How often do you get passed over by ideal clients to a competitor who you KNOW doesn’t deliver as much value as you do?
It stings, doesn’t it?
About ten years ago I found myself feeling frustrated with this very same problem. Time after time, I noticed that my competitors were landing coveted opportunities to speak and were enrolling ideal clients who had passed me over. The online industry had radically changed in the span of a few short months, and all of a sudden, I felt irrelevant.
I had worked so hard to get to the top of my pack in my first 10 years in business, becoming an authority in my field with almost a million in revenue, it was a bit defeating to seem invisible to the clients I knew I could help.
As I set out to fix this problem, I quickly realized I had some Invisibility Factors working against me. These Invisibility Factors weren’t just affecting me, they were the same problems that many expert-based business owners faced over and over again. Invisibility Factors often cause the business owner to struggle financially, even when they believe they are doing a lot of the right things.
The Five Invisibility Factors
1. Lack of Confidence
If you lack confidence around your message — or your offering — chances are you hold yourself back from being visibile. Instead of going for it and pitching your topic to podcast hosts, you decide to “wait” until you have it all figured out. If you lack confidence, chances are you talk yourself out of a LOT of opportunities, simply by immersing yourself in busy work (that probably doesn’t lead you to results either.) Often the easiest way to build up confidence is to get into action. Thinking about what you will do someday and getting caught in a cycle of comparison-itis will keep you stuck in analysis-paralysis.
Reconnect with your core business superpower (what you do that lights you up and solves a big problem for you ideal clients.) A long-time client decided to switch her business focus to her real passion and as she made this shift, her confidence went down significantly. I continued to bring her focus back to what she did effortlessly in her previous business — and we built her new offering around that strength. As she launched her new business, she had a line of customers waiting to hire her, and her confidence soared. Leaning on your business superpower is the best way too boost your confidence.
2. Fear of Being Seen
If you have a fear of being seen, you might have a childhood trauma of being hurt if you were too visibile. Or maybe the Tall Poppy Syndrome is at play and you worry that you’ll be attacked by others in your industry for standing out as an authority. Sometimes its a simple case of Imposter Syndrome and you question if you really have something of value to deliver. A fear of being seen requires a mindset shift so that you can feel safe to share your message.
One way to rewire that old fear is to activate your “greater why.” Ask yourself, “What’s at stake? What could happen that is good by being more visible? What would [insert the name of your idol here] do to be more visible?” If you recognize this pattern in yourself, you’ll need to address the underlying beliefs so you can recode your mindset.
3. Messaging Problems
Messaging Problems is the often the single most common reason why you are invisible —you can post on social media and create thousands of videos but if you don’t have a relevant and magnetic message, your ideal clients won’t even stop to read your post. I recently worked with a woman who was a diversity consultant. I could tell she had a lot of talent and passion, but her message was confusing. Reading her website made me confused. Reviewing her social posts left me wondering what her brand was all about. Unless she talked to a client, no one really “got” what she did, and it was impacting her cash flow.
Knowing how to articulate what you do, what problem you solve, and make it irresistible to your ideal clients is a unique skill most service providers don’t have. Often, you think you are being clear but you aren’t. And the evidence is that you are visible, you are publishing content, you are posting on social media — and you just get crickets. The best place to start is to get really good at building a “Golden Thread” between your ideal clients needs, challenges and goals and what your offer. I use a simple system I called the ROCS METHOD (TM) to guide people through finding language that is relevant, outcome-driven, credibility-boosting and demonstrates specificity. Remember, if you struggle with clear messaging that your words should be meaningful to the ideal client.
4. Zero Consistency
Consistency of message is key to standing out in a crowded market. If you aren’t consistently in front of your best clients, talking about the relevant issues they deal with, chances are even if they see you, they don’t get why they NEED you.
But, if they can’t SEE YOU, then they can’t HIRE YOU!
Pick a platform to get consistent with then develop a content plan to address their biggest concerns on a regular basis. If you’ve got a podcast, air it once a week. If you’ve got an email list, email them 2 – 3 times a week (hopefully on the same days.) If you are active on a social media platform, publish consistently (for instance on Instagram or LinkedIn that should be daily.)
Being visible means being consistent and in front of your ideal clients regularly so that when they NEED YOU they SEE YOU.
5. Unaligned Audience
Sometimes you’ll do all the right things but you still won’t be visible. Part of being relevant means you know who your target audience is and you are consistently visibile to them. But if you don’t know who that is, you might be investing a lot of time, money and energy sharing your magnetic message to the WRONG AUDIENCE. If they don’t have the problem you uniquely solve, or don’t have the money to invest in solutions, then all your hard work is wasted. They won’t pay attention to you.
This happened to my client Kay. She was spending a lot of time trying to convince the wrong audience of her value. When she did her homework (which meant doing digging deep to understand her true Client Avatar) then she was able to fine tune her message and started attracting ideal clients (instead of broke, frustrated lead who couldn’t enroll!)
Do your homework. Clarify who your best client really is, then shape your message to entice them. If you could use more guidance, check out my Amplify Your Success Podcast episode where I share more detail.
As you went through these five factors, do you suspect one or more of them are issues for you? Even some of the most talented experts find themselves tongue-tied with messaging their offerings — and its not uncommon to have doubts surface that cause you to pull back from time to time (I know I sure have.)
But here’s the deal.
You can’t afford to be invisible.
Not only is it bad for your bottom line. The people you serve NEED YOU. The world needs you. And you need to continue to reinforce your relevance. Discover what makes your offerings magnetic to those ideal clients and take the time to optimize these five elements and you’ll notice a steady stream of new leads and clients flowing into your business.
Melanie Benson, Authority Amplifier for Expert-preneurs, shows you how to stand out in a crowded market and attract high paying clients and opportunities. With over 21 years in business, Melanie has a proven track record of accelerating results for her clients (it’s not uncommon to see 3-5x revenue increases in the first 6 months.) She’s host of Amplify Your Success Podcast, is author of Rewired for Wealth, co-author of Entrepreneur.com’s Start Up Guide to Starting an Information Marketing Business, and has been featured in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Woman’s Day, and Parenting. Access her popular Revenue Rush Toolkit FREE at MelanieBenson.com.
