Do You Try to Be in a Billion Spots or Seek Quality Exposure?

I could spam 10,000 comments on 10,000 blogs today without giving thought to:

• the quality of each blog
• the credibility of each blog
• the vision, responsiveness and credibility of each blogger
• the communities each blogger built

But trying to be in a billion spots over my lifetime from a wild, mindless, fear-based sprint yields terrible returns over the long haul. Being seen in even 1 million low quality, irrelevant spots means absolutely nothing to entrepreneurs or anyone intent on seeking to increase visibility for any purpose.

However, intending to gain high quality exposure in far fewer spots yields greater success based on the principles of:

• developing posture
• increasing your skills through persistent practice
• making a few seismic impacts daily in high energy circles versus barely detectable touches in a high volume of low energy circles

For example, since I created Blogging From Paradise in 2014 I estimate that I have received 200,000 to 300,000 spam comments or more on my blog. Each human being who published a spam comment mindlessly tried to gain massive exposure in as many spots as possible but gave no thought to:

• blog relevance
• comment quality
• if the comments would ever be published on my blog

I worked diligently to publish a high energy, credible blog in the blogging tips niche. On that front, each spammer seemed to make at least a somewhat smart choice. But I also know that most if not all of those spammers likely published tens of thousands of spam comments on low quality, irrelevant blogs yielding zero positive returns.

Who cares if you publish 100,000 spam comments in lower energy, fear-based circles where:

• few people read comments
• few people click your link after reading the comments
• engagement is almost nil
• virtually all readers are so mired in survival mode that no one has the time to click through and follow your blog or money to invest in your eBooks, courses or coaching.

I write guest posts for the Personal Growth Channel community for a few reasons. I have fun helping you with my self-help tips accrued after engaging in personal development diligently for 14 years, building a business for over a decade and circling the globe for a decade. But I only publish guest posts on this site because Don:

• built a credible blog
• only allows credible bloggers to guest post on his blog

I gain quality exposure every time I publish a guest post on this fabulous blog. Setting aside 17 minutes to write and publish a guest post here to gain quality exposure in front of people serious about personal growth beats spamming 100 low quality blogs with mindless comments.

Being seen in the wrong places is just as useless as not working to be seen in the right places. Quality visibility counts while low quality visibility is virtually worthless.

Quality Visibility Counts

I once played community college basketball with an incredibly talented player who eventually made the Detroit Pistons as a bench player in his late 20's. Based on his talent alone he easily could have signed with Duke, Kentucky or North Carolina out of high school and he would have been a lottery pick who enjoyed a long, fruitful NBA career. He did not have a talent issue but did have an exposure issue based on his low grades, which prevented him from playing high school basketball.

He played 1 year of JV basketball against me in high school then vanished for 3 years until we became teammates at a community college. I was pretty athletic at that point; he left me in the dust with his speed, leaping ability and pro-quality crossover. But he dropped out again due to academics and to work a job to care for his family. A year or two later he showed up at a Division 3 school, became an All American and eventually got drafted in his late 20's for a cup of coffee in the NBA before playing professionally overseas.

This kid once gave 50 points in a summer league game to another kid from my home town in New Jersey; Jay Williams. Jay flamed out after a horrible motorcycle accident dissolving his immense potential with the Chicago Bulls. Even though this kid was almost as talented as the first pick of the draft, Jay gained high quality exposure:

• in a high profile high school well known in New Jersey basketball circles
• on the AAU circuit
• at Duke

to position himself to be an NBA star before one difficult decision ended his career.

My former teammate had similar skills to Williams and was even more athletic but gained no to low quality exposure:

• as freshman JV player who vanished for the remainder of his high school career
• roughly 5 games in a community college in New Jersey before dropping out
• a few seasons at a low profile, Division 3 school in New Jersey

Being solely seen as a freshman JV player, for 5 games in a community college and for 2 seasons at a D3 school is not enough to gain the attention of blue-chip college coaches and professional scouts.

By the time he became draft eligible, his window for NBA success had closed.

The lesson?

Develop your skills but instead of trying to gain exposure in the wrong spots make a powerful impact in the right places to gain quality exposure.

Increase your success through discernment, not a less mindful dash.