough.

More often, it’s because you’re following the wrong approach.

You’re trying strategies that don’t fit:

• Your personality
• Your values
• the experience you want to create for your clients
• the real value you bring

And when something doesn’t fit, it will always feel uncomfortable and awkward.

This is exactly why I developed Value Whispering™.

🖼️ The Art of Value Whispering™

Value Whispering™ is the art of intentionally weaving your True Value through everything you do so you naturally stand out as the obvious choice for your dream clients.

Instead of shouting louder > you create resonance.

Instead of pushing harder > you communicate more clearly.

Instead of chasing attention > you attract the right people.

Instead of being everywhere > you create boundaries to protect your energy and focus.

This approach blends tried-and-tested marketing principles with insights from my three decades working in marketing and communication across a range of organisations and businesses.

That includes:

• Eighteen years marketing my own businesses, as a self-confessed shy girl
• Coaching hundreds of leaders and business owners
• Helping experts communicate their value clearly and confidently

Many of the founders I work come to be because they are feeling overwhelmed and frustrated.

They are doing everything they believe they should be doing in their marketing. And they are getting a lot of things right: posting constantly, showing up boldly, creating content.

Yet somehow it still feels exhausting.

When marketing feels this way, it is rarely a case of putting in more effort.

It is about gaining more alignment.

😳 Marketing isn’t about you

One of the biggest mindset shifts in Value Whispering is this:

Marketing isn’t about you. It’s about who you help, how you serve and why that matters.

This is excellent news if you don’t enjoy being the centre of attention.

Your dream clients are out there, actively looking for someone who can help them solve their problems.

If your marketing is centered around you, then they aren’t going to recognise you as someone who has the answers they need.

Therefore, your marketing simply helps them understand:

• who you help
• how you help
• why you are the right person

When your marketing is built around deep client understanding, it stops feeling pushy or like you are just creating content ‘becuase’.

And it starts feeling purposeful, heartfelt and meaningful.

🪤 The trap many business owners fall into

However, there is one trap to avoid. And I see it all the time.

Customer-focused marketing does not mean trying to do everything your clients ask for. Remember, they are stuck because they don’t know how to solve their problem. You do. So you want to ensure that this comes across clearly in your marketing.

You want to position yourself and the expert. To champion your clients and help them move from where they are today, stuck and frustrated, to where they want to be.

Your goal is alignment.

For your marketing to sit at the intersection of:

• what your clients need
• what you do best
• what feels true to you

When you communicate from that place, your marketing becomes sustainable and powerful.

And it already starts to create a difference in the lives of your dream client.

🚘 Marketing and sales should feel like one journey

In large organisations, marketing and sales are separate departments.

In small businesses, they are usually done by the same person.

That’s why the Value Whispering Blueprint includes both.

The process continues the same thread of value:

marketing → conversations → onboarding → delivery

For clients, this creates a clear and comfortable path that guides them one step at a time, and allows them to follow along at their own pace. No false urgency or pressure, just caring, understanding and clarity.

For you, it creates one straight forward process that you can deliver consistently and confidently, while also being mindful of your time and energy.

And the good news is, this isn’t complicated.

In fact, when done well, marketing becomes far simpler.

🤫 Proof you don’t need to be loud to be successful

Over the years, this approach has brought recognition I never expected.

For example:

• I was awarded Most Influential Female Business Coach in Europe for three consecutive years
• LinkedIn named me one of the Top Sales Influencers to Follow and one its 15 most authentic contributors.
• I was invited to judge the Great American Speak Off in Las Vegas, attended by 40,000 people live and thousands more online.
• I was invited to give a TEDx talk about Value Whispering

I share this not to brag.

But to prove something important.

You do not need to be loud to heard and create impact.

When your marketing is clear, meaningful and aligned with your values, people notice. Even when you whisper.

💎 The diamond within your business

When I think about the Value Whispering process, I imagine mining for a diamond.

First, you dig deep to discover the seam rich with potential value.

Then you chip away the rock to reveal the stone.

Then you shape it, so it’s ready for purpose.

