I’m not sure if I’ve told you this before, but a lot of my big wins, the things that I’m the most proud of, have been successful because I’ve had the help and support of other people.
It hasn’t been me at home by myself behind my computer that’s made my business a success.
If I didn’t work so hard behind my computer, I wouldn’t be where I am today…but, I wouldn’t be here nearly as quickly without the relationships that I’ve built.
Did you know that I spoke at the Etsy Success Symposium in my first year of business because I built an email and social media relationship with the person who organized it?
I was introduced to my executive producer at CreativeLive (ultimately the person who gave me a shot to teach there), Elizabeth, by Tara Gentile who I met in person at the Etsy Success Symposium.
I met Marie Forleo in person at her event, RHH Live, and she then asked me to share my story for a case study on her Live Your Dream site. She also invited me to be an affiliate for B-School last year when it was by invite only.
Thousands of viewers watched my CreativeLive course because so many of you tweeted, shared it on Facebook, shouted it out on Instagram. And, I organized a blog tour with some of my favorite people who I met online to help me spread the word.
I met my business partner (and one of my best friends) in person for the first time at a conference. She’s one of the reasons that I said yes to teaching at CreativeLive. She believed in me and told me that I could do it.
My content producer at CreativeLive, Bryan, introduced me to Bonnie from Going Home to Roost (who has an amazing course on CL) and I just wrapped an interview with her to use for my upcoming course, Create Digital Products that Sell While You Sleep. We’re now officially friends. Who wouldn’t become fast friends with a girl who named her dog Toaster? I mean, really.
I reaaaaaaally like the ladies who were in my live audience for my last CreativeLive course. We got to eat lunch together and take tequila shots at the after party and got to know each other. I’m rooting for every single one of them and I truly want them to reach their blogging goals. Each of these women holds a special place in my heart and I hope we continue to connect. Many of them have been instrumental in helping me spread the word about my upcoming CL courses via Twitter and Facebook. THANK YOU!
Not only have other people been instrumental in my success, but relationships influence practically every business decision I make.
Mayi and I hired our web designer, Emily, for Connecting the Gaps because she was my friend first. We became friends because she asked me to chat on Skype on a day that I wasn’t busy, and we connected. We stayed in touch via social media and email and when it was time to choose a web designer, it was a no brainer.
When I gave my input on who would be awesome in the front row for my CreativeLive course, I knew Sage Grayson and Jennifer Kennedy needed to be there, because I knew that they would add so much to the course from reading their comments on my posts week after week after week.
When I’m launching a new product and I want a handful of people to test it out first, I turn to Blacksburg Belle readers who have bought from me before, who comment regularly, and who connect with me on social media.
When someone emails me to help them promote their next big thing, I’m one-hundred and fifty million times more likely to say yes if I know them—whether that be through that person leaving thoughtful comments on my blog posts every week or connecting with them regularly on social media or having met them in person or on Skype.
No matter what, connections and relationships matter.
If you’re looking for a way to get ahead, to increase your sales at a much faster rate and to make more of difference with your business, you should focus some of your time on establishing and nurturing relationships. Start today and you’ll see big rewards within months.
If you’re an introvert, I know this might seem like the worst thing ever. But, it’s not.
I can say this because, I’m an introvert. I understand the discomfort of saying hi to a stranger. Big crowds tend to terrify me and it’s really hard for me to walk up to someone I don’t know and introduce myself. I have to pump myself up to do it and sometimes I still chicken out. When I go to a conference, I have to spend a week afterwards decompressing.
But, it’s worth it. I promise you that it’s worth it.
If you spend a small amount of time each day, like 15 minutes, strengthening your connections, you’ll reap huge rewards.
Tweet someone who inspires you, send a handwritten card to a blogger who you adore, shoot an email to someone you’d like to get to know better, or leave a thoughtful comment on blog post.
I also suggest that you also do one big thing every quarter/season (or every month if you’re brave enough) to build relationships.
Those small things really do add up, but the big things like attending a conference or course in person, asking someone who you’ve never chatted with to talk on Skype, or meeting someone for coffee, can help you form connections that do things for your business that you could never even imagine.
I never imagined that meeting Mayi in person would inspire us to build a business together.
I couldn’t have known that meeting Tara Gentile at a conference would help me connect with someone that would give me the chance to literally change my business years later.
I didn’t know that chatting with Emily on Skype would lead to her building a website for me two years down the road.
It infuses a bit of magic into the relationship to take things offline and meet in person. It takes your relationship to a new level. And, you never know what might happen.
With that said, the application to be in the live studio audience for my upcoming CreativeLive courses on how to create digital products that sell and how to make your creative business uniquely irresistible is open and I would love to meet you in person. (Closed)
It’s completely free to attend which is amazing. You get to hang out with me and other creatives who have similar goals and values for three days in San Francisco while learning how to improve your business. By being on camera, you also get huge amounts of exposure for your business.
