22 Feb Finding Time For Building Visibility
Finding Time For Building Visibility – Some Ideas
Last week I did a poll on LinkedIn on barriers to building visibility. The biggest hurdle came out as a lack of time. Finding time for building visibility is an issue for many of us. With that in mind, here are ten ideas around making time to raise your profile. I’ve put all of these into practice at one time or other, and encourage my clients to do the same.
Make Space
Go through everything you’re doing. Assess if there’s anything you can ditch to make room for some visibility work. Many of us have projects that we half-heartedly work on which we no longer need. Perhaps you too have some of these that you can abandon, or even put on hold?
It might be that you can carve out time by just being strict around your internet forays. One less social media rabbit hole per day could be half an hour towards being more visible. Or you could ring-fence the first hour of the day for it.
Delegate
Delegating is difficult for many. Sometimes it’s the financial cost of outsourcing, not to mention issues around finding the right person. However, many of us with busy schedules feel that we might as well it ourselves rather than take the same amount of time to train someone else. That’s fine, once, but that argument doesn’t hold up when you think about doing that task on a consistent basis. At some point there will be more value in passing the job on.
There are other benefits too. Your headspace is freed up to concentrate on delivery or big picture planning. You also have the knowledge, skills and experience of others.
Also, remember that it doesn’t have to be visibility you outsource. You could decide to get a book keeper or VA on board, while you focus on the profile building activities.
Habit stacking
It’s easier to slot a new habit onto an existing habit. So, perhaps, every time you check your email you pop into your platform of choice and make a few connections or comments. Every time you start on an internet browse, pull yourself back in. Make sure the first thing you look up is a possible platform or publication to help put you in the spotlight.
If you regularly plan your week ahead, include profile raising activities into that plan.
Everything in its place
Perhaps your visibility work might best be done in the coffee shop, or in a different part of the office? Connecting this space to a PR mindset will help you slide more easily into that head space in future, and help keep you there.
Make it fun
My one-to-one visibility coaching programme, creates a strategy that allows you to use your strengths and your skills. It has to be as appealing and enjoyable as possible. This is why the right blend of visibility raising activities is different for everyone.
Knowing what you enjoy means that you are more likely to do and continue to do the things that work for you.
Get inspiration
Look at what others do to raise their profile. Who do you admire and why? Are they here, there and everywhere, or do they concentrate on a small number of actions? What can you learn from them? Widen that net and observe your competitors. Rather than starting from scratch, what can you learn from them about what works? You can save yourself a lot of time by analysing what’s working for others, and what isn’t.
Small Steps
Working on your reputation takes time. You can feel demoralised if you expect things to snowball within the first few weeks. Focusing on process rather than end goals will help keep expectations in check. It creates a regular, even rhythmic, routine that over time will build that visibility you desire.
What’s going on underneath?
Sometimes it is that we are simply too busy. Occasionally, however, we can use busyness to hide our fears around being more visible. Perfectionism, imposter syndrome, procrastination – all of these can impact our motivation and in turn, this can allow us to let our to-do list take over. Profile building tasks slip down the list and we naturally think we don’t have time to do them, when the reality is that it’s something else that is going on here. Again, this is something many of my clients struggle with, especially if they have had a negative experience around being visible in the past.
Know your why
Why are you doing this? To help promote your business? Perhaps you want to raise your profile in the industry and become more respected by your peers? To promote interest in a cause? Because you think you should? Find your strong why and it will help you find the time.
Take advantage of mini moments
Even when you have a small amount of time, you can fit things in. Perhaps you could put together a list of people you can just touch base with on LinkedIn or via email when you have empty moments. Or perhaps you can play around with ideas for posts to write up when you have more time. I originally wrote this piece long-hand earlier in the week between therapy clients and now, a few days later, am typing this up in an early afternoon break. I’ll take another look tomorrow and then post, using three smaller increments of time when I just don’t have a long piece of time to devote to something.
Finding time for building visibility
Often the first step is just looking at our time and using it more wisely. Indeed, one of the things I ask about during my visibility coaching intake is about your time available. There’s no point creating a fantastic step by step plan if you don’t have the time to implement it. It all needs to be built around you, and, as a business psychologist and coach, that’s exactly what I do.
I love working with clients around their visibility, and years of experience in the field means that I can cut through the clutter to give you ideas about what might work best for you. You can read more about my programme here, or book in a chat with me here.
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