Then you polish it, so it naturally shines.

And finally you share it with the world.

When the light hits that diamond, it refracts in all directions. And when those beams make contact, they create florescent rainbows. Some large, some small, but all beautiful and unique.

That is what happens when you start to whisper your value through everything you do.

Your work starts to create influence in ways you never expected.

And I can’t wait to see what happens when you share your diamond with the world.

Your next steps…

If you would like help to align your marketing and allow your value to shine, I’d love to help you inside the Value Whispering Blueprint. You can learn all about it here.

🤔 Meantime, can you relate to any of these points?

🤔 Are there any parts of your marketing that feel harder than they should right now?

A recent study by the ‘USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’ analysing the top 100 podcasts revealed a striking imbalance.

Across those shows, only 27% of guests were women.

On podcasts hosted entirely by men, the imbalance becomes even more extreme, with only 18% of guests being female.

At first glance, that statistic can feel frustrating.

But it also highlights an opportunity, because podcast guesting is one of the most accessible visibility platforms available today.

➡️ There is no travel required.
➡️ There’s less social interaction, so no long recuperation required.
➡️ Most interviews are recorded online, and
➡️ Many podcast hosts actively welcome guest pitches.

Which means this is one area where the imbalance could change relatively quickly.

If more women confidently put themselves forward as podcast guests, we can start shifting those numbers.

And the good news is that pitching yourself for podcasts is much easier than most people think.

I’ve been hosting the Art of Value Whispering podcast for six years (300+ episodes) and have guested on dozens of other shows. In this article, I’ll share everything I’ve learned about successfully pitching to podcasts, including a step-by-step process to follow and pitching template.

⭐ Why Podcast Guesting is Such a Powerful Visibility Platform

Podcast interviews offer something that is becoming increasingly rare online.

➡️ Attention.

The Attention Gap: Podcasts vs Social Media

Online, attention is incredibly short.

Research commissioned by Microsoft found that the average attention span online is now around 8 seconds. That’s not long to capture someone’s interest before they scroll on.

However, it’s a very different situation with podcasts.

Studies of podcast behaviour show that listeners are highly engaged. For example, research from Edison Research found that 93% of people who start a podcast listen to most or all of it.

So instead of having just seconds of attention, as a podcast guest you can have 30–90 minutes of focused listening.

And here’s another important factor.

Podcast listeners tend to develop a strong sense of trust and connection with hosts because they hear them speaking regularly and authentically.

So when a host introduces you as a guest, you benefit from that trust immediately.

In a world where most content is skimmed or scrolled past, that combination of time and trust makes podcast guesting one of the most powerful visibility platforms available today.

Given all the benefits, why are so many women missing out on the podcast opportunity?

⭐ Why Are Women Under-Represented on Podcasts?

There is never just one reason why women aren’t equally represented. When it comes to podcasts, there are several factors contributing to the imbalance:

Networks often mirror the host

Podcast hosts, including myself, frequently invite people they already know or who move in similar circles. Since many large podcasts are still hosted by men, those invitations go to more male guests.

Visibility compounds visibility

Experts who appear regularly in media or on stages tend to get invited onto podcasts more frequently. Since it’s still men who are most visible in those spaces, this naturally amplifies male voices.

Women are more likely to wait to be ready

This is something I hear all the time. Women telling me they intend to appear on podcasts, but they are not ready yet. However, when challenged, they don’t have a plan behind that intention to build their message framework, confidence and network.

Self-promotion habits differ

Men are often more accustomed to putting themselves forward and encouraging each other to do the same. That does not necessarily mean they feel comfortable doing it. It simply reflects the norms of their professional networks.

But here is an important point.

Many podcast guests are not discovered.

They are pitched.

In other words, you do not need to wait to be invited to guest on a show, you can simply ask. Not sure how? Read on…

⭐ How to Start Getting Invited onto Podcasts

Most people think the first step to getting books as a guest is pitching. It makes sense of course, but that’s not the best first step, at least not in my experience.

The strongest podcast guest pitches start much earlier.

