Ready Set Coach Podcast

How to Build Consistent Visibility in 2025

• Emily Merrell and Lexie Smith • Season 2 • Episode 103

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 In this episode, Emily Merrell and Lexie Smith dive into the importance of consistent visibility in 2025 and share how they’re structuring a new challenge to help entrepreneurs overcome common roadblocks. They discuss how, for many, achieving visibility can be hindered by issues like lack of time, accountability, and content creation struggles. By reflecting on their experiences and conducting market research, they developed Ready Set Build, a 30-day challenge designed to help entrepreneurs build momentum and create consistent visibility. The challenge includes structured weekly calls, accountability check-ins, and time dedicated to content creation, engagement, and visibility opportunities.

Emily and Lexie emphasize that the goal is to give participants the tools and create a supportive environment where consistency is key. The structure is designed to help entrepreneurs carve out time for visibility amidst their busy schedules and turn it into a habit. By the end of the 30-day challenge, they hope participants will have developed a sustainable approach to getting visible in 2025. Whether you’re looking to grow your social media presence, pitch to podcasts, or write your newsletter, this episode gives valuable insight into how to approach visibility with intention and consistency in the new year.

Learn more and join Ready Set BUILD: https://www.readysetcoachprogram.com/build


Here’s what you’ll learn: 

  • The importance of consistent visibility for entrepreneurs in 2025.
  • Common roadblocks to achieving visibility include time management and lack of accountability.
  • How Emily and Lexie used market research to identify visibility needs within their community.
  • The benefits of creating dedicated time for content creation and visibility opportunities.
  • Insights into overcoming content creation struggles and how to generate engaging content.
  • The role of engagement is to grow visibility and build relationships within your niche.
  • How to structure your week for consistent visibility with practical time-blocking strategies.
  • Build a habit around visibility by making it a natural part of your routine.
  • Details of the Ready Set Build 30-day challenge and how it can help entrepreneurs boost their visibility.
  • Accountability and group support can increase follow-through and consistency with your visibility goals.


Listener Links: 



Lexie Smith  00:08

Yes, no and yes and no, again and no and yes and yes and no. What about you? No,


Emily Merrell  00:13

no, no. I was trying to think like, did we start our podcast last year or the year before?


Lexie Smith  00:19

No idea. These time questions are real conundrums for me these days. I called my mom this morning. She's like, so what's on your docket for the week? And I was like, well, it's Thursday. She was like, oh man. I'm like, yep,


Emily Merrell  00:38

oh my gosh. My mom's been very confused by by the dates as well. She's like, so you're leaving next week, and I'm like, I'm leaving in a day. What? Yeah,


Lexie Smith  00:47

I'm with your mom. I'm with my mom. Um, but you guys, we're coming to you fresh top of 2025 and we thought we'd kick off today with, well, let me set the stage a little bit. I got this really cute, thoughtful text from Emily. I'm sure I'm the only person you were. You were the only person I sent that to. I promise, really, yeah, I was like, even if this is copy and pasted, I'm honored to make the copy and paste list. No, absolutely not. You were the only person I sent that to. Wait. You made my day. Okay, yay. Yay me. I'm special. I'll meet you. Emily sent me an awesome text that was it wrapped up with a question, what's your word for 2025 and I had kind of been thinking about it, but this really made me commit to choosing it. And so I'll share mine, and then Emily will share yours. And I guess let's preface this actually first with Emily. What do you what do we even mean, like, word of the year? What is that,


Emily Merrell  01:51

um, thinking of like, when you think of your values, even like, Well, how do you want to see the lens of this upcoming year? Can you use this, this word as a as a magnifying glass to decide choices. Can you be like, this doesn't align with my word? Or, yeah, this is totally on board with my word. And I think even Lexie, before you share your word for this year, I'd be curious to ask if you had a word for last year, or if I can recall it I did and how it how it ended. I


