Latest / The Confident Entrepreneur With Jennifer Ann Johnson / How to Get Noticed When No One Knows Who You Are With Jennifer Ann Johnson
Transcript
- 0:38Jennifer Johnson: Today, I want to talk about one of the most frustrating challenges in business and career building: getting noticed when absolutely nobody knows who you are.
- 0:48Jennifer Johnson: You know the feeling.
- 0:49Jennifer Johnson: You're doing great work, you have valuable insights to share, you're solving real problems for real people, but you're shouting into what feels like a void.
- 0:57Jennifer Johnson: Meanwhile, you watch people seamlessly less experienced or with giving less value, being featured in publications and speaking at conferences and building these massive audiences.
- 1:09Jennifer Johnson: You start to wonder: is it about who you know?
- 1:12Jennifer Johnson: Is it just luck?
- 1:14Jennifer Johnson: Are you missing some secret formula that everybody else seems to understand?
- 1:18Jennifer Johnson: Here's what I've learned after years of building visibility from absolutely zero.
- 1:23Jennifer Johnson: Getting noticed isn't about being the loudest person in the room or having the biggest marketing budget.
- 1:28Jennifer Johnson: It's not about being born with connections or stumbling into these moments that are perfect.
- 1:33Jennifer Johnson: It's about understanding how attention works in our world and then systematically building what I call earned visibility.
- 1:40Jennifer Johnson: Attention that comes from because you've genuinely added value, not because you've manipulated algorithms or brought your way in or bought your way in.
- 1:50Jennifer Johnson: Today I want to share the strategies, the mindset shifts, and practical tactics that can help you break through the noise and build genuine recognition for your work, even if you're starting with zero followers, zero connections, and zero budget.
- 2:05Jennifer Johnson: Before we dive in, let's get real about what we're dealing with.
- 2:09Jennifer Johnson: We're living in an attention economy where everyone is competing for the same finite resources: time, mental bandwidth.
- 2:17Jennifer Johnson: The average person is exposed to thousands of marketing messages every day.
- 2:22Jennifer Johnson: Social media feeds are flooded with content, inboxes are overflowing, and everyone is overwhelmed by information.
- 2:30Jennifer Johnson: This reality can feel discouraging when you're trying to break through, but it's actually good news if you understand how to work with it instead of against it.
- 2:38Jennifer Johnson: Because here's the thing: most of the noise out there isn't actually that good.
- 2:43Jennifer Johnson: Most content is generic, self-promotional, and just plain boring.
- 2:48Jennifer Johnson: Most people are talking about themselves instead of addressing their audience's real needs.
- 2:54Jennifer Johnson: So this creates a massive opportunity for anybody that's willing to do the work of creating genuine and valuable and interesting information and content.
- 3:04Jennifer Johnson: The bar for standing out isn't really as high as you think it is.
- 3:08Jennifer Johnson: It just requires you to approach visibility and building a little bit differently than most people.
- 3:20Jennifer Johnson: I started by doing what everybody else was doing, posting about what I do, sharing generic business advice, and trying to network.
- 3:29Jennifer Johnson: It was exhausting and it didn't work.
- 3:32Jennifer Johnson: I felt like I was always trying to sell and nobody was buying, literally and figuratively.
- 3:38Jennifer Johnson: Everything changed when I shifted my approach from how can I get people to notice me to how can I help people solve problems that they actually care about.
- 3:47Jennifer Johnson: Instead of talking about my expertise, I started demonstrating it.
- 3:51Jennifer Johnson: I started earning the attention.
- 3:54Jennifer Johnson: The most sustainable path to visibility starts with really genuinely giving useful information.
- 4:01Jennifer Johnson: Not useful in generic one size fits all way, but useful in a specific and targeted way.
- 4:09Jennifer Johnson: The key is to finding the intersection between what you know and what people need and what's not being addressed by other people.
- 4:17Jennifer Johnson: That's the sweet spot.
- 4:19Jennifer Johnson: For me, it was the gap between business strategy and practical implementation.
