9 High-Impact Visibility Strategies to Get In Front of New Clients

Before we even get to have sales conversations, we have to get people to notice us and our businesses. That’s where visibility comes in.

If you find that in your business, you are really struggling to get enough people to notice that you even exist in order for them to know how you can even help them, this post is for you.

Visibility is the often overlooked part of marketing (as opposed to creating content, which is not the same thing!). It’s how you increase your brand awareness, because if they’re not aware of you, you can’t get them on a sales conversation!

I know that we have a lot of tech that makes visibility online feel very easy, but it's also very noisy. So anytime that you can get directly in front of other people, that is a great way for people to know that you exist so that they can interact with you. 

So to help you get started with a strategic plan to increase your brand visibility and get directly in front of people, here are 9 high-impact visibility tactics (both in real life and online) to help you get in front of your ideal audience and potential clients or customers.

Why Brand Visibility Matters

Before we get into the list of ideas, I want to put this whole visibility idea in context for you.

You may already be familiar with the concept of “know, like, trust”. In my world, I like to think of it as a sort of sales funnel. But instead of the sleazy bro-marketing type of funnel, this is a funnel to help you build a genuine relationship with your audience.

And at the very top of the funnel is Know -- getting people to know that you exist, because people can’t buy from you if they don’t know you exist. This is the visibility piece that we’re talking about in this post.

You’re not necessarily making the pitch at this stage, but you’re just trying to get in front of the people who are the right fit for your offer, and making sure they know you exist.

So in order to feed that funnel, you always need to keep a visibility strategy, ideas, and actions in the back of your mind.

Side note: I will say that once you start using these, you're going to have the opportunity to have more sales conversations. 

If sales conversations are something that kind of wig you out and feel a little bit icky, or you're just not sure how to do them effectively, I have a free tool just for you: my free No-Sleaze Sales Method. I love this. It's what I use. It's what I teach, I have been selling like this for eons and it really works.

1. Attend networking events near you for local visibility

A great place to start building visibility (whether your business is online or in person) is to research networking events in your area. And now with more meetings being held online, they don’t need to be area-specific either.

Depending on where you live, there might be a ton to choose from, there might be fewer. 

I don't live in a huge metropolitan area, but even still, we have a few actual networking events put on by various local organizations, as well as some more informal meetups. Plus they all meet at different times! So some are during the day, some are in the evening, some are early morning. 

So wherever you are, look into any local networking events. 

And then you're going to want to see if they are the right fit for you. 

Now this isn’t to say that you can't go out and actually attend some and then see how you like them and then decide from there, but if you want to mitigate the 

time you spend figuring this out, there is a little bit of work you can do at the outset. 

For instance, we have one near me that I really love. It caters just to women, it happens once a month, in the evening. So for me, it’s perfect. My target demographic is there, and I love the fact that it's not super early in the morning, like a lot of the events from bigger organizations tend to be, and I love that it’s only once a month rather than a weekly commitment, which is too much for me. It’s just a really fun, laid-back event!

A lot of times people bristle at the thought of networking events, because they can be terrible, they can be really awful and not fun. 

But through some research and some trial and error, I’ve been able to find a few networking events in my area that I love. 

So that's a great way to get in front of local people and make connections. I've gotten referrals, I’ve gotten clients, and I’ve actually made a lot of friends through those events, too!

2. Join niche organizations to get the inside scoop

Similar to local networking events, these are business groups where you’ll go and meet new connections, but instead of looking for new clients, you’re connecting with other people in your niche.

This could be some kind of group that’s just for creatives, or just for photographers, or just for bloggers (yes it’s a thing!).

Even though it’s not necessarily going to lead directly to new business, you’re still getting in front of new people and establishing your expertise. And besides, someone might be booked up and need to refer clients out to others.

Besides that though, joining niche groups is a fantastic way to talk shop and get the inside scoop on your industry in the area.

For example, if you’re a photographer, at a local photography group you might learn whether or not a local bridal expo is worth it or not.

Similar to networking events, these niche types of events might be more readily available in more heavily populated cities, but do some research and see what you can find.

