5 Ways for Founders to Get Visible
You KNOW that you’ve got something great on your hands, and now it’s time to make sure more people know about both you and your company.
Given that 137,000 new startups emerge every single day, it’s key to stand out and catch the attention of consumers, investors, and maybe even retailers.
How can you fast track from sharing with your limited audience on social media to reaching the masses? Here are some ways that founders can get visible so that they can grow faster.
1. Leverage Other People’s Platforms
Taking visibility into your own hands using social media is a given. And, keep in mind that someone out there has a bunch of your ideal audience all hanging out on their platform - whether that’s listening to their podcast, watching their TikToks, attending their conference, etc.
So first, get clear on who you want to get in front of and understand where they’re getting their information from and being influenced by. Those are the places that you want to be. Pitch yourself to be a guest on their podcast, to do a collab on social, to speak on their stage, and reach the right people in droves.
2. Stay on Top of Trending Topics
Most every industry has a predictable news cycle: fitness, finances, and health will always come up during New Year’s Resolution season. Taxes will always be a timely topic in April.
In addition to these regularly trending topics, keep an ear out for what’s happened in your space that you could speak to as an expert. Is something going on in crypto that you’ve got an expert opinion on? Balance your content marketing and PR planning with predictable seasonal topics while also being quick to jump out and pitch yourself to media and events to share your industry insight.
3. Maximize Each Visibility Opportunity at Least Three Ways
Just did a guest spot on a podcast? Or did a TV segment? Got interviewed for an article? Fantastic - don’t let it stop there. Every opportunity gets to be maximized at least three ways. At the end of any visibility opportunity, check in with the person you collaborated with to see how else you can keep the ball rolling.
One of my favourite collaboration experiences was when I did a guest blog post for a marketing blog. Fantastic - instead of just posting on my own site I was able to reach an entirely new audience with pretty much the same amount of effort. Instead of leaving it there, I asked the blogger if we could do a live together on social promoting the blog post. She said yes! Then, she invited me to be on her podcast too. Great. If you’re putting the effort into creating a relationship with someone who has the power to position you in front of the right people, maximize it to its fullest potential, instead of having to recreate the wheel over and over again.
4. Get Clear on Your Three Potential ‘Game Changers’
In my experience having worked in other agencies, they often take a spaghetti at the wall approach. Pray and spray. Pitch to any and everyone and see what sticks - hope for the best!
Instead of making it a numbers game, narrow in on what your top three game changers would be - if you could be highlighted anywhere or connected to anyone specifically, where would that be? Who would that be? Let’s say that you KNOW if you were to get featured on forbes.com it would cement you as an industry authority, focus in on who you need to pitch there, what section you need to be in and go all in on that approach, rather than flippantly reaching out as part of a blanket effort.
5. Uplevel from Conference Attendee to Conference Presenter
There’s a difference between the way you look at someone sitting next to you at a conference, versus how you look at the person on stage delivering a presentation.
BE the person making the presentation.
Getting selected to speak can be easier than you think: create a Google sheet of the right events to speak at, search the event sites for the speaker applications, requirements and deadlines, then submit yourself!
The first year I pitched myself as a speaker, I simply scored local events but not the bigger stages in the US. The second year I pitched myself, I started getting yeses to the bigger stages. The third year I didn’t have to pitch myself anymore - I had relationships and a reputation that landed invitations into my inbox.
Increase your ABCs of Visibility - awareness, buzz, and credibility - to position yourself at a competitive advantage and stand out as a startup.
Need help getting visibility so that your company can grow faster? Book a Communications Consultation with our team!