“What is it that you LOVE to do?“

BOOM, what a hit! Usually, I am the one asking questions like this but this time it was the other way around - and I turned everything inside out which I formerly built up (at Linkedin)… I love it when someone gives me a taste of my own medicine 😁

I was a fan of Ilonka from the very beginning and we already arranged a videocall on the day I accepted her invitation on Linkedin (13/11/2022) in which I learned that you absolutely have to experience Ilonka PERSONALLY - just get in touch with her, she’s most likely looking forward to it!

Ilonka is an insanely good human being and the first person ever with who I had a business conversation in the exact same way I have always dreamt of and how it basically should be.

You exchange about this and that which feels totally normal. No pressure, everything goes super smoothly and beautifully. Just like with a close friend. It feels SO well that you never want to stop.

And that's when the magic happens:

As everything is going SO well and you are so eager to get more of it all formalities - including price - are only in the way so you want to clear that as quickly as possible. All parties feel obliged to support each other in the most beneficial way which leads to results so much quicker and will also never stand between you in the future (you’d rather do yourselves even better). THIS is how you make business 😉

Even though we didn’t make money business, this experience is priceless as it showed me that it IS possible. There actually ARE like-minded people out there who are capable of such an exchange - and that’s how it feels. Incredible!

But the main sensation is Ilonka’s question what I love to do. I offered a vast array of services at that point to show how much I can. A beginner’s classic at (solo) entrepreneurs. I already knew that they always say you need to specialize and better offer less but I wasn’t ready yet to limit myself.

Albeit the wheels were already turning as I asked myself what my biggest passions and strengths actually are from time to time. Ilonka’s question only fueled this fire. It’s very different handling something on your own or with close ones or explaining it to complete strangers... a great exercise! And while talking throughout our videocall, I clearly feel and see what enthuses me the most ever since:

Founding companies.

This experience is massive as I gained and developed so much clarity through it. I (finally) had a perspective, a goal, at which I could aim everything else. As a consequence, I was now also ready to let go off services or integrate them into others during the following moths, e.g. partnership coaching. I then adapted my Linkedin profile and shared my enthusiasm in this post.

In addition, this was a generally moving time for me as my experience with Simone Altendorfer (see above) shows, too (I believe because I now got down to business and presented myself a wider audience after living pretty secluded before, do I realize while writing this).

Today (as of August 2023), my profile is back to a more general one as I don’t want to make business on Linkedin anymore (for these reasons) and it also went quit between Ilonka and me.

Nevertheless, the experiences with Ilonka (from further videocalls and PMs) are and remain huge milestones for my self-discovery and also strengthened my self-security and self-worth. I still think about it today.

Thank you for being out there, Ilonka!

I got to know Zin through comments under a post and thrilled as I already was fascinated and impressed by Chinese culture (not politics and economy) for several years, e.g. bonsai or kung-fu. Similar to Denise El Fallousi (see below), he was also super spontaneous which is always a big plus with me.

Our video call was super funny and Zin encouraged me to continue as open and honest as I am (“it’s super refreshing”). That doesn’t happen a lot, especially with guys (as of September 2023) but it just feels well.

In addition, and due to his Chinese roots, Zin is the first foreign Asian exotic in my Linkedin network. And I also find it somewhat cool that he lives in Austria.

But THE thing which I gained from Zin is his reference to Dieter Lange who I did not know. This personality coach also combines nature and the “modern” world and is specialized on C-level executives. Nice to see that I’m not alone 😊

I also overtook his website structure which I absolutely love now. The centralized navigation (the “menu”) with the company name in the header is soooo much more elegant than the classic version where the menu is in the top right corner (like I had before).

谢谢, Zin

”Hey, let’s just talk a bit […] If you’re really crazy you’re welcome to call me right now, otherwise we’ll do it later in a more ‘serious’ fashion ;-)” did I write around 9 pm after Denise send me a Linkedin invitation (my 22nd).

Three minutes later, my phone rang…

‍Denise and I share a passion for people from the south, written words and psychology. And our spontaneityconnects us, too.

I was active on Linkedin only for a couple of weeks at that time and still concentrated on creating texts for my website and social media, esp. Linkedin. In the preceding PM exchange, Denise offered me to evaluate my website which I built up myself in spring and updated early June. This led to our phone call.

It was just supercool to get together with a complete strange this way at that time of day and ultimately talk business over an hour in the end. It was my 1^st time via social media (which I usually avoid) and my 1^st time where I felt the benefits of self-employment. Due to Denise’s superchill attitude, I was able to soak it up all the more consciously.

We talked about many different topics like social media, copywriting, sales and distribution (where Denise is coming from), my website and, of course, personal stuff.

Denise is a copywriter who does NOT use gaudy and loud language, therefore caters towards people and businesses who know what they want, but just not how. What makes her special is her passion for the psychological fundamentals of copywriting which she transports beautifully warm with her calm and deep personality - therefore, you should definitely exchange with her personally 😉

I learned why it makes sense to hire a copywriter and also why writing texts for the World Wide Web is something completely different than writing scientific papers or books (due to my background, my previous paragraphs were huge and extremely detailed), I already recognized that prior to our exchange (mainly through Shay Rowbottom, the “Queen of Linkedin”), but now I had an explanation which made it easier to adapt my (online) writing style.

Motivated by this great exchange, I decided to radically rebuild my website NOW while we were still talking and opted for 22/10/22 (22 October 2022) to transform my texts in (then) checkdomain’s webpage editor.

This is huge because I usually HATE fix closing dates!! But when it comes to my business baby, I am obviously more than willing and capable to overcome even the biggest hesitations - and I WANTED to, I was not forced. I could have easily taken myself more time. That really surprised me and it was nice to see how much energy this experience relieved 😊

At that time, I was already ready to get back to my website again which was on hold for a while. But Denise’s “crazy” call and her gentle, southerly soothing personality elated me so much that I elevated my website to a completely new level within a very short time.

In addition, I also had the idea of this very page as a small appreciation during our phone call - outstanding ideas come through special people 😉 Of course, as a surprise (I LOVE surprises) - Denise did not yet know about it when I showed her my result. And of course, she was over the moon 😊

Our contact never amplified and I also don’t know if she implemented my business ideas for her, but Denise is the first person I met through Linkedin where I felt supported in regard to my coaching & consulting business, and THE person who led to this website and its texts, respectively. As a matter of fact, the first entry on this webpage belongs to HER!

Thanks, Denise!