EP #091: A CBS News Invite Doesn't Come From Nowhere

An EP client was just invited to appear on CBS News as an expert source. 

She didn't pitch herself or hire a PR firm to land the opportunity. One thing she did do, for years, was show up consistently on LinkedIn. 

I’ll be the first to say that I don't think LinkedIn deserves all the credit here. There were complex relationships at play behind the scenes, the kind built over years. 

But many of those relationships wouldn't have led anywhere if people didn't already know who this client was and what she stood for. That's what consistent visibility on LinkedIn does - it gives your connections a body of work they can point to when your name comes up.

LinkedIn Makes You Findable When Opportunities Arise

I've watched this scenario play out with enough clients now that I've stopped being surprised by it. 

A data security CEO starts posting consistently, and within six months his HR team is citing his LinkedIn presence as a primary recruiting asset - candidates are already bought in before the first conversation.

A construction company president uses LinkedIn to launch a new product, and industry-specific recruiters start reaching out, ready to help fill open roles.

An executive search partner posts for a few months and reconnects with industry colleagues he'd lost touch with - one of whom establishes a new contract with his firm to support their hiring needs.

None of these executives "went viral” or ran ads. They just showed up consistently on LinkedIn with something worth saying, and that visibility made it easy for the right people to find and vouch for them.

The Invisible Prerequisite

There's a version of professional success that happens entirely through direct effort: you prospect, you pitch, you apply, you ask. Most executives are very good at this version.

There's another version that runs in the background: you build a reputation, and opportunities start arriving on their own. Most executives underinvest in this version because the feedback loop is slow and the connection between cause and effect is hard to trace.

But across 292 posts totaling more than 1.1 million impressions, I’ve noticed that after roughly six months of consistent posting, the way people engage with our clients starts to change. Colleagues, recruiters, and peers approach them with more curiosity and recognition.

And opportunities - like recruiting conversations, invitations, or introductions - start appearing more naturally. It’s not that LinkedIn is directly responsible for each one, but by showing up publicly in a consistent, thoughtful way, our clients become easier to recognize and connect with.

The CBS invite didn't come with a note that said, "Your LinkedIn post from three months ago is why you're getting this call." It just came. 

And if this client wasn’t paying attention, she might have missed the compounding effect of showing up week after week.

The Work Happens Before the Call

Our client landed that CBS News appearance because when the moment came, the right people thought of her immediately.

Press bookers, board members, potential acquirers, and top candidates are all doing the same thing when they look at your LinkedIn profile: they're trying to figure out if you're the real deal. 

A page full of company announcements doesn't answer that question, but a year of substantive content does.

When someone in your network sees an opportunity, they think of you, and they either have enough context to make a strong introduction or they don't. LinkedIn is how you give them that context before they need it.

— Justin

Justin M. Nassiri | Founder & CEO
M: 650.353.1138 | E: [email protected]
250 Fillmore St Suite 150, Denver, CO 80206
www.ExecutivePresence.io

Executive Presence specializes in helping top-tier executives boost their visibility, activate their network, and position themselves as thought leaders via our premium, fully-managed LinkedIn service.

Our unique process involves ex-McKinsey, BCG, and Bain consultants conducting monthly hour-long interviews with our clients, and turning them into impactful daily LinkedIn posts to establish their unique voice and authority. On average, our clients see a 500% bump in engagement in their first 30 days with us. Data is continuously analyzed to improve engagement and identify impactful messaging that you can use for conferences, podcasts, and internal communications.