Takeaways:
Social media platforms offer unparalleled opportunities to build your “personal brand” and a thriving business doing what you love.
To succeed on a grand scale, you need to work for free, nearly nonstop, and probably for years before any substantial payoff.
You can devote less effort to earning a living without aiming for success on a grand scale.
Either way, build your business on what most motivates and inspires you.
Only pure passion for what you do will carry you through the lean years.
Overcome your fear of failure and your fear of what others might think.
Build profiles on essential social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Know and experiment with other platforms, even those you expect will fail.
Collaborate on and create content tailored for each platform.
Never rest on your laurels. Social media stardom fades quickly unless you continually innovate.
Summary:
Building Your “Personal Brand”
Anyone, including you, can build a personal brand on social media and exert enough influence to earn a good – and possibly fantastic – living doing what you love. People spend almost as much time on YouTube today as they do on TV, and they upload billions of photos to Snapchat every day. Even part-time posting – just two posts a week to 10,000 followers – can generate nearly $20,000 a year. You might earn millions if you have the dedication.
“Most of you reading this book will not become millionaires. Do not stop reading!”
Creating your personal brand opens countless channels you can use to talk about any topic that inspires you – while you get paid for it. But it won’t come easily. First you must identify and use your skills. Making lots of money requires working nonstop. You can’t copy anyone; you must find your own path and use the principles of personal brand-building to build a following.
“If you’re earning what you need to live the life you want and loving every day of it, you’re crushing it.”
You don’t have to make millions to “crush it”; you crush it when you get to do what you love and earn the living you want while doing it. For example, while Amy Schmittauer was working to become a lawyer, she created social media marketing videos. She did free work briefly to demonstrate the marketing power of her compelling videos. This earned her paid gigs. She attended conferences, read author Gary Vaynerchuk’s 2009 bestseller Crush It!
“It’s still true that the right product and content will be the key to building a vibrant personal brand.”
Then, she went all in to create her personal brand. She downsized, sold her car, accepted the risks and started the Savvy Sexy Social blog, which attracted tens of thousands of subscribers. She’s written a book, published online courses and spoken globally. She makes a great living doing what she wants – on her own terms and her own schedule.
The Fundamentals
Adhere, without compromise, to eight main principles:
“Intent” – Don’t fake anything. Don’t try to start a business or build influence if you don’t believe in the business you’ve chosen. Don’t move forward if your goals only or mostly involve making a lot of money. Care more about the good your work does than the money it earns.
“Authenticity” – Do what you believe in and want to share with others. Your love for your ideas should withstand the effort of turning them into an enterprise.
“Passion” – People who do work they love lead happier lives than those who earn a lot at work they dislike. But, passion alone won’t build a business. It may take years before you earn anything substantial. Your passion manifests in the quality of your offerings and in how you differentiate them.
“Patience” – You’ll need patience to hold onto your passions. When you need money, you’ll want to compromise. Don’t give in to temptation to earn a quick buck. Double down on your vision, put your customers first and work hard. Don’t take vacations, live frugally and sacrifice.
“Speed” – Practice haste and efficiency daily to get more done. Don’t agonize over every decision. Move fast, trust your instincts and learn from your mistakes. Make adjustments, and move on.
“Work” – Don’t take long lunches, watch TV or play golf. You must work. Most people who start businesses run them on the side at first. They work regular jobs and work another six or seven hours on their dream job each day or night, including weekends. Schedule the time you need to spend with family or provide care, and the like. Get six to eight hours of sleep. Put all your other time into your work, building content and relationships. If you don’t care whether your business succeeds wildly, you can do less and lead a more balanced life. Just know what you want.
“Attention”– Focus on what people do on social media. Stay alert to shifts to new platforms, even if they seem small at first. Watch trends, and get to know new platforms early. Don’t get too comfortable with your preferred platform; always learn others.
“Content” – Your product and content will create your brand, which must amaze, inform and entertain. Build incredible content specific to the platform you choose. People expect different things on Twitter than on Facebook. Tell stories. Only you can tell a story the way you can tell it. Show people your life by posting videos, using Facebook Live and Snapchat several times every day. You never know who will see your posts and what will come of it – for example, advertising opportunities, invitations to speak and sponsorships. Telling your story as you learn a new field can be compelling. “Capture your journey” to build a following.
What It Takes
Rich Roll had everything: a successful law career, big house, cars and a family. But his happiness and health suffered. Fifty pounds overweight at age 40 and fearing a heart attack, Roll dedicated himself to fitness and health foods. He entered endurance contests and earned a small following on YouTube with videos of his training and eating routines. He blogged about his daily regimen. After CNN interviewed him, Ross signed a lucrative book deal. He quit his day job. Yet despite speaking gigs and cookbook sales, he couldn’t manage the bills. His family lost their cars and nearly lost their house. They lived in a yurt in Hawaii for years as Roll struggled to succeed. After seven years of dogged persistence, he became renowned as an author, blogger and influencer.
“If you’re not crushing it, it’s not because you’re too old or poor or have too many other responsibilities. It’s because you haven’t fully committed to making the leap yet.”
You can rely on many excuses – your job, your lack of savings, your kids, your mortgage, your age – but countless others have crushed it in the face of these and bigger obstacles. Overcome these fears:
“Fear of failure” – You don’t want to embarrass yourself or disappoint your family. Talk with those close to you about your idea; tell them that you expect to fail at first and will need their help. Work it out with your spouse.