It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience and this is your invitation.
“One thing that I was not expecting from attending April’s workshop, yet came as a wonderful surprise, was an increase in the number of sign-ups on my email list. I was floored (and completely grateful) by all the new readers to my blog. I’m still receiving emails from people all over the world who say they saw me on CreativeLive. In fact, I recently ran into a woman at a networking event who saw me during the broadcast (we’ll be grabbing a cup of coffee together real soon). The connections and networking has extended far beyond those three days.” –Jennifer, Create Amazing Online Courses
“Attending your CreativeLive course led to ‘meeting’ and forming relationships with the group of women who started the New Bloggers Group. And the THAT let to CTG, so basically it changed my whole life. I feel like I am part of a safe and very supportive community.” –Richelle, The Red Scorpio
Even if you don’t live in the San Francisco area, it’s beyond worth it to travel.
“It’s definitely worth it to travel to attend the CreativeLive workshop in person. You deserve to take a break from the mundane responsibilities of everyday life and treat yourself to a workshop that will change your business forever.” –Sage, Sage Grayson
“I do not live in SF but it has totally been worth it to me to travel from San Diego to be in the studio. And San Francisco is an awesome town.” –Richelle, The Red Scorpio
Want a chance at being in the studio to learn how to create digital products that sell while you sleep and how to make your creative business more uniquely irresistible? Simply click right here to fill out the application.
And, before you give me excuses on why you can’t afford it or why you can’t make it, let me share a little story with you.
Within a couple months of starting Blacksburg Belle, Marie Forleo opened up a contest to win a ticket to her upcoming conference. The ticket cost about $1500 and I had just started a new business. I was up to my elbows in student loans and scraping by to pay my bills every month.
I entered anyway, because I knew this was a huge opportunity. I won one of the ten tickets she gave away, but I still had to pay for travel and the hotel.
I told my husband how important this was to me—how it could make a huge impact on my business—and he got on board.
I sold a bunch of my books on Amazon to get enough money to pay for gas and food. I picked up extra freelance writing gigs to pay for the hotel and I saved every penny possible.
We found a hotel in New Jersey that was only fifteen minutes away from the conference in NYC by public transportation and it was less than half of what we would’ve paid if we stayed in a hotel in the city.
We drove because it was a lot cheaper than flying and we only stayed in the hotel Friday and Saturday even though the conference didn’t end until Sunday at 7pm and we lived in Blacksburg, Virginia—an eight-hour drive.
My husband picked me up after the conference ended on Sunday and he drove us home. We didn’t pull into the driveway until 4am and we were exhausted.
I was also exhilarated. I took the things I learned at the conference and applied it to my business and a few months later, I sold out the very first group coaching program that I offered.
I made connections at that conference that were invaluable to me. It was worth all the work and sacrifice that it took me to get there to attend for those three days.
Did I forget to mention that the conference landed right on my husband’s birthday and it was also a few days before our first anniversary?
My husband sacrificed for me, knowing that we wouldn’t be able to do anything else special to celebrate his birthday or our anniversary cause we were using all of our extra money for me to attend this conference. I’m eternally grateful to him for this.
The reason I’m telling you this is because that conference jump-started my business. It gave me the know-how and confidence and energy to make things happen and I could’ve just said, “I can’t afford it” and not attended.
Whether it’s my course or a conference you’d really like to attend or a person you’d really like to meet, don’t let the money excuse hold you back if it’s something that you know will change your life. Instead, do your best to figure it out. You can’t always make it happen, but if you don’t try, it definitely won’t happen.
And, if you’re not already convinced that you should apply to be in the live audience, here are some other quotes from the ladies who attended my last CreativeLive course in person:
“Being in the front row is completely different than watching a workshop from home. You’re right in the middle of the action, and it feels like April’s talking just to you. When I’m at home, I get distracted by my business work, laundry, or my puppy, but being in the live audience gave me permission to forget about everything else and absorb the material without distractions. The best part was getting a big hug from April herself!
The deciding factor was being able to meet April in person. It’s one thing to follow someone online for a while (I’ve been stalking April for years!), but nothing compared to getting immediate feedback from April on my specific business challenges. And the workshop was free! Where else can you get elite-level business coaching in person for no charge?” –Sage, Sage Grayson
“The biggest difference between watching a course online, and being in the front row is my attention. Watching a course online, I am at home reminded of 293 other things that I need to do, then I begin trying to multitask. Then, inevitably, I don’t really learn too much. Being in the front row allowed me to devote my time and attention to one subject, ultimately learning it more thoroughly and better. Another big plus is all the yummy food CreativeLive provides and the wonderful people!” –Kimberly, K. Sienk Photography
“I loved being able to not only interact with April, but also the other women in the audience. Months later, I’m still internet buddies with them. It was absolutely a fabulous experience.
