No matter who you are or what your soul-centered project is – entrepreneur, writer, teacher, artist, etc (even if your project is attracting a romantic partner!) – a powerful visibility plan is essential to being able to get seen, be prosperous and get what you want.
When you don’t have an effective visibility plan, then chances are you are under-earning, not getting the acclaim or acknowledgment you want, or doing work that doesn’t fully satisfy you.
I hear this time and time again from women who come to me for help – you have a service, product, artwork, idea that you are in LOVE with. Yet, the clients aren’t coming, or the agents aren’t coming, or the press isn’t coming, or the prospective employers aren’t coming. And here’s what usually happens next: you start beating yourself up, or judging yourself, or feeling victimized or in despair. Not a great way to move forward!
Instead of re-acting in these ways, I want you to take action! And the best way to take action is to create a visibility plan that is effective, soul-centered and powerful.
For my business, as well as the businesses, career changes, creative careers, and world-changing initiatives that I support women with, your visibility plan is one of the most important foundations for success.
Here are 5 Keys to creating & executing a powerful visibility plan:
- Have a plan in advance: Ok, I know for some of you this might be obvious, but it is important to mention. You need a plan. Not just a plan in your head, but an actual, concrete visibility plan that you’ve written down, plotted and calendared out. My recommendation is to plan out at least 6 months in advance (but no more than 12 months in advance) so that you have time to prepare, time for contingency, and time to re-work any new ideas into the mix.
If you don’t plan in advance, you’re going to find you’re always rushing to catch up, or two days too late for that conference application, press release submission, networking event, or community email.
- Make it Personal: I meet way too many rising leaders out there who write marketing copy, create video or prepare talks that speak to what they think people are looking for and what they assume people might want from them. Instead, I want you to share your message from a place of what is true and authentic for you and who you are, as well as speak directly and personally to your audience.
Your clients, viewers, readers, and press will be much more likely to walk through your door if you reveal YOURSELF through your marketing and speak directly to their hearts and souls (not their minds).
- Choose Visibility Strategies that Match Your Strengths: There are so many awesome visibility strategies out there: newsletters, email, video, in-person workshops, Facebook, networking meetings, blogs, audio, referral program, Twitter – this list goes on and on. This is one of the things I absolutely love about visibility and marketing: the sky’s the limit on your creativity and how you choose to make yourself known, and nothing is pre-set or cookie cutter.
But here is an important tip: choose those strategies that make the most sense for you and your soul-centered project. For example, if your newsletter and blog are your biggest visibility strategies, but you just hate writing and it takes you hours to write a paragraph – choose a different strategy! Or, if you’ve been mainly focusing on social media, but you’re the type of person that folks are immediately attracted to when they meet you in person, go to more networking events or do in-person presentations. The most effective visibility strategies are the ones that match how you show up best as well as how your ideal clients HEAR your message best.
- Enlist Partners: You can’t bring your big message and vision to the world alone. There is not one single person (unless they’ve already reached Oprah status) who has so many people in their sphere of influence that they can attract in visibility without creating partnerships and joint ventures.
Partnerships are one of the best visibility tools out there. When you enlist other individuals, organizations and businesses to help promote you and spread the word about your project, your ability to reach your ideal client increases exponentially.
- Activate “P.C.A.”: P.C.A is a beloved Soulful Coaching acronym for Persistent and Consistent Action. P.C.A can make the difference between a successful and non-successful plan.
Consistent Action = taking at least 3 actions towards your visibility strategies each working day. If you aren’t taking consistent action, then even the best laid plan in the world isn’t going to work. Think about it in terms of a flower: you need to water that flower regularly in order to keep it alive and see it grow.
Persistent Action = following-up. I know – for some of you, this is the “F” word of marketing. It feels way too scary to follow-up on an email you sent out with a call to action or a talk you gave where you want to send folks more info about your work. Yet, often times folks don’t “buy” or “connect in” on the first bit, so follow-up is 100% necessary in order to reach your visibility goals.
Now that you’ve got the 5 Soul-Centered Keys for Visibility, have fun letting the world know about your sacred purpose and message!
But before tell you some of my favorite tools for starting something new (I’ve got so many; it was hard to choose just 4!), first let me give you some examples of what launching something new can encompass:
Do any of these situations sound familiar?:
I appreciate Mother’s Day in a whole new way now that I’m a Mother myself.
Congratulations! So you have finally allowed yourself to recognize (even if just a little bit, like a tiny little whisper) the deep calling of your heart - that you would like to leave your job, write a novel, create a family, start painting portraits, really expand your business in order to reach more people, whatever it may be. But before you are even able to pick up a paintbrush, or make an hour of time in your busy schedule to write, you are bombarded by a slew of criticism whether internal or external.
Delegating is so incredibly important because the more successful you become and want to be, the more responsibility there is. You are not supposed to be doing it all on your own! In fact, any good leader knows that the way to accomplish all that you want to accomplish is by enlisting others to help you out.
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