Transcription
There are a lot of creators out there who are building a huge following. They're making a lot of money, but I know they have a very weak personal brand. They built their platform being known as the Instagram coach, the YouTube expert, the finance guy, but if they ever tried to pivot, I have a feeling that a lot of their audience would not support them in the same way because their audience never really cared about them as people. They just cared about the information that they were providing on a specific subject.
Now, back then, the golden advice was to stick to a niche. But now we are seeing the last generation of creators burning out from following that advice. And as they're trying to pivot now, we notice that they're not seeing the same amount of success. And even for me, I built my platform being known for one thing. And as I'm also trying to evolve in my own journey, I'm noticing how fragile that type of growth really was because I had spent years building a very transactional, conditional relationship. Like I'm giving you all this information on this topic, and in exchange, you watch my videos. But the moment I change the topic, or the moment I do something different, it's not as popping. Okay.
What I'm learning is as a creator, you will naturally evolve over time because you're a human being. Your values can change, your niche can change, platforms can change, content formats come and go. But what shouldn't change is the depth of connection that you have with your audience. So that if you ever decide to pivot, if you ever decide to evolve and do something different, start a new business, you will always have those same people rallying for you and supporting you. Because it's not just about building your audience that's important. It's the actual relationship you have with your audience that is the most important asset that you have as a creator.
And so in this video, I want to share some key things that I would do differently if I were to rebuild and future-proof my personal brand today. The first thing that I would do differently is I would build my brand around a storyline, not a subject. So I would try to get people invested in my journey and see me as the main character of my brand rather than a particular subject or information that I'm promising to provide in exchange for their attention.
So I'll give you examples. The first one is instead of saying, "I teach you social media," I would instead introduce myself by saying, "Burnt-out creator learning how to actually enjoy making stuff." Again, the first one feels transactional. It feels like I'm better than you. I know more than you, and in exchange for me providing this information, please follow me. Whereas the second version, it feels like an invitation. A lot of people can see that and relate to that storyline. "Burnt-out creator trying to figure out how to enjoy making content again." It's a lot easier to connect with that and get curious on what that journey is going to look like. But it also allows room for growth. When I say I teach social media, in my mind, it immediately puts me in a box. It immediately makes me feel like I can only talk about how to grow on Instagram, how to grow on YouTube, all these social media tactics. Whereas the second one, it kind of opens up that box a little bit, and it makes me feel like I can also talk about fitness and how exercise is actually helping me gain the energy to create content in a more sustainable way. It also makes me feel like I can talk about relationships and how healing some of my relationships have helped me with content. It opens up a lot of space for me to talk about virtually anything. And the best part is, even though yes, I am the main character of my brand, a lot of people can see themselves in that same journey and see themselves as the main character as well, of us figuring out together how we can learn how to enjoy making content again.
Now the second example: instead of saying, "I am a self-improvement expert," you could say, "Burnt-out ex-corporate girly starting over at 30." And a good example is this creator right here, Khloe Shei. She's blown up in the last few years. And in the beginning, she started documenting her journey as a product manager. And then when she quit that job, she then started to document her journey of starting over at 30. And that really broadened the amount of things that she could talk about on her page. It doesn't necessarily mean that she's saying that I'm a relationship expert or I am a fitness coach or I am this. She's not putting any labels on herself. She's just Chloe. But because she opened up that space in being vulnerable and sharing her journey of starting over at 30 and the things that she's learning, she's able to tap into so many different topics without necessarily committing deeply to one.
And especially for me because I started my other brand, Superba, and I do tons of research on how brands in the direct-to-consumer space are creating content. Even with physical product brands, it's less about the actual product and it's more about the journey of the founders and how they're building the businesses that are making people want to buy product. You're noticing this new evolution of people being more invested in the actual storyline rather than the end result or the information in itself. My best friend and I launched our pickle company last year. In 5 days, I'm meant to be opening a store in central London. We build the next big protein snack company. And I really love this approach because as a creator, you are going to change. Your values are going to change. Your aesthetic's going to change. Everything can change in the span of 10 years. And so, you don't necessarily want to pigeonhole yourself and build an audience that's only expecting this one subject from you. You want to open up space and allow people to evolve as you change and as you learn things as you go through life.