Here are the steps I recommended taking to successfully land more podcast guest opportunities.

1. Build a Shortlist of Relevant Podcasts

Start by identifying shows where your expertise would genuinely help the audience.

One useful tool is Listen Notes, which allows you to search podcasts by topic and discover shows in your niche.

You can also:

• Ask your audience what podcasts they listen to, and

• Look at where your peers or competitors have appeared (they often have a list on their website)

Exploring podcasts as a first step, will help you find the most relevant shows where your message could resonate, and where your personality is a fit for the hosts.

That said, don’t write off shows where you can share your story. These show might not be 100% dedicated to your audience or topic, but they are a great way to learn what other people find interesting about your background and experience, help you hone your stories, and build your portfolio and confidence.

PRO TIP: Before you pitch, visit the podcast website. Often there is more information there about what they are looking for in a guest, and sometimes you can fill in a form there and then to apply, and skip the whole pitching part altogether!

2. Listen Before You Pitch

This is the step most people skip.

For example, as the host of the Art of Value Whispering Podcast, I receive several guest pitches every single day.

Most of these are not relevant to the topic of the show (small business marketing) or my audience (service-based small business owners), so are clearly from people or agents who have never listened to the show. And there is nothing more frustrating than having people waste your time for no good reason.

Before pitching, listen to a few episodes and pay attention to things like:

• the style of conversation

• the structure of the episode

• the types of guests invited

• the topics already covered

This allows you to present your idea in a way that fits naturally into the show and will appeal to the host. And for you to feel confident that you have something valuable to share.

It also gives you the opportunity to leave a relevant review for the show - something that will greatly enhance your chances of getting booked (more on that in a minute).

3. Support the Podcast First

Podcasting is a relationship-driven medium. So before pitching, it helps to become visible to the host. In some cases, this has already got me an invite to guest on a podcast.

Simple things can make a big difference, like:

• leaving a thoughtful review

• sharing an episode you enjoyed with your audience (tag the host on social media), and

• engaging (genuinely) with the host’s content on social media

If a host recognises your name when your pitch arrives, you are already starting from a stronger position. Doing the above also tells the host ahead of time that you have an audience that is relevant to their show and therefore, you can help them grow their listeners (a big goal for any host).

I also shared this advice on my podcast: The Art of Value Whispering.
If you’d prefer to listen to this article, click the button below.

Prefer to Listen?

4. Be Clear on Your Message

Hosts are not looking for vague expertise.

They are looking for clear ideas that will help their audience.

Instead of pitching:

“I can talk about business coaching.”

Pitch something like:

“Three ways introverted founders can communicate their value more clearly, and attract better clients with less effort.”

Having a simple structure helps the host to quickly determine if you are a good fit, or not, and shows respect for their time. Aim to include:

• one clear, relevant, takeaway

• three key ideas supporting it (that their audience will love)

• a short story or example

That allows the host to immediately imagine how the episode might unfold, saving them a lot of time and increasing your chances of getting booked on the right shows.

5. Show Why You Are Right for That Podcast

This is where many pitches fall down.

A good pitch explains:

• why you enjoy the podcast

• what you learned from a recent episode

• why your topic would resonate with the audience and/or build on a previous discussion.

For example, a while ago someone sent me a pitch saying how much they enjoyed my discussion about sales and offered to follow on from that by sharing their framework for natural and engaging sales follow up. It was an easy ‘yes!’.

The goal is not to impress, but to show that you understand the audience and can serve it well.

⭐ How to Pitch to Your Chosen Podcast (templates)

A Simple Two-Line Podcast Pre-Pitch

Sometimes the best first step is simply asking whether a podcast is currently accepting guest suggestions.

You could send a message like this:

Example

Hi [Host Name],

I really enjoy your podcast, especially your recent episode on [topic]. I have an idea for a conversation about [your topic] that I think could resonate with your audience. Before I send a full pitch, may I ask if you are currently accepting guest suggestions? And if you have any specific criteria?

