Visibility is, in many ways, a necessity for a small business. The ever creeping notion that if we’re not visible all the time, that our little business will simply sink. Social media demands almost constant ‘visibility’ from us which can be both exhausting and overwhelming. What if you’re not in the mood to be visible, what if your day to day work keeps you far too busy or you’ve simply run out of ideas.
So how can we balance the need for constant visibility & exposure with our lack of capacity, busy schedules and our overwhelmed heads? How can we make sure we’re able to maintain a level of visibility with running out of steam? What tricks can we use to help us be visible with ease?
Here are few tips and tricks to help you stay visible without the need for constant attention and lots of new content creation.
Make a plan is always the first port of call. Use a planner, diary or online calendar to plan out up to a full 12 months of themes, ideas or content pillars that will offer you a core framework of 'things to talk about/share/post'. This immediately takes the pressure off the need to reinvent the wheel each week. You don't need to know the fine detail of each piece of content just yet, but focussing on these core themes will help you stay on track.
Think about 'long tail' content that adds value to your customers....blogs that offer help, ideas or tips or videos showing people how things are done or your story. The beauty of these types of content is that they 'hang around' for a long time. You can refer to elements of them repeatedly & they will rank on Google/Youtube if you optimise them. Having this type of valuable content floating around the internet while you sleep helps provide you with a glow of visibility that you can remind people of ever so often.
Manage expectations so that your fans know when to expect to see you on social media. I know several very well supported and highly visible businesses that only post on social media every so often but then get tons of engagement - a kind of 'less is more' approach. the key is consistency over frequency. If the content is highly valuable (inspirational, educational, entertaining etc) then showing up less often may well be better for your visibility.
Automate where you can to take the daily pressure off. How about creating an 'onboarding' series of emails when someone signs up to your email subscriber list. Effectively you can create the valuable content once and it keeps being sent out to the subscriber over a period of weeks.
Why not build in some 'scarcity' into your business? Perhaps you can limit what you do but increase what you charge to build a following or anticipation for what you do. You could maybe only provide so many appointments a month or only repeat a workshop twice a year or only open your membership occasionally. This form of limiting can keep people be more focussed on your business as they wait and look forward to engaging with you so maintaining visibility without the daily grind on your part.
Keep it simple. Visibility isn't about re inventing the wheel each day or week. It's about predictable patterns that your followers/fans/customers can hang on to. Remember that their lives are hectic too so a simple once a week email or once a month, super blog may well be enough. If they can predict that your lovely content or idea pops into their inbox or gets posted to Youtube when they're expecting it then that will keep you visible enough to build your business.
Visibility doesn't necessarily mean 'loud'. If you're an introverted personality then the selfie videos, upbeat dancing reels and big bold claims can all feel a bit much. Remember that you're not trying to attract everyone to your business but rather gather a community of folks to 'get' your brand and perspective. Great visibility can sometimes mean quietly and consistently sharing your messages over time specifically your way. If that's beautiful pictures with just a few words - then fabulous!
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