- 4:24Jennifer Johnson: I noticed that there was a lot of high-level strategic advice and lots of tactical things, but not much content helping people bridge that gap between the two.
- 4:33Jennifer Johnson: And that became my lane.
- 4:35Jennifer Johnson: But the mistake that people make is trying to be useful to everybody.
- 4:38Jennifer Johnson: It's kind of spray and play kind of mentality.
- 4:41Jennifer Johnson: But if you're not specific in what problem you solve, how can that person know that you're trying to solve a problem for them or what they're looking for?
- 4:51Jennifer Johnson: Even in crowded spaces, there's room for a fresh perspective.
- 4:56Jennifer Johnson: It's not about being, you know, a contrarian for the sake of being different.
- 5:00Jennifer Johnson: It's about bringing in your specific expertise, insight, and approach to challenges.
- 5:06Jennifer Johnson: It may come from your industry background that you're in or a personal experience.
- 5:11Jennifer Johnson: I remember when I first started writing about productivity, there were thousands of productivity experts out there.
- 5:17Jennifer Johnson: My angle was different.
- 5:19Jennifer Johnson: I combined productivity principles with the reality of working in a fast pace and constantly changing environment.
- 5:26Jennifer Johnson: That angle attracted people who were frustrated with productivity advice.
- 5:30Jennifer Johnson: And they assured me that they had complete control over your schedule and priorities.
- 5:36Jennifer Johnson: So one of the biggest mistakes I see people make is trying to be everywhere at once.
- 5:40Jennifer Johnson: They post in LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, oh, all of that.
- 5:45Jennifer Johnson: And they're burning out while producing mediocre content.
- 5:49Jennifer Johnson: Instead, choose one channel and master it.
- 5:53Jennifer Johnson: Understand what makes that unique.
- 5:55Jennifer Johnson: Once you've built a strong foundation on one platform, then you can move on to another.
- 6:01Jennifer Johnson: The channel that you choose should align with where your target audience spends their time.
- 6:06Jennifer Johnson: If you're targeting executives, then LinkedIn's the way to go.
- 6:10Jennifer Johnson: But maybe TikTok is where your young audience lives.
- 6:16Jennifer Johnson: Or maybe it's Instagram or Twitter.
- 6:19Jennifer Johnson: The most effective approach to building visibility through content is what I call value first promotion last.
- 6:25Jennifer Johnson: 80 to 90% of your content should be helpful and it doesn't directly promote yourself.
- 6:31Jennifer Johnson: Instead of keeping your best insights for paying clients, share them publicly.
- 6:36Jennifer Johnson: It may seem counterintuitive, but actually it's the fastest way to demonstrate your value and build trust.
- 6:43Jennifer Johnson: When you solve real problems for real people, people start to see you as a trusted resource.
- 6:49Jennifer Johnson: Your content gets shared because it's helpful and it attracts people who have similar problems.
- 9:21Jennifer Johnson: I started getting speaking opportunities and consulting clients, not because I was aggressively promoting my services, but because I was always sharing frameworks and insights.
- 9:31Jennifer Johnson: The promotion took care of itself because people could see the value I provided.
- 9:35Jennifer Johnson: A lot of people wait for the perfect insight or brilliant idea before they start creating.
- 9:40Jennifer Johnson: And that's a mistake.
- 9:41Jennifer Johnson: Consistency beats brilliance when it comes to building visibility.
- 9:45Jennifer Johnson: It's better to share moderately helpful content regularly than to share really brilliant things very sporadically.
- 9:53Jennifer Johnson: One of the most effective content formats for building visibility is teaching.
- 9:59Jennifer Johnson: When you teach something publicly, you demonstrate your expertise, your expertise while providing immediate value.
- 10:06Jennifer Johnson: It also tends to get shared more because people want to pass along that useful information.
- 10:12Jennifer Johnson: It doesn't have to be formal, it can be simple as sharing a framework.
- 10:16Jennifer Johnson: And it also works well because it positions you as an expert and it doesn't make it seem salesy.
