How To Radically Improve Your Niche Positioning & Get Out Of A Marketing Funk.

Ten years ago, when you said the word ‘Visibility’ you instantly thought about driving on foggy roads with the headlights on.

Now, the word VISIBLE is the holy grail of online marketers, especially coaches with big messages, change-makers and visionaries. If we are not seen, we potentially don’t have a business.

The online market is vast, and visibility is a crucial skill to master.

We are influenced to think that PR, press recognition, getting publishing notoriety and finding opportunities to present and speak are vital, or we’ll disappear into the online fog! 

But the Highly Visible Woman will be everywhere because she’s created her visibility by not hiding. Being visible is not just a tactical and technical move; it’s the energetic opposite of hiding. 

And since energy creates everything, it’s helpful to understand how you may tend to hide so you can stop it! Change-making is an aspiration that requires you to be highly visible! Making an impact in the world is hard when nobody knows or sees you!

You may feel like you’re showing up everywhere, talking to many people, and you’re doing your best to be visible. So, I invite you to look at where you may be hiding and how to stop it!

Hiding under limiting beliefs

This is a biggie with service providers who need help transitioning from obscurity to claiming a position on the world stage as an authority in their topic.

There may be a limiting belief that you need to be better to be an influencer or that every position on your topic is already taken. Or, worse, that there aren’t enough clients to go around. 

Comparisonitis will be tempting, and all the sneaky little voices of self-sabotage will convince you that you’re not enough!

Let yourself be guided by a solid aspirational spirit and your highest self to get your message out there so that many people see, hear and benefit from your wisdom. It’s the people you are serving who matter!

Hiding behind your heart

This is a subtle but common one for heart-centred entrepreneurs and women in general! 

Women as natural carers, givers, lovers, healers, and nurturers…often hide behind their hearts. 

They do that by making their mission, message, and impact more important than being well paid. 

Altruism can be a trap which could cost you dearly. Heart-centred entrepreneurs generally overgive, undercharge, and spend too much time on how many people they can reach rather than creating solid foundations for a sustainable business. Having a mission is a fine and noble thing, but it’s natural for you to be handsomely rewarded for sharing your gifts with the world. 

Hone in on what is unique about your brand and message to reach a maximum number of people. Being in your unsurpassed zone of genius will help you and your message be visible, effective, and impactful. 

Hiding in appearance

Once again, heart-centred entrepreneurs seem to be the least bothered by the importance of image and appearance. Many of them privilege their nurturing side over any desire to be polished, sparkly, unique and professionally presented. Many lack a personal style. They generally love the ‘I just want to be me’ argument, preferring to play down any of their extravagant or charismatic potential. As a brand and messenger, any blandness is anti-visibility. You don’t have to be permanently dressed up as if going on the red carpet, but you do need to be coherent to turn up as your greatest self when you present yourself with your unique style and panache! 

Hiding in mediocrity and fitting in with the crowds

Many change-makers, coaches and consultants don’t even realise they are hiding out at a ‘less-than’ level – except when they reflect on their bank accounts. 

Cookie-cutter brand and message sameness is a killer in this complex, multi-pressure online world. If you look and sound like everyone else, no one will see, hear, or buy from you. Don’t let your business be a replica of your mentors or anyone else out there. Don’t fit in when you need to stand out! Embrace the differences in your brand message and business model. Make your USP outstandingly memorable and magnetic! 

Hiding behind excuses and procrastination

Stuckness, excuses and procrastination are three great places to hang out if you want to hide. We’re talking 5-star, hide-out luxury. You could crawl into any of those and hide forever. Many do.

But you will never bring greatness to the world, which would be tragic.

 In the end, what’s more important? Your excuses or your mission? Get over it! And keep going! Even if you need to figure out what to do next, do something different.

Hiding behind someone ‘ bigger and better.’

