You have been in business for a few years. You know what you are doing, your clients are satisfied and maybe you have even written a book or are planning to has been in your drawer for a while. But still that one question keeps nagging at you: why isn't your mobile (and thus your cash register) ringing continuously? Why aren't you bombarded with requests to collaborate? Why do people choose someone else when you know exactly what they need? Chances are it's not down to your quality, but to your visibility. And more to the point: not cashing in on your visibility.
What is the meaning of visibility?
Visibility simply means: can you be found and recognised by the people who matter to you? Not by everyone. Visibility is not about volume, it's about presence in the places that count. In front of the right people, at the right time, in the right context.
As a knowledge entrepreneur, you want to appear in places where your ideal client is walking around. In the media they read. On the podcasts they listen to. In the conversations that are having about the topic you specialise in.
What types of visibility are there?
There are two main forms: visibility through your own channels and visibility through other people's channels. Your own channels are, for instance, your website, newsletter and social media. Logical first steps, but they have one big disadvantage: you almost only address people who already know you.
Getting visibility through third-party channels such as the (traditional, major) media, podcasts, trade magazines, news websites is a different story. There, you reach people who don't know you yet and who wouldn't normally come across your content. That's the breakthrough most entrepreneurs are looking for... and rarely find.
What is the difference between online and offline visibility?
Online visibility is all about findability: can you be found via Google, AI tools and social media? Offline, it is about physical presence via an interview in a magazine, a radio appearance, a keynote at a conference.
Breaking news! The nice thing (and therefore, in my opinion, the smartest thing to do) about this is: the two constantly reinforce each other. A radio interview becomes an article on a news site. That article gets shared on LinkedIn. Someone finds it three months later via Google. One moment of media coverage can have long after-effects if you do something with it.
Why is visibility important?
People buy from people they know, like and trust. You don't build that trust with an ad or a handful of posts on Instagram. You build it by consistently popping up in the world of your target audience in places they consider trustworthy. In short, the familiar: know, like, trust, buy.
For knowledge entrepreneurs who want to make the world a nicer or better place, this is extra relevant. Your impact directly depends on how many people know you exist, whether you can be trusted and whether you can cash in on your visibility.
How does visibility help my business?
Visibility by itself does not yet bring you clients. It attracts new clients who already know you from somewhere before they contact you. It opens doors at speakers' bureaus. It gives you a position of authority that allows you to charge higher rates. And if you have written a book, visibility is the direct fuel behind your book sales. Cashing in on your visibility is the next step.
My clients who are serious about generating free publicity see this pattern time and time again: more media attention leads to more enquiries, higher fees and invitations to speak that they would never have received otherwise. Sometimes it even leads to influence at government level. Just take a look at these success stories. Visibility has a direct impact on your turnover and your influence.
How do you increase your company's visibility?
There are several ways, but the most powerful is free publicity: media attention without paying for it. When a journalist or editor decides to interview you or carry your story, you reach a new audience of sometimes thousands of people in one fell swoop. It is someone else's objective story about you.
This is fundamentally different from paid advertising. With advertisements, you determine the message and pay for each display. With free publicity, an independent journalist decides that you are worth writing about, and that gives you a credibility you simply cannot buy.
Would you like to know how to present your story in a way that really appeals to journalists? In the blog post ‘Approaching the press — the secret nobody tells you’, you can read exactly how it works.
What does cashing in on visibility mean?
Cashing in on visibility is the moment when attention turns into something concrete. A new client. A paid keynote. More book sales. A higher price for your services. More impact on the people you want to reach. Start a (social) movement.
Many entrepreneurs stop at attention. They welcome publication, put it on LinkedIn and wait and see. But attention without a strategy evaporates quickly. The difference between entrepreneurs who really grow through PR and the rest is not in how many publications they get. It is their preparation for attention and the actions they take after getting in the media that deliver the real results. That is where visibility is cashed in.
How can you use publications to contribute to your image and credibility?
Once you’ve received media coverage, it’s important to actively capitalise on that attention. Share the article via your own channels and through your newsletter. Add it to your website as proof of your expertise. Both journalists and (potential) clients look for this kind of ‘social proof’. Also use the articles in your quotations and on your speaker page. And if you know what you’re doing, there are so many more possibilities! The articles therefore not only help you reach potential clients, but also to capitalise on that visibility.
What is a conversion strategy in PR?
A conversion strategy in PR is the plan you have ready before you even get media attention. What do you want people to do after seeing you or reading about you? Visit your website? Buy your book? Request an interview? So what visibility monetisation looks like for you depends on the goals you set beforehand.
Once that answer is clear, you can already gear your message in the media to that next step. Don't tell everything in an interview and leave room for curiosity. Make sure your website, LinkedIn profile etc. are ready to receive visitors. Make sure there is a clear first step people can take. PR and conversion reinforce each other, but only if you consciously think about it.
You can read more about how to set up such an approach in the blog on public relations: here’s why you’ll want to get started today.
How do I know how much my company's visibility brings me?
Visibility sometimes feels abstract, but you can get a better grip on it than you think. Start with the basic question: how did new clients find you? Just ask them. You'll find that many people have seen or heard about you somewhere on a podcast, in an article, at an event....
Also look at your website traffic in the days after a publication. You will often see the number of website visits soar after a publication. Count all the new subscriptions to your newsletter. Pay attention to direct requests or reactions that can be directly linked to a media moment. These signals tell you more than you think and they help you see which media and which topics really work for your business.
How is PR conversion calculated?
There is no universal formula for calculating the value of monetised visibility, but there are useful metrics. The most direct: how many enquiries, book sales or subscriptions can you directly link to a media moment? How did your mailing list grow in the week after a publication?
A broader metric is Advertising Value Equivalency (AVE): what would it have cost to buy the same reach through advertising? An interview in a national daily newspaper or an appearance on a popular radio programme can easily be worth many times the investment in a good PR strategy. That is what makes free publicity so attractive: nowhere else is the ratio between investment and reach so favourable.
To be honest, the AVE method is no longer as representative as it does not include the effect of social media, for instance. In addition, measuring PR conversion requires patience. It is rarely one big hit. It is an accumulation of small moments that together lead to brand awareness, trust and ultimately: customers who warm up before they even make contact.
Do you really want to make your visibility work for you?
Focus not only on getting attention, but especially on cashing in on it. Because being visible and cashing in on visibility are two different things. Many entrepreneurs master the first. The second is where the real growth is.
I help knowledge entrepreneurs and authors to structurally appear in the news with ease and to cleverly convert that attention into growth and impact. In a personal strategy meeting, together we look at what you need to achieve this. You immediately get a concrete idea of what PR can do for you and which steps you can take.
Ready to take the next step? Book your strategy session here.