- 10:24Jennifer Johnson: The most effective networking approach to focus on when you can on what you can give rather than what you can get, look for ways to help others achieve their goals or solve their problems or amplify their network.
- 10:36Jennifer Johnson: It builds genuine relationships.
- 10:39Jennifer Johnson: It might involve sharing someone else's content with thoughtful commentary or making introductions or simply being a supportive voice for people doing good work.
- 10:49Jennifer Johnson: When you consistently add value to others' efforts, you become someone people remember and want to support in return.
- 10:56Jennifer Johnson: It's organic reciprocity, and it's more powerful than trying to attract people just for the sake of promotion.
- 11:06Jennifer Johnson: Instead of trying to connect with hundreds of people superficially, focus on building deeper relationships with a smaller number of people.
- 11:14Jennifer Johnson: It might mean commenting thoughtfully on someone's content or reaching out with specific questions.
- 11:20Jennifer Johnson: The goal is to become someone that others think of when opportunities arise, not just when they recognize, not just someone that they recognize from social media.
- 11:29Jennifer Johnson: One of the fastest ways to gain visibility is to appear in front of audience that other people have already built.
- 11:36Jennifer Johnson: It may be guest hosting or guest posting on a blog or being interviewed on a podcast or speaking events.
- 11:45Jennifer Johnson: The key to getting these opportunities is to approach them from a value-first perspective.
- 11:50Jennifer Johnson: Instead of asking, can I guest post on your blog?
- 11:55Jennifer Johnson: Maybe ask, hey, I have an idea for a post that I think would be really valuable for your audience.
- 12:00Jennifer Johnson: Would you be interested in hearing about it?
- 12:03Jennifer Johnson: When you focus on creating value for someone else's audience, rather than just promoting yourself, you're much more likely to get a yes response.
- 12:12Jennifer Johnson: Now, the media strategy.
- 12:15Jennifer Johnson: There should be a media strategy, and becoming newsworthy is something that everybody wants.
- 12:19Jennifer Johnson: And getting media coverage can really accelerate your visibility, but it requires the understanding of what makes something newsworthy and how to position yourself so that editors and journalists find it interesting.
- 12:34Jennifer Johnson: Media outlets are looking for stories that are timeless, relevant, and interesting.
- 12:39Jennifer Johnson: Your job is to find that newsworthy angle with your work or your industry.
- 12:44Jennifer Johnson: It may involve commenting on a trend or sharing research, but the key is to think like a journalist.
- 12:51Jennifer Johnson: What would make this interesting to someone who doesn't care about my industry or about me, but they want the scoop?
- 12:59Jennifer Johnson: I started getting media attention not by pitching my services, but by sharing insights about trends that I was seeing in my work.
- 13:06Jennifer Johnson: When I had the data or an observation that I really thought was interesting, I would share it.
- 13:12Jennifer Johnson: And then the other part of it is instead of cold-pitching journalists, I created relationships.
- 13:19Jennifer Johnson: I found journalists on LinkedIn, which is a gold mine for journalists, and I started commenting on their posts and started engaging with them.
- 13:28Jennifer Johnson: And that had a huge impact.
- 13:31Jennifer Johnson: Sometimes the best way to get media attention is to create your own newsworthy events.
- 13:37Jennifer Johnson: But the key is to create something that's really interesting and valuable to others and not just promotional for you.
- 13:43Jennifer Johnson: I can think of a time when we did something like that and it really created a buzz.
- 13:50Jennifer Johnson: So when you're well, when you're earning coverage in other people's media and building your own platform gives you complete control over your message, a few ways to do that would be email, creating signature content, documenting your journey, and thinking in years and not months.
- 14:08Jennifer Johnson: So starting with email, start building your email list from day one.
- 14:13Jennifer Johnson: That is going to be your most important asset.
- 14:15Jennifer Johnson: It's far better than all the followers that you can possibly get on any of your social media channels because they are your email list.
- 14:22Jennifer Johnson: You will not lose them unless they decide that they want to unsubscribe.
- 14:27Jennifer Johnson: Creating signature content.
