Let me share a little secret: I’ve never taken a photoshop class in my life and my html skills end at inserting paragraph breaks. But you don’t need fancy coding skills to create an online brand—all you need is to use the resources that are already out there for you. Here are five quick and easy steps to start building your online presence today.
3. Start blogging
Just do it. Start writing. You have opinions—so share them. WordPress and Squarespace are both great platforms to create your own blog. But if you are hesitant to start your own site, try Medium. The great thing about Medium is its social media integration fuels visibility. Set up a profile, follow and like posts from others, and soon others will reciprocate and start checking out and liking your own content.
It’s time to start using your social channels for more than talking about politics and How To Get Away With Murder. First, decide which social platforms make the most sense for your brand and the audience you want to reach. Second, spend at least 10-20 minutes each day sharing content with your audience. Not sure what to post? I do a deeper dive on growing your social media engagement here. Third, engage with other users, don’t just push out content. Follow people talking about the same topics and show their content some love. With consistency and measurement (use social and site analytics to see what’s driving traffic) you will begin to grow your social channels and in turn grow your brand visibility.
You don’t need to spend major money on a full-blown photoshoot. Get creative. Find a solid color background, grab a selfie stick and photograph yourself. Or ask around to see if anyone knows an amateur photographer willing to photograph you for a small fee. Put an ad on craigslist, inquire at a local photography school, or get your own camera and tripod. You get the picture. Fun fact: the picture below was taken by my fiancé on our balcony. It’s currently my default headshot.
I included this step as a bonus because I don’t want you to get paralyzed by this step. If you don’t have a photo taken by a professional photographer, don’t fret. Your visual is people’s first impression of you, so make it a good one but don’t obsess. Get started with what you have.
