Marketing for Introverts with Helen Harding

Helen Harding knew how to market other people, but putting herself in the spotlight was a very different experience. We’ve known each other for 20 years, and what I appreciate about Helen is her practical, grounded approach to something that can feel deeply uncomfortable. If you care about helping people but struggle with being visible, her experience will feel reassuringly familiar.

Helen started in marketing services several decades ago, working in graphic design, studio management and print buying before moving into brand management. She then retrained in health and wellbeing and spent 14 years as a practitioner, discovering first-hand that knowing about marketing doesn’t automatically make promoting yourself easy. She continued helping others with their marketing alongside that work and, over the last few years, has made that her focus, helping people find ways to market themselves that suit who they are. We don’t cover the exact calendar years of those career changes, but that combination of marketing experience and running a practice is central to her approach.

A note on this conversation

Helen shares her experience of marketing and running a practitioner business. This discussion is for general information, not tailored business, clinical or mental health advice, and the approaches discussed do not guarantee clients, income or particular results. Although we refer to health and wellbeing practices, we are discussing their marketing rather than recommending treatments. Any use of AI should remain human-led, with its output checked before publication.

What we talk about

We get into the uncomfortable gap between being good at helping people and being comfortable telling people what you do. Helen explains why copying someone else’s marketing formula can leave you exhausted, and how to build relationships without becoming a louder version of yourself. We also talk honestly about AI, choosing where to spend your time online and setting a weekly marketing commitment you can actually keep.

What to take back to your business

The first thing I’d take from this conversation is that you need to know what you want your business to become before deciding how to market it. A small local practice and a larger online business will need different choices, and neither is automatically the better ambition. Start by making sure the people you already know understand what you do, then build on the qualities they already trust in you. Helen’s own turning point came when she stopped fighting her sensible, pragmatic nature and recognised that those were precisely the qualities some clients wanted.

The other useful shift is to think of marketing as three relationship jobs: helping new people discover you, nurturing people who already know you and staying connected with those who have worked with you. Helen suggests setting a minimum weekly activity that serves those jobs, with anything extra treated as a bonus rather than another obligation. That gives you a more manageable starting point than trying to be everywhere, and it keeps technology in its proper place: AI can help you organise and draft your ideas, but your judgement, voice and relationships still need to lead.

Find your place in the conversation

00:00 Why a marketer found promoting herself so daunting

02:00 The business responsibilities practitioner training can leave you unprepared for

04:00 Finding your voice when everyone says you need more content

05:00 Start with your own definition of a successful business

06:00 Why your existing network deserves your attention first

08:00 The three jobs your marketing actually needs to do

09:00 What Helen’s visibility exercise revealed about perfection

11:00 How accepting her sensible side changed Helen’s marketing

13:00 Sharing your story without giving away your privacy

14:00 Finding your message through your values and motivations

16:00 Making peace with strengths you might have overlooked

17:00 Can AI ease the pressure of creating content?

19:00 Getting AI to draw out your ideas rather than replace them

21:00 Using AI for support without handing over business decisions

23:00 Why clients need a relationship with you, not your AI tool

24:00 Choosing one social platform, or deciding not to use it

26:00 Setting a minimum weekly marketing commitment

28:00 The follow-up that keeps relationships alive

29:00 Where to find Helen and explore her work

Connect with Helen

Visit Helen’s website at https://www.helenharding.co.uk/ for her latest offers, thoughts and free resources. To connect on LinkedIn, search for Helen Harding UK: [LinkedIn profile URL not confirmed].

The book discussed is *How the World Sees You* by Sally Hogshead: Helen also describes a 10-day experience focused on confidence around visibility: [Direct URL and current availability not confirmed].

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If you have any questions or would like to find out more about being featured on UK Business IQ, connect with Geoff directly on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/geoffnicholsonuk and send him a DM. He would love to hear from you.