What every visibility investment assumes… but almost no one checks.
While in film school in New York, I was lured into the world of advertising. Specifically, commercial production.
I started out in sales as a rep for commercial filmmakers, then carved out a niche as a publicist for that industry. I helped directors, editors, visual effects artists, composers, and other creative professionals get noticed.
By 2006, the firm I co-founded had offices in New York and Los Angeles and represented 40 clients on retainer.
I still believe in great PR.
In fact, many of my clients come to me through their publicists, and many go on to work with publicists I know and trust.
Over time, I have noticed a pattern.
PR gets people to look.
It doesn’t decide what they see.
A publicist can open remarkable doors.
Media.
Podcasts.
Speaking opportunities.
Partnerships.
The question isn’t whether they can get people to look.
The question is:
What impression are people forming the moment they do?
Every article.
Every podcast.
Every keynote.
Every website.
Every introduction.
Every point of entry.
Within twenty seconds, before you’ve had the chance to explain yourself, your audience has already begun deciding what they’ve encountered.
If that first impression is coherent, PR accelerates it.
If it isn’t, PR simply helps more people reach the wrong conclusion.
I’ve watched founders walk away from successful media campaigns frustrated that they were still being compressed into the wrong category.
The publicity worked.
The interpretation didn’t.
That’s when I realized every visibility investment is built on something more fundamental.
Not publicity.
Not marketing.
Not a website.
Not a book.
Not even speaking.
They all amplify.
What are they amplifying?
Before founders invest in visibility, I help them identify the spine of the business, what deserves to become more visible, and the signal every future investment should reinforce.
Then, when the publicist, agency, website team, or speaker coach begins their work, they’re all building from the same foundation.
The investment isn’t the issue.
The sequence is.