“Fear of wasting time” – If you don’t spend all your time doing something productive that you love, you won’t be afraid to waste time. Stop watching TV, playing video games, golfing or engaging in any other leisure activity – and build your business.
“Fear of seeming vain” – Building a personal brand at scale means appearing narcissistic. You’ll also look like an idiot, but everyone’s a jerk “until they’re a pioneer.” You can’t care about what anyone says or thinks of you.
How to Crush It
First build your Facebook business page. No matter what, make Facebook part of your personal brand strategy. Realize that you will have to grind it out, one potential customer or collaborator at a time through the digital equivalent of a cold call: “direct messaging.” Expect to do this for years. If that scares you, stop reading now.
“Socialites, celebrity progeny and reality-TV stars have been doing it for years. Now it’s everyone else’s turn to learn how to get paid to do something they were going to do for free anyway.”
When you reach out to people who can help you, offer them something in return. If, for example, you hope to gain exposure by working with established influencers, devise a unique offer that benefits them as well as you. They’ll almost always ignore you. Nonetheless, persist every day, for months, for years, or more. Use any or all of the following platforms to build your brand:
“Musical.ly” – Even if, as you read this, Musical.ly has left the scene, you should still know about it. Less popular platforms offer you the best opportunity to succeed as a recognized master due to the lack of competition. On Musical.ly, you upload videos of your performances. It attracts children and teens mainly – a prime feeder audience. It doesn’t matter whether Musical.ly makes it; go there because it has an audience. Learn the relevant social media platforms so you know what their users expect when you communicate to them. Then create or adapt your content for that audience. When you join and master a platform early, you become a go-to person for those who follow. If it fails, it fails; you still learn. If you try it and don’t think it matches your plan, move on.
Snapchat – In seven years, Snapchat developed into a deep platform that attracts billions of views and uploads every day, yet it still offers early-adopter potential. Snapchat started out by quickly erasing photos that users uploaded. This gave people the freedom to post without fear of future regret. It now allows for videos and keeps your uploads in place. Spontaneity and authenticity make Snapchat content stand out. Snapchat will hone your marketing skills because you need to have the greatest skills to get noticed. Collaborate across platforms to build your profile on Snapchat. To promote yourself as a Snapchat influencer, write blogs and articles about the platform, attend Snapchat events, and buy digital ads that promote you as a leader on the platform.
Twitter – Though the ingredients for success on Twitter haven’t changed over the past decade, few people have figured them out. To succeed, listen to others to learn who cares about what. Twitter lets you discover everyone who’s interested in a niche and connect with them directly. With a massive investment of time, patience and quality posts, you can build your reputation in your niche with a targeted audience. Retweets help your posts spread further, and those posted on other platforms spread even more. Twitter grants more potential to connect with more people than any other platform. Know your niche so you have something to add to the conversation. That knowledge may require you to read 30 hours or more every weekend. Then, for perhaps another 30 hours a week, post and respond. Keep doing this, and one day, one tweet — who knows which or who knows when — will catch the attention of someone who can propel you.
YouTube – YouTube creates the most stars and the most wealth. Increasingly, the platform attracts audiences that rival and will soon surpass it. If people hate your initial videos, keep refining them; don’t give up. Title your videos carefully. Include a link people can use to subscribe to your channel. Provide at least 10 tags per video. Create a descriptive “thumbnail” and attach a YouTube Card at the end to link people to your other videos. Put your videos in the right channels, and describe your channel well. Include playlists and a trailer.
Facebook – With more than a billion daily users of all ages, Facebook remains the most relevant social platform. Build an active Facebook page and a Facebook strategy. Facebook is the most flexible platform and offers the most targeted advertising. This delivers value even for a tiny marketing budget. On Facebook Live, you can share video of what you do while you do it. Get comfortable with prerecording your videos before you try Live. When you do go live, record it so you can repurpose it afterward.
“Instagram” – As the hottest, fastest growing major platform, Instagram has introduced and launched almost as many famous people as YouTube. Instagram’s new Stories element, which allows you to post content that automatically deletes, doubled its popularity. Create an active Instagram account. First fill your page with the best content possible. Then find and connect with your market. Suppose you make helmets. Search #motorcycles, for example. The first pictures at the top will have at least a million followers each. Address the group, sending each one a personal Instagram message about your helmets. Offer a free sample, and explain how you can help their brand. Do this all day every day, for at least six hours at a time. Almost no one will respond, but you only need a few answers – or just one right one.
“Podcasts” – Busy people, including drivers and commuters, listen to podcasts when they can’t watch videos. Post podcasts to Spotify, Apple, and other platforms. Promote them through your other social media accounts.
“Voice-first” devices – One-fifth of Google searches use voice via Google Assistant. Amazon’s Alexa rivals it. Eventually, these devices will dominate user time and pervade everyone’s homes and cars. Both platforms offer what they call “Skills,” which you can use to create information bytes for Alexa to benefit your followers. Voice-first options are faster than mobile search or an app. You can dominate Alexa’s Flash Briefings with a fraction of the effort it would take to emerge from the pack on more established platforms. Create 60-second flash briefings that summarize your podcasts. Keep your content brief, keep it original to the Alexa or Assistant platforms, and focus on quality. Link people from your Alexa Skills or snippets to additional information on your other channels.
After You Succeed
Keep your eyes on the horizon. Don’t dismiss new platforms because you dominate one and fear changing or learning. Consider the next disruptive technologies, like AI, and virtual and augmented realities. Social media opportunities are still in their infancy and many opportunities remain, especially for those who make or offer a valuable product or service faster and easier.