Social Media Coyness: A Short Story
True. Being overly shy will just take you to nowhere. Especially if you are an online marketer, especially if you are one social media dependent.
The anti-social media guy and our short shyness story
Mercito “Tony” Gestas was a very introvert person. He didn’t know how he turned into a recluse, but he was aware that it was the reason why he kept himself away from the idea of owning a business. He was a well off guy, and surely, he could afford to open any business that interested him. Actually, he was not that rich. I was only exaggerating. But the money he obtained from his parents’ last will was enough to give him a decent life; seeing that amount made him think that putting up a business with it was better than to splurge it on a nearby casino in his apartment in Vegas. Therefore, he called me. I was about to feel honored when I heard him on the other line (because that was just the first time a popular guy would waste time to seek advice from a regular like me), but he started his line with “Hey, I called several guys before you, so I have decided to give you a ring. All their suggestions didn’t suit me.”
Anyway, to cut it short, I introduced Tony to online marketing. When he first heard the basic elements of the business, I sensed him smiling on the phone, as if he already found the one. Frankly speaking, online business did suit him, not only because he was good at computers but he liked spending the whole day alone at his house and he also did not like getting out or what; he was just that kind, a loner. At that time, I was on my third year as an online businessman, and I felt that I could teach him the basics of my business so he could be successful like me. Thus, I volunteered and to my surprise, he agreed without hesitations.
The problem with Tony was his behavior. He was a total introvert. Although I already knew who he was, I never thought that he would be a superbly silent guy in front of the computer. Yeah, that’s a computer and not a real person. When we started the business, I noticed that he could not even interact with people on Facebook and Twitter. All queries laid unanswered, praises from fans and followers ended up unnoticed. Indeed, his social networking business accounts were dull, boring, and insipid. There were times (actually most of the time) when I had to manage his sites just to make it moving and interacting.
I knew how Tony felt, because I, too, had felt the same way when I was just starting. Social networking sites weren’t popular then, so the only thing I could do was to follow the trend and do what the people do. Since blogging was the fad at that time, I had to blog as well. However, I felt that blogging was not suited for an excessively shy guy like me. I thought writing in clandestinity would help me overcome this fear, but the thought of trying it just scared me. But as time went by, I realized that I couldn’t be shy for the rest of my life. My family would starve if I did not begin writing and talking to other people online. So because of that realization, I finally gave it a try. Though my first writings were not as bad as I thought it would be, I continued writing and replying to a few people commenting in my blog. It took a year for me to realize that I’d already overcame my sickness.
However, the real problem began when I was about to meet my first hotshot client. I didn’t know what to do and even asked my wife If I she could face our client for me. But she said she know nothing about Internet Marketing, and having her as a dummy business owner or representative would just put out business into ruin. And that meant I had to put my imaginary convalescence to reality. I needed to get a real healing and freedom from coyness, so I decided to face our client.
And it took me days and weeks to convince Tony that there was no other way but to face it. He held the eye of the quitter that day, but fortunately, I’d already decided to guide him until the end. Looking through his eyes, I was certain of my goals for him: I wanted him to overcome his fears, I wanted hit to succeed. After days of convincing, I decided to bring him to my client engagements so he could the feel of being with other people. From time to time, I let my client to ask him some questions, though I had to kick his shoe under the table just to signal and force him that he needed to answer the intrigued client. I also invited him to formal business parties (and even to my family gatherings) just to help him get the hang of the people. I let him talk, and sometimes, I had to leave him in a corner where the talkative friends of mine could bombard him series of questions and informal jokes.
Tony, just like me, had the willingness to learn, and I saw it along the learning process. Though there were moments that I needed to convince him for weeks or to kneel down on my knees just to hear him say, Yes, I sensed that he still wanted to overcome his shyness. So I never gave up on him. Good thing that I was once a coy guy, too, because if I weren’t, I could have given up on him and let him decaying in shyness.
Your post author, Warner likes tech and SEO so naturally works with seo resellers who supplies white label seo for resellers only.
Nice Article
Being someone who grew up shy, I appreciated this article. When I was in my 20s I had to force myself to talk to people, the more I did it, the easier it became.
Thanks for sharing
Vicky
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