Also, being in the audience gives you the chance to ask questions that are specific to you and your experiences. I mean seriously, three entire days where you can ask all of the questions you want! Yup, it’s totally worth it.” –Jennifer, Create Amazing Online Courses
If you honestly can’t be in the live audience for my upcoming CreativeLive courses, I’ve got other ways that you can form valuable connections:
- Watch it live and interact in the chat. Take advantage of the chat option. I’ve heard so many stories from viewers who watched my last course that have made invaluable connections with other viewers via the chat.
- Closer to the course dates, I’m going to create a private Facebook group. The connections that people have made in the Facebook group that got put together for my last course is amazing. I would’ve never imagined that so many people would find new friends, help each other, give each other feedback, find accountability partners and more through that Facebook group.
- Use the hashtag #bellelive to let others know you’re watching, answer questions, ask me questions that I’ll answer after the course and connect with others using that hashtag. Start conversations! You never know what might happen.
RSVP for Create Digital Products that Sell While You Sleep right here and RSVP for Make Your Creative Business Uniquely Irresistible right here to be reminded of the courses as they approach, to get the workbooks for free, and to get access to the private Facebook group when it’s up and ready.
I’ll talk more about this stuff as the courses approach, so don’t worry, you don’t have to remember it all. And, there won’t be a quiz. Ha!
In the meantime, do one thing today to connect with another creative. Maybe even start or end your days with this exercise. If you do, by the time the course starts, you’ll see why it’s so important.
Leave a comment below letting us know the one thing you did to strengthen or start a relationship with another entrepreneur today. (And, by leaving a comment, you’re definitely strengthening your relationship with me because I so appreciate and look forward to them.)
This post was so great! (I actually stopped reading halfway through so that I could go comment on another blog post that I read earlier this morning) I am usually so introverted and typically the internet-lurker/wallflower. Your advice is so great to inspire my butt into action! Thanks so much for the encouragement.
I’m sooooooo happy that it made you want to comment on blog post you read earlier. That’s awesome. Happy to encourage!
I love, love, love this post, April! Relationships are hugely important when you’re an entrepreneur. All of the best opportunities that have come my way (including your CreativeLive course!) were because of the relationships I nurtured. It can be a little scary putting yourself out there and being seen, but it’s so worth it. 🙂
Thanks Sage! YES YES YES! Of course you understand the importance of this cause you’re amazing at it. 🙂
Hi April!
This is an awesome post. I love seeing how each relationship led to a new phase in your career!
Coincidentally, today I reached out to a friend (commented on her blog) who I met in the audience of Kari Chapin’s CreativeLive class on staring a handmade business. A class which I only knew about because I watched YOUR awesome CreativeLive class on blogging a few weeks before. I am still amazed (and proud of myself) that I pushed myself to be in the studio audience. I am supershy and introverted. But it is because my creative business is so important to me that I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and I’m so glad I did.
Thanks for sharing your inspiring example.
p.s. Will you ever be doing a class at the Seattle studio? If so, I’ll definitely apply to be in the front row!
Thank you! I’m really super proud of you that you pushed yourself to be in the studio audience, too. I thought that was awesome when I saw you!
I won’t say that I won’t ever do a class in Seattle cause I’d love to visit Seattle BUT I’ve got a rhythm with the team that I work with at the CreativeLive studio in San Francisco and I just can’t imagine doing one of these courses without them. I almost demanded that I work with the same content producer cause he’s amazing–of course, we’re working together again. I just love the people I’ve gotten to know, you know? But, maybe someday. Who knows, right?
This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, so much so that when I saw the title of the post I thought, “I bet it’s about connections and relationships!” Some of the things I’ve started doing to help connect with others include: leaving comments on blogs that I’ve read for years without saying anything (like this one!), writing tweets to help promote local artists and crafters in my area, and interviewing entrepreneurs for a local blog that’s not connected to my business. It’s fun and already seems to be paying off – someone saw a comment I posted today and emailed me to tell me she’s inspired by my website. Thanks for the reminder about what’s really important in business!
How cool is it that you thought it was going to be about connections and relationships?!? I think it’s pretty darn cool.
Yay for commenting–and thank you so very much for taking the time to comment here. It makes my day every time I get another comment and feel closer to the amazing creatives who read my blog.
I love that you shared how it’s already paying off for you! You get fifteen gold stars! 🙂
Hi April! Of course it was worth reading your extra long post today. Your words always provide so much fantastic inspiration – just when I needed them too. Next week I am heading off to Beating Around the Bush in Adelaide, South Australia. It’s a big embroidery convention here and provides a huge opportunity for me to make personal connections and show some of my work. Consequently, it is pretty daunting too!
