The Internet is the introvert’s best friend, because you can show up at all the right places without ever leaving home. You don’t have to deal with crowds or small talk or even brushing your teeth, though I did indeed brush my teeth multiple times today.
I’m wondering if the key to promoting your work online is to show up in the right places, and more than once. Did you ever hear that kids need to be exposed to a new food at least 11 times before they’ll enjoy it? Not sure where the number 11 came from, but I think it or something similar holds for ideas and people online too. The first time someone comes across a new person or new idea or new way of thinking, they’ll reject it if it’s unfamiliar. The next time, it’ll make a little ping inside. Keep it up, and pretty soon they’ll be thinking, “that’s pretty cool.” It’s the exposure effect in action.
This reminds me of when my son Henry was four and we were staying in a hotel while in Chicago for a wedding. It was time for Henry to take a bath. He went into the bathroom and said, “I can’t take a bath in here!”
I said, “why not?”
“Because it’s unfamiliar!”
So now whenever my husband or I reject something just because it’s the first time we’ve heard of it, we’ll say, “I’m not taking a bath in that bathtub.”
In terms of personal brand or your professional profile (that’s the term I like, because it makes me think of a person rather than a consumer packaged good), there’s likely substantial benefit in simple exposure and familiarity. Of course, if your ideas are diametrically opposed to whatever another person believes, simple exposure probably won’t do much to making them feel warm and fuzzy when they come across your ideas or your name. This is more for ideas and ways of thinking or work products that are just different but not worse (in the eyes of your potential audience, customers, or colleagues) — like the hotel bathtub.
But there’s a limit to the exposure effect: people become immune to things that they come across too much. If I served skillet chicken with potatoes every night, my family would get sick of it. So I’m not recommending you make yourself or your ideas ubiquitous — there’s lots of room to delight people with novelty and serendipity. But still, making your work familiar to people in the communities that care… that’s a good thing to shoot for.
4 Comments
Anne, this was really fun to read. Very insightful. I believe a lot of people recognize this concept intuitively without giving much thought to how it impacts them on a daily basis. Like breathing and gravity, some things we take for granted because we are exposed to it every day. It takes work to learn to be appreciative of all we have.
Anne, I appreciate your thoughtful insight to promoting one’s self and career/work. I’m in the process of starting a consulting/writing business for grant writing. I plan to use the concept of “making your work familiar to those people in communities that care.” It does make sense especially when dealing w/ nonprofits and schools. Thanks!
Thanks ebrown and Susan. I’ve found that a lot of marketing suggestions don’t really work for me because yes, I am an introvert. But just thinking about simple exposure and familiarity makes it a bit easier.
Nice post on appreciation and gratitude, ebrown! When I get down, I remind myself what I’m grateful for.
Anne, thank you for this positive, heartening piece. Not only am I an introvert, too, but I come from a country where showing yourself off is not seen as a quality. So there’s hope, after all!