a website & community for women who write & blog
Building a personal brand is one of the most important things you can do for your writing career. Don’t get me wrong – it is NOT the most important thing. Nothing is more important than just sitting down and DOING THE WORK. Writers write. Period.
But if you want people to read your writing, building your personal brand is a good way to make that happen.
Here are 5 things you should know about building your personal brand.
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I have a confession: There was a time when I was a hater.
The world of journalism has changed. Many of the people who are getting opportunities to write essays and even regular columns for publications and being asked to cover events for media outlets are not trained journalists; they’re influencers.
As someone with two journalism degrees and 20 years of journalism experience, this trend used to make me angry. But then I decided that if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. I decided to consider how I could use my own “influence” to get gigs.
I decided to build my brand. And it worked!
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Are you a writer or just a blogger?
I Googled this question the other day after watching an old YouTube video by Ianthia Smith on this topic.
Ianthia is a news reporter turned lifestyle blogger and in the video, she interviewed her former boss who has followed a similar path.
She shared that when she quit her reporting job to blog many of her peers looked down on her for that decision. Why would leave her journalism to be “just a blogger,” they wondered.
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Last month I hosted the first See Jane Write Virtual Summit featuring live online Q&A sessions with 8 female writers and bloggers with noteworthy accomplishments to their name. During the summit, attendees learned how to build a tribe to support their blog, books, and other writing projects; how to work with brands as a blogger; how to start a freelance writing career; how to market and build buzz for their blog, book, or brand; how to use writing to discover their authentic selves; the art of personal blogging; how to lead a group book project; and how to use their blog to write and publish their first book.
I decided last fall that I wanted to host a virtual summit but it took me several months to finally pull it off because I kept making excuses. I don’t have the time, I told myself. I don’t have the money, I said. But eventually I looked at myself in the mirror and said, “Javacia, you can either make excuses or make a difference. But you can’t do both.”
So I got to work. Still a journalist at heart, I started by asking myself the 5Ws and H.
One of my favorite Birmingham-based businesses is Naughty But Nice Kettle Corn Co. I’m a fan of this company not just because the popcorn is delicious and not just because the company has been supportive of See Jane Write, signing on as a sponsor for our Scandal watch party and for our upcoming 5th anniversary party. I also admire Tanesha Sims-Summers and Tiffany Turner, the women behind Naughty But Nice Kettle Corn, because they’ve done such a great job developing their brand.
If you’re not familiar with Naughty But Nice Kettle Corn, don’t worry. You will have plenty of chances to get to know them (and taste that delicious kettle corn). This weekend on Saturday, March 12, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, they will debut a new flavor at Shamfest at the Red Shamrock Pub in Mt. Laurel. What will the new flavor be? You’ll have to be there to find out!
Also you’ll find Naughty But Nice Kettle Corn Co. at Oak Mountain State Park on March 26 for its 9th Annual Easter Egg Hunt and they’ll be back at the Pepper Place Farmers Market starting April 9.
And if you attend the See Jane Write 5th Anniversary Party on Saturday, March 19 at aloft Hotel’s wxyz bar, you’ll have a chance to win a Naughty But Nice Kettle Corn Co. variety snack pack (which will include the new flavor).
But before you go to figure out what you’re going to wear to the party, here are four tips I think we bloggers and writers can take from Naughty But Nice Kettle Corn Co. as we’re building our personal brands.