I just had the epiphany that I’ve been scared to really expose WhyGoSolo to the world through having a talk with Jeff Pulver. Jeff was nice enough to speak with me today and has agreed to offer help, feedback and coaching/mentoring as I keep going.  It means a great deal to me and goes to show how much he believes in helping people make their dreams come true.

But back to how I’m a big pansy – I  consciously knew I was holding back from really reaching out to spread the word because I keep thinking we need more of our features implemented for people to really capture what we’re about and create the ‘awe cool’ factor…but the fact is that it’s facing the possible criticism and attacks against my dream that well, scares me. 

So far I’ve talked about WhyGoSolo to everyone who is in some way shape or form connected to me…this includes hundreds if not thousand of people online BUT the catch is all those people are connected to me… 

Fear of Rejection

I’m a pretty tough cookie – but this is my dream we’re talking about, what I have poured my soul into…Putting your dream out for the world to poke at when it's just a fraction of the big picture is scary...but you can't get to the big picture without putting it on the line.

I have to get other people talking about WhyGoSolo on a larger scale. 

Boost in Confidence

I’m not sure why I’ve had the fear of rejection when I get great comments from so many people I don’t know (a few from this week):

"Hi Ann. WhyGoSolo looks interesting. Thanks for making it available. I'll join eventually. Happy Valentine's Day too! :)"

"…I also went to WhyGoSolo and joined. Many thanks for guiding me to what appears to be a great site!"

"WhyGoSolo looks great. Has it been taking off?"

"Hi Ann, Checked out your site, and really dig the concept I am spreading the word for you."

"Whygosolo, excellent idea!!!, in fact, I kind of feel that you stole it from me (just joking) I'm just happy to know that you did this in such a good and professional way. Congratulations!!! Have a nice day."

"Hey I checked out your site. That is a really neat idea!"

"Congratulations on your venture. A truly wonderful idea."

Hearing that Jeff believes it’s great idea is the icing on the cake and final boost I needed…I'm not going to live with a fear. I'm going to address it head on. 

Identify a 100 people

So my homework for this weekend is to make a list of 100 people/bloggers I want to reach out to for write-ups and interviews. Once I have my list, the next thing is to reach out to them and expose WhyGoSolo and myself. Ultimately, I want the people who do write ups on WhyGoSolo to know me…since you could say I have some serious “skin in the game”.  WhyGoSolo is my baby and if you want to praise or criticize her you have to know the history and vision behind it, which I am the key to.

Conclusion

As Keith put it in an IM to me: … glad someone could give you a kick in the ass…

And so am I.