How to Increase Your Exposure

A quick google search of “increase your exposure” reveals a collection of online “traffic strategies”, “special programs”, “internet secrets”, and many special reports, all selling for about $97. There is no secret to increasing your exposure, or if there is a secret, I guess I’m about to expose it for free.

The BNI folks shared this formula with me a while back.

Visibility + Credibility = Profitability

Many business owners think the key to profit is being more credible. That’s likely not your problem. Taking more classes and getting certifications won’t bring you more business. Most of the time your lack of profits is due to people not knowing you. You need to be in front of them more.

How to be Everywhere

The key to being visible and being everywhere isn’t doing more, it’s actually doing less. The simplest, easiest, and most effective place to do it in my book is online.

Before you start, you need to figure out who you want to get in front of. Knowing who your target market is and where they are is critical for this to work. It really does you no good to increase your exposure to people who don’t care about your message.

A small, niche community of your target market is where you need to be. If you’re a coach, don’t join another community of coaches. Instead, join an online forum where your potential clients are hanging out and asking questions.

Block out four 30-minute spots in your calendar, every day for one month. That’s right, you’ll spend two hours each day in the same online forum, interacting over and over again with the same people. A big mistake in this process is really trying to be everywhere at once, but you don’t need to be.

People are asking questions and looking for anyone who can help. You need to be that person. Be real and open. When you don’t know the answer, offer suggestions for finding it. Don’t bombard people with marketing messages. If they want help, it’s easy to find you.

Link your website in your signature if the site allows it. A great upside to this strategy is the inbound web links that lead back to your website. People who care will easily find your site, as will google.

When you find your target market, don’t leave them. After only 30 days you’ll be firmly established as one of the resident go-to experts.

What do you do to increase your exposure?