Lexie Smith  02:25

think the fact that I don't even remember my word kind of really wraps how the last half of my year went. But I do think it was growth projection oriented. It probably was growth because I rebranded growth mode. I wanted to grow and do things of that nature. I was telling CJ, because we we sat down for at New Year's Eve dinner their daughter. And I was like, What's your word? He's like, what does that mean? And I described it as, like, kind of a theme. That's another way, I a less eloquent way to describe what you said. Um, what I know you had one, and you probably remember it, what was your word


Emily Merrell  03:01

for? 2024 it was expansion. And I remember your word more than mine, but I put it on my vision board. I was like, expansion of family, expansion of business, expansion I had, I did a rebrand as well, expansion for myself. And like, investing in, you know, new resources, new coaches, but similar to your experience with your husband, I sat down with Greg, and I was like, let's do our words. And he was like, wanted to punch me in the face immediately, basically. And then we hosted New Year's, New Year's Eve. And so I had everyone go around and say what their word was for this, or for 2024 and come up with one for 2025 for 2025 so he had to come up with one.


Lexie Smith  03:44

What was his word? He


Emily Merrell  03:46

had said? What did he say? I think 2024 he said, it was like return to normalcy, and then, and then His word was. It was so short, it was like re restarting, kind of, because we're having a baby in 2025 and so, you know, I think there was like, you know, returning to normalcy, of routine and habits and relationship. And it took us a good two years to recalibrate things. So last year was about a lot of like, returning to normalcy, which


Lexie Smith  04:19

all up again for 2025 totally new normal. Your new normal. Um, I love that. The only goal that or intention CJ had at the dinner table, and I'll disclaimer this later in the evening, when he thought about it, he got a lot more deep. But I thought it was hysterical. He's like, the only thing coming to mind that I really want to get done in 2025 is, have our carpets professional equally, that's your goal. 25 no homework. And also, I don't think I want to do that, because that requires moving all the furniture, and that feels like so much work. No,


Emily Merrell  04:53

we did it last year, and I found a guy on Thumbtack, and he moved all the furniture.


Lexie Smith  04:59

Okay? In that for me, yeah. So with all this like Drum roll, please, my word for 2025 is create. And let me explain to you what that means to me. Because I think at face value, you might just think, oh, I want to be creative, not necessarily how I'm viewing the word for me, I want to create a child. I have hopes of adding another little human to the family in 2025 so stay tuned for that. I want to create more memories with my daughter and my husband. I want to create space to really find clarity and fulfillment in my career. And I want to create some some great routines and practices for my marriage. So these are all examples of how create, I hope shows up for me. So that's my word.


Emily Merrell  05:50

I love that I loved I loved seeing your example that was actually really inspiring for me to think about mine. But as last year was expansion, and I felt like I traveled a ton. I traveled a ton for myself. I traveled with family, but also my sister got married. There was a lot of expansion that happened. The word this year is presence, and so it's like presence of mind, presence in moments. I think back to family too. My my son's at a very fun age where I want to make sure that I'm on top of signing them up for activities and attending those activities, and even if that means taking some moments of stepping back from my own career to let his light shine, that's that's okay with me, and just that presence, presence of being able to right, like, presence also to be, gosh, I'm a terrible eater in terms of planning for food, and I want to be more thoughtful about my grocery shopping and like, be in the kitchen excited to eat and create food. I should have just stolen Crete from UX. But


Lexie Smith  06:59

there's a lot of words, right? You can go into like a Sephora. I can never say that word, thank you, that word, but I think it's about what resonates with you like. I could have used, grow like, grow a baby and grow like, you know? I could have used one. But for me, what landed this year was create, and what landed for you is presence. I think for you too, like present could have been one, but for some reason, you're, you're vibing more with presents, right? It's each their own guys


Emily Merrell  07:31

Exactly, exactly my present is my presence. Oh,


Lexie Smith  07:36

I love that. It is my present Exactly.