Another good spin on this is to check with more formal organizations like the Chamber of Commerce or other business associations that you can join. These can be great ways to get in front of people and build brand awareness.

3. Do speaking events on your expertise

One of my favorite ways to build brand awareness and get in front of new people is to find places where you can speak on what you do, where you can actually educate people, and then lead them to your business offerings.

What you want to do is think about if there are groups in your area that also serve your ideal client.

Libraries are a great example of a place where you can do this. A lot of times, libraries need free content that they can put out as free events or a speaker series and things like that. So you can check your local libraries and look into different events that are also focused on the people who you serve.

For example, I have a really good friend who teaches moms how to use either their smartphones or DSLR cameras to take better pictures of their kids just in the day to day. She has an online course and lots of great resources.

She could go around to local mom groups, her local libraries, or other places that cater to moms of children, and do a free or low cost workshop where she actually gives them a few tips on how to do this.

Then she can tell them about her larger program if they want to do more of a deep dive and learn from her more. 

But she's got to get in front of them first. 

As another example, a client of mine is an expert Disney travel planner for families. 

She does lots and lots of talks at all the libraries in our areas, because libraries cater to families, and that’s who her ideal client is. So she has a talk where she gives them an overview of how they can plan their trip to Disney. Then at the end, she lets them know the ways that they can work with her, if they’d like further help.

If you're speaking to somebody, they can clearly figure out right away if you are going to be a good fit for them or not. As people, we all can easily pick up on the vibes of other people and figure out if we like their approach, if we like what they're saying, and decide if we want to learn from them more.

 Speaking about what you do is a really, really easy way for people to warm up to you (or conversely decide that you’re not the person for them), in a really simple short amount of time, for multiple people at once.

4. Teach a class on how to do what you do

In this Visibility Idea, we go even further than speaking on your expertise. Instead of just presenting on it, you can also actually teach a class or workshop on how to do what you do.

I once taught a two-hour workshop at a local makers’ space, at a very low cost, for any of their makers that wanted to come. Seven people attended and it was fantastic (I love teaching, it’s one of my most favorite things).

And every now and then I do a free online webinar that leads into my Sell It Sister course, and I happened to have one coming up a week after this workshop. 

Someone who attended the workshop was interested in learning more, so I let her know “Hey, next week I'm doing this free training that is going to dive a little bit more into what I'm talking about tonight.” She asked if I could get her signed up for that. 

Then she watched the free webinar, and purchased the course. 

So from my end, I got to help her at the workshop, which made me really, really excited. 

But I also was able to get in front of her, prove to her that I’m legit, and then she invested in a higher-priced program of mine later. This made me even happier because it meant she could get even more support for her business.

This is how getting that initial visibility actually converts over time.

And this isn’t just for service-providers or consultants.

A friend and client of mine,  Jillian makes and sells herbal skincare, and one of her first products was lip balm. 

A few years ago, she taught an in-person workshop about how to make your own lip balm. So people got to leave with a lip balm, and it was really fun and people loved it. 

I was just talking to her recently, and she told me, “Yeah, it's kind of hilarious. Because those people who came to that event, they still come to me, and they'll buy lip balm from me.”

They had a fun experience, but they don't want to have to buy all the supplies and everything to make it themselves all the time.

So even though she taught them how to do it themselves, she didn’t lose out on their business.

5. Guest on podcasts to get in front of new people online

If your business isn’t necessarily local-specific and you do a lot of your work online, guesting on podcasts can be a visibility tactic to get in front of people across the world wide web.

I could probably do a whole separate post on pitching to podcasts (that’s a topic for another day).

The in-a-nutshell version is to look at podcasts that match the level kind of where you are at. 

So if there's somebody who has hundreds of 1000s or millions of downloads every single month, and you are getting started or newer in your business, it might not be a right fit. 

Now, it's not to say that you can't pitch to them. But just be mindful that they might not have as much incentive to have you on their show, because at the end of the day, they're there hoping that you would each cross promote each other. If you have a really small audience, and they have a really huge audience, then the math just doesn’t make as much sense for them.

So I would say that look for podcasts that are at more of a matched level to where you’re at, and also focus on podcasts that are talking to people who are your ideal clients.

