The power of remaining top of mind (and the courage to be there)

I was sitting at my computer feeling defeated and deflated. I distinctly remember thinking to myself, if I am so good at what I do, why isn't anyone reaching out to me with opportunities.

I had spent the year prior to that treating my yoga practice as though it were my vocation. The truth was, I was avoiding the dreaded task of pitching for opportunities and putting myself out there. I had been on extended maternity leave and had lost a lot of confidence after being out of the game for what felt like forever. The fact I had spent over a decade representing high profile individuals no longer factored into my sense of self. 

On this particular morning, I was tired of my own excuses and happened to come across a Gary Vee video. In it, he was basically saying "stop making excuses and get the f&*k on with it".

Spurred into action and bolstered up by his trademark energy, I decided to post on a businesswomen’s network Facebook group page. I remember introducing myself as "reluctantly posting for the first time". The results of that post blew me away. In fact, #thebrandinyou and my business today are the results of that post. It gave me the momentum I needed and the reminder that I did have something of value to offer, I was just not valuing it myself. 

Prior to that moment, I was not visible to anyone. How would my network even know I was looking for opportunities? I was not on their mind, let alone at the top of it. I wanted to believe they would spontaneously think of me if anyone asked about PR and personal branding, I was na?ve and making the kinds of excuses that kept me safely in my comfort zone. 

It requires consistent effort to stay at the top of the minds of your colleagues, clients, and network, but once you are there it pays off a thousandfold.

Why? 

It is a phenomenon called 'recency bias' which is defined as a cognitive bias that favors recent events over historic ones, which basically means, we will talk and think about what we recently saw, read, or heard about. 

If your colleagues, clients, and network are hearing from you regularly, chances are, without even knowing why they will speak, refer, and mention you more often. 

So how do you stay top of mind? 

· post on social media regularly

· Create a newsletter or blog and write regularly

· Send a text or email to touch base

· Give them a call and/or suggest a coffee date 

Visibility is power. Never assume just because you know someone that they will think of you. In the hyper-connected information-saturated world we live in, everyone is vying to be top of mind, question is what are you doing to make sure you are?