I just had dinner with my good friend Theresa who works at one of the Big Four Accounting Firms. She doesn’t love her job, but she doesn’t absolutely hate it either because it pays the rent. Times are tough, and her firm is going to have a massive layoff next week, and she might be walking the plank.
“I’m so scared because I don’t know what to do if I get laid off. How will I find another job?” she opens up to me.
“There’s something positive in everything Theresa. Maybe this is an opportunity for you to pursue something that you absolutely love to do. What would that be?” I ask her.
“Well, I worked in a PR internship while I was an undergrad and absolutely loved helping our clients interact with their customers and get their name out there. But, I’m an accountant now, I feel it’s too late to go into PR.”
It’s never too late.
It’s never too late to chase your dreams, aspirations, and to do what you love. And most importantly, it’s never too late to start building your personal brand.
Sure, my friend is currently branded as an accountant. She’s been working at a Big Four Accounting Firm for one year, but that doesn’t mean she can’t mix it up and start branding herself as a public relations expert.
Build your brand in an industry
Here is the advice I gave to Theresa so that she can build her personal brand in an industry that is currently NOT her full-time career:
1. Fully understand what it is that you love to do
Understand that this is going to take a lot of work. If you want to build your brand outside of your current career, you’re going to have to work harder than you’ve ever worked before. So before you embark on your new personal branding journey, you need to know for sure what you love to do.
It’s a tough question: “What do I love to do?” Not many people can give an honest answer. In order to find out what I love to do, I asked myself this simple question:
“When I die, how do I want to be remembered?”
It’s a little extrememe, but it really put things in perspective because no one wants to feel unfullfilled on their death bed. Think about how you want to be remembered, and you’ll figure out what you’re supposed to do in life.
2. Research the industry and figure out who the current experts are
Before you jump in and start building your personal brand, take the time to find out who the current experts are. Figure out why people read their content and what makes them an “expert”. Analyze their writing styles and figure out how you can be different and carve your own niche. Preliminary research is just as important as good writing because if you position yourself well from the very beginning, then you’ll never have wasted time due to having to change directions.
Focus on demographics that these “experts” are ignoring and figure out how you can capture this demographic with your writing.
3. It’s time to start your blog
There are over 100 million blogs out there in the world! Every 90 seconds, there are 100 more blogs created! How can you compete in such a saturated market?
To be perfectly honest, the market is not saturated. Yea, there are over 100 million blogs, but only a small percentage really focusing on building a personal brand. All the rest are personal diary blogs are company blogs. Second, few people actually take the time to write quality content and to go above and beyond for their readership.
Let me give you a awesome example:
My good friend Adam Baker recently started Man vs Debt, a blog about personal finance. The personal finance blogging world is HUGE because there are so many people writing about it, and it is extremely difficult to stand out against the big players in this space. But you know what, Adam has only been writing for a couple of month, and he already has over 400 subscribers on his blog and has already hit the front page of Digg!
How was he able to do it? He cares, he listens, he writes quality content, and he reaches out to people in his community to build relationships with them.
—
Theresa is scared of trying and failing. She feels that creating her personal brand in PR will be too difficult for her, and she doesn’t want to put in the time and effort and only to watch herself fail.
But she’s wrong. When you put your heart and soul into doing something you love, you can never fail. You see, success isn’t measured by the amount of money you make, it’s measured by the quality of life that you live. If Theresa builds her brand and is able to reach 7 people in the very beginning, then she should feel proud that 7 people actually care about her writing and what she has to say.
It’s never too late. Don’t let fear hold you back. You can do it and the time to start is now.
Author:
Jun is the Founder and CMO of Viralogy, the platform that ranks all of the best blogs. His personal blog, How to Succeed as a Young Entrepreneur, gives a real, unfiltered view of the Startup Life so that current and aspiring entrepreneurs can learn from his successes and mistakes.
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- How to Create Your Personal Brand — Part 1 My post last Saturday, highlighted how I built my...
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Dear Jun: Thank you for sharing this heartfelt and personal account regarding your friend Theresa. I discovered your article via a tweet from Dan Schawbel this morning.
I truly understand the stress and anxiety that Theresa and countless others are experiencing in these uncertain economic times. Therefore, you are absolutely right that The Time To Start is Now!
For the past 6 months, I have been reinventing my personal brand from corporate strategist to digital media/social media strategist. To your point, this undertaking requires a significant time investment, and I’m attempting to balance these efforts with the demands of a stressful full-time job and the responsibilities of being a good husband and father. When done the right way, personal reinvention or personal branding requires significant discipline, time, and study. However, the benefits of these investments ALWAYS manifest themselves when the right opportunity arises. Nothing in life worth achieving ever comes easily and personal branding/reinvention is no exception.
Please tell Theresa that if she truly heeds and implements your advice (along with Dan’s and Chad Levitt’s), she will feel more in control of her professional destiny. Personally speaking, this is what continues to drive me and keeps me going on a daily basis.
My sincere thanks Jun for sharing your insights and this very personal story. Your article is a shining example of why I keep coming back to the Personal Branding Blog on a daily basis.
All the best, Tony Faustino
Hey Tony,
Thank you so much for your heart-felt comment. I will let my friend know that we wish her the best success.
You too Tony. Good luck and keep working hard.
Jun – Very wonderful post. And I appreciate your comment, too, Tony. This personal branding stuff sets so much of our education on its ear. But once we bite the bullet, face the music, turn our toes towards freedom, this new work will be fabulous and profitable discovery.
Hello Jun,
What a great post. But I understand the fear of your friend. If you change careers then you might end up working for less money and you might not be able to afford your rent. You start from scratch and might report to people whilst before you have managed people.
It is the “chicken and egg”. How unhappy are you with what you are doing? What is it that drives you forward? What are your options/alternatives?
Volker
You are quite correct. It is never too late. Fear most times is the chain we all use to supress the right feelings inside. We can start, at least it better than never starting and not knowing that you can make it.
Hi Jun,
Loved this post. Many people ARE scared or confused about trying to find their own brands ( I see this with my clients every week) but you are right about discovering it anyway. Discovering what you love to do can be the boost you need to help you along the way. I know that lots of times, people don’t realize they can make a living doing what they love!
Thanks for this post. Great topic.
Erin Kennedy
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Except for the Accountant part, I feel that you’re speaking directly to me, another Theresa in the same boat. Before reading your post, I had begun revising my resume. There have been some layoffs at my company so it never hurts to be prepared. After reviewing the list of my experiences, both professional and community advocacy, I noticed I put in as much time, effort, energy, and most importantly passion, into the volunteer work. Even though it’s nonpaid, the experience I gained through the volunteer work still counts as experience and transferrable skills.
If I may suggest another way to build one’s brand within a new industry is to volunteer your time in the industry of choice. There are many opportunities to gain nonpaid experience in the industry one wants to pursue.
Your friend Theresa can offer to do PR for her child’s school fundraiser event, gardening or rotary club, local animal shelter, food bank, church or civic group, or whatever group/club she has a personal passion. Every organization needs PR to get their message out but can’t always afford to pay a firm to write and post a press release, coordinate event market or make media relations.
Wow, this was a heartfelt post. I know how Theresa feels. Up until last week, I was having the jitters as I saw people leaving. Big 4 ain’t safe anymore.
But I have to say, the post was inspiring. Got me thinking. Thanks.
And I wish Theresa all the best.
[...] Live in the Moment Because it’s Never too Late I just had dinner with my good friend Theresa who… [...]