8 Tips to Boost Your Business Visibility
So you have a side business as a Coach, Healer or Practitioner and you’d love to be signing more clients…. but you’re not really making much of an effort to generate new leads. If this is you, here are some of the most common complaints that I see and hear when it comes to women showing up and becoming visible in their businesses, and tips on how to combat them!
Are you currently hiding out?
Here are some tell tale signs that you might currently be hiding out instead of showing up in your business…
You’re not signing the amount of clients you would like to
You’re not making the amount of money you would like to
You’re not actively marketing
You’re not actively selling
You don’t talk about your services to people
You’re not producing any valuable content through any platforms / channels
You’re caught up focusing on the “busy” backend work
You’re not networking or making any new connections
You’re resisting doing videos or showing your own face
You don’t have a mailing list, or you do but you’re not nurturing them or providing them value
So if you’re still reading, there’s a high chance you’ve been hiding out! Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me lol, but my guess is you’d like to do something to change that! I’ll tell you something funny… a lot of the time my clients know what to do (write blog posts, record videos, create podcast episodes) but life is busy, they make excuses and just don’t do it.
I know this because I also used to procrastinate and make A LOT of excuses (heck sometimes I still do). I used to envisage myself doing it all - running in person events, writing blogs, having a podcast, writing books, but for years I felt so overwhelmed and made the excuse that I didn’t have enough time, but at the end of the day it came down to me buying into my own excuses. So I didn’t take any action and nothing got done.
Here are the most common complaints and excuses I see & hear towards showing up and being more visible…
Comparison to competitors or other online businesses (aka I’m not good enough)
Imposter syndrome / feeling like a fraud (aka I don’t know enough)
Unsure of what content to share (aka doubting yourself)
Blaming time when it’s not time’s fault (aka I don’t have enough time or I’m too busy)
Trying to get it perfect / all figured out before you start (aka I’m not quite ready yet)
Fear of being judged (aka what will others think of me)
The ego is making excuses in order to stay in your comfort zone (aka I don’t feel like it)
Fear of failure and burnt out (aka I don’t want to put in heaps of effort and not see results, so I won’t bother)
Having a greater sense of self awareness around these excuses helps me overcome my own blocks and limiting beliefs that show up in my business and keeps me moving forward.
Why get visible?
Visibility is all about becoming seen and known for what you do and how you help others. The aim of the game is for you to be seen, heard and found easily. Don’t forget that building relationships with people is also a part of being visible too. The different between a coach that is making money and a coach that isn’t, isn’t that they’re more skilled or more worthy, it’s that the one making money lets their ideal client know they exist and that they have a solution to their problem/s.
Most of us here have an online business and don’t have a physical shop front, so it’s within our best interest to be visible, discoverable and connected across as many RELEVANT places as we can be! The amount of strategic effort we put into our own visibility and building relationships is what’s going to impact the results in our business ie our sales, and it will ultimately be the difference between us having a viable business vs it being a hobby we do in our spare time.
This doesn’t mean that we should spread ourselves thin and just take a whole heap of meaningless actions. I mean working smarter, not harder, getting more strategic and organised, and working with our individual strengths.
What does visibility look like for you?
Being visible in business is not a one size fits all. Being visible will look different for everyone. If you’re an introvert like me, you’ll be glad to know it doesn’t necessarily mean being on social media every minute of the day. There are super successful Coaches, Healers and Practitioners that aren’t even on social media! But social media may play a big part in your strategy, if that feels aligned for you.
Here are some examples of different visibility channels: Instagram, Facebook (groups, pages and ads), YouTube, Pinterest, face to face networking, running live events, guest speaking/writing.
Here are some examples of visibility methods: social media posts, videos and livestreams, blogging, guest blogging, books and e-books, and media features, speaking, podcasts and networking.
8 tips to become more visible:
Get clear on what visibility looks like for you. Ask yourself these questions: where are your dream clients hanging out (online and offline), and where do you feel most confident and comfortable? From there, ask yourself what does being visible look like for you? Do you see yourself hosting workshops and events, being a guest speaker at other people’s events, releasing consistent podcasts, recording videos, or writing weekly blog posts. How will your people find you?
From your list above pick ONE channel and method that you will show up consistently for your business going forward. Choose how often you are going to show up in this way, eg. daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly. Gauge how long it will take you to action, then decide and schedule time in your diary to get it done.
Repurpose your content. I know I said pick one channel and method, but this is a sneaking trick that I learnt from Kerwin Rae. In a nutshell when you produce a piece of content eg a blog post, repurpose it for multiple applications and uses eg I could talk about this blog post content in a podcast and then also make some videos and posts about it, rather than coming up with completely new content every time for each different platform or channel. If you are recording a live training or a video, you could also edit it down and turn the videos into 15 second reels for Instagram.
Write a list of reasons why doing this ONE method consistently will be beneficial for you and link it back to your values. Eg. If you value freedom and you have decided that releasing weekly podcast episodes will be of benefit your business, list as many reasons how in doing so it will give you a greater sense of freedom.
Just start! If you’re serious about your business and in it for the long run, don’t worry about it not being perfect. Everyone has to start somewhere. Think about your baby steps adding up over the long term. Journal on this question: If you were to do this ONE chosen thing CONSISTENTLY, where would you be in 3, 6 and 12 months time? Visualise it and feel it as if it’s real, then write out who you would be, what would you be doing and what you would have as a result of the consistent action you’ve taken.
Work with a Coach on your emotional blocks and limiting beliefs, or alternatively, find a reliable accountability buddy. This will help keep you motivated when you don’t feel like doing anything. When finding a buddy, ask someone who is also wanting to boost their visibility. Set yourself goals with a time frame and check in with each other regularly (whether that’s daily or weekly).
Develop a content strategy. Earlier on in my business I made the mistake of thinking I had to do live videos on social media, which I did for a while, but the problem was, I didn’t have a plan and my content wasn’t strategic. I was just showing up and talking about random things because I felt I had to. This wasn’t effective because it wasn’t planned or well thought out. Everything you do in your business should have a purpose, so when planning your content ask yourself: What is the purpose of this content or action? Will it deliver value? Is it useful? Is it relevant? How does it relate to what I do / offer?
Stop making it all about you! Following on from the story above, I was being selfish in that I was too worried about myself and what others would think of me, and instead of focusing on what would be helpful and useful for my potential clients. Get clear on who your ideal client is and what their biggest problems are. This helps you create useful content that converts. Flip your focus and think about how you can serve your community (without selling all the time). People can feel the intention behind your content, so keep it genuine.