When we’re mentored by people further along the journey, it’s really easy to hide in their light. Working with a top mentor can feel like we are going places – a feeling of prestige and privilege and settling for our own smallness. We put them on a pedestal, tend to give them superpowers and forget that all they did was master a part of the equation that you’re still working out. Again, comparisonitis will rear its silly head. As we work near someone we perceive as better than us, it’s tempting to automatically hide in their light. 

Nurture your own ‘Know Like, and Trust’ dynamic, which is equal to or even surpasses some of those people whom you humbly admire. We love to be near their shadows, hovering around to try and emulate their success. But believe in your own greatness and power; don’t stay in their shade for too long; it can obliterate you.

Hiding by not showing up 

In this land of social everything, the sometimes oppressive pressure of showing up has us all running to hide away and get away from the overload of information and tension at some point. 

Understandable – it’s tough out there in the crowd…especially if you’re an introvert, as are many visionaries. 

But if you are hiding, you are not leading. Leadership is what visionaries must do to share their messages effectively. The temptation is there; you can take years to build a website, create a funnel, or get a program off the ground. 

Social media can make us squirm sometimes and want to hide forever. But we will only make a difference or build sustainable revenue if we show up. Even showing up for ourselves. Being a change-maker is being a leader. Wanting to set an example is being a leader. So lead without a title if you must, but get out of bed, get out of your way, and get out there.

 Hiding behind busyness 

 We live in a world where we could be busy for 90 years and never achieve anything. How tragic. And yet, it is a genuine danger for entrepreneurs who privilege the secondary parts of business-building over the primary part, which is making sales. 

 And again, with the complexities of online marketing, we could hide behind the busyness of perfecting our brand, strategy or anything else and never come out of hiding again! Busyness is an excuse as well as a misaligned use of your energy. When you should be sharing your genius and superpowers, if you are doing stuff you could outsource or hate doing, it is kryptonite to money!

Hiding in your brand and message

How many invisible brands are there out there?

Hundreds of thousands! Brands that have nothing new, outstanding or worthy to say or offer.

A bland brand is anathema for change-makers, but, unfortunately, in this current market, only the very well-resourced can afford the titans of copywriting and design.

And so, a bland brand, message, USP and web presence is a feeble representation of someone who surely has a fine and worthy mission and vision.

Do an audit on ways that you may be hiding, and make a specific plan to reverse the tendency.

When you are aligned with your vision and message, and your brand aligns with you, visibility isn’t about metrics but reputation, credibility and compatibility.

Today, this week, and this month, how can you take those nine possible ways of hiding and reverse each one? 

In one column, jot down three ways you may have been hiding for each of these, and in another column, three new ways that you can be present or active. 

Then, in a third column, jot down a timeline so that you can keep yourself accountable.

Remember, ‘visible’ is another way of saying ‘in the marketplace’ or just ‘actively marketing’!

So when you say 9 Ways You’ve Not Been Marketing, it puts another spin on it, doesn’t it?

So, if you have any kind of introverted, self-doubting, over-busy tendencies, it’s time

to prioritise the clients you are here to serve. This isn’t actually about you but about them.

For them to find you, you must be where they are looking!

Find a way of being visible that fits your temperament. You can be highly visible on Google and never hang out on Instagram. SEO is one of the best kinds of visibility!

Visibility on a podcast is fantastic if you don’t love being on screen! Your content gets spread far and wide. The same goes for a blog. The written word is like a herald of your presence, sp spread your content far.

Invite and you will be invited. Having guests and featuring other people is a great way to get invited back. My Preeminence Magazine, in which I interviewed over 70 world-class leaders and influencers was a golden key to put me in front of more people.

And then of course, if you’re the gregarious and creative type, the world of Reels and Stories on Social Media is your oyster!

Referrals are the greatest form of client visibility. Your ‘name’ makes you visible!

There is nothing like a fantastic testimonial that gets passed around, to spread your ‘visibility’ to exactly the right people for you to serve.

Visibility equals effective marketing.

Want some feedback on that? Leave me a comment and I’ll gladly help.