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Last week we looked at E-Books, something that I’ve been using to monetize my blog for about 4 years, now.
Today, we look at consulting. I started this blog for the purposes of marketing my freelance publicity business. The idea was, I wanted people to come to think of me as an expert in my field. I did that by sharing marketing tips and tricks in my niche of the arts, small business, and non-profits.
The plan was, to be at the top of people’s minds, because they read my posts and found them helpful. Then, the next time they, or someone they knew, was looking for a publicist, I’d be the first person they thought of.
It worked really well.
Today we hear from Brian Thompson, who has been incredibly successful marketing himself using his online presence.
I’m a firm believer in the axiom, “The More You Give The More You Get“. I’ve found this to be the single most successful principle in regards to powerful personal branding.
If you want to develop an audience that cares about what you do, you have to give them something to care about it. Not just once, but continually, consistently and frequently.
If you want to become known in your area of expertise, then you have to raise your voice and be heard. You have to actively embrace the sharing of your wisdom, creativity, opinions and ideas. These are the things which people want from you and which they will eventually hire you for. If you hold these things close to your chest, your brilliance will remain a secret and potential opportunities will pass you by.
By creating fresh content that is valuable to your niche, you enable this to happen.
I realized that if I wanted to be taken seriously online, then I in turn had to take what I was doing online seriously myself. How could I expect to be hired by a stranger for a consulting or speaking gig if they couldn’t even discover me via a Google Search? And if someone did stumble upon me, would a sparse blog provide enough insight into my work for someone to feel confident to spend their hard earned dollars with me?
It was this epiphany that narrowed my focus and gave me the tenacity to create and publish at a relentless pace. If I wanted to stand out from the rest of the noise online, I had to make it worth people’s while to visit me.
My content creation schedule is a little extreme, but it works. I treat it as a job and because of that it has awarded me countless opportunities I never would have otherwise dreamed.
Every weekday I publish a new quote, a new poem, a new 30 minute solo podcast, and a carefully curated newsletter (The DIY Daily) that shares twenty tips and links for creative artists. On top of that, I also publish two other weekly podcast series (The Rock Star Branding Podcast and The Music Biz Weekly) and I also do frequent guest posts and interviews, plus my own blogging as well. I’m also incredibly active on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, not to mention YouTube, Pinterest and Google+.
Blogging and podcasting has allowed me to develop into a paid speaker at conferences and as a guest lecturer at post-secondary schools, including having my own course which I teach at a local college. My online efforts have landed me on the front page of the newspaper and at the top of the six o’clock news, on radio stations and podcasts around the world, and regular features on the top blogs within my industry. My content is shared daily all over the web and it’s through this continuous commitment to creating and sharing that I’ve attracted paid sponsors, an attentive audience in the thousands, and I have an ongoing stream of new consulting clients who seek customized advice unique to their situations.
In the aggregate, no paid advertisements or marketing campaigns could ever replicate the genuine sincerity and goodwill that honest word-of-mouth referrals provide. Nothing can compare to having an authentic online voice where you prove your worth with each and every post.
What you will receive will be commensurate to the work you put in.
Follow Brian: @thornybleeder.
To get a sense of how Brian uses his blog to do consulting, visit his Hire Me page.
To get a sense of how I do it, visit my SM Strategist page.
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