A good friend of mine knows a leader in my field who lives in South Australia (I am a huge fan of her work and have her books etc.). So I got brave and asked if we could be introduced by email, on the off chance that we could meet for a coffee and a chat. She responded so positively that I have been completely overwhelmed. I have been invited to dinner, she is already sharing advice with me by email, and I am really looking forward to meeting her in person. If I hadn’t been brave enough to ask for the introduction…..well, I think I would be missing out on something rather special.
Oh my gosh…it was extra long. Six pages in Word and believe me, it took forever to write and edit. 🙂
CONGRATS on the embroidery convention and for making that connection. That’s amazing that you’re meeting in person and that you’re already connecting via email. AWESOME work! It does sound like something rather special.
Hi April! I too entered an online contest a few years ago and I won two classes for entrepreneurs, one taught by yourself and the other by Emily. I learned so much from that initial opportunity. So of course I signed up for your creative live course, which too was awesome. Girl I just don’t know where you get all of your energy! I am scheming to find a way to San Francisco, I so wish I could be a part of your live audience. I am thrilled to say though that I am doing a live market with Etsy Canada this month and it is my first time being a vendor. Excited and nervous at the same time, a big leap forward for my business. Thanks for all of your advice, I always look forward to my Blacksberg Belle!
Hi Kathy! So great to “see” you. 🙂
I don’t know where I get my energy either. It’s kinda crazy sometimes. I do know that when I’m passionate about a project, the energy is always there–no matter what. It pumps me up and helps me move forward.
Congrats on the live market! That’s awesome. I’m so very happy for you.
Hopefully, we’ll eventually get to meet in person!
Ahh!! So, I totally was waiting for a huge payday to be able to afford a trip to San Francisco to come to your workshops, but I *think* about a week ago I decided to go ahead and apply anyway. I still haven’t had that payday, but now I’m even more pumped about it…because you are totally right, I can make it happen with persistence and hard work.
Also, I love Bonnie! I bought her course and have been having so much fun with illustrator these past few weeks. I’m extra excited to hear that you’ve interviewed her for your upcoming workshops, and can’t wait to hear all about it.
P.S. I’m a huge introvert, and can totally relate to what you’ve said here. I never would have thought that you were introverted, but it’s honestly refreshing to hear because you seem so outgoing to me. I totally have to prep myself before big events, and have to unwind a lot afterwards, too. But, you’re right, the connections are totally worth it!
That’s so exciting, Amanda! I just watched your video on your about page and cracked up when the part with you and your dog came on. I’m such a dog lover. It would be so much fun to meet in person.
Bonnie is great! Her course was awesome and I’m so glad that we’ve connected. (And, her interview rocked!)
You’re an introvert, too? There are so many of us out there. I’ve found that I need to be nice to myself when it comes to being an introvert because it’s easy to say “why can’t you just go say hi without getting nervous” and I know that I have to give myself alone time after a big event. I need that decompression or I’ll go crazy…even though I’m already a little crazy. 😉
Hi April! Thank you for this post! I’ve been working on this a lot recently, because I am an introvert too and it is super hard for me to initiate conversations with people I don’t know personally. I used to never comment on blogs and never e-mail anyone unless I have to. After watching your CL course (and Sue B Zimmerman’s course about instagram marketing) I decided to push myself to comment as much as possible and e-mail all my favorite bloggers to thank them for their amazing content. I’m still very slow and hesitant with it, but it’s getting easier with time.
I wish I didn’t live so far and could attend one of your upcoming CL classes! Would be so great to meet you in person and connect with other creatives!
You’re so very welcome, Sasha! Thanks for commenting even though it’s not the most natural thing for you. I totally get that. If I’m being honest, when I comment on other blogs (if I don’t know the blogger well), it usually takes me a good fifteen minutes to write out what I want to say, edit it twenty-seven times to make sure it doesn’t sound weird or ridiculous and get the nerve to press publish. Even that can seem a bit overwhelming for me, so I definitely get it.
But, I can guarantee that when you do this over and over, you stand out to those people. If I receive an email from a Sasha, you can bet that I’d check to see if it was the same person cause I’d recognize the name. That makes such a huge difference!
I would love to meet in person someday! 🙂
Going to SF and see you LIVE on Creative Live would be a real treat, April, for all the reasons you name above! Living in southern Spain makes this a bit complicated. So I’ll be more than happy to watch the workshop at home, this time around. Who knows, maybe the next time you do a CL class 🙂
In the meantime, yes, I’ve been connecting to wonderful women who are budding entrepreneurs like myself. I look forward to our weekly skype calls and chatting to others via email and social media. YE,; April, your advice is spot on!
LOVE THIS! I’d love for you to share more about what you get out of those weekly Skype calls. So happy that you’re connecting with other entrepreneurs like yourself. That’s awesome!
