Before you read on, you should know that this article is part of a series on developing a visibility strategy. This is chapter 7 in that series.

Pick up all the chapters here.

A blue ocean strategy is a concept outlined in the book ‘Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Place and Make the Competition Irrelevant’ by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne’.

In short it invites business owners to consider how to shift from operating in a red ocean (red oceans represent all the industries in existence today) to a blue ocean (blue oceans representing the unknown market place). The rationale being that when you operate in a blue ocean, you do things so differently to the people in your industry that you effectively eliminate competition entirely.

This is only going to become more and more important as it becomes easier and easier to build an online business. It’s clear that business owners will need to innovate and differentiate themselves from the crowd, creating blue ocean opportunities for themselves.

Let’s take this concept and apply it to being visibility in your industry. Here are a series of questions you’ll want to ask yourself:

• How is everyone else showing up in my industry?
• What is everyone else saying in my industry?
• What are some of the common practices in my industry that aren’t working and need to be eliminated?
• What has never been spoken about in my industry?
• What ways of showing up could I elevate well above the current standard in my industry?
• Where are people putting in loads of time and effort in my industry which I could stop doing?

As you work your way through these questions you’ll find yourself coming up with points of differentiation. Ways that you can show up in the world that differ from the ways other people are being visible in your industry.

At the very least it’ll help you see where you may have been wasting time, unconsciously following the crowd.

At best you’ll create a blue ocean strategy that positions you as unique and memorable in your industry.

Next up in this series on creating your visibility strategy: Other people’s platforms

Looking for all the chapters on creating your visibility strategy? You’ll find them all here.