Once you find a right fit  podcast, look on their website to see if they have an actual podcast submission page. If they do, then obviously be mindful of whatever it says on there. If they say they're not accepting any more pitches this year, or they have  any policies or processes for submitting, obviously be cognizant of that and respect what they lay out for you. 

But no matter what, don’t be afraid to reach out and put yourself out there. 

Let them know a little bit about you. Let them know who you serve, how you help them, how you can help their audience, what value you're going to bring to their audience. 

And then also put in a few things that you are qualified to talk about.

Now, if it's the kind of thing where you are just spamming a bunch of podcasts with the same email, it's just as bad as a regular sleazy selling tactic. 

So you want to make it personalized. 

Make sure that you're actually aware of the podcast. I was pitched recently, and the person that wanted to speak was so far off base of what I talk about, and who listens to the podcast, it just made zero sense that I would have this person on. 

You want to make it something that is valuable for their people and maybe something they've never touched on on their show.

6. Be a guest expert in a Facebook group

So this is going to follow the same format as with the podcast. 

But a lot of times different Facebook groups will allow in guest experts so that they can provide additional valuable content to their members as well. 

I have spoken in several Facebook groups and even on Facebook pages. 

Just like with podcasts, make sure you and the group host have some audience overlap to who your ideal client/customer is, and also sort of match in terms of audience size.

And again, I don't mean you can never pitch people with larger audiences than yours.

But I’m just encouraging you to be mindful that if a host is consistently bringing in industry leaders that are, like, 7-figure entrepreneurs, and you’re in your first six months, it’s just that the odds aren’t exactly in your favor.

In terms of content, sometimes these will be  similar in format to podcast interviews, where you’re just having a conversation with the host. And sometimes it’ll be more like the speaking events or low-cost workshops, where you’re doing more of a teaching presentation.

7. Be helpful in Facebook groups (but don’t be spammy)

If you are in Facebook groups where your ideal client also is, be helpful when people ask for advice. If you know the answer, if you can help, if you can be supportive, be helpful. 

If you had, let's say an aha moment or something, and you want to share it so that you can be sincerely helpful, go ahead and do that if you're allowed to, but don't be spammy.

Because it is really, really, really obvious and gross when people are just constantly posting in someone else's Facebook group as a way to get visibility for themselves or if they are trying to poach clients from the group for their own business or just constantly pitching what they have to sell. 

It's just... it's not good. So don't do that. 

Treat it like you would an in-person networking event or something: ask for connections, ask for referrals, be helpful, and don’t be a spammy jerk.

8. Reach out to people you already know

Don’t forget about the connections you already have to see if you can make future connections with new people. 

Let's go back to the photographer example I used in the niche organizations section. Let's say you are a wedding photographer. 

A lot of times people getting married are of an age where they also have friends and other people in their lives who are also planning weddings. So as you finish working with a couple, see if they have any referrals for you, maybe friends who just got engaged or are in the early stages of booking vendors, and they don't have a photographer yet. 

By leveraging connections I already have, I’ve been able to get a lot of really great visibility in my own business simply from asking other entrepreneurs that I'm friends with to connect me with different people, and even different like service providers that I've used myself. 

Instead of trying to attack your visibility strategy from scratch all over again each time, remember that you can maximize the visibility and brand awareness you already have via the connections, friends, and peers you already know.

9. Participate in maker fairs, summits, trade shows, expos, & other events targeted to your ideal client/customer

If you sell physical products, or like maker fairs or expos or anything like that near you, definitely look into them. 

Now, some are going to be better than others, some are more worth your time or your entrance fee if there is one than others. So do your research, ask others in  your industry who’ve participated in the past, and really leverage the connections you made in the “niche organizations” strategy above to make sure you’re giving your time and money to ones that will actually help your business.

But these sorts of events are a really, really great way to get out into the community. 


A little bit of visibility work on the front end, and then nurturing them with some really high quality value, building that trust, can often turn into not just one sales conversion, but multiple sales conversions, and even at incremental price increases as well. 

This is how you get that forward momentum. This is how this all shakes out.