“What’s one word that would describe how you’re feeling right now.” I asked.

“Frustrated.”
“Overwhelmed.”
“Excited”
“Confused.”

The answers were pretty typical. Most audiences I address these days are full of business people who know there is a huge amount of opportunity available to them through the proper management of their online content. But they don’t know how to leverage it. A recent workshop I delivered — with my colleague, Paula Hope — was designed for the members of an international organization representing people in the financial industry. We shared with participants strategies for creating a personal marketing playbook that included tips on how to access their referral network while developing an effective online content marketing program. The two concepts work together in powerful ways.

Paula points out that one of the issues that’s important in both referral and content marketing is visibility. Before you have brought someone into your network you are in a state of “pre-visibility.” They are looking for you or someone like you but they have no emotional investment in getting to know you yet.

Here are some of the ways people might find out that your business exists and take you from a state of being “invisible” to “visible”:

1. They might have found your website through an internet search. There is an SEO strategy involved here that leverages a variety of actions you can take on your website and elsewhere to help you show up better online. These include use of keywords, posting regularly to your website, using authoritative backlinks, creating business listings in directories that have good authority, etc.
2. They might have found you and your business through a LinkedIn search. LinkedIn is a strong professional database that categorizes people and businesses by speciality, industry, skill set, education etc.
3. They might link to your website from someone’s blog, review a few pages of your website and then complete an online survey that helps them qualify whether or not your business is a good fit for their needs.
4. They might download the Irresistible Free Offer you have made available on your website. For example: “10 Tips to Maximize Your Business Budget.”
5. They might respond to a social media post.
6. They might do a search on YouTube, find one of your helpful videos and review it.
7. They might have signed up for a free or low cost webinar you are hosting about your area of expertise, or they may have heard you on an online interview program.

There are other ways to make a splash online with content that takes you from a state of “Pre-Visibility” to one of “Visibility.” Stay tuned for my next blog about becoming more Visible through your online content.

And, in the meantime, if you would like to start a conversation about how my team and I might be able to help you make the leap from “Pre-Visibility” to “Visibility,” contact us at info@crossmancommunications.com to book a complementary call with us!