Building A Brand From Scratch
What exactly is branding? How does one create a brand? We discussed branding as a techie in one of our reads. But now we’ll be starting from scratch to develop a brand. Excited? Relax and enjoy this read.
Let’s get things rolling with this exercise. I’ll try to bring it home too. When you think of me, what comes to mind? If you follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn, or even Medium, what comes to mind? How do you identify "Ivy"? Some might say she’s pretty good with data, others might say she shares tech opportunities, some might say she’s awesome at building a sustainable brand and some might say she’s a tech job guru. Right? It all boils down to "Ivy is a techie". Let’s dive into how to stand out in your niche.
First things first, why do you want to work on your brand? Is it to get offers or be known as a thought leader? The truth is we all have different whys and knowing your why is the first step to building a solid brand. Why? Your why acts as the core of your brand and you won't be shaken by the wind of life.
A brand becomes your identity or better put, what you're known for. So, the next step will be to pick a niche. For example, Lady A is a writer and wants to niche down to creative writing. This is a practical example of niching down.
It’s okay to not know exactly what you like or have multiple interests. That’s cool. All you have to do is find the common ground. If I love writing but I also love data, something they have in common is reports. I can blend my writing skills when I’m drafting my report for insights in data. That way, I’ve perfectly blended writing and data.
You've identified your why, and picked a niche, so what's the next step? The next step will be to know where your audience is. If you're a writer, you might want to prioritize Medium, substack, Twitter, and LinkedIn (in this order) to grow your audience. It's one thing to be good at what you do but it's another to get an audience to listen. And note, what you're saying is worth listening to. Know where your audience is at.
Unto the intros, you're on your platform now but how do you get people to acknowledge your presence? Imagine being constantly slapped in the face by consistent content, you often tend to associate that content with a face. You probably know Solomon Buchi, right? But why? He is known for talking on hot takes. This is because he has consistently shown up in that light. If you want to be identified, consistently show up in your niche.
Strategic communications plays a crucial role in brand development. Your why plays a role here because not everyone is your audience. My typical audience might be LinkedIn potential recruiters, tech enthusiasts and newbies, and community-driven Gen Zs. Can you see how I have clearly identified my audience? It makes my research a lot more direct as I can then study their means of communication, pain points, and lingo. So, when you show up, show up with a plan.
So far, we’ve explored knowing your why, niche identification, intros, and strategic communications. Now it’s time to get a little practical.
Let's pick a case study of Lady B. She's a Copywriter. Recently got into this niche 6 months ago. She's job hunting but has been unsuccessful. Let's work on something for Lady B.
First, Lady B would need to work on her portfolio. Aside from building a brand, you need to ensure you aren't packaging mediocre. She'd need a Medium account, Blogspot, WordPress or any platform where she can showcase some of her works.
Up next, she needs to know her why. In this case, she's job hunting and would most likely want to ensure she never struggles with job hunting.
She then needs to identify platforms where she can achieve her why in this case LinkedIn, Twitter, Medium, and Facebook. She can find current copywriters on each platform and study how they engage with their audience and the type of content they put out. Since Lady B is job hunting, her content can be tailored to her strengths in copywriting and her expertise. That way she attracts the right audience and is also identified as someone knowledgeable in the field of Copywriting.
If you don't have a plan, you ultimately plan to fail. Create a detailed plan and timeline for each platform you want to show up on. This should include your posting frequency, type of content, and results you want from each platform. LinkedIn could be thrice a week, content type will be strengths, strategy be a commenter, follow top voices, and interact with relevant posts for one hour. Your desired results could be getting a milestone of 100 connections within the first month. Be as realistic as possible. Jobs won't appear out of nowhere. You have to earn them by positioning yourself as deserving.
The truth is you only get better when you just start. So, just start. Building a brand is a lifelong journey it's not done within a timeframe. Start, and evolve. You'll be refined only when you start.
If you have any questions on branding, feel free to send me an email (ivyelebesunu@gmail.com) and I'd gladly respond.
With this, we've come to the end of this read, Techie. Know your why, niche down, research, and implement strategic communication. You'll get the hang of it only when you start.
Catch you in our next read!
