Your audience can’t hire you if they don’t know you exist. Let’s fix that.
In this episode, Samantha Riley and Leon Flitton break down the essential shifts you need to make to amplify your brand and become the go-to authority in your niche. It’s not about chasing vanity metrics or going viral. It’s about strategic visibility that attracts the right clients.
You’ll learn why authority trumps popularity, how to turn visibility into a core business strategy, and the key to creating authentic connections that drive business growth. Plus, they share actionable steps you can take today to start standing out. And don’t miss the announcement at the end that could change the game for your brand.
Your brand’s visibility should never rely on luck. It’s all about strategy. And taking intentional action, you’ll be amazed at the opportunities that come your way.
IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL DISCOVER:
- Why being good at what you do won’t get you noticed, and what will (02:10)
- How to make authority your secret weapon, not popularity (05:50)
- The mistake that could attract the wrong audience,and how to avoid it (07:19)
- Why visibility must be a strategy and how to implement it today (08:38)
- How to craft a brand message that makes people say, “I need that!” (12:13)
- How to be strategic with your visibility so you can be where your ideal clients are already looking (15:11)
- Building a visibility plan you can actually stick to (16:20)
- The Amplify Your Brand Summit (18:06)
RESOURCES
REGISTER for the Amplify Your Brand Summit
The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW THE INFLUENCE BY DESIGN PODCAST
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TRANSCRIPTION
Samantha Riley 0:00
We work with some amazing people, some people that have been working in their expertise for 10, 20, 30 years, and what we see in a lot of cases is that a lot of people spend their time working in their business on the delivery, creating the offers, and not actually spending enough time working on their business, on their brand, working on their visibility.
Leon Flitton 0:27
100%. And if you’re someone that’s, you know, following along here, and you’re thinking, well, Yep, that’s me, then don’t worry, we’re going to fix that.
Samantha Riley 0:35
Welcome to Influence By Design. This is the podcast for coaches, healers, and experts dedicated to mastering the art of influence to accelerate business growth and impact. Discover transformative strategies that turn your expertise into expansive success.
Hey there, and welcome back to today’s episode of Influence By Design. I’m Samantha Riley.
Leon Flitton 0:58
And I’m Leon and today we’re talking about something that every coach and subject matter expert needs to master, and that’s brand amplification.
Samantha Riley 1:07
Absolutely. So if you want to be known, if you want to be heard and seen, which I hear from so many people, and if you want to be sought after and consistently attracting the ideal clients who want to work with you, and especially those high ticket clients that we all want, then this episode is for you. In today’s episode, we’re going to dive into how you can amplify your brand. We’re going to talk about how you can build your authority, and essentially, how you can stand out in this crowded market that we’re in right now. It’s not just crowded, it’s super, super noisy. And if you’ve ever felt like you’re the world’s best kept secret because you feel like you’re not getting engagement or you’re not being heard, then we’re going to talk today about exactly what you can do to change that. And at the end, we’re also going to tell you about a special event that Leon and I are working on right now so that you can accelerate your visibility even more. So stay tuned to the end.
So let’s start with why brand amplification matters. And I think that so many people get caught up in thinking that to get more clients, they need to be really good at what they do. Now, just stick with me here, because obviously you do need to be really good at what you do, and you do need to be an expert in your delivery. However, you may not necessarily need to go and do another 10 courses, which is what I see so many subject matter experts doing. They get really caught up in I need more clients, so I’ll just do this extra course. So it’s not just about being good at what you do. You have to be known for what you do.
Leon Flitton 2:52
Right. So think about some of the experts that you might follow, and the ones that particularly stand out. And chances are, they might not necessarily be the absolute best in their field. Sure, they’re good, but they might not be the ones that absolutely, you know, stand out the most, but they’re clearly the ones that you see here and you trust the most.
Samantha Riley 3:12
Absolutely. Actually, I’m going to be a little bit controversial here because I just want to prove a point, and I’m not saying that this is right or wrong, and I’m not going to like die on the hill for someone else for this. But most of you probably have heard just recently about Mel Robbins, who was launching the book about The Let Them Theory. She’s quite vocal. She’s very known for what she’s doing. However, The Let Them Theory was actually a poem that was published in 2019 by Cassie Phillips. She penned that viral Let Them poem, and it did get some notoriety. It was talked about, but it’s Mel Robbins that has brought it to the bigger stage. I’m not saying I agree with what’s been done. I don’t want you to take this out of context. What I am saying, though, is, if you don’t stand up and share your brand, your thoughts, what it is that you do, your expertise, then people aren’t going to know you for doing that. And guess what, the more you don’t share that, the more possibility is that someone else will.
