When asking entrepreneurs what is keeping them from updating that LinkedIn page to add their business, doing a Facebook Live, or being interviewed, I oftentimes get two answers: “I am embarrassed” or “I’m not ready”.

Entrepreneurship is a constant learning process that is all about growth. As entrepreneurs, we want to boost our positive impact in the world. We want to spread our message, and help people through our skills to grow their own businesses, have experiences, and improve their lives. However, entrepreneurship brings up mindset blocks, which oftentimes can affect every aspect of our business, and even life.

Mindset blocks manifest in different ways: from the goals we set for ourselves, to our productivity, motivation, and even inspiration.

As a marketing consultant, I have seen mindset blocks impacting my clients, who although they had the team, budget, product, and/or vision, they couldn’t grow as fast as they wanted. As an entrepreneur myself, I have seen first hand how mindset blocks impact my growth, my vision, self-worth, my marketing efforts. In short these have affected my desire to be more visible, and even my focus and vision in developing marketing campaigns, content, and packages that could support my objectives.

Here are the 3 most frequent mindset blocks connected to the fear of being visible:

1. Fear of vulnerability

Most of us believe that being vulnerable is a weakness. So, we avoid to put ourselves at risk, or in a state of vulnerability. It impacts our relationships, confidence, self-worth, and our visibility efforts.

Author Brene Brown puts it very well: when we believe we are vulnerable, we are afraid of letting ourselves be seen, so we prefer to stay mute, under the radar, to avoid the risk of hurt and pain.

But, running a business, especially as a personal brand, or solopreneur, is about being seen. And in a very competitive market, it’s not only the prices, expertise, or website making the difference. You and your personal brand are now a big part of why your clients buy from you. The confidence, and certainty with which you promote yourself, and your business, is what makes people buy.

When we were kids it was often asked of us to be quiet, stay still, not really be heard or seen, until an adult told us to. And while we realize at some level that as adults, we now have the power to speak, be seen, act when we want, there’s still the fear that we will be rejected, criticized, or more – a sort of punishment for having dared to be more than what we were told to.

How fear of vulnerability shows up in visibility efforts:

• Never putting yourself on display (no information on your website, social accounts that you have a business)

• You feel embarrassed when someone pays you a compliment about your business, and journey

• You feel out of place when there is a talk about entrepreneurship or your area of expertise

• Dreaming small, pricing yourself small, keeping under the radar, not taking big steps towards promoting your business

• Overspending on consultants, logos, brochures, anything that would help you not actually show your face on your website, or social media

• OR never investing, or investing too little in your marketing efforts

• Doing everything in your business by yourself because you believe hiring team members will open your business to vulnerability

• Not following up on business leads

2. Fear of rejection

By nature, we fear being left alone. It is one of the deepest fears we have as humans, and we experience it in very intense ways. Sometimes it causes us to feel anxiety, other times depression. We fear that a change, a decision, an opportunity might cause us hurt and pain, and it will show us that we are not worthy of being seen, heard, desired, loved.

For entrepreneurs, fear of rejection can completely hinder actual growth. The most common thought pattern related to this fear, is wondering what will your family, friends, partner, colleagues, think if your big idea fails.

In your visibility efforts, fear of rejection can show as:

• Anxiety about being interviewed

• Fear of public speaking (workshops, webinars, live video)

• Procrastination about doing sales pitches or applying for guest blogging opportunities

• Complete lack of info about yourself on your business website

• No images of yourself on your website or Facebook page (especially as solopreneur/personal brand)

• No visible connection online between you and your business (Instagram, LinkedIn, email signature, or Facebook bio)

• General content on your blog or social media that lacks consistency and purpose

• Slow growth in marketing, leads, sales

• Refusal to network, or contribute in communities

• Refusal or panic about video marketing

• Not answering to emails or phone calls from leads who are interested in working with you

• Not asking clients for testimonials

• Postponing or going radio silence on partnership opportunities, hiring a VA, sending your newsletter, publishing a blog post, hitting the GO LIVE button on Facebook or Instagram

• Poor call to actions in your copy, and/or low prices

• Investing in courses, freebies, but never taking action on implementing what you learn

3. Impostor syndrome

This is a common mindset block for many of us. And it doesn’t apply only to entrepreneurs. It also applies in our personal life, and the roles we play at work, in our family, and within the community. In fact, this is such a frequent mindset block, that research shows that 70% of the population will experience impostor-type feelings like self-doubt, or fear of being exposed as a fraud at some point during their lives.

Self-doubt is frequent among entrepreneurs, and it is one of the main killers of our drive, our clarity, and yes, happiness. It’s that tiny voice saying: “Who are you to do this? You are not good enough/ You are not ready”. It’s what makes us anxious to try new things, to advance in our career, to go in business, to say what we think, to love whom we want.

When it comes to marketing, and visibility efforts, impostor syndrome shows up in the authenticity of your message, your constancy, prices, and most likely in your social media, email list, website traffic, or video views. Doubting yourself, your mission, your products, or services makes it very difficult to create content, and solutions that will attract the right clients.

How impostor syndrome shows up in your visibility efforts:

• Not owning your role as entrepreneur/business founder (eg: you have a business, but on Facebook or LinkedIn, you never share about it, never even list this role in your bio, you appear nowhere in the about/story of your business)

• Not putting in constant work into your marketing efforts (eg: you have a strategy, a plan, but you still post on social media every now and then, you feel like you know you should be doing video marketing, but can’t get yourself to actually do it, you have an email list, you collect leads, but you never send them your newsletter)

• None or very little networking (eg: you are in Facebook groups, you read everything, you never reply, never share your opinion, you dislike making cold sales pitches, or be put into a position where you need to share your expertise/knowledge, guest blogging or interviews feel scary, you might reach out in a timid manner, and get an invitation to guest blog, but you never follow through)

This growth journey of being an entrepreneur is a fantastic experience to evolve in every aspect of your life. The better you are as a human being, the better you are in entrepreneurship. I have seen the benefits of doing the mindset work first-hand. In fact, this journey of mine is what inspired me into becoming a visibility coach, and help others discover they are worthy to achieve what they dream of.

Need help figuring out your visibility strategy?

I help entrepreneurs like you, shine bright, and grow their business through mindset coaching, marketing consultancy and training. Through visibility coaching, you access inner strength to achieve your dreams with resilience, passion, and optimism. Book a free discovery session and let’s how we can make you show up brighter in your life, and business.

Hi there! My name is Monica. I am a visibility coach and content marketing specialist who creates blog & Pinterest strategies to generate website traffic and leads.

Check out my marketing blog to learn more