I’m writing this in bed in the morning so I haven’t actually done anything yet today on the connecting front {although I think this counts! 🙂 }. But yesterday I finally made the investment to talk to a coach and experience a clarity session, having realised that the time had come to get some one to one specific help that courses and blog posts couldn’t give me. Not only was it great to connect with and learn from her, but she also very generously offered to connect me with people in her circle whose audience aligned with mine, which I hadn’t expected. I absolutely agree with you that you can’t know the potential outcomes of making connections, and as an introvert myself, I have also found it worth making the extra effort at times. I will definitely be watching your next CL workshop from over here in the UK. You’re an inspiration. 🙂
This counts but do one more thing just cause! 😉
That’s amazing, Tara! I’m so glad you’ve had such a great experience from working with someone one-on-one. I know that it can make a huge difference to get individualized feedback. And, for her to introduce to others in her circle…that’s the best.
So glad you’ll be tuning in. I hope you participate in the chat, too. And ask questions! I love questions when I’m teaching. 🙂
I’m on vacation now, but wanted to take a minute to reply to this. Sort of as a challenge to myself. 🙂 I’m so lost when it comes to this. I want to connect, but feel like my days fly by and I never have time to even find other people to follow on a blog much less comment. I like your emails/posts as they remind me to keep looking forward. Thank you for this reminder. I need to make a commitment to finding people to network with. Do I look for other small biz? Or people in my “industry”? How do you decide who to follow? Maybe I needed to take your CL class! 🙂
You get twenty-five gold stars for replying even though you’re on vacation! Thank you for taking a few minutes to do so.
My advice to you would be to start your days with this or do it at lunchtime. Have a specific time of day that you set aside 10 or 15 minutes to connect with others. And, then do one bigger thing every few months–like talk with another creative on Skype.
I would start with other small biz owners who have similar values and goals. Reach out on social media, comment on their blogs and email them (not all at the same time–do one thing every week for the next month) and then if you feel like you’re connecting and like each other, ask to chat on Skype for 20 minutes. Try to find an accountability partner through this method–someone that you really enjoy chatting with and would love to get feedback from regularly. Tell each other what you’re working on and your goals and check in every week. This helps because it keeps you accountable AND you get feedback from someone who isn’t working in your business day in and day out. She’ll see things that you completely miss just because you’re in the middle of it.
I hope that helps some!
Oh…now I have to go look for books to sell on Amazon! My heart races with the thought of being in your live audience in SF! You have taught me so much about relationships through your stories, blog, CL and your partnership/friendship with Mayi! I loved this blog post and it reminds me that time invested in relationships is never time wasted — it is a building of opportunities for growth, joy and sparks! Your CL class helped me connect with Sage, also, and I had the wonderful opportunity to work with her in her Life Editing course. Thank you! Your authenticity and passion attract so many people to you and your work and the time you make to help all of us feel special is soooo appreciated. Thank you! Off to find more places to connect!!!
It helps! Any little bit can help when you need to earn a specific amount of money in order to do something you really want to do.
It would truly be amazing to have you join me in San Francisco in November. I would love to meet you in person.
I’m so glad you got to connect with Sage and take her course. I bet that was a great experience. I can’t imagine anything but great when I think of something that Sage puts out into the world.
THANK YOU! Your comment makes me feel like it’s more than worth it to spend hour upon hour writing the longest blog post ever. 😉
It made a difference to me!!! Thank you again!
Yes, yes and yes!
Being in the front row of your blogging course at CreativeLive literally changed my life because of the connections I made with you and with the other fabulous front row participants. And also because you taught me how to really step up my blogging game. But I truly treasure the relationships!
I probably reach out more to the New Bloggers group and the League of Supers more than anyone else. We communicate almost daily, and continue to support and boost each other. It is amazing.
I am really looking forward to this course because it is SO in line with the direction I’m taking.
Yay! So excited for you!!
I’m so excited for you! Could you have imagined the changes that would occur because you attended a course at CreativeLive? I think that’s the best part of focusing on connections and relationships. You truly can’t even know how much it’s going to help your business–and make doing business more fun cause you’ve got support and encouragement from people who get it.
Thank you so very much for sharing! You know I love ya! 🙂
I never in a million years would have predicted this outcome. It was totally unexpected. You know that I flew for the first time by myself last month. That is a direct result of all of this awesomeness.
Love being part of this community you have created and love ya right back, Doll!
Thank you for the reminder that relationships are important to nurture, April. I’m a bit of introvert, too, and I’ve started taking baby steps to get out of my shell. It’s good to know I’m not the only one who needs time to recover from encounters with large groups of people and is shy to talk to new people.
I’m looking forward to your CreativeLive courses coming up!
Of course! Totally get it. It’s tough “putting yourself out there” when you’re introverted but it’s definitely worth it.
So glad you’ll be tuning in. 🙂
Making connections is SO important, April!! Only within this past year have I been actively making an effort to reach out to people. Your countless examples really show how powerful connections can be.
