A few weeks before October rolled in, I sat in the hall of the Building Beyond You Conference hosted by Tara Fela-Durotoye. She spoke with the authority of someone who has fought many quiet battles in the beauty industry and won. As she unpacked the idea of building brands that transcend the founder, it dawned on me that brands that truly scale are not accidents. They are marriages of consistency and the refusal to settle too soon. The lesson was piercing: success in visibility is not an overnight sprint; it is the discipline of showing up long after the applause fades. It is about focusing on long-term impact, not short-term bursts.
However, outside of conferences, another reality unfolds daily.
The shutters roll down on a small shop in Yaba market. As the young woman locks up for the night, the weight on her chest feels heavier than the padlock in her hand. She has a good product, her prices are fair, but not enough people know her business exists. That’s the silent pain many Nigerians carry: not that they lack talent or value, but that they remain unseen.
This heartbreak is the sting of having value but no audience, effort but no recognition, talent but no applause. It feels like carrying greatness within, unseen without. On Instagram, they upload today, wait for likes, and when none come, they withdraw tomorrow. They scroll through their feeds, watching competitors with less quality but more visibility attract the attention they crave. Some cry quietly at night, asking themselves if they are even good enough. Others chase trends, hoping that one viral post will change everything, only to discover that inconsistency, not talent, is what holds them back.
I’ve seen this repeatedly in my consulting work. One client in particular comes to mind. He was talented, his product was solid and his branding was clear. Yet when his posts did not attract likes or comments, he stopped showing up altogether. He didn’t delete his posts; he just faded away. The absence of applause killed his rhythm. This is the silent graveyard where many brands bury their potential.
This is why, in October, we need to adopt a reset mindset. If you don’t confront the subtle mistakes sabotaging your visibility, you will keep working hard but remain invisible. I’ve summarised these mistakes in the acronym SETTLED, because too many entrepreneurs and small business owners settle too soon.
S – Short-Term Thinking
The hunger for quick wins is one of the greatest traps of visibility. Nigerian entrepreneurs often crave overnight sales, instant recognition and viral posts that will change their lives. But visibility doesn’t work like a lottery ticket; it works like compound interest.
Research from Harvard Business Review shows that brands with sustained long-term campaigns grow market share twice as fast as those chasing short-term stunts. The truth is, consumers need to see a brand multiple times before trust builds. Yet many business owners quit just before the trust curve bends in their favour.
Instead of gambling on a viral post, commit to a 90-day visibility strategy. Think of visibility as farming: plant, water and nurture. You will harvest what comes in due time.
E – External Validation Dependence
Another mistake is tying confidence to likes, shares or applause. The truth is, if applause is your fuel, silence will be your graveyard. My client’s story is a clear example: His talent wasn’t the problem, but his dependence on external validation drained his consistency.
Psychologists Deci & Ryan, through their Self-Determination Theory, found that intrinsic motivation, acting from inner drive rather than external praise, leads to greater persistence and success. Post or pitch something this week without checking your engagement for 48 hours. Train your visibility muscle to act without applause.
T – Telling the Wrong Story
Selling is not the same as storytelling. Many entrepreneurs confuse shouting offers with sharing stories. Yet storytelling is what drives human connection. According to Nielsen, 92% of consumers trust recommendations and stories over direct ads. Audit your last 10 posts. How many are just price tags and offers? Rewrite at least one into a narrative that shows your audience the human side of your brand.
T – Tactics Over Strategy
Scrolling endlessly through trends and jumping on every viral dance or hashtag is the new treadmill of entrepreneurship. It feels busy, but moves you nowhere. Without a clear strategy, tactics are like seeds thrown on concrete.
McKinsey reports that businesses aligned with a clear strategy outperform competitors in growth metrics. Strategy answers the deeper questions: Who are you? Who do you serve? What problem do you solve? Without these, tactics only create noise, not traction. Write a one-page strategy that answers those three questions. Use it to filter every post, collaboration, or idea.
L – Lack of Consistency
Consistency is the invisible currency of visibility. Research from Sprout Social found that 70% of consumers expect brands to show up consistently across platforms. Yet consistency is often the hardest thing to sustain because it’s not glamorous.
Tara Fela-Durotoye embodies this principle. For over two decades, she has not just built her brand but also an entire ecosystem of beauty entrepreneurs. At the Building Beyond You Conference, she emphasised again what her life’s work proves that consistency compounds into legacy.
Pick one platform and show up three times a week for the next month. No excuses.
E – Escaping the Grind Too Soon
The final mistake is quitting too soon. Visibility is not a one-week experiment but a marathon. Research from the Content Marketing Institute shows it takes an average of 18 months for consistent content marketing to deliver compounding results. Yet many entrepreneurs give up after just a few months.
The tragedy of quitting early is that momentum, once broken, is hard to regain. Like pushing a car uphill, most people give up just before the car tips over and starts rolling forward.
Instead of quitting, schedule quarterly reviews of your visibility process. Tweak, adapt, but don’t abandon.
D – Disconnect from Your Audience
Finally, many entrepreneurs neglect the most obvious source of guidance: their audience. They create content or products based on what they think is good, not what their customers actually need. This disconnect is often invisible but deadly. If your audience doesn’t feel understood, engagement dies, and your efforts are wasted.
Engage your audience this week. Ask questions, run polls, respond to comments, and observe what resonates. Adapt your content or offerings accordingly.
October is your reset. Don’t settle. Build beyond yourself. Tell better stories. Keep showing up even when nobody claps. Because the clapping will eventually come, but your drive must never be clap-dependent.
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Featured Image by Thirdman for Pexels.