Emily Merrell  07:40

Because I know, but I want to wait. Yeah, we'll, we'll see. I will be in lockdown starting in a few weeks. So I think there's that aspect of, like, really, oh, the other thing too is, like, we've been in this house now, I think January, 15, Mark, three, three years living here, and, like, really, really leaning into making sure I feel like it's a home. I feel like there's so many things, like I'm looking around that are still kind of like half assed in piles. And I want to just really want to feel everything feels present or like in love the moment. And that's the other thing. And I don't know if you struggle with this, but we future think so much like, Oh, when I accomplish this, then I will unlock x, or when I get in a bigger house, then I'll be happy, or then I'll start working out. Or we make all these like rules for ourselves, and I find that so often we forget to, like, really appreciate where we are and what we have accomplished in this present moment before, like we are, like, damn it, I'm not in Forbes today. Oh, I'm a failure, although I was two years ago. You know,


Lexie Smith  08:52

I one someone said this in a cool, eloquent, sophisticated way once, and I'm gonna butcher my interpretation of it, but you have to remember, like once upon a time, where you are today was your future goal. And I think it's easy to forget that, like I have this beautiful home that, in itself, is something that I can be grateful for every day. Like Lexie, back in her 20s, was in apartments like bleeding money. And one of my goals back then, one of my dreams, was a home, and I've achieved that. But sometimes I get here and I'm like, Well, I want to do this and this and this and this and all the things to your point that are in the future, when it's really important to take a beat and remember, like, whoa, like this used to be the pie in the sky. Let's not forget that, and let's not forget to acknowledge


Emily Merrell  09:40

that. Yeah, exactly. So no matter where you are, although it was funny, I was at an apartment building at an event this weekend, and it was this luxury apartment building, and I was like, I want, like, I want to rewind, and I want to live in one of these buildings in my 20s, and it has a karaoke room and it has a podcasting room, and it has. Those, you know, cool experiences like I never had that. I always had the six floor walk up, which I thought was my Mecca, you know, at that time. So Hindsight is an interesting one.


Lexie Smith  10:11

Too. Things change. They evolve. And speaking of evolution, we are excited to also talk about something that we're bringing to the table for 2025 the early part of 2025 and share a little bit about our process in getting there, because I think there's something that can be learned. So I'm going to set this is my transition guides, bringing in the transition thought, if you didn't pick that up, um, Emily and I for 2024 the goal wasn't as financial for Ready Set coach, as it had been in others. We created a free community. We launched, you know, in the last couple months, a paid membership, and that's great, purely just to, like, help pay off the the cost of running the platform. And this year, we kind of sat at the table and we're like, Well, what do we want for 2025 a lots on the table. What are our personal goals individually? What are our goals together? We kind of talked through some lifestyle elements, and we decided, you know, q1 let's, let's just think q1 for now, because let me just like, look at Emily, if you're on YouTube. Shout out YouTube. She's about to pop a baby. Stand up. Show me a little Billy. Not Little Billy.


11:21

Turn around, sweetheart.


Lexie Smith  11:28

Yes, I love it so. And what I love about us, starting with ourselves and our want, it kind of goes back to the not a kind of, it goes back to the core, root of one of our philosophies of Ready Set coach, which is building your business around your lifestyle. So we knew we wanted to do something q1 then we went away from ourselves, and we're like, like, truly, what do people need? That was an and then what do we do from there? What did that spur? Take it take it away.


Emily Merrell  11:56

Well, we also thought like, what do we need? What are some things that we get stuck on? And what, where do we trip up? Where do we want and wish we did better? And with that, that was visibility, and it was this idea of, how can we, how can we as a collective and as a community, really help each other not only achieve our goals of getting visible, but play a role in helping the visibility come to life.