I was actually debating whether or not I should go to a networking event this Saturday — This post has encouraged me to take the effort to go!!
Looking forward to your course! Whoop whoop!
Yay for attending that networking event! I hope you made some valuable connections. 🙂
I signed up for a writing class in my town.
AWESOME!
Lovely post as always April and really inspiring! Unfortunately I am too far to attend in person your course, but I enjoy every week your posts.
It is absolutely crucial to have connections and real friends around.
I am planning to teach a master class in Netherlands next month and this happens because I connected with this people two years ago.
Thanks Meropi! I enjoy your comments.
Congrats on teaching that class. I wish you all the best with it–you’re gonna rock it out. 🙂
I LOVED your creative live class, and after watching it, I started reading your blog and following you on social media. Your tips and ideas are so helpful! I’m not able to travel, but I’ll be watching from my computer for sure. And I totally agree about connections. As a photographer, it’s easy to feel like everyone is your competition, but they really aren’t. I’ve found a community of photographers and we help each other out and it’s grown my photography skills tremendously. In addition to providing feedback, we follow each other and encourage each other through blog comments, Facebook likes and comments, etc. I’ve learned so much from these other people- connections are so important to grow your business. Thanks April! Great stuff.
Thanks Amanda! So glad you’re staying connected.
Once you move from the “every person is competition” to “there is room for each of us,” things can completely shift. I feel like the more we support each other, the better we’re each going to do.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this post April! I’m in the process of launching my art business, and while I’ve been taking baby steps (a previous business venture failed from me rushing into it), I realize I do need to start reaching out to people. This was the kick-in-the-pants I needed to start doing it NOW! 🙂
It’s never too early to start making connections and building those relationships. Great point! 🙂
This is a great post – and so true! I need to put this into practice more. I was talking to a travel blogger friend the other day about how I’ve been wanting to go to a conference or something, which is so far outside my comfort zone, and she encouraged me to just do it and chances are I’ll meet plenty of people who are just as nervous as myself. The last time I went to a small local conference, I befriended a really sweet photographer and her husband and they have been one of my best creative connections since I started my business four years ago.
YES! There will absolutely be others there who are nervous and pushing waaaaay out of their comfort zones.
Thanks for sharing!
I love this post! Thanks! You are on my list of people that I would love to meet and work with in person. I applied to be in the audience for the digital products course in November, that would be a total dream come true. If I am not able to make it to SF, I will be “live” online for sure. Getting my first digital product up and sold by the end of the year is one of three big goals that I am working on completing by the end of the year. Thanks for the inspiration!
And Im just in Richmond so if I don’t make it to SF, I would drive to Blacksburg to buy you a cup of coffee or a smoothie any time:)
Yay! I would love to meet you in person. And, I’m working like crazy on these courses, so I hope it’s more than worth it for every single person who travels or watches online.
I’m from Richmond and my parents live there, so we visit often. I’ve been thinking about holding a “meet up” in Richmond when I visit in the winter or spring to meet up with readers who live in that area cause why not? 🙂
What a great post and so true April! People ask me all the time where I advertise my web design business. I don’t…I get all my work from word of mouth, repeat clients, and referrals and I’m busier than ever! My husband is a musician who also works the same way. He gets tons of referrals and repeat business. Some gigs he’s been playing every year for more than 10 years because they continue to invite him back again and again. He’s an awesome entertainer and musician, but he’s also wonderful at connecting with people and creating lasting relationships. He can do what he loves full time because of this.
Thanks for a wonderful post! 🙂
Thank you sooooo very much for sharing this. Word of mouth and repeat customers can absolutely become someone’s total customer base–and those type of customers tend to be the right fit which always makes the work even better.
It’s like you’re sitting on my shoulder right now…OK OK! I will fill out the application. From there, we’ll see what chance has in store 😉
xo
K
PS – the human element is THE reason I feel confident about the life I live and the seemingly crazy way we choose to build our lives around our passion. NAILED IT Bowles-Olin!!
Hahahahahahaha…go…go…go… 🙂
Thanks!!!
I did it! I filled out the application. Eeeeek!
Doesn’t it feel amazing and terrifying at the same time? 🙂
Me too!!! Aaaaaaahhh!!! Let’s have the League of Supers take San Fran by storm!
YES YES YES!
omg that would be so fun!
April – I just read this blog. Crazy thing, earlier this week I took the courage to reach out to someone I admired, mostly because of watching you on CreativeLive and saw the value of the relationships you are building. It was something I wanted for myself.
Even though the person I tried to connect with did not seem as interested I am not going to give up. I want that person I can go to for anything, even if he/she is hundreds of miles away. I want the encouragement I deserve and want to give back even more. I love learning new things and want to connect with those you can teach me things, make me think outside the box and live my life better.
Thank you – glad I have the chance to learn from you!