- 14:30Jennifer Johnson: Develop content formats or series that ultimately become associated with you.
- 14:36Jennifer Johnson: It may be a weekly newsletter or a monthly analysis, something that you can call your own so that people think of, oh yes, they're the ones that do that.
- 14:45Jennifer Johnson: And then documenting your journey.
- 14:47Jennifer Johnson: One of the most engaging types of content is behind the scenes.
- 14:52Jennifer Johnson: People are interested in the process and not just the results.
- 14:56Jennifer Johnson: Sharing your challenges, experiments, your failures, the things that you learn is just going to make your connection with your audience that much stronger.
- 15:07Jennifer Johnson: Building that genuine visibility that you want takes time.
- 15:10Jennifer Johnson: It's one of the biggest challenges.
- 15:12Jennifer Johnson: So you have to think in years and not months.
- 15:15Jennifer Johnson: It ultimately is the long game.
- 15:17Jennifer Johnson: It is certainly not the short game.
- 15:20Jennifer Johnson: You have to adapt and evolve.
- 15:23Jennifer Johnson: Your approach to visibility shouldn't just be the same way day in and day out, or year in and year out.
- 15:29Jennifer Johnson: You have to find what works, and then all of a sudden it may stop working.
- 15:33Jennifer Johnson: And then you need to change your strategy a little bit.
- 15:36Jennifer Johnson: Some common things that I've seen people, mistakes I've seen people make, definitely being too self-promotional too early.
- 15:44Jennifer Johnson: A good rule of thumb is 80-20.
- 15:46Jennifer Johnson: 80% of your content that should be what you can value that you can give to them, and 20% should be promotional or self-focused.
- 15:54Jennifer Johnson: Trying to appeal to everyone is another one.
- 15:57Jennifer Johnson: You can't be everything to everyone.
- 15:59Jennifer Johnson: Inconsistency.
- 16:01Jennifer Johnson: Oh, I posted today.
- 16:02Jennifer Johnson: I'm not going to post or another week.
- 16:04Jennifer Johnson: Post every single day if you can possibly do that.
- 16:08Jennifer Johnson: Focusing only on followers.
- 16:10Jennifer Johnson: That's another one.
- 16:11Jennifer Johnson: It doesn't matter how many you have, it only matters how many people are actually engaged.
- 16:18Jennifer Johnson: So as we wrap up today's episode, I want to leave you with the encouragement.
- 16:22Jennifer Johnson: Building visibility from zero is challenging, yes, but it's absolutely achievable.
- 16:27Jennifer Johnson: The key to this approach is strategic, being strategic, being consistent, and focusing on adding value.
- 16:34Jennifer Johnson: Remember, every person you admire who has significant visibility started exactly where you're at now, unknown and working to prove their value.
- 16:43Jennifer Johnson: The difference between people who break through and the people who usually don't isn't talent or luck, it's connections.
- 16:49Jennifer Johnson: It's persistence, strategy, commitment, and always providing value.
- 16:55Jennifer Johnson: Your path to visibility, visibility won't look exactly like someone else's.
- 16:59Jennifer Johnson: The strategies I've shared with you today are just frameworks that you can use to adapt to your specific goals.
- 17:06Jennifer Johnson: Start where you are with what you have.
- 17:09Jennifer Johnson: Choose one channel and master it.
- 17:11Jennifer Johnson: Focus on being genuinely helpful, build real relationships, and be patient.
- 17:17Jennifer Johnson: Most importantly, remember that visibility is not an end goal, it's a means to an end.
- 17:23Jennifer Johnson: The real goal is to create opportunities to do work that matters, to help people solve problems, and to build something meaningful.
- 17:31Jennifer Johnson: Visibility is just the vehicle that helps you reach more people who can benefit from what you have to offer.
- 17:38Jennifer Johnson: You have something valuable to share with the world.
- 17:41Jennifer Johnson: Your job isn't to convince everyone to pay attention, it's to consistently demonstrate that value, until the right people notice and start spreading the word for you, is value.
- 17:55Jennifer Johnson: Thank you for listening, and I'll see you next time.