You Don't Need To Be Everywhere To Be Seen - Alyssa Avant and Company

We are starting a new series for the month of September on the topic of getting seen by the right people. We’re going to talk about practical ways to increase your visibility and reach the people that you are called to serve.

You Don’t Need to Be Everywhere to Be Seen

Our first episode is You Don’t Need To Be Everywhere To Be Seen. If you’ve been around my blog for a while, then you know that we talk about all kinds of things related to growing your business online. This includes social media, websites, email marketing, content creation, and so much more.

This month we’re going to be talking about something that I think almost everyone struggles with. As I was saying, it’s getting seen. Let’s be honest, it can feel like there are a million places to choose from: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn, your website, your email list, maybe a podcast, maybe a blog.

Then someone tells you, “Oh, you really need to be doing video.” And you’re thinking, what exactly am I supposed to do, or when exactly am I supposed to actually write or speak or do my coaching? So today we’re kicking off this series, and we’re going to start with something I really want you to hear, and that is the title of today’s episode.

The Right People

You Don’t Need to Be Everywhere to Be Seen. In fact, trying to be everywhere may actually be keeping you from being seen by the people who matter the most. One of the biggest traps that I see people fall into is believing that successful marketing means being on every platform. We see someone else who seems to be everywhere, and we think, “I need to do that too.”

However, here’s the thing: you are seeing the finished product. You’re not necessarily seeing who’s doing the work. They may have a team behind that content. You’re not seeing the hours of work, the scheduling tools. Perhaps they have a virtual assistant. You’re not seeing the content repurposing, you’re not seeing the systems, and you’re definitely not seeing everything that person has decided not to do.

This is important because sometimes growing your business isn’t about adding another thing to the list. Sometimes it’s deciding what to stop doing. Also, there’s another thing I want you to think about. Being active on a platform doesn’t necessarily mean you’re being visible. You can post five times a week on Instagram and still not be able to reach the right people.

Connections

You can have a Facebook page and barely have anyone seeing what you post. Maybe you can even spend hours creating TikToks that don’t connect you to your ideal customer. You can have a beautiful website that nobody visits, and you can have an email list that you never email. So the question isn’t, “Where can I post?”

The question should be, where can I consistently show up in a way that connects me to the right people, the people I’m trying to reach? And that’s a very different question. So if you’re trying to figure out where you should be online, I don’t want you to start with the platform. Instead, start with the people.

Who are you trying to reach?
Where do they spend time?
What are they searching for?
What kind of content do they consume?
What questions are they asking?
What problems are they trying to solve?

Because your job isn’t to become an expert at every social media platform. Your job is to get your message in front of the people who need what you have to offer.

And these people may not be on every platform. In fact, honestly, they’re probably not. So instead of asking, “What social media platform should I be ‘on’?”—ask, “Where can I be most effective in reaching my ideal audience?”

Different Tools

For many business owners, I think one or two primary social platforms can be enough. Notice I said primary. That doesn’t mean you can never have a presence anywhere else. It means you don’t build your entire content strategy around trying to actively maintain six different platforms. You choose one platform where you’re going to intentionally create and engage.

Then you use other tools and systems to expand your reach. For example, I create a podcast, but that doesn’t mean that the podcast episode has to live only as a podcast episode. One episode can become social media posts, it can become a short-form video, it can become quotes, it can become an email, it can become a blog post, and it can become a YouTube video.

The key is I don’t have to create each one of those pieces from scratch, and neither do you. You can go and use what you have. So one of the things that we talked about in August was the different platforms that determine or that serve different purposes, and that’s really what you’re deciding to focus on.

Purpose

You’re deciding what platform I am using based on “What am I trying to do?” And that’s where you decide on your focus. So social media can help people discover you. YouTube can help people find you through search and establish your authority. A podcast can help people get to know you and build trust.