Kelly
That’s AWESOME and there are going to be times when the reaching out doesn’t work out the way we want or hope, but the times that it does makes up for all the rest. 🙂
Keep reaching out–you’ll find that person. It’ll happen.
Hi April I liked your last workshop on CreativeLive so much I bought the course. I am commenting here(its the end of the day for me) and I signed up for your newsletter.
Marilyn
Thank you so very much for the support. It means the world to me and I hope you got a ton out of that course. 🙂
April it feels as though you wrote this directly to me.
A week or so ago I went to a blogging conference and connected with a tribe of amazing local bloggers. Even though we’d met online meeting in person strengthened those relationships so much.
I also gained courage from that to reach out to a local magazine editor and send her a recent blog post I thought she’d be interested in. She wrote back immediately and said she’d love to work with me (even though I hadn’t mentioned that in my email.)
And as I was telling myself I’d done enough and couldn’t afford to come to San Francisco you called me out!
I kept telling myself I’d go to a CL in person “someday” but this blog post is making me seriously consider making that day this November. I am number crunching and looking at all the options. I’d love to meet you and all the CL crew in person!
*fingers crossed*
Meeting in person changes things…it’s strengthens the relationship and you WANT to see those people succeed even more. You want to support them. High five on going to that conference.
Congrats on working with the local magazine editor. Sometimes all it takes is a simple email. You never could’ve known that was going to happen right away. AWESOME stuff.
I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed that you figure out the number crunching. I’d love to meet you in person! We would have a blast. 🙂
I’m late to the party, but yes, relationships are everything!
My first job (which was awesome) came to me through a friend. (The next one did, too!)
Now, I’m switching industries in my day job and already I owe so much to the friends and co-workers for their advice, suggestions, recommendations on places to apply, and so on.
My advice to my fellow introverts is to start small – you don’t have to talk to everyone, just a couple people. You never know who you might meet, and the best part of meetups and conferences is that the people you meet there are already on your side. They want to make new connections and friends, too!
Great, great advice!
Better late than never! 🙂
Thanks for sharing your experiences. So true–that you don’t need to talk to everyone. In fact, I think it’s much better to spend time building a few really good connections than to hand out your business card to fifty people who you’ll probably never talk to again.
Hello April!
Hope this finds you well.
As you already know I loved your last course on CL. I full admit I haven’t worked through all the material from it yet (and with 11days until my wedding, I won’t be getting there too soon sadly) but I learned so much even from just watching it at home.
Let’s be honest here…I am a huge Creative Live junkie but when your course was coming up I kinda went meh, I guess it could be interesting but wasn’t sure I would actually tune it. Blogging just wasn’t a top priority in my business right now and somehow I had no idea who you were. It wasn’t til I was chatting with Ms. Amanda Sue and heard about how excited she was and how much she loves you that I decided I’d actually make a point of tuning in for at least part of the class.
I can’t tell you how happy I am that I tuned in. Not only did I get to know you a little and learn more about blogging than I could ever hope to absorb but, I also reconnected with Amanda Sue, got introduced to Ms Sage Grayson (who I’ve now done a consult with and her Life Editing for Beginners class), and connected with a great group of people in the facebook group which has allowed me to join in on some awesome blog hops.
This year I’ve already did one thing that scared me, I booked to attend a photography conference that looks just amazing without knowing how I’m going to pay for my plane ticket or hotel or even if I can get the time off my day job. Thing is, when this conference opened for registration I realized. I’ve never attended a real conference for photography. (I’ve attended a few smaller photography shows put on by a retailer here but its a bit different) Now I’m going to be off to St Louis in April to learn in person from the mentors I’ve been watching online, I’m going to meet others passionate about photography, and have the opportunity to open doors I don’t even know exist yet. I’m so excited!
In the end of this long rambling I guess what I’m trying to say is you’re absolutley right. Sometimes you have to step a little outside your comfort zone to connect with people but investing time in connecting with other will reap rewards you can’t even imagine yet. Thanks for being a great support and for helping me to connect with others I might not have known otherwise. I may not be able to make you next CL classes live but I will be here watching and listening.
Whoa! Thanks for sharing all of this, Rebecca! I believe that seeing how others have benefited from building relationships and how they’re stepping outside of their comfort zones can do wonders for someone who’s standing on the edge, not knowing if they should leap. So, I know for sure that someone is going to read this, get courage from it, and sign up for a conference or email someone they haven’t talked to or even watch a course they weren’t excited about at first.
You rock!
I love this!!!! I love leaving comments on blogs, because I know how good it makes ME feel when someone leaves me a comment. Reciprocity. 😀 I tell my friends that likes/comments are like Scooby snacks for bloggers…ahahaah!!!
I absolutely believe in the power of online connections….because of a chance siting of one of your blog posts (that had been posted by Mayi, lol), I got the motivation to come back off of my “frustration hiatus” and get back into the game. And we got hit by setbacks..my husband’s job messed up his paycheck, so I couldn’t get my site spruced up, but I stayed focused behind the scenes prepping for the moment I could do it.
