For a long time, I used to believe my work should speak for itself.
I didn’t say it out loud, but that’s how I operated.
I went all-in on quality. I did the work few others were willing to do – deep research, long hours, full accountability.
I didn’t take shortcuts. I walked away from opportunities that weren’t right for the client, even when it meant sacrificing income.
I assumed that level of integrity and excellence would separate me. That the market would notice. That the right people would find me.
But like many things in life, that’s not what actually happened.
What actually happened was that I kept losing deals to people who didn’t go half as deep as I would. They didn’t analyse the data, do the legwork, or just care as much as I did.
But they knew how to be seen.
They weren’t better, but they were louder.
Their names came up more often. They would show up in the media. They hired teams to do social and follow them around with cameras.
They branded themselves. And they built recall.
And that’s when it hit me.
Winning the client over wasn’t necessarily about doing great work (although that’s what I found you would be remembered for).
It was about being discoverable at the moment the customer was making the decision to hire someone.
It was about being in front of them often enough that the chances of you being the person they called in the moment they were ready was exponentially higher.
That became the turning point for me – when I stopped trying to win by working harder and started asking a better question: “How can I make myself easier to be found?”
One of the most pivotal moves I made at the time was writing a book.
Not to feel important. But to anchor trust.
Publishing that book forced me to organize everything I knew. It gave people a reason to believe I had something to say – something worth paying attention to.
It opened media doors, gave me leverage I didn’t have before, and positioned me as a thought leader instead of just another option.
Despite how many books are out there today, most people still recognize the discipline it takes to write one.
And when they see it, they assume – quite rightly – that you know your stuff. That you’ve built something worth listening to.
But what know one tells you is this: writing the book wasn’t the win.
It was about the doors that it opened.
The book gave me a reason to be in more rooms. To be remembered.
It solidified my personal brand.
And something shifted.
Prospects started arriving pre-sold.
Conversations felt easier.
People didn’t need convincing – they just needed nudging.
Trust was already there before we ever sat down. They had already read something, seen something, heard my name enough times that the decision already felt safe.
That’s the difference between push and pull marketing.
Between focusing on the outbound vs building for inbound.
Between trying to earn trust mid-conversation… and having it walk into the room with you.
If you’re a creator or entrepreneur still believing your work will speak for itself, here’s the truth I had to learn the hard way:
Most potential clients out there don’t care about you, and certainly don’t have the time to think about you until they absolutely need something.
And when that happens, they will go with the clearest, most recallable, most defensible choice in the moment.
You don’t need to be louder.
But you do need to be there when they’re ready to go.
So build a brand that shows up when you’re not in the room because that’s when it matters most.
Because when the opportunity appears – you won’t need to convince them.
They’ll already be looking for your name.