We spend so much energy trying to get in front of people who have never heard of us.

New followers. New leads. New rooms to walk into.

Meanwhile, the people who already trust us, who already know exactly what we do, sit quietly in an inbox we haven’t opened in months.

I got a pointed reminder of that this week.

I spent the first half of the week at Growth Hacking Live, a three-day summit hosted by Perry Belcher in Dallas and built around one question: What is actually working in business right now, without the fluff?

By Wednesday afternoon, I was back home joining Melanie Benson, Denise Wakeman, and Amy Yamada for a video panel about AI and what it is actually doing to how we work and live.

On Thursday, I sat across from a former client, someone I’ve come to genuinely admire for the work she’s doing with women over 50, for a podcast conversation.

That evening, I went live and shared six lessons from the summit with my own audience.

Friday, I put out a corporate fire before noon, then spent the evening on the patio with friends, frosé, and pizza.

I had no idea what a frosé was, but it was so good. See pic.

I’m not telling you this because I want you to think my week looked impressive.

I’m telling you because something showed up in the middle of it that I almost missed.

At first, the panel, the interview, and the livestream felt like separate moments in a very full week.

But they weren’t.

They all happened because of relationships that had already been built.

I spent three days learning about how businesses can reach new people, while my own week kept reminding me of the value of the people who already knew me.

At the summit, Perry said something that put words to what the week had already been showing me: It takes less work to reconnect with someone who already trusts you than it does to find someone brand new.

That feels obvious once you hear it.

But it is surprisingly easy to forget when you’re busy chasing the next lead.

That Thursday interview was proof.

She was a client of mine years ago. We lost touch the way people do. Not on purpose. Just life happening on both ends.

She reached back out a few months ago, and this week we were recording a conversation together and talking about what we might build next.

None of that came from a funnel.

It came from me answering an email instead of letting it sit.

Before you build more reach, revisit the trust you have already earned.

Here is the homework I gave my livestream audience Thursday night, and I’m giving it to you too:

Think of ten people you’ve already worked with, spoken with, or built something real with. Reach out to three of them this week. Not with a pitch. With a real hello and something honest about what you’re doing now that they might not know about.

Growth Hacking Live was full of tactics for finding new customers, exploring new platforms, and building new funnels.

But some of the biggest lightbulb moments came when we talked about the people who already know and trust us.

Who already knows what you do? When was the last time you told them what you’re doing now?

I shared five more lessons from the summit during Thursday’s livestream.

​Watch all six lessons here.​

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To your abundant success, Tanya

P.S. Not sure where your own visibility actually stands right now? Start with my Digital Authority Audit. It takes a few minutes and shows you exactly where to focus first.