Leon Flitton 4:30
Well there you go. Because I thought Mel Robbins did that, so I didn’t know.
Samantha Riley 4:33
Nor did many of us.
Leon Flitton 4:36
Yes, yes. Good point.
Samantha Riley 4:37
So the reality is, your audience can’t hire you if they don’t know you exist. So you really need to amplify your brand. It’s about increasing your visibility, because when you increase that visibility, it builds that know, like, and trust factor.
Leon Flitton 4:53
And I think when you do that, this is when opportunities really start coming your way. You know, that’s when you get opportunity to speak, to go on podcasts, to do collaborations, and you know, it’s because you’re getting noticed, so you become the go-to expert.
Samantha Riley 5:09
Yeah, people are calling you out for that expertise. And I know that you see this all the time, Leon, we work with some amazing people, some people that have been working in their expertise for 10, 20, 30 years. And what we see in a lot of cases is that a lot of people spend their time working in their business, on the delivery, creating the offers, and not actually spending enough time working on their business, on their brand, working on their visibility.
Leon Flitton 5:41
100%, and if you’re someone that’s, you know, following along here, and you’re thinking, well, Yep, that’s me, when don’t worry, we’re going to fix that.
Samantha Riley 5:50
So there are three major shifts happening right now in personal branding that you need to pay attention to if you want to stand out. And the first one is authority over popularity. So before you poo poo this idea, just stick with us. You want to start explaining this Leon?
Leon Flitton 6:07
So I think it’s maybe something that’s more commonly said depth over width. So if you think about having a niche audience that sees you as a trusted expert, that’s always going to be more profitable than a big disengaged audience that, just a big audience. So yeah, so that’s why I’m focusing on depth over width. Creating content that speaks to that is actually speaking to your ideal client. So ideal audience.
Samantha Riley 6:34
Absolutely. You don’t need a million followers, and in actual fact, like so many people think they need a million followers, or they need to go viral. But in actual fact, it’s the opposite. If you go viral, and I was actually speaking to someone that did have a post go viral about six months ago, and she’s actually thinking of shutting down her Instagram account, because what happened is it went viral everywhere, and she started attracting all these people that had nothing to do with her niche whatsoever, and her only way out was, oh my goodness, start a new account so I can start again. So don’t think that you need lots of eyeballs. You actually need the right eyeballs or the right people listening to you. So it’s, you really need to make sure that you’re that authority in your niche.
Leon Flitton 7:19
Can I do a quick story here? So do you know the, do you know the Seattle fish market? Where they throw that? They throw the salmon.
Samantha Riley
I think it is salmon, they throw.
Leon Flitton
They throw the fish. Yeah.
Samantha Riley 7:31
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know what you’re talking about, it’s Pike Place. We went there.
Leon Flitton 7:35
Yeah, that’s the one, yes. So we’re probably, probably guilty of doing something that was probably problematic.
Samantha Riley 7:42
I know what you’re about to say, and we have plenty of it.
Leon Flitton 7:45
So apparently it became famous because of what they do, which is throwing the fish. And there’s a bit of a story around that as well.
Samantha Riley 7:53
It’s entertaining. People go there to watch, right?
Leon Flitton 7:57
Yeah, but the reason you have a fish shop is so you can sell fish. Apparently, there ain’t so many fish anymore,
Samantha Riley 8:03
No, because people go to watch them.
Leon Flitton 8:06
Yeah. So they’ve attracted the wrong audience by doing something cool, but wrong audience.
Samantha Riley 8:10
And can I just finish that story then? Because there’s a fish market in like, a few like, so Pike Place is right on the front of the market, right, so where everyone sees it, and there’s a fish market kind of at the back that all the locals go to to actually buy their fish.
Leon Flitton 8:29
That’s where the actual fish selling gets done. Probably a great example of attracting the wrong market.
Samantha Riley 8:38
Yeah, good story, Leon. Let’s talk about the second shift, which is that visibility needs to be a strategy and not an afterthought. So what I mean by this is that your visibility has to be intentional. It can’t be an afterthought, like, Oh, I’ll post when I’ve got time. Because I don’t know about you, Leon. Actually, I do know about you, Leon. It’s very easy to get caught up with all the things that need to be done as a business owner. Like, business has lots of things that need to happen. And if we treat our visibility as an afterthought, like I’ll post when I have time, it’s very, very easy to put that off, and then all of a sudden, a month later, think, oh my goodness, I haven’t even sent an email, or I haven’t, you know, insert whatever it is there. But visibility isn’t a like, when I’ve got time thing. It’s actually a core business function, you know, just like you prioritize sales or your client work, you know, your delivery or group coaching calls, you need to have a consistent brand amplification strategy. It actually needs to be in the calendar.
