Ok so let’s dive straight in with what is holding you back from getting visible. I can sum it up in a single word.
Fear.
How do I know? Well, for starters I had that same fear of visibility when I was first starting out in my business. And secondly, I come up against those same fears in my clients time and time again.
So it’s nothing to beat yourself up about, we all experience it.
We feel like getting visible will mean…
Being judged harshly by others
We worry about what if our family, friends, ex-co-workers see this and think I’m a twat
We worry about what all the strangers on the internet will think
Exposing our flaws, leaving us open to ridicule or worse – more judgement
We worry about being visible because, deep down, we seriously suspect that we aren’t…
… Clever / Qualified / Pretty / Thin / Young / Rich… enough.
In a nutshell, it is very easy to think that getting visible will be uncomfortable, we might make a fool of ourselves and people will work out that we’re really a fraud.
Here’s some scenarios that might have played out in your head (they played out in mine before too)
Everyone will laugh
People will be mean
I will make a fool of myself
RUN FOR THE HILLS!
So I am going to lay down the Truth for you.
And while I will bust some of those myths you’ve been hiding behind, I am not going to sugar coat this. The title of this post is “the TRUTH about visibility” after all.
But first, just so we’re crystal clear, what does visibility mean?
Visibility Means…
… Showing up consistently
… Engaging with others online
… Making genuine connections with people
Visibility DOES NOT Mean…
… Doing things just for the sake of “visibility” or attention
… Worrying about follower numbers (a.k.a. Vanity metrics)
… Copying what worked for someone else but which feels awkward for you
4 Truths About Getting Visible
1. It WILL Positively Impact Your Business.
Why?
Because showing up consistently, engaging and making connections means that you start to cultivate an online “presence”.
And getting visible in this way builds that crucial Know, Like and Trust factor.
The more visible you get, the more people find you familiar, feel like they know you.
And then people will want to buy from you. It will be easier to sell whatever it is you are selling because you’ve been engaging with people and making genuine connections.
Not just showing up, shouting “buy my thing!” and then immediately exiting.
2. You WILL Make Mistakes
Because, well, you’re human.
We all stumble over our words, say the word “um” too much, have bad hair days, make typos.
Time to get over it because in fact, showing these flaws, these mistakes makes you more human.
It makes you more relatable to your audience.
This is why live video is so effective as a form of attraction marketing. Because it is way harder to be super polished when you’re live. You are more likely to be authentic.
People pick up on that authenticity and trust it.
3. People DON’T CARE as much as you think they do.
We worry that visibility will mean we get scrutinised, analysed, judged.
The reality is, people don’t care nearly as much as we think.
And what’s more, due to the mysteries of the Facebook and Instagram algorithms, the harsher reality is not THAT many are likely to see what you post and then only a fraction of them will actually care enough to make any judgement (good or bad).
There’s a long but fantastic post on the blog Wait But Why about Why You Should Stop Caring What Other People Think that I loved.
And they have two images which help to illustrate this point so nicely.
If you are holding yourself back from getting visible because you’re worried what people will think, then ponder this for a minute:
How you think things are:
Reality:
4. It isn’t about YOU
Here’s the funniest thing with visibility. We all worry about getting more visible, about putting ourselves out there. But we’re kind of missing the point.
Because showing up, getting visible is about CONNECTING with your audience or ideal clients.
It is about sharing things about you which might resonate WITH THEM.
And this is where sometimes people get visibility wrong. There’s a lot of advice around about why you need to get visible, you need to “share your truth” and “get vulnerable”. And yes that can be powerful and effective… BUT…
It will be a waste of time if you don’t consider how it relates to the core values/ struggles/ challenges that your ideal client faces. Sharing for sharing’s sake is not what we’re after here.
It is about sharing something that effectively says “I’ve been in the position you’re in now, I know how you feel, here’s what I did to change it”.
It is about holding up a mirror.
It is about making your ideal client feel heard and understood and inspiring action in them based on your own story.
THAT is the goal here.
Well I hope that has helped clarify the truth about visibility for you. I hope you feel encouraged to show up in a way that feels good to you, engage with people and make genuine connections.
As ever, I’d LOVE to know your plans to get more visible. Drop into the Self Made Mothers Facebook Group and let me know!
If you feel ready for support in getting more visible, booking more clients, making more money AND creating more time for yourself, then I am your lady.
Click on the button below to book a FREE Discovery Call with me and let’s have a chat about the possibility of working together.
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