How (and Why) to Increase Your Visibility

Apr 16, 2019

Q: I want to be more visible in my role. Do you have any tips?

A. Yes. Good for you for noticing this. Visibility is important when it comes to promoting your projects, being known when it comes time for performance reviews. You don't want to be invisible. You need to be seen and known and watched and followed. Are you pushing material and information to your audience in a way that they want it? How are they consuming it? Are you helping them? Are you educating them? Are you helping them to be excited about what you're working on and how your tools could impact their project, portfolio, or performance?

Consider who, besides your direct customer, might be interested in your work. What followers could you gather? Consider new colleagues, supervisors, other verticals or departments in your company, professionals in your industry, or even the general public. Who else can you provide information to?

What methods and platforms can you use to evangelize your expertise? Consider a podcast, weekly update, newsletter, or webinar. Use internal channels or social channels like YouTube, Twitter, Discord, Slack, or even TikTok.

One of my colleagues distributed a weekly snack-sized newsletter about the competitive situation in our industry. This sometimes came in handy for me as I moved through the company and it's matrix of meetings.

Repetition is the key. Make a new habit. Develop something that will elevate your visibility that will be valuable for the audience you want to target.

Here's your homework:

Determine who you want to be your followers. Who are your inadvertent followers?
Think of two ways you can create a repetitive mechanism for informing your audience in some way what you're doing and why it's valuable.
Do it.

You got this!

Next, take the quiz below to find out your Career Stage.