The first few months of posting on LinkedIn were pretty sad.
I would throw something out there, and the world did not give a pumpkin.
Of course, I was re-sharing job posts and articles I read, so it all makes sense now. But when I did start posting original content, that was... also very sad.
The reality is that at the very beginning of a personal brand building journey, it's always going to be isolating and challenging.
When I think back to the very beginning, the following three questions helped shape what I wrote about and what I wanted to represent. So before you get started on your journey, ask yourself these questions:
Who are you?
What are you passionate about?
What do you do for work?
Who are you?
If this question feels heavy, it's because it is!
But don't overthink it (trust me, I did). Who you are will evolve, so no point in finding the perfect answer here. You can determine who you are in an infinite amount of ways but, "who you are" is really "what parts of you do you want to share with the world?"
It may be that you are a veteran who has three boys. Or maybe you come from a family of farmers, and you rescue animals.
This sounds so personal –– I know! But this is the base of who you are and what you'll likely share or draw the connection to as you build your brand.
Here's an example:
In my case, I am a parent and a first-generation Latina. So I can write posts about celebrating Hispanic Heritage month or something about wishing parents luck with kids going back to school in the time of COVID.
Your identity is what makes you stand out and makes your stories unique. That's why it's important to understand who we are first.
What are you passionate about?
Your passions add a layer to who you are as a person.
Think about the things that you do in your free time or maybe causes that are near to your heart.
It could be baking, reading mystery novels, teaching kids how to play softball or playing video games. We can even talk about deeper causes like education, and social equality, etc.
Our passions influence what we share in our content and what we want to be known for as a person.
For example:
If you enjoy mysteries, you might write a post about how every new account you manage is a mystery, and it's your job to solve for X (X could be a customer outcome or low adoption. etc.,).
What do you do for work?
Your work is your central theme! If you are already a Customer Success professional, then you'll likely stick to talking about CS.
By focusing on what you do for work, you open up a world of ideas to help you create content. That's because we are exposed to our work day in and day out. A quick exercise you can do is to come up with ten topics in the CS space (i.e., onboarding, renewals, etc.) and then with each topic, think about how it makes you feel or what you've recently learned.
In this hierarchy, writing about work comes first and then we use our identity, and passion to add the"personal" angle.
Give it a try
Now it's your turn –– ask yourself these three questions and then start piecing together ideas for your next posts.
Here are my answers if you need inspiration:
I am a parent & first generation Latina
I’m passionate about equality, remote work & customer success
I’m a CSM at a b2b SaaS startup