Lexie Smith  12:24

And I'd say we fact checked that against, you know, we looked at our community spaces. We saw what people were talking about. We saw what types of events they wanted, the type of events they came to. We dropped a comment thread. We asked so we did some market research. We're like, we think this is what people want. Once we landed on visibility, we then stopped, and we go, okay, why aren't people achieving it? Like, what? What are the roadblocks? And this is something I tuned in big onto the PR bar side of things, which is my independent coaching practice, and I noticed some of the core pain points of PR, because it's obviously one lane of visibility, and I identified a lot of the time. It's just accountability and time, like carving out the time on your calendar and understanding how to look for the right visibility opportunities actually doing it. It's the actual execution. A lot of people want the thing, the thing being visibility. They want to be on the stage, they want to be on the podcast. They want to do this, but then they get hung up because life's busy, something else takes priority, or they're feeling like they're hitting a wall, like they don't know where to look. And so there's a lot of these little roadblocks. And then m, you looked at your clientele, and similarly, what were some of the challenges you saw with your clients? Well,


Emily Merrell  13:44

same thing, they all want to they all want to write the newsletters. They all want to post on social media that they feel overwhelmed with where to start like, I don't, I don't know what I should be posting. Like, should I be posting the promotion of my, promo of my program every single day, or like they've really struggled with the content piece and coming up with what to post, which is also, I just want to make a quick note too about this is like a PSA for coaches. I think so often we can say, Oh, well, if I give too much information, then they're going to just coach themselves and they're not going to need me, which this is a perfect example of. Like, you can google how to have a incredible social media presence, or you could Google how to write the best newsletter of your life, but the execution part usually needs an outside motivator or accountability buddy to help you get there. And so with that thinking about, like, all these pain points kind of bundled up, we want to be that for you, and we don't want to just, it's not the Lexie and M show, it's thinking about like, how can we, how can we help guide you and give you the tools, but also the accountability, and in the time. Time to get the shit done.


Lexie Smith  15:01

Yeah. So what we basically, not basically, what we came up with was we needed to create a structure and a container for people, rather than a full on new group like course or program. That's what we felt the community needed right now. So we're very excited to officially announce insert drum roll, ready, set build. It's a 30 day challenge to build momentum, presence, engagement, and kickstart consistent visibility for the new year. So Emily, let's dive in a little bit into, let's start with who this is for. Actually, let's, let's,


Emily Merrell  15:38

yeah, yeah. This is definitely for the entre the solopreneur, the entrepreneur, the coach who is has a social media presence, and that can be encompassing of Instagram or LinkedIn or Tiktok or whatever, what Pinterest, whatever it is that you use as social media, but then also potentially wants to create more visibility by showing up on podcast and getting getting seen on podcasts, or, you know, writing that newsletter that they're like, Oh, I'm going to write that newsletter and I'm going to write it. I'm going to write it at least once a month, but it's been on your to do list for many, many months, and you haven't yet pulled the you haven't pulled the trigger on that one yet. So it's that individual who definitely is probably working solo and not sitting around intense deadlines from exterior forces.


Lexie Smith  16:30

But I'll call this out too, even if you have a small team. A lot of times when we talk about visibility, there are some things you can't outsource, like under like you're or you don't want to quite yet when it comes to thought leadership, right, there are certain things and certain tasks that can be delegated if you have the means. But I, at least I have a team, and I still end up finding like when it comes to my own visibility and my own PR there, my time is inevitably required. So it's for anyone where visibility is on your 2025, intention list. Heck, maybe that's even your word. Now, here's a bit about our structure. Okay, um, this is all available on our website. If you're more of a like visual learner and auditory it's going to go in one one year out the other. But I do we do want to take a moment to break this down, because I think it's important to hear we tried to keep it as simple as possible, but as structured as possible. So it is set dates. It's running january 22 through February 19, and we will have 160 minute zoom call a week. It's going to be on Wednesdays at 12:30pm Pacific, Standard Time. Y'all do your own time zone, not from there. And you go on the website, we have the literal dates so you can make time, move clients, move appointments now, and step one, make the time now. These calls are huge, because they're going to be very, very structured. There is 123456, sections to the call. Okay, it's kind of like our own version of Pomodoro. But here's what we So Emily, kick us off. What is the first five minutes of the call dedicated to the first


Emily Merrell  18:15

five minutes is setting your intention for nope, that's not it. Sorry. Just kidding. It's not one second. I was just saying, if you're paying attention, the first five minutes is going to be pulled up right now. You can tag me. No, no, it's perfect. Now let me pull up the website. This is better. Hold on, guys. Hold on. I got this. Kaylee, Please edit that.


