I was told early on by leaders in a MLM (Multi-Level Marketing company) I once belonged to that I needed to keep singular focus. This sounds great, but what they were really getting at is “focus on nothing else other than this business platform. You eat, drink, sleep this business”. This can be toxic thinking for a wide variety of reasons. Their reasoning behind this advice was because people can only devote their attention span and strongest efforts to one thing at a time. I believe this is true to an extent, but I also do not believe you should advise people to limit themselves or their potential future growth by shutting down their desires to create more and be more.

By it’s very nature, your brand should encompass all major social media platforms and interactive regimes to promote your core values. Whether you have a business or not, you cannot just focus on one aspect of your brand or your business until it becomes “the best it can be” and then move on. It can take decades to get just one aspect of your brand or business right and by the time you get it “right”, previous opportunities have likely disappeared forever. For example, if you’re trying to build your brand on social media but you stay sold out to only Instagram, you’re limiting your output and your following. You are limiting yourself to one platform which means you may not be hitting your largest target audience.

I understand the innate desire to pick a platform based on your level of comfort. Maybe you grew up on Facebook and you’ve committed to ONLY promoting your small business on just Facebook because that’s the one social media platform your are a master at operating. You don’t feel the need to branch out and try other platforms because Facebook has always worked in the past. I get that, I do, but here’s the thing. Social media is constantly changing. Remember MySpace? Many people now do not. There are people running around today that have no memory of MySpace because it was invented, blossomed, bloomed, and wilted before they reached they reached the age to enjoy social media.

So what happens when you’ve built a beautiful Facebook page with thousands of followers and you’ve started building passive income through ads or whatever other means you choose and suddenly, Facebook collapses in a heap of rubble? Nothing lasts forever and if you don’t branch out and diversify, you’ll be left holding the ashes. Whichever platform you decide to utilize, make sure you augment it with other platforms as well. It should also be mentioned that each social media platform has different assets that can benefit your business or brand. Instagram has more capabilities to search utilizing tags. Facebook allows you to share multi-media posts with unlimited length for the world to view and enjoy. Twitter lets you share your favorite quotes, short thoughts, and create a following with posts focused on brevity. If you own a business, then you should be LIVING off of LinkedIn.

If you’re in the start up phases of building your own business then I hope you’re thinking ahead in terms of how you can reach your target audience. You may only be able to build one business at a time, but there are several different facets to that business development that many never even considered. One platform simply will not do it in this day and age. We have social media, podcasts, vlogs, blogs, Twitch, Pinterest, Etsy, you name it. Which means that your target audience could limit themselves to just one of those platforms or all of them. But do you want to take a chance on missing 45% of your audience by just using one platform? Probably not.

With such a massive market of free information, ignorance is selective. You can no longer fall on that crutch of an excuse “I’m not tech savy”. You owe it to your brand, your business, and your future, to do your part and LEARN how to utilize other platforms. You can learn how to code apps from books and YouTube tutorials. You can learn how to build a podcast from other podcasts, YouTube, books, and other web pages.

What is my brand?

What things are you? What things are so you that no one else thinks about those things the way you do, says the things you say, or sees the world the way you do? No one else can can be you so what makes you, you? What’s your niche? When you’re sitting behind the wheel stuck in traffic, or zoned out at your desk at work, where do you find yourself drifting off to? What creative dreamland do you find yourself walking in the most?

THAT is your brand. That is what separates you from everyone else. The real slim shady just stood up. For me, I had a very difficult time building my brand when I belonged to a MLM (Multi-level Marketing company) because the entire business plan was based off duplication. It felt like everyone was cut from the same cloth and built into the same robot to say the same things. You have the ability to be someone else, to do something else. You get to do something different with your life that no one else is brave enough to do. It’s not until you build your own brand in your life that you will ever feel truly fulfilled and happy.

I built my brand through this website, a wide variety of social media sites (which I update daily), YouTube vlogs, and podcasts. Is it a lot of work? Absolutely, but when I think of the outcome I’m pushing towards, I know that it’s totally worth it. I’m building multiple platforms in which I can promote the welfare, wellbeing, and positive vibes of others. I can give back in a MASSIVE way through all of these platforms. When you start worrying about not being smart enough or brave enough or tech savvy enough to branch out, think about the overall arching effect. You’re not putting this content out there for just you. You’re not getting out of your comfort zone for just you. You’re doing it for all of the members of your audience. You’re doing it for the people who need to hear your words because believe it or not, your existence can make an enormous impact in others’ lives.

I need more advice, where do I turn?

Looking for some more resources in developing your brand? Try some of these books.

• Crush It – By Gary Baynerchuk
• Crushing It – By Gary Vaynerchuk
• The Ultimate Guide to Instagram for Business – By Kim Walsh Phillips
• Girl, Stop Apologizing – by Rachel Hollis
• Personal Branding for Dummies – by Susan Chritton
• The Ultimate Guide to Instagram for Business

And those are just a few to get you started. When you’ve read those and feel like you have a decent understanding behind the core principles in them, then it’s time to branch out. Reach out to us, we would love to help you with the next steps in learning to brand yourself successfully and share that brand with the world!