Hi, I am here and I already post my first question. ;)

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Hi, community
I am very new here, to be honest, this is my first visit. I dropped in by asking a search engine about autistic marketing, as I have a question about... autistic marketing. I would like to hear your opinion. That would be great. So thanks in advance!

OK, let's describe me and my question in some short phrases:
- I am a designer, freelancer and (I think) I am pretty good at my job. In fact, I love my job.

- I am not "normal" whatever that might be. I do not have a clear diagnosis, but I spent quite some times with psychologists. That is a long story,... What I think is, that autism, hypersensibility and AD(H)S is quite common in my family and I have a mixture of all of that. The meetings with the psychologists were always very interesting, cause I like to explore my inner self. The point is: They did not hit the "problem" itself, cause there is no "problem". Besides one thing. Just go on reading. I will describe it soon.

- OK, here is THE PROBLEM : How does an autistic guy that hates to communicate on shallow ideas get new clients? What I do now, obviously does not work: I try to behave like a "normal" but I am ... "from another planet". So to be honest I try to be somebody else, which is never a good idea. But the "normals" are that boring! Most people behave like they were remote-controlled. So how should I communicate with them and their remote-controlled ideas? Trying to behave like one of them? I tried for years. The success is very limited. I hardly earn a living but work a lot.

This said I would like to ask my question. All answers are welcome, just drop your ideas. Every idea is useful, cause it might show a new perspective.

Could it make any sense to start a blog or a website where I write about myself and my experiences in life? I mean: in order to get new clients for my remote design job. "Normal" marketing bores me to death. I tried 1.000 times to start it, and after three weeks full of hard and boring work I desperately quit. On the other hand: writing about autism, or about my inner conflicts or about the shallow way most people "think" (at least they call it thinking) is much more interesting. BUT: It is certainly not a classical approach to marketing. Maybe because it does not work... (?)

What is your opinion? Does my idea make any sense?
Thanks a lot!
Raphael

Hi Raphael,

As somebody with plenty of experience in client relations in a professional capacity I can offer you this advice.

When engaging clients try your best to follow the golden rules

- show interest in what they are saying (eye contact and body language)
- let them do most of the talking)
- when you respond look for cues that maintain the conversation in a sphere of their interest. Don't change the subject or veer from what interests them

Hi, cyberdad,
thanks for your answer, but I do not understand at all what you speak about.

My question is: Could it make any sense to start a blog or a website where I write about myself and my "non-neurotypical" life, my design and my inner experiences in order to receive new clients for my design business. My design business is remote.

So I will not see my clients in person.

Ok so why would a new client need to know about your non-NT life to be attracted to your design business? Wouldn't they be more interested in a video/podcast showcasing your existing portfolio and the type of jobs you are offering to do?

Hi Alex,
that is exactly my question or my problem. Thanks.

The point is:
- Every freelancer has to do marketing/ advertising in order to get known somehow.

- The normal ways of marketing do not interest me. It is - more or less - an endless repetition of boring things. (Maybe you have to be a freelancer to understand this better.) By the way: ADHS and the repetition of boring things does not work at all...

- But there are also some marketers that have a different approach to the topic of marketing: They say - more or less - this: Be 100% authentic, show what you are, don't hide. THIS marketing will be 100 times more powerful than all the normal blabla that others do. So (as an example) if you are a punk and yoga teacher at the same time, don't feel ashamed about being a punk and hide it from your pupils. Promote it and be (probably) the only punk-yoga teacher that exists on the planet.

That brought me to the idea of starting a business blog on Non-NT. I tried 1000 times to stat business blogs like they are usual. But I get bored with it very fast. Therefore I think about a non-NT blog. Do you understand?

[EDIT] After posting the answer, I understood, that may be a marketing forum might be the better place better for discussing the question. Or maybe both: I discuss it here and in a merketing-forum. That will bring in ideas from both worlds. [/EDIT]

Welcome! Starting a blog or web journal seems like a good idea regardless of marketing, which I am very bad at

Hi everybody,
thanks for all the answers up to now. They helped me a lot in understanding better what I want. My basic intention was not to create a new business, even if my first description may have sounded like that. But there was a deeper intention.

I feel that it is time to make some changes in my life. And one of the ideas was to - as I am not NT - focusing more on working with and for other people who are non-NT. But how should I do that? Normally, when a job description is created nobody says: And for having this thing done, I would like to work with an autistic person. Or with somebody that has ADHS. At least there is no "market" for non-NTs.

Sorry, it is difficult to describe, even if I know now better what I am looking for.

Therefore, I would like to explain now my intentions a second time: I want:
1) create a "something" (e.g. a blog) where I can show my art and write about my inner experiences as a "non-NT". Because being non-NT can be difficult, but it can also be very interesting. In the past, it was rather difficult for me. but the better I get to know me, and the more I understand who I am, the more I can take the benefits from it. As my psychologist once said: "Well, "normal" people can be pretty boring. They are so "normal". OK, it is pretty hard to understand the benefits of being special in a world that tries to standardize everything. But once one understands, that he is special, things are different... So reflecting on the process of how to turn "strange" (aka negative)" into "special" (aka positive) is for example an interesting topic. That can also help others to go through this process.

2) At the same time I would like to offer that space to other persons that are in similar positions, so they can write about their lives.

3) As all of this will need a lot of my working time (Well writing and designing needs lots of time, if it is well done) Therefore it might be a good idea also to think about if this new creation will create some benefits. E. g. getting to know new and interesting people and doing some projects with them.

Well, it looks quite good for the moment. But nevertheless, I will give this idea more time before I start it. But I really feel that it makes more and more sense to me.

Thanks!
rabo

If you're going to go the advertising route, make it non-manipulative. It would be nice to see an ad I could trust these days. And welcome!

Well, I do not think I will use ads. Rather word-of-mouth for making it known.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Thanks for the welcome.

Hi, cyberdad. Good point. But nevertheless, you can just ignore it. The question I posted and the latter discussion here in the forum started some kind of mental chain reaction and I am in the middle of a process. The content and the purpose of my blog are now very different from what they were in the beginning. Maybe it will change again in the next few days... But I will start the blog and I will keep you informed, once it is ready.

@ everybody: Thanks for answering my questions, the answers helped me a lot in focusing on what I want to do.

Welcome. I say go with what interests you and see where that leads you

Organize a portfolio of previous work sounds like a good idea, maximize trust-factors. As far as I can see, human interaction with potential customers is almost unavoidable, a well made presentation and portfolio will help a lot I think.
Repeating nonfun interactions sounds like a horrible drag, are you sure freelancing is the correct path?

Well, thanks to everybody so far. I am working on the website, but even if I am a pro in that field, it takes some time. Nevertheless, it is a great experience to work on it. I hope to publish a kind of sneak preview at the end of the week.

@ freelancer the right choice? YES! No doubt!

"Designer" of what? Web design? Clothing design? What do you hope to sell, exactly?

Only if you answer that basic question, first, can we figure out how to work autism into it, or if that's appropriate at all.

For example, if it's clothing design, there definitely is a good potential market in the autism community for custom-made clothes to deal with various sensory issues.