I love giving my talk about #influence and personal power. I love sharing how important visibility is. Too often we think if we “do great work” they will notice. Not so true if you want to attract your tribe and buyers to your business and work. You must choose to be visible. And in this era, it’s even more important than ever toward your credibility. And maybe not in the way you think!
Back in the old days, LOL, we had to go out and get in front of people to be visible. The Internet just wasn’t where it was happening! To that point speaking (which by the way is still a top ROI marketing strategy) was an important strategy to grow your business. Back then we even said that the father away from home you were asked to go, the more credible you were. “Oh….she flew all the way from California to speak to us….impressive!” Visible and influential…from distance. Credible because I was asked to come a distance to share.
I recall a session with a client. She’s done amazing work in truly defining her tribe and purpose, knowing why she’s here and what she wants to do to change the world! And she’s been stuck. In our session I said: “you’re not visible therefore you’re not influential.”
“But Ann, I am getting speaking gigs and talking to tons of administrators about my work.”
“Awesome! And when they go online to research you as an expert, what do they see?
“Well I have my website, I’ve worked hard on it!”
Your website is a small part of the puzzle when it comes to #influence. Today, anyone can build a website …there’s a gazillion free places to do it. Anyone can make professionally designed graphics ….there’s dozens of free places to do it! Anyone can have a Facebook business page, a podcast, a radio show…..anyone….expert or wanna be.
Ultimately though you are influential because you show up in places that aren’t designed by you. You go the “distance”, like my speaking story, in new ways. You comment in expert group discussions on different social media sites. You show up for tweet chats based on your subject matter. You are a guest on a fabulous summit! You submit guest posts to other websites as a contributor. You get interviewed on major radio shows, TV, podcasts!
[Tweet “Go the “distance” and get visible!”]
This is just like the old-school practice of speaking far away from home. You build what we call “social proof”. When someone goes to look you and your work up online, you want to be EVERYWHERE. Suddenly you are influential and seen as the credible expert of choice! (This is a common limiting belief my clients have to overcome to get to the next level of success…is it yours?)
This is why I have created my Media Monday program, it’s a fun way to be accountable to your visibility while growing with other entrepreneurs!
