Are you willing to do what it takes to create visibility on the Web?

True to form, I've been thinking a lot about visibility, blogging and social media. After all, it's what I do. As I was walking to the post box, I was thinking about the opportunities that have come my way in the last couple of weeks: requests for interviews from two reporters; invitation to contribute chapters to two books on social media marketing; email and radio interviews (I get a request nearly every day), and the list goes on.

I don't say this to brag, but to point out that none of this would be happening if I had not made a very conscious effort to create visibility for me and my business. And none of it would be happening without my blogs. Period. When I ask how a reporter found me the usual reply is from a search that lead to one of my blog posts.

One of the topics I'll be talking about with a reporter later today is "social media marketing mistakes." I'll share my list after the interview when I know what is being included, and I will tell you that the biggest mistake I see/hear is a business owner thinking they do not need a blog if they use the myriad social networking sites available to them on the Web.

UPDATE: Here's my list of Social Media Marketing Mistakes - lots of good comments too.

I wrote about this earlier in my post Why Blog When You've Got Facebook? And with the recent cyber attack on twitter it's seems more obvious than ever that you cannot count on third party networks to be there for you 24/7. Your blog is your best defense and will be there in the long run.

Yes, your server can crash but in the end you have a lot more control. And you are backing up your blog, right?

So what does this mean? You've got a blog and you're on Facebook and you've got a twitter account. But you don't get it and nothing seems to be happening for you.

This is where the rubber meets the road. I hear it ALL the time..."it's too much work"..."I don't have time to write on my blog"..."I don't understand how it all works together"..."can't I have someone else do this for me"...

I get it. Yes, it takes time to market your business. Yes, it takes time and energy and commitment to create a visible presence on the web. And I ask, "How's your business doing now? Are you getting media and visibility opportunities? Can your ideal client find you on the web?"

What are you doing right now to create a highly visible presence on the web? I've been working on some ideas to help my clients tackle the time and energy issues. I'll be sharing them here as I work them out.

In the meantime, I'm curious to know where you stand on this issue: "it's too much time and work" or "I'll do what it takes to build my business"? Where do you stand and what are you doing about it? Share you ideas/comments/suggestions in the comments below.

Online Marketing Needs to Be Consistent and Constant