Welcome to our series dedicated to answering the question; Do I need to post photos of myself all the time to be successful online?

Answer no. 6: CONSIDER THE SEASON OF LIFE YOU’RE IN. 

As a mother of young children, my life is pretty quiet. We spend a lot of time at home running around the backyard, playing games, reading stories, having cuddles.

When I was in my 20s and 30s I was much more active. There were lots of parties and travelling and general cavorting. ????

When you’re in that phase of life it’s hard not to gather an amazing collection of photos from your life to share with others.

And when you’re building a lifestyle brand or travel blog, pictures from the top of Machu Picchu or diving in the Galapagos Islands is ????

This means you have to dig a little deeper when the greatest adventure in your day involves your kid naming all the colours in a book, or when you spend a good deal of your day in front of your laptop.

BUT!

Before you decide you’ve nothing to share, it’s important to remember why you’re showing up in the first place. Are you actually selling the joy of living an adventurous lifestyle? Is that part of your brand? Or are you sharing an idea, teaching a methodology, inspiring a new way of being, or promoting a specific product?

If you’re in a very domestic stage of life (and you’re selling your programs or services to similar people), photos of your home, how your working day unfolds when you have little ones around, and other adventures in domesticity, are going to be a great point of connection between you and your people. They’re going to make your community feel seen and understood.

So our final Q FOR THE DAY is this; How does your season of life align with your ideal customer’s season of life? If there’s no alignment, photos of you and your lifestyle might be deeply inappropriate for your brand.

Concluding thoughts

There’s never ‘one right way’ to build your business or be visible online.

There’s the way that makes sense for you and your brand, that more deeply connects you with your people, and that’s in alignment with your values.

Don’t get distracted by other people’s brands and businesses.

The coaching industry is filled with personal brands and if operate in that space it tends to give you the impression that there’s only one way to market yourself online.

There’s not.

The coaching model of personal branding doesn’t fit all cultures, nor does it suit all businesses or people.

The best thing to do when you find yourself surrounded by one way of doing things is to step right out of your industry altogether. Go surround yourself with musicians or poets, interior designers or engineers. Get inspired by the norms of another industry and consider how you could show up differently as a result.

THEN, if you’re still noticing some resistance to being visible, it’s time to do some inner block clearing work.

That’s what we specialise in at the SOV and we’d love to support you. Our signature program Women Speaking Up is a visibility mastermind and leadership development program that focuses on visibility block clearing and developing and implementing a visibility strategy. You can find out more about it right here.

This post is part of a larger series. You can catch the rest of this series right here.