New Year, New You. That’s how that annual cliché goes, right? That’s well-worn and tired by now, so how about we tweak it a bit? New Year, More You. As a professional speaker, non-fiction author, coach or consultant, you should enter 2020 looking to flood the market with your brand.

This year, it’s all about increased visibility. And there’s no better way to enhance the awareness of your expertise than by securing publicity for your upcoming project, speaking tour, book or website launch.

Wait—are those projects targeted for mid-summer, or even Q4 of next year? Then the time to start is right now. One of the biggest misnomers regarding PR campaigns is that they should directly dovetail with the timeline of the project that you’re looking to push. That is, you should begin conducting your publicity and marketing efforts right when you’re ready for your rollout.

That’s one of the bigger myths that we have to dispel from time to time. Effective publicity is all about a gradual scale up to the crescendo of your book’s release or the start of your speaking swing. Without this steady increase of PR, you’re missing prime opportunities to get people excited about that date on the calendar where your book drops, or the weekend that you’ll be holding keynotes in your target audience’s hometown.

If you wait to embark on a publicity campaign, you’re already behind—and if you’re holding off for later in 2020 for a campaign to accompany your project, you’re missing out on the brand-building frequency and repetition of your name and business as the lead up to launch. That can be a true differentiator in your aims for success.

So as we approach the New Year, take heed of your goal to expand your visibility in 2020. Starting publicity prior to the turn of the calendar primes the runway for the project or projects you’re looking to push months after the calendar turns.