Is Your Visibility Strategic? This Scorecard Will Tell You [Vanity Metrics Detox Part 2]

Wouldn't it be amazing if you could have a tool that helps you track what you're doing, scores it and tells you what's actually working and what's just noise. Because here's the thing that nobody talks about, marketing, burnout doesn't come from doing too much. It comes from doing too much of the wrong things.

This is the entrepreneur school podcast where we believe you can run a thriving business and still make your family a priority. This show is all about supporting you the emerging or early stage Entrepreneur on your journey from solopreneur to CEO while wearing all of the other hats in your life. My name is Kelly Sinclair, and I'm a brand and marketing strategist who started a business with two kids under three. I'm a corporate PR girl turned entrepreneur after I learned the hard way that life is too short to waste doing things that burn you out. On this show, you'll hear inspiring stories from other business owners on their journey, and learn strategies to help you grow a profitable business while making it all fit into the life that you want. Welcome to entrepreneur School.

Hi friends. Welcome back to entrepreneur school podcast, and we are on part two of our vanity metrics detox series. And today we are detoxing the habit of measuring likes instead of leads. Because if you have ever poured your heart into a post online only to get a handful of likes and then felt totally discouraged, I can't we've been taught to measure our visibility by these surface level stats, but in business, likes do not pay the bills. Follower count does not matter. It does not directly translate to money in the bank. So let's change how we measure what matters. And this isn't just about social media, because if you've been here with me for a while, you know that I'm all about finding ways to get visible without relying on social media. And to me, what that means is just shifting how you look at it. You can use social media as an effective tool for relationship building, for leveraging other visibility, particularly sharing podcast episodes that you've been on, connecting with people who are hosting events that you want to be part of, showing yourself out doing things, versus trying to attract and build an audience with social media as your primary tool. So there are definitely people out there who can do this well, who are creating content, growing their audience that way. And if that's you, you can go ahead and not listen to this episode, because this is not for you. This episode is for you if you want to find other more effective ways to be visible and to know with certainty that what you're doing is actually creating progress.

So here's the thing, many entrepreneurs are stuck in this cycle of performative visibility. And if you haven't already listened to part one of this series, then go back and check that out, because in that episode, we detoxed that whole need to look busy or visible, and we talked about how performative visibility can trick us into thinking that we're making progress when we're actually just spinning our wheels. We're showing up because we think we're supposed to, well, we know we're supposed to, and we're like hosting because it feels like something, and hey, doing something is better than nothing, right except not always the right something. So we end up spending our limited time, energy and attention on things that look good from the outside, but don't actually create results. We think that we're being visible because we're active, but until we actually track what we're doing, we don't know what's working. And I know that you have limited time and energy, and I am here to help you make sure that you're using that in the absolute most effective way. And that is why tracking is the antidote to performative visibility. It brings clarity, it brings truth, it brings focus. And let me take you back to a summer a couple of years ago where I first initiated and created this concept for myself. I am nothing if not a practice, what I preach kind of person. So you can rest assured that everything that I'm telling you ever on this podcast is based on my own actions, my own tests, what I've implemented myself and for me now, it's been almost two years of being fully committed to visibility in this way.

And more importantly, I could start to see the trends. What is actually working? What are the patterns that are emerging from all of this and that little calendar that changed everything. And over time, I started to see some really powerful data in this simple practice. For example, here's what I tracked in one season. So I like to look at it in like 90 day sprints, basically, because that's a whole quarter, and that's a long, long enough time to actually implement a habit. It's a long enough time to see some results and some trends. A week is not so 90 days is how I set it up. And so in one session of 90 days, I landed four guest podcasts or trainings. I applied for 11 speaking opportunities, which was a lot. I hosted two of my own virtual events, sent out two media pitches, had eight networking calls, participated in two collaborative bundles, posted on my social media 16 times. So 16 times in 90 days. I don't post a lot on social media, as you can see. And I sent 14 emails out to my list. So that's basically two emails a week. And that resulted in booking nine additional speaking opportunities for new future collaborations, four media hits, which was huge considering I sent out two pitches. So that was like two hits from each publication, and I grew my email list by 649 new subscribers. So that was definitely, like a huge win, and I wouldn't have even really known that all this was happening if I wasn't tracking it. And seeing those numbers gave me so much clarity and motivation as well to keep going, because that summer experiment, it became the seed for my 90 day visibility challenge method that I still to this day do. And I always recommend to do this. And whenever I build out custom visibility plans, they're in 90 day sprints as well, because just like you'd commit to a fitness plan or savings goal, visibility deserves that same consistent focus. And when you give yourself that 90 day window to track your efforts, take action and reflect each week, you can start to build a sustainable habit, and you create space for momentum to build. Now, the idea is not perfection. It's progress. It's showing up for your business with intention, even when time is limited, even when life is full, especially then actually.

So let's talk about ROI, because I know that's what everyone wants to know when it comes to marketing, what's actually working? Where is your time best bent? What is giving you the biggest return? That's what I hear the most. Kelly, what should I do? What is going to be the most effective way for me? And the answer is, it's tricky. We don't always know exactly which action will lead to a sale or a client, because the truth is, people often need those. Whole touch points, and they might hear you on a podcast and then see you in a bundle, then watch your stories, read an email or two, and then finally decide to book a call with you or to buy your product. So it's rarely a straight line, but I actually think that's what's exciting about it, because it means that every visibility, action that you take every connection that you make is a potential spark, and you don't know which one is going to ignite something big, but when you track it, you can start seeing how those dots, dots connect, and that is where the magic happens. So let's wrap this up and bring it all together. You're already showing up. You're already putting in the time you're trying to stay visible, post content, update the website, keep up with the algorithm. But if none of it's leading to more clients, more referrals, or real momentum in the way that it's actually hitting your goals, then what are we doing right? Wouldn't it be amazing if you could have a tool that helps you track what you're doing, scores it, and tells you what's actually working and what's just noise. Because here's the thing that nobody talks about, marketing burnout doesn't come from doing too much. It comes from doing too much of the wrong things, and most entrepreneurs are stuck in that cycle. They're working so hard to get visible, but they're not seeing return, not because they're lazy or inconsistent, but because they're guessing. Let that sink in for a minute.

And that is why I created my new AI tool. Valerie, the visibility auditor, oh my gosh, she is here. She is the coolest thing I have literally ever seen or created. I basically cloned myself into a GPT, and I'm a little bit blown away that I've been able to do that. She's not just a visibility tracker. She is basically a visibility strategist in your pocket. And one of my favorite things about Valerie is that she has a built in scorecard. So every week, she will ask you a few simple questions and then actually score your visibility efforts based on what creates impact. It's like having a coach walk you through a debrief every single week so you can see progress, make adjustments and stay confident in your next move. She will help you look at everything you're doing and figure out is this leading to real opportunities? What should I double down on? What's just draining my time and energy? Because the truth is you don't need to do more. You just need to get clear, and the sooner that you stop wasting time on things that look good but don't work, the faster you'll see results. And Valerie will help you do that every single week, and I'm still putting the finishing touches on the sign up page.

But if you're super excited, like I am, and I couldn't wait to release these episodes, anyways, you can head over to Instagram and DM me the word Valerie, and you will be first in line when she officially launches, and I have a sweet bonus for the first five people who jump in. Now, next week, we're getting to part three of vanity metrics detox, and we're going to be talking about the visibility momentum effect, and how one win can lead to five more if you're doing it right. And until then, go start tracking your visibility, even if it's just in a notebook, because 10 minutes a day can change everything you've got this I am cheering you on. I'll talk to you next week. Bye for now.