Leon Flitton 9:56
I love the fact that you mentioned consistent, because it has to be continually showing up. So it is a, you know, consistent, continual core business function, like, it just has to be there. So it’s not, yeah, definitely not I’ll just post when I have time thing. It really is a, it has to be done thing.
Samantha Riley 10:12
Absolutely. So we need to make sure that we do have that strategy, not just in the calendar of, okay, this is when we’re going to show up, but also to have a strategy in place so that you show up in the right places, show up in the places that matter most for your business. And the three ways to do that is by leveraging borrowed audiences, building your audiences, or buying audiences. So borrowed, built, and bought, and we’re going to dive into that in our little event that we’ve got coming up, that we’re talking more about at the end.
Leon Flitton 10:50
Nice, can’t wait. And the third shift is, connection is the new currency. So people just don’t buy from brands anymore. They actually buy from people, and that’s because they feel connected to them.
Samantha Riley 11:01
Yeah, I often say this, people don’t buy coaching. They buy coaches. You’re not going to go and buy from someone that’s got a fancy logo. You’re going to feel someone, do business with, someone that you know, like, and trust, someone that resonates with your story, your energy, your why, the things that you share, the authentic stories that you share about where you came from or where you’re going, because these are the things that set you apart from everyone else.
Leon Flitton 11:33
Yeah, and I think that’s so interesting. It’s, you know, if you don’t connect with them, the people themselves, you know, it’s like you said, like it’s they, they buy coaches. It’s because they connect with that person, they understand that person. I really like that as well.
Samantha Riley 11:47
Yeah, so don’t hide behind generic marketing, faceless marketing, and not showing up energetically as you or as authentically, which is that word’s kind of gone a little bit or it’s a bit diluted, I think, now. But really, you know, if you’re hiding behind generic marketing, it is time to change that.
Leon Flitton
Yeah, yeah. 100%.
Samantha Riley 12:13
All right, let’s talk about some things that you can do today, some little quick wins that you can implement to really start amplifying your brand. And number one is your messaging, or having a clear brand message.
Leon Flitton
Oh, I like this one.
Samantha Riley
Most people don’t, because it can be tricky, right, getting this right, but when you do, I think everything changes.
Leon Flitton 12:42
Yeah. When you nail it, you’ll know, yeah, yeah. So if someone asked you, what do you do? Could you actually answer that in one sentence that makes them immediately think, I need that.
Samantha Riley 12:53
If I think maybe 10, 15 years ago when, you know, online coaching was starting to pick up in popularity, one of the things that was bandied around was this notion that your message should have someone at the end saying, Oh, that sounds interesting. Tell me more. And at the time, I always thought, really, I know I’m a D type personality, but if someone doesn’t say something that makes sense to me, I’m not saying, I’m not thinking, Oh, tell me more. I’m thinking, Oh, I’m just going to go. Thanks for telling me that I’m just going to go get a drink from the bar right now. Like, I don’t want to ask, like, can you just tell me what you do? So a really great way to start playing with this and this is only a start, you know, flesh it out. Make it so it sounds authentic, but it’s I help, whoever your ideal client is, achieve this desired result without this frustration. Now I don’t think that we should do it so that it sounds like it’s copy and pasted and, like I said, just as something to start with so it could be something like, I help coaches and subject matter experts position themselves as industry leaders without sacrificing energetic alignment, profits, or lifestyle freedom. It’s something to start with, and over time, as you share these messaging, you’ll start to get a feel for what other people align with and what doesn’t align.
Leon Flitton 14:24
I think the biggest thing there as well is that, you know, if you put something into your words, it’ll let it flow better.
Samantha Riley 14:31
Yeah, absolutely. But that you can’t sit there and play with this for 10 years. You’ve just got to kind of go with something and start sharing it, and it’ll start to, you know, it’ll start to morph and change until it finally lands,
Leon Flitton 14:43
Yeah, yeah. I think it’s that first time you say it and you go, did that actually work?
Samantha Riley 14:47
Yeah. Did I get it right? You need to get it, but you do need to get it really dialed in, because when you do, you will instantly become more referable. So other people will go, oh, I understand who you are and what you do, and they will refer people to you, and you’ll become more memorable so that you’re top of mind when they need someone that’s got your skill set.