[Your Name]

A simple pre-pitch like this shows the host that you know their show and care about being a great guest. It respects their time and makes it easy for them to reply with some quick information: Yes or No, and more information about that they are looking for. I created a specific blog post for example, that I can share about the kind of guests I’m looking for

A Simple Podcast Guest Pitch Template

Once the host confirms they accept guest suggestions, you can send a more detailed pitch.

Here’s a simple template you can follow to help you:

Podcast Pitch Template

Hi [Host Name],

I really enjoyed your recent episode about [specific topic]. In particular, [mention something you learned or appreciated]. I mentioned this when I left a 5-star review for the show on [platform - optional, include a snapshot of your review].

Your conversation about [topic] made me think of [your expertise or guest name], who specialises in [area of expertise].

One idea for a conversation could be:

[Proposed episode topic]

In this episode we could explore things like:

• [Key idea]
• [Second idea]
• [Third idea]

Would you be open to exploring this further?

Best,
[Your Name]

Notice how this pitch makes the host’s job easy.

It shows familiarity with the show, proposes a clear topic, and outlines what the conversation might include. That allows the host to immediately imagine how the episode might unfold.

While these steps take a little more time than cold pitching a bunch of shows, they are more likely to get you booked, and will help you build a strong relationship with the host too.

However, there are a few common mistakes to watch out for.

⭐ 10 Mistakes That Will Get Podcast Pitch Ignored

As mentioned, I receive many podcast guest pitches every day. Some are thoughtful and relevant. Sadly, most are not.

If you want your pitch to stand out, avoid these common mistakes.

1. Not addressing the host by name

“Dear Sir or Madam” suggests the message has been sent to dozens of podcasts.

Sometimes people even include the wrong name or no name at all. These pitches get deleted instantly. It’s a simple thing to get right, so always double-check you know the host’s name.

2. Clearly never listening to the podcast

If the topic has nothing to do with the show, the pitch will likely be ignored.

For example, I get pitched by real estate agents all the time, even though my podcast focuses on marketing for small service-based businesses.

And a friend of mine who hosted a podcast for women in STEM, once received a pitch from someone wanting to talk about their product for grooming male nether regions. It made for a funny story. But they were obviously not booked on the show.

3. Sending a generic copy-paste pitch

If the message could be sent to any podcast, it will not resonate with this one. Using a common framework is always a good idea, as mentioned above, but be sure to customise this for each show.

4. Making the host do the homework

Many pitches are overloaded with links to articles, videos and other podcast interviews.

While I understand why people do this, it’s much better to clearly explain why you would be valuable for this audience, rather than expecting the host to figure it out.

In my case, I simply don’t have time to investigate every pitch, so these emails usually get ignored.

5. Writing a pitch that feels like a sales email

The best podcast conversations are about insight and discussion, not promotion.

If your pitch reads like a heavy marketing email, it raises red flags and often doesn’t even make it clear that you’re asking to be a guest.

6. Sending a press release instead of a pitch

Press releases provide information but rarely suggest a clear conversation idea. And they certainly don’t make it obvious that you are asking to be a guest. Instead of taking this approach, take the relevant information and put that into your pitch template.

7. Being vague about the topic

Hosts need a clear understanding of what your episode would be about. Being specific will help you stand out from everyone else in your field and show what the audience will take away.

8. Writing a very long pitch

Clarity and brevity make a big difference. It also suggests that you’ll be clear and concise on the show too.

9. Presenting your pitch as a collaboration

Podcasting can be a wonderful space for collaboration. But for it to truly feel like one, the conversation needs to benefit both the host and their audience.

When pitching, think about how your appearance would add value to the host and/or the show, as well as the audience.

When that mutual benefit is clear, the collaboration (and pitch) becomes much more compelling.

10. Not making the ask clear

Your message should clearly answer the question:

What would you like the host to do next?

I often get emails that I think might be a pitch, but there is no clear ask, so they get ignored.

⭐ A Final Thought

If we want to see more diverse voices represented in business conversations, media and leadership, we cannot rely on invitations alone.