Lexie Smith  18:41

Hey, Kaylee, pausing, pausing. Please edit to write where before Emily said intentions and then she's going to pause and say what it actually is in a second here. Okay,


Emily Merrell  18:53

so the first five minutes is really awesome. It's where we receive, where everyone's going to receive weekly prompts. So that pain point that we mentioned about content creation, we're going to help you, because we're going to give you themes in which you can be writing your content towards, and so that way you're not going off of the blank canvas being like, Oh no, I It's January 7. I need to write something, and I have no idea what it is. We will be giving you those prompts to make your writing, be it a newsletter, be it a social media post, be it a tweet, that much easier.


Lexie Smith  19:27

Then, yeah, 25 minutes of creation time. So the cool thing about this is, everyone works at their own space, right? So if in 25 minutes your only goal is to bang out one post. Great. You have 25 minutes for one post. If you're a fast worker and you want to bang out 10 pitches, great. This is you time. It's 25 minutes post. Those prompts to actually create, to create the newsletter, create, create the the post, and you can also interact with the group. Can get feedback, which can be really, really helpful. You can ping the group like, hey, what do you guys think of this? Etc. So five minute prompt, 25 minute creation time.


Emily Merrell  20:09

Then what? Emily, then this is my favorite part, but this is a stretch and water break where we get up, we make sure we're not sitting for the last 70 hours like we typically are, before we come down to 10 minutes Lex of


Lexie Smith  20:23

dedicated engagement and listen up, because I think this right here too is one thing that makes this structure so different. Okay, there, there are a fair amount of structures where you can like content badge, or they can sign up for weekly prompts. But the other part of this growth thing is engagement. You guys, it's finding the time to comment back, finding the time to send that DM, finding the time to interact with a member of the media or schmooze with them a little bit on X or tick tock. So this is 10 minutes of your week where all you are going to do is engage with others. It's like


Emily Merrell  21:01

girl flirting, 101, basically. And then we'll move into 15 minutes of opportunity scanning. So if your goal is to be more visible and get on more podcasts that could be looking for your next podcast or pitching for your next podcast, it could be scanning Facebook groups for new client opportunities. I mean, so often there's like, your ideal client sitting in Facebook, but you don't spend any time in Facebook groups, so giving yourself that concrete time to actually search for those clients. Same thing for looking for new speaking opportunities. Basically, this is like, where you're nagging moms, and we're giving you this dedicated research time so you can get visible,


Lexie Smith  21:40

and then we're going to wrap up the call two minutes with intention setting, so setting an intention or a goal for the week ahead. So, 525, 310, 15, two guys. These are structured, but it only equals 60 minutes of your time once a week. And


Emily Merrell  21:56

then Lex in between. Let's talk about how we're not just leaving you high and dry in between these four weeks. So what happens next?


Lexie Smith  22:03

So if you are already in our community, then you're familiar with circle. If you're new here, hi, welcome. Circles is really cool, easy to use platform. I think it's kind of like a Facebook meets slack, but we have a circle community, and those in Ready Set build will be added to a private channel so that you guys can chit chatter in between. This can be used for, hey guys, I posted that LinkedIn post. Can you all jump in and comment? Or, hey guys, I just wrote this pitch. Can I have somebody else's eyeballs on it? Or, hey guys, I finally launched the newsletter. Like, can you subscribe so that you can tap into the accountability of the group as a whole. And then on Monday, what happens Emily?


