How to Stay Visible When Your Plate is Full
4 levels to keep your network warm and your pipeline moving
Weekly insights on thought leadership, tech, and travel. Practical ideas that make your work and life easier.
I used to travel regularly to Amsterdam for business.
One year, friends planned to be in Portugal around the same time.
Fun! For the first time, I booked some vacation time (so many unused days) and took a little bleisure trip.
This was during a heavy work schedule, in a workplace that wasn’t super accustomed to the work-and-leisure thing.
Such a trailblazer!
After a wild tradeshow week, I kept the grind going into the weekend. As previously agreed, I drafted a silver platter-level handoff to a colleague, keeping my boss cc’d.
Fast forward to the four of us, driving along the coast, soaking in an absolute stunner of a day…
When my cell phone rings.
It was the home office.
And they were M A D. Like hangry mad.
Yelling at me so loudly that my friends could hear everything.
Apparently, someone else’s error meant I had to fix it. Immediately.
After hanging up, I sheepishly asked to be dropped off at the Airbnb for some laptop time.
“That ain’t right,” they said.
Sigh. “I know.”
Ohhh, those were the days.
The juggling act
Confirmed. Work is busy.
To boot, I always had the “new product line” in the “new markets” portfolio, which meant I had to continually source new leads myself.
Now, as an entrepreneur, the balancing act includes projects, clients, a fractional role, plus all those hats I had always heard about, but wow! Until you live it.
I’m constantly figuring out my capacity and priorities.
You live a version of this, too.
And you know the importance of maintaining a strong funnel and a network of amazing people to work with.
Keep getting new leads. Keep clients coming back. Keep moving beyond the referrals and current footprint. On repeat.
We need to be crafty and smart to get it all done.
And it’s completely doable.
Levelling up
If you’re in the B2B game, LinkedIn is the platform you absolutely MUST have a presence on.
You can start at level 1 and make an impact.
But the more you add to it, the more results you see.
Level 1: Update your personal landing page, aka your LinkedIn profile.
Be clear on your work experience, who you help, and how you help them. Be sure your headshot is up to date and professional. Highlight feature posts or projects. You can get this done during a long layover.
Level 2: Post updates.
Take notes throughout your day and share them, let people know where you are, walk through some problems you’ve solved recently. Proof-of-life and personality go a long way. Only 1% of people post regularly, even in the age of AI slop. There’s an opportunity to stand out.
Level 3: Connect via DMs.
Even if you’re en route to an event or a city, send a note that you’ll be in town. New and existing contacts. People have a funny way of being available when you show up on their turf. Also, send a note when you leave. Bonus, send “saw this and thought of you” in between.
Level 4: Keep an email list.
This can be a strategic sales outreach list. Or if you are the face of your business or portfolio, a regular update to your list keeps you visible and top of mind. I wasn’t doing this back in my aviation days, but I do now. Honestly, it’s one of the most powerful resource channels in the toolkit.
Choose your adventure. You can level up through daily micro-efforts, or batch them on a Monday morning or Wednesday afternoon.
Regardless, you don’t have to make it complicated.
This is my system, and it works.
If you want, I’m happy to help you with yours, too. Even just to get started. Or if you’re stuck and not sure what to say, and AI isn’t cutting it.
Referrals, new connections, and clients that stick around.
You’ve got this.
✈️ Carry On
with Pamela Wilton
Stay in touch, stay visible, stay helpful.
Increase your luck surface area.
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