Sometimes we need to step forward and claim the space ourselves.

Podcast guesting is one of the simplest places to start.

And the more thoughtful and relevant your pitch is, the more likely it is to open the door to a great conversation. This needn’t be intimidating, just a little bit of homework and you’ll set yourself apart from 90% of other podcast pitches.

So I have one final question for you …

⭐ Which podcast will you pitch to first?

Now you have the steps to follow and templates to use:

Which podcast will you pitch to first?

And if you already have a favourite show you would love to appear on, share it in the comments.

You never know. That conversation might be closer than you think.

• Promoting your own work can feel weird and awkward. Even if you have a background in sales or marketing.

• While everything is technically “figureoutable”, trying to work everything out on your own, through endless trial and error, quickly becomes exhausting, and

• Trying to attract attention by posting more, pushing harder, or shouting louder on social media can leave you feeling uncomfortable or inauthentic.

If any of that sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

And I’m happy to tell you - there is another way to spread the word about your business and attract the right clients and opportunities. It’s an approach I call: Value Whispering.

A Different Way to Think About Marketing

Value Whispering has evolved from my three decades working in marketing and communication, and eighteen years of coaching leaders and small business owners.

Over that time, I saw clear patterns in what works when it comes to client attraction and engagement, as well as patterns in what holds people back from marketing their value and offers with ease and confidence.

At its core, Value Whispering is about understanding your true value, then weaving that into everything you do, building genuine relationships, and guiding the right clients toward the results they are already looking for.

It does not rely on noise, pressure, or constant promotion.

Instead, it focuses on clarity, resonance, and meaningful connection.

The goal is simple: To help people understand the value of what you do in a way that feels natural for both of you.

Because when your message resonates with the right people, you don’t need to fight for attention. And when sharing your value feels natural, you are more likely to do this consistently, with joy and impact.

What Marketing Really Is

Marketing is often misunderstood.

Many people assume it is about visibility, persuasion, or clever tactics.

But to me, marketing is something much simpler.

It is putting customer understanding at the heart of every decision you make. In other words, effective marketing isn’t about you, it’s about focusing on the people you serve.

This is good news for introverts or thoughtful business owners who dislike being the centre of attention.

Instead of focusing on how to promote yourself, you focus on creating value for others in ways that only you can and showing your prospective client that you understand them, and care about helping them solve their problem.

One question I often encourage my clients to ask is:

“Why would my dream client thank me for this?”

When that question guides your marketing, everything begins to shift.

Join the Conversation Already Happening

When promoting your business, you cannot simply tell people what you want them to hear. If you want to capture their attention quickly, you need to enter the conversation that is already happening in their mind.

For example, imagine you are a career coach.

You might believe the first step for someone stuck in their job is to clarify their values.

But if the internal dialogue in their mind is:

“Why does everyone else seem happy and successful while I feel stuck?”

then if you talk about values, your message will miss the mark.

The key is to meet people where they are. Only then can you guide them forward.

This is why the work I do with clients often begins with two simple steps:

1. Understanding exactly who your ideal client is

2. Understanding what they care about, worry about, and aspire to

When you understand these things deeply, your marketing becomes far easier.

Why Introverts Often Make Excellent Marketers

Interestingly, many of the strengths associated with introversion are exactly what great marketing requires.

Introverts tend to observe carefully.
They gather information before acting.
They listen closely.

Not just to what people say.
But also to what they mean.

These qualities make it easier to understand clients at a deeper level.

And when you truly understand your clients, you naturally communicate in ways that resonate.

The Small Business Advantage

In traditional marketing theory, there are many components to consider.

During my studies with the Chartered Institute of Marketing, we learned about the seven Ps of marketing: product, price, place, promotion, people, process and physical evidence.

For large companies, managing all of these elements can become incredibly complex.

But small businesses have one powerful advantage.

They are closer to their customers.

You can speak with them directly.
You can ask questions.
You can observe how they respond.

And today, platforms like LinkedIn make these conversations easier than ever.

Before worrying about complicated strategies, start with something much simpler.

Get to know the people you want to help.