Now, before I share a ChatGPT prompt that you can use to develop your storyline, I want to share a branding mistake that I did. So we know that your personal brand can always evolve. And for me, whenever I found a new identity, I would get so excited, and I would spend anywhere between $5,000 to $20,000 to get a designer and developer to build my website. The problem is every time I wanted to make a shift in my branding, I would have to pay more money to make those changes. And that's why I want to introduce you guys to the sponsor of today's video, Framer. Framer is a no-code website builder that allows you to design your website through drag and drop and launch it in a few days without a developer. The best part though is that the end result will look like you hired a developer. And if you're like me and design isn't your strong suit, there are so many beautiful templates that Framer has to offer. So, for example, I'm going to use this free template right here. And I'm going to quickly change out the images, the text, the colors, and some of the sections. So, first I'm going to change out this header image. Now, you can see it's cutting off my head. So, I'm just going to change the focal point to more closer to my face, like this. And now, it's perfect. Next, I'm going to change the [Music] copy. And as you can see, that was really simple. So, I'm going to customize the rest of the website. Now, because I want my website to be simple, I'm going to remove some of these sections. So, I'm going to right-click and then hide this section and this section here. It shows the services, but I'm going to update this to show the things that I'm working on. So, I updated that. And now, I want to have the "let's collaborate" section somewhere else. So, I'm going to click this and move it right above the FAQ section. And then I'm going to keep changing the copy. And then finally, this button is yellow. So, I'm going to quickly change the color of this button. And now, let's see how it looks like. So, here's the final result. And as you can see, I don't know a single line of code. I don't know design, but I built this website in just a couple of minutes. And I love that it's not only already optimized for desktop, but also optimized for tablet and mobile as well. With Framer, you can also do a lot of different things like design on Figma and use their plug-in to turn it into a fully operating website without knowing any code. Translate your entire website with AI in just one click. This is perfect for those of you who are trying to reach an international audience. Write blog posts and upload content directly into your Framer website thanks to their full CMS support, and so much more. And if you want to try out Framer for free, then click the link in my description box or in the comment section below. And if you want 25% off your first three months using Framer, then you can use the code Vanessa Laauo.
Now, when it comes to developing a storyline that allows people to feel invited into your journey and gives you a lot of room to evolve over time, if you need help with that, I recommend leaning into ChatGPT. So, this is the specific prompt that I would use: "Help me write a one-liner storyline for my personal brand that focuses on who I am and the journey I'm on rather than the specific topic I talk about. Here's some context." Then you're going to tell ChatGPT what you used to do, what you're doing now, what you care deeply about, the challenge or transformation that you're currently going through, the people that you want to relate to and help, and then give some examples of what a one-liner should look like. So, I want the one-liner to feel like the first line of a documentary about me, something like "Burnt-out creator learning to fall in love with making stuff again," "New mom rebuilding her identity while keeping her baby alive," "Ex-fast fashion addict learning how to build a wardrobe that lasts." Then you're going to tell ChatGPT to give 10 different options. If you need to copy and paste, I'll put it in the description box below.
Now, if you are someone that is refusing the help of ChatGPT, then let me at least help you. Okay, so let me give you three templates that you can use to build out your storyline. The first template is really having your goal and linking it to a very relatable life circumstance. So, let's say you just had a baby and you are feeling a little bit lost as a new mom and you want to find your identity again. Well, yours could be "Rebuilding my identity while keeping the baby alive." Now, this is a very humorous take on it, but I do think that it allows people to truly resonate with that, especially if they're a mom themselves. They can see themselves in you rather than you saying that I'm going to teach you how to be a good mom or I'm going to teach you how to learn parenting skills. Like this is very broad enough but also very specific in terms of getting people invested in that journey.
The second example is having your past label or past identity and linking it to your current transformation or current learnings that you're going through. So, for example, "Ex-roathlete rediscovering movement without the pressure." This already allows people to get very curious on your story. A lot of people who were ex-athletes may resonate with what you're trying to achieve. And also, people who weren't athletes may also be very interested in what your story is like and what led you to becoming an ex-athlete and why you're on this journey of relearning movement without that pressure. It allows people again to be invested in that storyline.
Now, the third template is very values-driven. You would have your current values or desires or goals and then linking it to some external tension, some societal pressure. Maybe it's a value that society has that you don't necessarily agree with. So you could say "Building a seven-figure business without working on the weekends" or "Learning how to be productive in a world that rewards hustle culture." Again, I personally think that this is so much better than calling yourself a business expert or a productivity coach. It gives more texture. It allows people to want to understand the storyline, the journey, and see themselves in you. But it also places you as the main character, not necessarily the topic, subject, or expertise that you have.
Now, so far in this video, I really talked about how building a storyline allows you to put the spotlight on you and your audience because you're bringing them into your world rather than putting the spotlight on the information or subject matter that you talk about. And I think that this goes hand-in-hand with the rise of AI and the development of AI. Information is a commodity. Anyone can learn anything from anyone and anywhere. But what's still missing is that friendship, that camaraderie. Even for me, as I'm building my brand, Super Boba, I'm learning about this because people aren't just interested in the final product. They want to know how you got there. They want to know your struggles behind the scenes, your philosophy, your point of view. And so for us, a lot of our best-performing content is that. And also, we're leaning into doing more vlogs, doing more live streams, actually communicating with our audience, so it's less of a broadcast and more of a conversation. And you also see a lot of bigger creators and entrepreneurs leaning into this as well. The Hormesis vlog. They don't just teach you and tell you how to build a business. They show you how they're doing it. And they also infuse a few things that are outside of business as well so that they can build more relatability and attract like-minded people to build a friendship. You can also see people like Steven from Diary of a CEO also going into vlogging so that he's showing you layers of himself beyond just the guy that interviews a lot of guests on his podcast. They are all building personal equity because one day Steven may not want to do that podcast anymore, or the Hormosis may not want to be social media personalities anymore. Maybe they want to do something else. And so by showing more layers of their lives, it's almost like diversifying the different things that they can do in the future and building that relationship and deepening it with their audience.
Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that you convert your entire profile into a vlog channel. That's not what I'm saying. But it is worth exploring this type of format and integrating it into your content strategy as a way to deepen your relationship with your audience, but also future-proof yourself. So, what this can look like is, of course, you can start with Instagram stories and sharing more behind the scenes of your perspective, of your process, but beyond that, consider making a series where maybe once a week you do a recap of a mini-vlog of what you did that week or your thoughts, or if you're not someone that likes to do videos, you can also start a private newsletter where you just share your reflections as if it was a digital diary or digital journal.
Because the next thing that I do wish I did differently was really sharing my interests more openly. So, in my career, I really zoned in and niched down on talking about social media. And it's very ironic because this video I'm talking about social media, too. But one thing I do wish I did was share more about my love for milk teas. I would always drink them off-camera on the side. And lo and behold, years later, I ended up building a milk tea business. And if I had known that this was something that I was going to do, I would have been way more vocal about my interests around this area, around how much bubble tea I actually drink in real life. But I didn't do that because I felt like it wasn't professional. I wanted to stick to a niche. And so looking back on even my mistake, I really encourage you that if there is anything that you like or just your life in general, you don't even have to be too strategic about it and try to reverse engineer what you might launch in the future, but just sharing your life openly allows you to again diversify the things that you might want to pivot into in the future. You may not know it now, but things can change, and you never know where your passions are going to take you.
So let me give you some cool examples. Emma Chamberlain. When she vlogged, she always talked about coffee. She went for periodic coffee runs. A lot of her audience associates her with being a coffee lover. And then lo and behold, years later, she started Chamberlain Coffee, which now makes what, $20 million a year, probably far more than she made as a creator, and is also something that doesn't necessarily rely on her anymore in order to succeed. So, she's really future-proofed her future. There's also Max Tuning, who is an influencer within the fitness space. I believe he did a lot of vlogs. He still vlogs, but within his vlogs, he always went for convenience store runs where he would buy sour candy. And one thing that really bothered him that he vocalized to his audience many times is that he hated how a lot of the sour candies he would get just wasn't sour enough. And so he ended up launching Sour Strips in 2019. And I believe this year he sold to Hershey's for over $100 million. Now, this isn't necessarily about you reverse engineering what you might want to launch or how much money you want to make. It's not about that. But there is something to be said about sharing your interest because you never know where your passions are going to take you, what you might want to do in the future. And the more that you share, it's just the more of a parachute that you're building for yourself as you transition to those things.
Now, the next mistake that I made in building my personal brand is really thinking in extremes, thinking that I either needed to be the super professional expert in a topic or thinking that I needed to be nicheless, a vlogger, be multi-passionate and talk about whatever I want. And I noticed that either spectrum, either extreme, made me very unhappy. And so I found a happy medium, which is me rotating between these three buckets: one for you, one for me, and one for life. I've talked about this concept in my previous videos, but I want to repeat it again because it's been so helpful for me. Now, creating content that's "one for you" is basically making videos that I know will please brand sponsors, the algorithm, you guys. It's my typical "how to grow on social media" videos. Even this video is technically categorized as "one for you." But to offset that, because if I only make content that's for you, I will literally lose my mind. I then offset that with content that's "for me." These are my vlogs, my photo dumps, maybe even newsletters where I'm really sharing my life experience, going on threads and yapping about whatever I want. It allows me to fill my creative cup, but also in a way future-proofs my personal brand because I can talk about things that are outside of the subject matter that I'm known for. And then finally, there's "one for life." I like to feel like I'm working within my purpose, and I like to feel like I'm genuinely helping people. And sometimes when I talk about subjects like how to grow on Instagram, even though I know they're helping people, it doesn't feel like I'm contributing in a big way because I know that Instagram one day will die off. And so when I make videos that are more about broader subjects like how I deal with social anxiety, my self-confidence, being a little bit more vulnerable, sharing my experiences, I genuinely feel like I am out there helping someone through that video, even if it doesn't get a lot of views, even if it doesn't go viral. If I ever had children, I would want them to watch these videos and learn more about the life that I lived and what my perspective was. And so, by rotating between these three buckets, it allows me to maximize the income that I'm making, allow me to grow my platform still, but also fill my creative cup, future-proof my brand, and then lastly, feel like I'm living within a purpose.
Now, if you want to learn more about this concept and other strategies I use to stay balanced as a creator, then make sure you watch this video next. As always, guys, I appreciate you. And if you have any experiences you want to share about building a personal brand, please drop them in the comment section below so that we can help each other. Otherwise, I will see you in the next video.