A Million Dollar Influencer knows the value of creating a Brand – and in particular creating a personal brand.
Personal branding is self-expression amplified to influence and command attention. It’s not about trying to be someone else, it’s about taking your key characteristics and turning the volume up on them.
Your personal brand should be a direct reflection of you. As detailed in another blog post take a moment and ask, “Who am I and what do I stand for?” The answer may not come instantaneously, but until you understand what it is, your personal brand won’t be authentic.
In order to be authentic – you need to develop or become known for having a unique voice. Million Dollar Influencers do this with a carefully crafted and consistent content marketing strategy. Whether you’re starting out in your career or you’re a known thought leader in your space, the content you produce is the first (and often only) indicator of your brand’s value proposition.
The aim is to have your niche consuming your opinions, thoughts, and ideas. And these are the assets that they can reliably evaluate for themselves and, therefore, trust. That’s the power of content. It’s like being in a perpetual one-sided job interview where you get to provide exceptionally valuable answers. Without doubt this is the surest way toward creating a personal brand with repute.
Keys to well made content.
Humanise yourself.
You haven’t been replaced by an AI machine (yet) churning out literature aimlessly into the long night. Be transparent about who you are, what challenges you’ve faced, and how you overcame them. Letting your audience feel like they’re in on a secret is a great way to keep them engaged.
Empathise with your audience.
What are their pain points? What are their needs, fears, aspirations? What’s incredibly challenging to them? Sit in your prospects corner and dive into the the things that keep them up late at night causing stress..True understanding helps you write extremely compelling content.
Include ideas and resources that have not been shared.
In creative writing, this is referred to as “first level” creativity. When you’re brainstorming, don’t settle for the first, second, or even fifth idea that comes to mind. Think deeper to find things that are new and fresh.
Think of things from a unique perspective.
This doesn’t necessarily just mean an underrepresented voice. What about a rock? Or a lizard? If your industry is green energy, what would a blog post written from a lizard’s perspective look like? Yes, it’s quirky but if that’s your brand, go with it.
Find humour in the humdrum.
Having a laugh can be a significant barrier-breaker in achieving influence. Why else do you think funny pictures of cats took over the internet?
Leverage your strengths.
Are you a data nerd? Shower numbers in your content. Or maybe you’re more visual? Infographics are very effective. Do you like order and structure? Listicles, my friend,listicles. For every human strength, there’s almost always a corresponding audience that embraces that same strength. Don’t shy away from what you’re good at.
Challenge your audience.
Along with empathy and comfort, your followers also want to be challenged. They want to see things from a different perspective because, frankly, it’s thrilling. Be bold. Take risks. Trust your audience and all the time be creating a personal brand.