Understand who they are, what matters to them, and where they spend their time.

From there, the right strategies begin to reveal themselves.

A Simple First Step

The first step in any effective marketing strategy is clarity.

Who is your dream client?

Once you know that, the next step is simple.

Start listening.

Find someone on LinkedIn who represents your ideal client and begin a genuine conversation. Not to sell anything, but to understand their perspective.

If that idea feels uncomfortable, consider this:

How would you feel if someone showed a sincere interest in your experience and challenges?

Most people are happy to share their thoughts when they feel heard.

And you might be surprised by how much insight these conversations provide.

Final Thought

Marketing does not have to feel uncomfortable or performative.

When you start with understanding and lead with value, attracting clients becomes far more natural and effective (and that is the foundation of Value Whispering).

So today, consider this:

Who is one person who perfectly represents your dream client?

What conversation could you start with them this week?

Have we met?

Hi, I’m Melitta Campbell, a business coach, speaker and author of Value Whispering: The Smarter Way to Market Your Business. I helps experts and founders communicate their value clearly so they attract the right clients with confidence.

Learn more at www.melittacampbell.com

And the benefits of networking go far beyond the prospect of finding your next client. It can give you industry insights, introductions to potential partners and the chance to discover new opportunities.

Yet despite the advantages, many business owners dislike networking. And I used to be one of them!

Having grown up called ‘the shy girl’, a label that I fully embraced, I dreaded every networking occasion – even the ‘fun’ social kind. But there came a point in my career when I realised that if I wanted to grow my business and opportunities, I had to find a way to make networking work for me.

I started reading books, observing others and experimenting with approaches that felt more natural. Over time I discovered that successful networking has three simple parts. That discovery eventually became the foundation of my bestselling book, A Shy Girl’s Guide to Networking, and it completely changed how I approach building relationships in business.

The one thing I struggled with most was how to introduce my business. It took some time and experimentation to master this, but now my introductions rarely fail to turn into longer conversations about my work.

Before I share more on that, it’s helpful to understand the three core elements of networking, as your introduction will need to play into these.

In this article, I’ll share the simple framework that transformed networking for me, including three ways to introduce your business so people naturally say, “Tell me more.”

Networking is a Game of Three-Parts

Great networking rarely happens by accident. It works best when you prepare for three simple stages:

• Before the event
• During the event
• After the event

Here’s what these stages

1: Before the event

Many business owners see networking as a challenge to get as many business cards in the hands of strangers as possible. I would advise against this. It’s far more effective, to reflect on your goals for the event and consciously set yourself up for success. For example:

• What is your prime goal?

• Who do you most want to meet?

• What do you want them to remember about you?

• What next step do you want them to take?

• How can you make it easy?

This is a core principle of Value Whispering: when your message reflects the real value of what you do, the right people recognise it quickly and the right opportunities start to flow in your direction.

If you feel especially nervous before a networking event of any kind, read this article that shares my VICTORY Formula for a proven technique that will help you build a positive success mindset and get better results from your networking.

2. During the event

You’ve prepared your introduction and talking points in advance, and you’re well stocked with business cards. But avoid the temptation to share either of these too readily. This is not your only chance to connect with the people at the event, but the first step in what could be a long and fruitful relationship.

Take your time and keep your interactions natural, aiming to speak for only 20% of the time. Exchange business cards last, as part of a genuine promise to continue your conversation later.

3. After the event

This is when the real magic happens. Follow up with the people you decided to add to your network by sending a personalised message that relates to your conversation. Share anything that you promised them and invite them to the next step, such as a coffee or virtual catch up to explore synergies further.

Stay in touch with your contacts over time. Good networking is all about relationships.

Introducing your Business

Your introduction has two goals:

1) To be instantly clear, so your new friend can easily tell if you are someone they would want to work with or if you can help someone they know.

2) To prompt them to respond with: “Wow, tell me more!”

Here are two sample introduction outlines to help you:

1: The ‘I help’ intro:

In this introduction, tell your new friend exactly what kind of people you work with, what you do for them, and the benefits they walk away with.

