Why Blanket Visibility Isn’t the Answer

By Jessica Albon

Image (of Harry Potter’s Invisibility Cloak) by Karen Roe

It sounds obvious, right? Where else would you be but where you’re at?

And yet, most of us spend most of our time being anywhere else but here, if you know what I mean. We’re focused on what we need to do next, or what we should be doing instead, or we’re multitasking our way through our to-do list. We seldom dig in, and do the work that’s in front of us.

Heck, right now as I’m typing this, I’m also listening to music (Nina Simone at this very moment). (I don’t entirely consider that multitasking, but if it were the wrong music, it could certainly be distracting!)

One of the reasons we multitask is because there’s so much to do. And we feel like we have to do all of it.

So, we can’t really just focus on one task because there are twenty others we need to complete in the next hour because we have to do everything the experts tell us.

Be Everywhere = Be Nowhere Really

But the truth is, this kind of be-everywhere, do-everything approach hinders us in getting visible. Because when we’re everywhere, we can’t really be where we’re at.

This is no less true when we’re talking specifically about marketing our businesses. If you feel like you have to do everything and be everywhere… well, that’s just going to lead to you being nowhere in particular.

When you try to be on Facebook and Twitter and your blog and everyone else’s blog (guest posting and commenting and reading so you follow every single conversation, etc, etc), on YouTube and at the local chamber networking events, etc, etc… You wind up being nowhere.

This kind of blanket visibility–being everywhere–doesn’t work. Partly because it’s not actually possible (you already knew that, right–no matter how hard you work, you can’t be everywhere all at once!). It also doesn’t work because people stop really seeing us when they see us everywhere.

It’s like when you listen to the radio while you’re working. You aren’t really listening to the music or the ads, right? So you don’t really hear each note. But when all you’re doing is listening to the radio, you can actually hear the music.

Choose Where You’re At

So, rather than trying to be everywhere and not really being seen, what you want instead is for people to really, truly see you in the places you are. This means carefully selecting the places where you’ll be, and being there fully. Ironically, that’s when people will start remarking, “Hey, I see you everywhere!”

I’ll admit, it seems a bit counterintuitive–that by being in fewer places, you’ll actually be seen more. But it’s true.

So, that’s why blanket visibility isn’t the answer if you want to be seen more in your business.

Want to make your business more visible? Make sure to watch the whole free training series Invisibility Cloak: Deactivate.