Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Hello Brand Builder!

It's officially the first Monday of the last month of the year! Yesterday I shared in my post how I use my Sundays to plan for the week ahead in an effort to feel less stressed on a Monday morning. Some of those tips included:-

• Journaling (just getting everything out)
• Enjoying a cup of boozy coffee (coffee, spices & rum cream) - thank me later!
• Looking at the week ahead (social media, events)
• Writing (newsletters & articles)

This is when I usually write my newsletters for LinkedIn and also to my #brandbuilders outside of LinkedIn. Right now I'm writing this newsletter under the hairdryer at 6:30 a.m. - let's just say I didn't get through my list yesterday - let's blame the boozy coffee.

In my last newsletter we looked at Value - knowing your value and using this to differentiate you in your industry as someone who does things differently or better. Today we will be looking at Communication and how to ensure that not only are you communicating to your ideal audience, but also using the right channels.

communication is the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium.

In the world of #personalbranding - I believe that communication should be focusing on a couple of key things:-

• What are you trying to communicate? So, what is the purpose behind the post, newletter, article, comment etc.
• Who are you communicating to? Looking at your ideal audience - the person who's problem you solve with your unique value. The individual or company that would benefit greatly from your product or service.
• Where does your audience live - on & offline? It's important to show up in the spaces where your audience already hangs out. For social media instead of getting burnt out trying to post something on every platform - take the time to do the research, to see where your ideal audience frequents in this online world.
• Providing Value - here is that word again "value" - we must serve our community by not just showing up, but showing up with value that can impact, inspire or spur action with our audience.

Sometimes finding a rhythm and the right way to engage your audience can feel daunting, there are so many options now: video, podcasts, newsletters, posts, case studies, articles, slides, illustrations, polls and more.

I always recommend to start with a bit of testing and measuring, try different communication styles and look at your analytics (the results) from each post to see what really resonated with people.

Also look at a communication style that's easy for you to commit to in order to show up consistently. I've always enjoyed writing, so as much as I try to do short posts, they always end up kind of longer than I planned - so I enjoy writing articles and newsletters and then the aim is to re-purpose this long format content into bite-sized pieces of content that can be used on other platforms ... wish me luck.

Find a style that you are comfortable with and just start ... don't worry about your first set of content being purpose - focus on the message and the problem that you will solve for your audience or the insight that you will impart. My coach always says "done is better than perfect" - so let's get something done today.

My challenge for you is to do some kind of content piece today for the social media channel of your choice, don't worry if you don't get one million likes or comments, the key thing is to start, create some momentum and add value as a thought leader in your space.

If you think someone could benefit from these weekly/bi-weekly personal branding tips, please share the link for this newsletter. And if you need some help with positioning, packaging or promoting your personal and professional brand today, you can visit here to see some of the ways we could work together!

Your PR Chick - Naomi