Here’s how it might sound in practice: I work with coaches and consultants who want to simplify their marketing while also making it more meaningful, so they can enjoy growing their business, work with more of their dream clients and have a bigger impact in the world.

You can prepare and use this as a spoken introduction as well as for online events when you are invited to type your introduction into the discussion box.

2: The Conversation Intro:

This works best in person. You want to convey the same information as above, but construct the first line as a question (one they are likely to resonate with), so you can draw them into a conversation.

“Have you ever wished you could work with more of your perfect clients without the whole marketing and selling part?” (Wait for response).

“Well, that’s where I come in. I help coaches and consultants simplify their marketing, while also making it more meaningful, so they can enjoy growing their business, work with more of their dream clients and have a bigger impact in the world.”

3: The ‘I have a dream’ intro:

This introduction is especially helpful when you are in the early stages of building your business and your offer is still taking shape.

Instead of apologising for not having everything figured out yet, you share the vision you are working towards and the problem you feel passionate about solving. This allows people to connect with your expertise, your energy and your purpose, even before the final details are in place.

When people hear an introduction like this, they often feel curious and invested. The next time they see you at an event, they will ask how things are going, what progress you have made and what has happened next. They feel part of the journey, which naturally strengthens the relationship.

Here’s how it might sound in practice:

“I’ve spent the last 20 years working in project management, and along the way I noticed something interesting. While many people understand the technical side of managing projects, they often struggle with the human side. Communicating with different personalities, building trust and keeping everyone aligned can make or break a project.

“So I’m currently developing a programme based on my experience that will help project managers understand these human dynamics and communicate more effectively, so their projects run more smoothly and their relationships grow stronger along the way.

“I’m still shaping exactly how this will look, but I’m excited about the potential because I believe these are skills people can learn quite quickly, and they can have a huge impact on both project outcomes and career confidence.”

This type of introduction works beautifully because networking is not about selling on the spot. It is about starting conversations, building relationships and helping the right people recognise the value of what you are creating.

Even established business owners can use this approach when talking about a new direction, a new idea or the future they are working towards. It invites people into the story, and often attracts exactly the kind of connections and opportunities that help bring that vision to life.

Prepare for the Next Three Questions

Once you have your introduction, the next step is to think one move ahead. Imagine the natural directions someone might take the conversation next. In most cases, there will be two or three areas they are curious about. In the project management example above, someone might ask about the technical side of managing projects, the communication challenges that arise between different personalities, or the career and leadership impact that strong project management skills can create.

For each of these possible directions, prepare a few short ways to expand the conversation. You might have a simple explanation that builds on your introduction, a short client or case example that illustrates the impact of your work, and a personal insight or reflection that shows why the topic matters to you. With just a few prepared threads like this, you can guide the conversation forward naturally without needing to think on the spot.

When sharing this idea during my workshops and talks on networking, some people worry that preparing in this way will make the conversation feel scripted or forced. In reality, the opposite tends to happen. Because you have already done the thinking, you are not distracted trying to find the right words. You can answer comfortably and then focus your attention on the other person, listening carefully and responding to what they share.

That preparation creates space for a much more natural and engaging conversation. Rather than worrying about what to say next, you can be fully present, curious and responsive. And that, more than any perfectly crafted introduction, is what turns a brief networking exchange into the beginning of a genuine relationship.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Practice your chosen introduction and keep refining it until people naturally respond with curiosity. When your message reflects the real value of what you do, people lean in. This is the essence of Value Whispering. It’s also the moment when you can bring in some more detail and share your stories and client wins.

Finally, remember that this is just the first of many conversations you’ll have if you follow up over time. So, take your time, allow the other person to speak more than you do, and have fun. People always want to stay in touch with people who they enjoy being around and who make them feel special, so keep this in mind.

Like all things worth having, building a strong network can take time. But I’ve come to believe that it’s the ultimate shortcut to everything you want to achieve, so it’s worth the investment.

