After six years of speaking, I finally took a bunch of half-documented spreadsheets and made sense of it all.

I started documenting speaking engagements, podcast appearances, and other branding opportunities since my big “pivot” in spring 2020, but the data keeping wasn’t great. Numbers and data have never been my strong suit.

I had also never looked at how each one began. So I went back through my inbox (with the help of AI) and started documenting how leads came to me.

I expected a lot of proposals. I’ve submitted plenty over the years, and it felt like that was how most of my speaking happened. About a quarter of the invitations did start that way. More than half came to me: through the reputation I’d built in my industry, a LinkedIn message, a referral, or someone who had watched me speak.

I was surprised, and honestly delighted.

One was a LinkedIn message from a steering committee member of a regional events group.
Some were referrals from someone who did hear me speak at an event.
Some emails were continuations of quick DMs on LinkedIn that opened with a note along the lines of: I love what you’re doing on the platform, and my team could use some help.

The data turned out to be very clear. Being known works. It’s a long game, but for this introvert, it worked to create a thriving 6-figure biz, all without cold outreach. *

It’s also changed how I see the last six years. I had been giving the proposals most of the credit. The count showed me that much of what came my way started somewhere I wasn’t tracking, and I only found that out because I finally looked.

Friends, here it is: you can’t see what’s working until you look at where your invitations actually started.