Meanwhile, I got an email from CreativeLIVE reminding me that Michelle Ward had a course coming up, so I let my whole family know I was going to be busy during that…and on the very first day, I had been inspired to change my domain name, because I felt like “myname dot com” just wasn’t clicking with my creative audience. By the third day, I had figured out a possibility, and I tossed the term into a mock elevator speech she’d asked us to write, and put it out there in the CL chat. Within minutes, I had several people say that they LOVED IT and that I needed to hurry up and get my site back up & going. A few minutes after that, one of the CL peeps had chosen my elevator speech to read to Michelle, and she recognized my name from Twitter/Facebook, and told me it was perfect, and ordered the rest of the audience not to touch that domain so I could go buy it! Which, I had done in the next 10 minutes btw…I’m telling you..when I’m motivated, I’m motivated, roflol.
Anyways, so that was a novella, all just to say yes, I freaking love commenting/comments, and internet love connections, and I would totally apply to come see you in November, except that I’ll be about 2 months out from having a baby, and they tend to make frowny faces at women that huge on an airplane…and car rides that long just aren’t comfy anymore. lol
Scooby snacks…so true! Hahahahaha!
Ahhhhh…I love that you got inspired and motivated from Michelle’s course. She did an amazing job and you did an amazing job because you actually did the work. Lots of people get inspired and then they don’t do much about it. You took action and someone who takes a little bit of action every day gets results. It just happens even if it seems to take forever.
Thank you so very much for sharing!
And, you get a pregnancy pass. I mean, if anyone has a good reason to watch at home in pjs, you definitely do. 🙂
Hahaha!!! Actually, I will NOT be watching in my PJ’s…but only because I’ve been reading stuff about productivity being enhanced when you make an effort to dress the part…look good feel good sort of thing…so I will be dressed for my “office” so I can stay in that motivated frame of mind. 😀 And drinking a smoothie to keep my mind sharp, lol!
True true true. Although, I do pretty good darn work in pjs. 🙂
Yay for smoothies!
Knowing you, you probably have cute PJ’s though…I’ve got like…threadbare yoga pants & a shirt borrowed from my husband…okay note to self…buy some cute pj’s roflol!!!
Hi April, 🙂
Just wanted to send a little love, have been reading your post for a while and never commented, I am Swiss so a bit shy to write in English… But this time I felt that regarding the subject of the post, it was was time for me to get out of the closet! 😉
Fist I want to say I really appreciate your work, I’ve been many times inspired to take action from your advices. And so will I today, even so in Switzerland the blogging world is at his beginning so there are not so many occasions to find people to connect with, but I surely will do the first step and try to create a space for exchange!
Thanks a lot!
THANK YOU for commenting and please don’t ever feel nervous about commenting here even though English isn’t your first language. I love connecting with others all over the world!
If you want a really easy way to start, I say connect on social media. You only get to use 140 characters on Twitter so I suggest that one for joining conversations and adding your voice for those who feel shy and introverted.
Girl, it was like you were speaking just to me! I am so, so, so very introverted!!! I have been writing down that I need to attend some network event for some time now. I really need to get my buns in gear & just do it!
I know that it’s tough…that it doesn’t come very naturally and can seem overwhelming. But, you’ll be really glad that you did it as long as: 1) You set realistic expectations. Maybe plan to make three to five connections? That way you don’t feel as if you have to meet everyone in the room. 2) Give yourself decompression time afterwards. It’ll make it more likely that you’ll enjoy yourself and want to do it again.
Hi April!
You wrote this post like month ago and I wanted to comment then, but I did not have the bravery. But I have thought about you and your writings.
I feel like i am risking my life here 🙂 and this is my first comment ever. I even made a list with pros and cons about commenting. I am so introverted that it makes me sick sometimes – why can’t I be like everybody else. I did not know that there are so many people like me and I don’t feel so alone now. So thank you.
Just wanted to say I like you and your blog. I also watched you in CreativeLive (for me it started at 7pm, I watched the hole thing and I am morning person in nature). I loved it. You motivated me to start my blog and your workbook is like bible to me 🙂 I haven’t done much yet, but at least I started.
So thank you!
I wish I could give you a hug. But, instead I’m sending thirty ‘digital’ gold stars your way.
Thank you soooooo much for pushing past your fear and leaving a comment.
It does feel so much better when you realize that there are lots of other people who struggle with similar things. I’m glad you saw that and it helped you leave this thoughtful comment.
THANKS! I’m so happy that my CreativeLive course has been such a help and inspiration to you. That makes me feel amazing. You’ve truly given me more confidence and motivation with your comment, so I’m going to say that the pros for leaving a comment greatly outweigh the cons. 🙂