If networking is a skill that you are looking to develop, then my best-selling book: A Shy Girl’s Guide to Networking will help you design your own approach to networking, so you can feel comfortable and confident in any room you enter. And will teach you exactly how to manage the three stages networking.
You can learn more and order your copy of the book here >

And if you have any questions, do reach out, I’d be delighted to help.

Bonus networking inspiration taken from
A Shy Girl’s Guide to Networking

You can get your copy of the book here

One masterclass that stayed with me was from the British author Neil Gaiman. He shared a simple insight about writing that I think applies just as much to business.

He explained that when he is writing a story and a character becomes stuck, he cannot fix the problem in that scene. Instead, needs to go back a few chapters to find the point in the story where he limited the character’s ability to move forward. Once he finds that moment and rewrites it, the rest of the narrative usually begins to flow again.

That idea stayed with me because it perfectly describes the challenge most businesses face.

Your client is stuck in a chapter

Most business owners talk about the problem they solve and how they go about it.

This isn’t wrong per se, but many potential clients are not yet aware of the problem that is keeping them stuck. Therefore, these messages fail to land with them, and get ignored.

Go back to a post you shared on social media, or here on substack, that didn’t get the attention you thought it would and nine times out of ten, that message was pitched not at the chapter where your client finds themselves today, but at an earlier story that they aren’t yet aware is the cause of their current misery.

For example, many of my clients come to me convinced they have a marketing problem.

They tell me:

• Their website is not converting

• Their social media posts attract little attention and no clients

• Their email list is barely growing

• Their ads are becoming expensive and bring few results, or

• When they talk about their business to a perfect client, that person politely nods along, but doesn’t lean in with curiosity.

So they assume the issue must be marketing.

But that is simply the chapter where they are stuck.

It is not where the story actually began to go wrong.

The chapter most businesses skip

If we go back a few chapters, the real problem usually appears much earlier.

Most businesses never fully define the true value they create. Not just what they do.
But how what they do and how is different or better in a meaningful way.

Because of that:

• They are not completely clear about their value

• They struggle to communicate it in a way that resonates

• They have not fully built belief in it themselves

Therefore, their marketing becomes effort-full and starts to feel pointless and draining, instead of feeling energising and building a real connection with their audience.

They are doing all the right activities, but nothing quite lands.

Where your marketing must begin

Here is the interesting part.

Even though the root problem sits earlier in the story, that is not where your marketing can start. For example, I cannot simply tell someone, “You need to understand your true value.” At that point in their journey, it would not make sense.

Your marketing must meet them in the chapter they are living in right now. Then your work with them can take them back a few chapters to fix the real problem.

So in my case, I need to meet them in the chapter where they are today - feel frustrated that their marketing is not working as they expected. And then I can then guide them back a few steps to the root of the problem and, if they are ready, help them fix it and move forward.

Once that happens, everything begins to flow far more naturally.

Marketing becomes clearer.
Conversations become easier.
Clients start to recognise the value that was always there.

A useful question to ask

So if your marketing isn’t yet working as you want, here is something to reflect on:

Where is your client in their story today?

What earlier chapter do they actually need to revisit in order to move forward?

Your marketing should meet them in the first place.

And then your process should guide them to the second.

Why I created Value Whispering

This is exactly why I developed the Value Whispering Blueprint.

Over the years, I noticed that many brilliant experts were trying to fix their marketing without first clarifying the deeper value they bring.

So instead of teaching more marketing tactics, the Blueprint helps them go back a few chapters, understand their true value and fix their foundations before helping them build a more aligned message and marketing plan to ensure they resonate with the right people, and feel confident and natural as they apply it.

If this idea resonates with you, you can explore the full approach in my best-selling book: Value Whispering: The Smarter Way to Market Your Business

You can download the first chapter here:
www.melittacampbell.com/chapter

It might just help you discover the chapter in your own business story that is ready to be rewritten.

Or if you want to go faster, with my personal support every step of the way, you can learn about my Value Whispering Blueprint programme here.

So I’m curious, where are your dream clients stuck today, and what is the chapter you need to take them back to?