And an email allows you to develop a deeper relationship with the people you have already raised their hand and said, “I want to hear more from you.” Then, of course, your website is your home base. It’s the place where you bring all of the pieces together. So you don’t necessarily need every platform to do everything.

You need to understand what role each platform or each piece plays in your overall strategy. And this is one of the reasons I will always encourage you to have two things: a website and an email list. Social media is wonderful. I use it. I encourage my clients to use it, but it is rented space, and you’ve probably heard me say this before.

You don’t control the platform.

You can’t control the algorithm. Trust me, we’ve all tried. You don’t control whether your followers actually see your posts. Also, you don’t control what happens if it changes its rules. However, your website, instead, is your home base. Your email list is the audience you have a direct way to communicate with.

So I want you to think about social media as a way to help people find you but then give them somewhere else to go. And maybe that is your website. It might be your YouTube channel. It could be a podcast. Ideally, I’d love for you to have a way to invite them onto your email list. That way you can continue that relationship like we talked about during the month of August.

Where to be

Because getting seen is only just the beginning. And we’re going to talk more about what happens after someone sees you later in this series. So you might be listening and thinking, “Okay, I get it. I don’t need to be everywhere, but where should I be?” So here’s what I want you to encourage you to do.

First, identify your ideal audience. Who are you trying to reach?
Second, choose one primary platform. Just one. Where can you realistically show up consistently?
Then third, consider adding a separate platform only if it makes sense to you. Not because someone told you you have to or because it’s the newest thing, but because it’s where your audience is, and you want to support them.
Fourth, create one strong piece of content and then repurpose it.

Don’t reinvent the wheel every single day. And fifth, give people a next step. Don’t just say, “Follow me.” Invite them to visit your website, download your free resource, join your email list, or whatever makes sense for your business. So I want to challenge you this week. I want you to look at the places where you’re already showing up online.

Make a list. You might be on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, your blog, your email list, or whatever you’re doing, and then ask yourself these questions.

Number one: is my audience actually there?
Number two: Can I realistically maintain this platform consistently?
Number three: Is this platform actually helping me accomplish my goals?

If the answer to all three is yes, keep it. If it is not, you may have found something you can simplify and give yourself permission to do that. You don’t have to do all the things. You don’t have to be everywhere. All you just need to do is be where the right people can find you and where you can consistently show up.

Simple and intentional

As Christian business owners, authors, speakers, and coaches, I think another piece of this conversation is important. Sometimes we confuse more with better. We think if we’re doing more, we’re being more productive, but God hasn’t called us to chase every single opportunity or every platform. We need to be intentional about where we’re investing our time, our energy, and our resources.

The other thing that I want to encourage you not to do is compare yourself to someone else. You don’t build what someone else is building. You don’t have to. I think you need to ask God for wisdom about what He has called you to and who He has called you to serve—and then be faithful. Sometimes faithfulness looks like doing more, and sometimes it looks like simplifying.

So let’s go back to the big idea for today. You don’t have to be everywhere to be seen. You just need to be intentional about where you are showing up. Who you’re trying to reach and what you want them to do next. Because visibility isn’t being the loudest person in the room, it’s about being visible to the right people. That’s what we’re going to keep talking about throughout this series.

Actually being seen

So next week we’re going to talk about taking the next step and something that’s really important: Are you actually being seen by the right people? Because getting attention isn’t the goal, getting the right attention is. So before you go, I want you to take that challenge that I gave you.

I want you to look at your current online presence and choose a platform that you’re really going to pay attention to. If you do that, I’d love for you to find me on social media and tell me which platform you chose. You can find me mostly on Facebook with my name or on Instagram with Alyssa Avant and Co. for Alyssa Avant and Company.

If you’re realizing that your online presence feels a little scattered. Maybe you don’t know you need a strategy, but you’re not sure where to start. That is something that I and my team at Alyssa Avant and Company help our clients with. So we help Christian authors, speakers, and coaches to build and maintain their online presence so they can stop trying to figure it all out for themselves.