Happy New Year blog reader. I'm kicking off my new year with a brand new look and blog.

I'm starting this inaugural post of with my very own theme word for 2012 – VISIBILITY.

If you haven’t heard by now, resolutions are out and theme words are in. 

When I recently polled a group of women business owners, asking them what their theme word would be for 2012, over 90% answered "Visibility".

As a former book publicist and now media trainer, I know how important it is to create a buzz around your business, book, product or service. Last year I was reminded of the power of media and the power of knowing who you are and what you offer.

I can attribute at least $30k of my revenue from 2011 directly to my media mentions and appearances. Here are 3 quick tips to start creating visibility in your business this year.

Know Your Point of Difference – What makes you different from everyone else in your niche. For example if your a holistic coach or consultant, you're in a very crowded field. If raising your visibility and attracting more media to you is your goal, then you're going to what to know what makes you different then the next holistic health practitioner out there. What's different about you? Maybe it's your story and how you came to be a holistic practitioner. Do you have an online presence? How many twitter followers do you have? Why are they following you? Are you publishing articles (if not, you should be)? In other words, what's your platform and what are you going to stand for in 2012?

Hook Em – So what's a hook and why is it important to have one? A hook draws potential high-end clients and media towards you in your business. It literally makes people stop in their tracks just to find out more about what you're doing. Every media person is looking for a juicy hook to write about or someone with a hook to have on their radio or television show. So for example, I used this hook last year to get booked on morning radio shows: Package Your Brilliance – How to Reinvent Yourself for a New Career or Business in 2012. That's a hook that got me on 4 radio shows in less than a week.

Here's a hot "what do you do" hook: I help women business owners and professionals attract high paying clients and really amazing media opportunities so they can double their incomes and get their message out in the world. Incidentally that's not only my hook, it's what make me different then other business consultants, because I have a background in media and publicity. Hooks are emotionally relevant content, tag lines and titles that sets you apart and make your irresistible in relation to other people in your niche. They help you to attract clients, book publishers, media and more people to your speaking engagements.

Your Branded (Signature) System – You may have heard the term signature system before. If you haven't, here's why you must have one now. A signature system is high-end, high-paying client gold. Not only will it help you confidently close more clients into your high end programs and services, but it can also serve as your hook when you're going out to approach media or book speaking gigs. Signature systems combine your methodology, point of difference and you hook and packages it into a format that clients and media can immediately understand and get.

So now it's your turn. What's makes you different? Do you have a hook? Or just share with me your theme word for 2012. Let me know in the comments below. For the first 10 people who do, I'll comment on your point of difference, hook or how you can tighten up that signature system idea.

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