Emily Merrell  22:46

Then on Monday, we have something called Roll Call. Where we why are you looking at me like that? Like, okay with something called Roll Call. So think of it kind of it kind of like when you got into your family minivan, and your mom would be like, who all's here? What are you up to? Len Lexie would be like, I'm here, and this week I did x, y and z. So this is your your brag opportunity. This is your opportunity to really kind of check in with the group, make sure that you're meeting those intentions that you've set for yourself and also continue the conversation with the other members. So it's not a place for you to just sit back and twiddle your thumbs. This is a place we want you to show up and do your little tap dance. And it all happened. You're just, it's


Lexie Smith  23:33

just a quick drop, a drop, a drive by in in circle, um, to let everyone know, I actually sent the pitch, or if you didn't, and you're like, ah, that's kind of your trigger reminder to do it in front of all your friends, right? Honestly, that


Emily Merrell  23:47

always helps me. I feel like that's my favorite thing about group programs, is like, I don't want to be the person that shows up to the call that says she didn't do the thing that she said she was going to


Lexie Smith  23:55

do. Yep. So let us tell you quickly why we just walked you through this and why it's so structured. Because doing this for four weeks, meaning one hour every Wednesday, in a very specific format, and every Monday, doing an accountability check in you know, with support in between is creating a rinse and repeat habit for you to take through the rest of your year. Because if visibility is your goal. You need to do this. It's time to put your excuses aside and actually create a habit. And we're giving you the exact blueprint of the habit to create the dry January


24:32

of visibility. Yeah,


Lexie Smith  24:36

like you're gonna get super wet and seen that was bad. Oh, god.


Emily Merrell  24:41

Oh. It Alrighty, well, is this free? Emily, no, it is not. So this is what I'm really excited about. It is one simple payment of 179 but in addition to that, how many times have you signed up for something at this low payment of 179 and you're like, Whatever, I'm not going to show up all. Watch the recordings. I'll do it in May, when I have time. No, this is not a time for you to make excuses that you are too busy, because we will be charging a missed call fee. So we are holding, we're like, the class pass of your of your business, basically. So like, if you don't show up, we will be charging you a missed call fee unless we have, like, a notice from you way in advance. So this is emergency, of course, yeah, like, shit happens, but, yeah, this is, but this is not something that you are going to sign up for and then be like, Oh, I should have done this, because I am guilty of signing up for a million things and being like, Hey, I'm going to go to all the calls. And then life happens and things happen. But for these five calls, you are going to make the time for it. You're going to make the time, and


Lexie Smith  25:49

it's not free for that reason too, because there's something psychologically about you show up for the things you pay for. It's only 179 it really is a is a therapy session without insurance. It's one recession without insurance to create a habit that will pay pay off I hope for you guys for years to come. Yeah, so excited. I was


Emily Merrell  26:17

gonna say also, and we'll see also how it goes. And maybe this is something that we will reintroduce throughout the year. Yeah,


Lexie Smith  26:25

look at her already recommitting, like right before David's birth. So she's going one quarter at a time, but Ready, set, build. We are now enrolling. This podcast is going live. You have a couple weeks to commit. If you're listening to this after January, that's okay. Hi, guys. If you want us to run this again and you missed out, let us know. Okay, if anything, you can also look at the structure and think through this episode, how we went about creating this program. We created it to fit our life, but to solve a real problem. We did market research, we did all the things we practiced, what we preached. That being said, I'm going to bring your homework today. Well, I guess first I'm going to bring your homework in a second. First, Ready Set, coach, community.com/build, is how you learn more about this. I probably will put that in the show notes, but I wanted to bring your homework back to the word of the year. So Emily, what's their homework? Is it? Just find your Word of the Year? Yeah,


Emily Merrell  27:29

no. Well, yes, I think doing a little reflection on what is it at the end of next year? Do you want to be sitting back and looking at that year and being like, Oh, I accomplished it, but looking at it as a theme, as Lexie said, or looking at through a certain lens, what is that thing that future you would be really excited about having, and in that same intentionality, like being intentional about your usage or your desires about showing up on social media, visibility, what does getting visible mean to you? So it's a two part homework on there. Find your work and then get visible.


Lexie Smith  28:05

You're hiccuping from pregnancy. I am sorry if I'm getting over the holidays, it's been a wonderfully graceful episode, as always around here, we hope to have the opportunity to interact with you guys in real time during Ready, set, build, kicking off january 22 go ahead and sign up now. Ready, set coach program.com/build, and yeah, I guess we should probably sing our first outro of 2025


28:35

we'll see you the next time on The Ready Set coach podcast. New Year. Thank.