Seven: The Magic Number for Visibility in Business

Hello Readers, I hope its been a good week?

I want to talk to you about the number 7. Number seven is my new lucky number! It was my grandad’s lucky number too, and I have to say he was an incredibly fabulous person. Depending on what school of thought you come from, or what books you read, some say you need to be visible seven times before someone will finally make that brain connection to call you, book in with you, or realise that you are the person to solve their problem.

But in fact, because of the volume and noise out there now, I think it’s more like 20 or 30 times that you need to be seen for people to know that you are there. We have experienced this countless times in our clinic. People come in, and when we ask how they heard about us, they often say, “Katie, I’ve been driving past your studio every day on my way to work for the last seven years. It was only when I saw you sponsoring something for the Scouts that I suddenly went, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s the studio I’ve been meaning to visit!’”

It blows my mind because I think we’re highly visible and everywhere. But it can take so long for someone to make that connection. So, let’s dive into how you can be visible seven times over, or even 20 times, to ensure a constant flow of leads into your business.

My question is how visible are you, really? If you tell me you put some flyers in a random coffee shop a few months ago, that does not count. Or maybe you once ran a session for the WI, gave no call to action, just offered loads of value, and never returned. This also does not count. Being visible is about being consistent. When people ask me how I’ve grown such a successful clinic and run another successful business alongside it, there isn’t a magic pill. It’s about being consistent and showing up every day.

Those business owners who are visible one minute, post on social media for a week because they listened to someone saying that’s what they need to do, and then stop—are inconsistent. If they try Google Ads for a month and stop because they don’t see immediate returns, that’s not consistent. Random acts of marketing waste time and money. Are you not really doing any marketing? Are you just doing Google Ads? Are you performing random acts of marketing? If so, you’re likely experiencing inconsistent lead flow, feeling like you’re on a roller coaster where income spikes and drops unpredictably.

A few weeks ago, while on holiday in Corfu, I received an email from our website providers, HMDG, saying our website was down. It wasn’t their fault, but GoDaddy had messed something up. I spent all day Monday in a rage, dealing with unhelpful customer service, worried because a lot of our bookings come from online and Google Ads.

Thanks to our consistent marketing strategy, we were right where we needed to be despite the website issues. This experience reinforced the importance of not relying on a single method for visibility.

Where do your ideal clients hang out? While prepping for our live strategy days, I realised the importance of truly understanding your clients. You need to know where they shop, where their kids go to school, what sports clubs they are involved in. If you don’t know this, how can you reach them? Survey your clients if you don’t know where they spend their time. Do market research to see your marketing possibilities. Form collaborations and joint ventures, become a resident expert where your clients are. Don’t just hope your flyers land in the hands of your ideal clients. Target specifically.

Remember, seven is the magic number—Gramps’s favourite number. Aim to be visible in seven different ways. We’ve done so many things over the last ten years to grow our visibility: sponsoring a GB athlete, creating and running our own race, attending city events, linking with golf clubs, wrapping a car in bright pink, being on the radio, and in magazine. We even went speed dating with marketing ideas, sharing our best offline and online strategies. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel—just do more of what works. Assess how many layers of visibility you have, what’s working, and what isn’t.

Your messaging needs to be on point, connecting with the conversation in your client’s head. Use the AIDA technique (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) to structure your marketing. Choose the right media for your audience. Be prepared to fail and learn from it.

Think about how many times you are visible. Are you making the most of every opportunity to be seen? Visibility is crucial for the growth and success of your business. If you are now thinking….. Katie I want more of your support! Why not grab a slot with me using this booking link, we can talk it through and make a plan.

And…. If you haven’t already then join our thriving community in the Treat Your Business Facebook group where you can interact with other like minded business owners and you can catch my live hour masterclasses.

Katie X