Leon Fitton
Absolutely.
Samantha Riley 15:11
Alright. The second thing that I think that you need to be really aware of where you start the shift that you might need to make is to show up where your clients are already looking. So creating content is something that we spend a lot of time as coaches and subject matter experts creating. But stop creating content just to create content, be strategic and ask yourself, where’s my ideal client already looking for solutions? How can I position myself as the person that’s got the answer to that problem? So it might be guesting on podcasts, it might be leveraging LinkedIn, and it might be, you know, spending less time on platforms and where your audience isn’t actually hanging out.
Leon Flitton 15:56
But I think it’s that part of just creating content to the point that if you’re just creating content for the point of creating content, you could actually be doing yourself a disservice by creating content that’s going to be going out, and that’s the bit before we mentioned about going to the wrong audience, so you’re not going to be where your clients are. So yeah, that’s a probably a dangerous thing creating content for the sake of creating content.
Samantha Riley 16:20
Yeah, because you’ll burn out. So be where your clients are already looking. And then third, build a visibility plan you can stick to. You know, something that I mentioned earlier, and you picked up on it, Leon, was consistency, and consistency beats intensity at the beginning, and I’m going to say at the beginning, because it’s about starting to build the reps. You know that simple starting point is really getting clear on what your primary platform is, whether it’s LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, your podcast, getting that one main content format so, whether it’s written or audio or video, and having that weekly commitment, so either a podcast episode a week or a YouTube video a week, or three Instagram posts a week. And it’s about getting the reps first, making content creation a habit, you know, getting clear on your voice, getting clear on your audience, your message, your branding. And then once you’ve built that habit, need to make that shift into omnipresence, but you’ve gotta build the reps first.
Leon Flitton 17:26
I think the important thing, though, out of that as well, is that don’t try and do it all in one go, you know. So that by starting off one platform, mastering that, mastering your message, and then moving, it’s like going slow to go fast, where you try and do it all at once, it’s difficult, but if you start off that way by doing, you know, one, master that move on, you’re going to move faster in the long run.
Samantha Riley 17:47
Absolutely. We’re not going to dive into omnipresence today. But even though I’ve said, you know, you need to get the reps and get that consistency, omnipresence really is where it’s at. But don’t try and start there. It’s something that will make you very overwhelmed if you try and start there.
So we’ve talked today about having some quick wins and some of the things that you need to shift to really amplify your brand. And if this episode resonated with you and you’re ready to take your brand visibility to the next level, then we’ve got something special, right, Leon?
Leon Flitton 18:23
Absolutely. So we’re hosting the Amplify Your Brand Summit, where we’re bringing together some of the best minds in branding, marketing and business growth.
Samantha Riley 18:34
Yes, 25 amazing people have come, and they’re bringing all sorts of topics that isn’t just theory. We’ve really spent a lot of time with all of our experts to ensure that every session is designed to help you implement the real strategies that are working right now that drive visibility, that build your authority, and grow your revenue.
Leon Flitton 18:59
So if you want to stop being the world’s best kept secret and start being the go-to expert in industry, then you can actually go to the amplifyyourbrandsummit.com and grab your spot.
Samantha Riley 19:11
The amplifyyourbrandsummit com. Don’t get confused. You don’t need to put the “the” it’s just amplifyyourbrandsummit.com and secure your free spot, and do that, because visibility isn’t about luck. It’s about strategy. It’s about taking action. And when you do that, and when you really understand what needs to be done, it takes away the guesswork, and you can be really amazed at what you can do, or how your brand can amplify when you really understand what’s available to you.
Leon Flitton 19:46
Yeah, and I just know that we’re going to be seeing lots of actionable insights that you can use to help you on your journey. And I really look forward to it, and we’ll see you all at the summit.
Samantha Riley 19:56
Absolutely. So remember, register at amplifyyourbrandsummit.com, and we will see you at summit. Thanks so much for hanging out with us here today. This is one of my favourite topics. I really want to see you win, so I hope that you can take a strategy and run with it, and please share with us how it’s worked out for you. We look forward to catching you on the next episode soon of Influence By Design.
Thanks for joining me for this episode of the Influence By Design podcast. If you want more, head over to influencebydesignpodcast.com. For the show notes and links to today’s gifts and sponsors. And if you’re looking to connect with other experts who are growing and scaling their business too, join us in the coaches, thought leaders, and change makers community on Facebook, The links are waiting for you over at influence by design podcast.com.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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