If you’re a coach, consultant, makeup artist, photographer, or hairstylist… there’s one thing you have in common.
You work WITH people and there are A LOT of other people who do your work.
The kicker here is you get to bring your own flair and fierce factor into your brand and client experience to get visible and stand out from the crowd. Anddd what’s that we hear? The nerves to step in front of the camera, the awkwardness of proclaiming your truth, and the utter embarrassment of putting yourself out there is holding you back.
That, friend, is a sure sign that you are afraid to get visible. We’ll tell you why and how you can change all of that to increase visibility.
Increase visibility in your marketing strategy
Marketing in the simplest terms is the action of promoting and selling products or services. This can include market research and advertising (paid marketing). If you think about it, marketing comes down to two things:
- Promoting your product or service
- Selling your product or service
These actions require…
- Sharing about your product or service to increase visibility
- Being seen by the right people who want your product or service
- And creating a network who know, like, and trust your business
This, in turn, means your network is now marketing FOR you! Promoting your products or services and sharing with their community who could buy from you. The root of all this comes from visibility. Going out there and being SEEN for who you are and the value you provide – all while being true to you! So what usually stops us from getting visible? We believe there are 5 core reasons that hold us back!
1. You have imposter syndrome
Although you have years of experience, amazing accomplishments, maybe even awards, and skills others don’t have… you still feel like a fraud.
The more you see others sharing online about their skills and experience, you shy away from sharing your experience because you start comparing. Someone else is louder than you and because they are, you’re stopping yourself from sharing your impact because you don’t feel good enough to proclaim your truth & message, or to share your accomplishments!
How to change that: Realize that all your past experiences are what add to your expertise! Write down a list of all your accomplishments and everything you’ve done to help your clients – refer back to this when you’re feeling imposter syndrome creep up.
Another activity is saving all the ‘client love’ you receive in a folder on your desktop! These can be reviews, testimonials, photos, or kind messages of encouragement. Use them throughout your website and content marketing to validate your expertise and help you calm those nerves!
2. You let other people’s opinions stop you from posting content online
For some reason, “Becky” and “Bob’s” opinion of you and your business stop you from getting visible. They’ve always got SOMETHING to say… their two cents on how to run your business, how to market yourself, how to do your job!
The problem here is you’d rather keep quiet than doing something about them. So what happens? You’re not attracting new or repeat clients, which means you won’t increase visibility and you’re not making money. Because you’re not making money and meeting your bottom line, your business is suffering.
How to change that: Well, let us ask you this… are “Becky” and “Bob” paying your bills and living your life? Then why do they matter so much? 👀
In reality – the easiest way to fix this is to go back to the drawing board and realize who your ideal clients are. Where can you provide value to THEM – by sharing inspirational content, educational content, your expertise, etc. “Becky” and “Bob” probably don’t know your business the way you do – trust your gut.
3. You think “who am I” to do/say this
Similar to imposter syndrome, you think you’re “nobody special”. This can be complemented with the thoughts that your story isn’t special, you don’t live an interesting life, or you didn’t go through hardship to get here.
Listen here, friend. You have the power to create the life you want and you are worthy of living that. If a CIS white man named “Chad” can have the confidence to do whatever the heck he wants, you can go out there and do it with even more flavor.
How to change that: Sit down and trace back your story. From where you were before you started this business, what was the pivotal point, what your process is, where you are now, and where you plan to go. Then get on social media and SHARE THAT. To increase visibility, it requires showing up, and social media makes that so much easier these days.
Some ways to start sharing your story:
- Using Instagram stories
- Posting on Facebook
- Writing a LinkedIn article
- Sending an email to past clients asking for a referral
READ: 4 Content Marketing Tools to Save Time for Small Business Owners
4. Perfectionism stops you from getting on social media
Repeat after us: NOTHING 👏🏽 WILL 👏🏽 EVER 👏🏽 BE 👏🏽 PERFECT.
The best thing about marketing is that it is all based on testing and tweaking! That means testing your content, tweaking your strategy, refining your services and offers, and improving your craft and business all in the same! You are starting at your best, TODAY, and that means you can only improve!
How to change that: Don’t get overwhelmed trying to plan an entire marketing campaign and strategy. Start small and work your way up from there. If visibility comes easiest to you in the form of going to networking events or reaching out to past clients – do that!
We want to point out that sometimes visibility tactics can actually be procrastination tactics. The mind is a truly wondrous place! Sometimes when we’re so focused on “visibility” in the form of posting on social media, creating our websites, or jumping on the TikTok bandwagon – we’re actually distracting (read procrastinating) from the true work that needs to be done.
Most of the time, visibility can be done in-person and with the clients you already have. Ask them to share about your service online, ask them to refer a friend, or show up at a networking event where you live.
5. You’re actually afraid you will be successful
We’ll just say it now: you are afraid of success. You are afraid of doing the work and you’d rather maintain your current lifestyle because you’re comfortable.
Welp. If that’s the case, there’s nothing we can do here.
If you decide that you’re TIRED of letting outside circumstances affect your marketing and ability to increase visibility and that you want to take responsibility – here’s what you can do now…
Imagine what could happen if you show up and share your story, your message, and invited people to get to know you. You could start connecting with the right types of clients and building authority around your brand and business. You can learn more about what your audience wants, creating better services. Heck, you could even find new ways to grow your business!
How to change that: This is the mindset work that isn’t always talked about. It’s choosing, every day, that you want to create the life you love by confidently sharing your story and truth. From there, it gets easier because you can build small habits.
Like we said, start small! You don’t need to plan an entire visibility campaign or launch strategy. You can start showing up regularly on Instagram by posting a few times a week, or reaching out to people within your network for a coffee for connections… it can be a small step that can move your visibility in the right way.
A quick recap for service providers who want to increase visibility
We believe there are 5 main reasons why you aren’t visible. They are…
- You have imposter syndrome
- You let other people’s opinions stop you from posting online
- You think “who am I” to do/say this
- Perfectionism stops you from getting on social media
- You’re actually afraid you’ll be successful
If any of those hit deep and you felt called out, here are 5 ways to change your fear of visibility into actionable steps:
- Create a list of your accomplishments and accomplishments your clients have achieved from directly working with you – turn to this when you need a pick-me-up.
- Return to your ideal client avatar and see where you can share valuable content for them – not trying to convince “Becky” and “Bob” of how great your business is.
- Start sharing your story in small ways, through Instagram, Facebook, or even a short post on LinkedIn.
- Find the *easiest* way for you to show up within your community and do that this week! This can be online or even an in-person networking event.
- Create small habits that will build into bigger visibility habits and choose to show up for your business every day.
What are some of these fears that are holding you back? Did we get them all or are we missing a few? Let us know down in the comments below!
*Want to work with us on your visibility strategy so you can reach more clients and make more income and impact, sustainably? Apply to the Use Your Voice Mastermind to learn how to share your story and message, confidently, and how to sell to your network.
Enjoyed this post? You might like these, too:
3 Mindset Shifts Every Small Business Owner Needs to be a Confident CEO
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Download our Content Strategy Roadmap to make sure you’re creating a holistic content strategy!
