Hi,

long time lurker here, but now felt compelled to open an account and post.

Your post hits very close to home to me. I'm deaf on my left ear, nearly deaf on my right ear after being born hard of hearing and having a series of hearing losses during my childhood and teenage years. I can't phone, can't understand anything on TV, podcasts etc. but can converse quite well in one-to-one talks and very small groups of 2-3 people. I don't know any sign language. I have massive problems in noisy environments or really large groups. Accents are also difficult. Lip reading and a hearing aid helps. Luckily I've had amazing parents who made sure that I received a good education and can speak and write very well. I also like presenting and speaking in front of large groups. Unfortunately too many deaf people have really weak spelling and oral speaking skills.

Networking has long been something that I dread and tend to avoid. I am a young German marketing consultant (freelancing mostly for other consulting groups and startups) and - as yourself - a wannabe entrepreneur. So networking is a must. I constantly have to find new clients, new projects, new trends and markets to tap into. My biggest problem is that phone calls don't work. I ask for IM or video chats via Skype instead. It's still a massive problem when the other person doesn't know about your disability yet or when you're dealing with a conservative client (typically people in larger companies). Phone calls are an issue which I have not yet fully solved.

Some advice:

* I hate approaching people as the environment is often noisy and it's akward to explain that you're deaf or hard of hearing. When attending conferences or meetups ask for the list of attendees beforehand. Try to set up meetings and plan your pitch. Most people will be understanding and you have a list of people you can connect with. Wear nametags always. Have really minimalistic business cards ready with only your name, your company and your e-mail address and your skype/IM handle. Turn down meetups where you know it will be extremely noisy or where there is background music playing. Ask attendees for personal meetings the evening before or day after instead.

* Get yourself an iPad or another tablet where you can demonstrate your product for other people to see. Have it with you always.

* Obviously: Ask for IM or Skype video chat instead of phone calls. Better yet: Set up your own secured Jabber chat server for technically inclined clients or contacts and if possible a secured chat site, too.

* Have an incredible elevator pitch ready for IM, e-mail etc.

* (I know it sucks) On your website - should you have one - always say you're deaf or hard of hearing. It establishes trust and causes people not to be surprised when you decline phone calls.

* Ask other people to introduce you and if necessary explain that you're deaf/hard of hearing. Use other people, even your parents. Don't be too proud for this but always explain why it is important for you and what you gain by it.

* Create a blog where you demonstrate knowledge of tech, markets etc. This makes it easier to evaluate your skills without contacting you. Same goes for social networking.

* If you have a product, a popular website or a lot of people trying to contact you use a virtual call center which collects and answers questions, contacts and mails/IMs everything to you.

* Be incredibly persistent. It's very easy to get discouraged when getting a bunch of new contacts and each one requests a phone call. I set myself a goal to get ten new contacts per month to a face-to-face meeting or an IM chat and reward myself when hitting the goal.

* The best though would be to work in large companies or in a larger team. Solo freelancing or starting a company yourself without being able to phone is incredible hard if not downright impossible (I tried it myself). Ultimately you need people who handle phone calls for you and who assist you in handling issues with clients. It really takes a lot of weight off your plate. The only reason why I'm doing freelancing is that right now I have stable clients who pay the bill.

Best of luck and feel free to contact me anytime.