How to Develop a Personal Brand and Online Presence
How to Develop a Personal Brand and Online Presence
In 2015, I realized that I couldn't call myself a writer without some semblance of an online presence. I had been dreading going public with my work for the entirety of high school: my poems and novels were so deeply personal that I shied away from sharing them with even the closest people in my life. At a certain point, however, I had to come to terms with the world that we live in and realize that if I ever wanted to make any sort of a name for myself, I would need to succumb to fostering an online presence—a personal brand.
Over the years, the little blog I created at the start of college evolved into Pens and Poison, my writing project and brand that has gained over 30k followers across various platforms and social media outlets. Establishing a personal brand has helped me push out my work to audiences across the globe, and with every passing day, my posts and poems reach an increasing number of people.
While personal branding might be most important for a writer or any other sort of intellectual looking to share their pursuits with a broader audience, establishing an online presence will help both students and professionals in any field secure basic recognition and establish legitimacy for their work.
So how do we start?
Brainstorm a Brand Name
To begin, we’ll start with the basics: your brand name. You can use your full name as your brand name, or you can brainstorm a brand name that accords with the particular subject or audience you’ll be reaching. (For instance, my brand name, Pens and Poison, speaks to literature lovers.) In the era of AI, there are luckily a few tools that can help you brainstorm names if you’re stuck. I like the website Namelix, which can help you generate both a name for your project and an image for yourself.
Create a Logo and Brand Kit
In the age of media, it’s important to establish a cohesive brand identity—which includes colors and aesthetics! You’ll want to first think of what you want your brand to elicit—what color palette and fonts might best appeal to your audiences. Let’s take a look at my personal brand—Pens and Poison—as an example.
My brand logo contains a few noticeable elements: an ink pen nib, cursive font, and an array of purples. Of course, the pen nib is a stand-in for writerly pursuits, the cursive gives the logo an aura of nostalgic creativity, and the purples give off a sense of whimsy. Immediately when glancing at my brand, you get a glimpse into what’s to come.
You can create a logo over on Canva and choose several colors to get started.
Create a Personal Website
Now you’re ready to create your personal website! Go ahead and download your logo from Canva (preferably with the background removed) and hop over to your desired website host. Here are a couple that you can choose from:
The website hosts all accomplish much of the same purpose, but depending on what you’re going for, you might see some variation among these sites. Squarespace sites, for instance, tend to be the most “visually striking” but come with the least amount of customization tools. I use Squarespace for my personal website for ease of use and Odoo for my company’s website, which gives us the greatest number of customizable features.
Once you choose your website, you can decide which pages you’ll want to feature in the “navigation” bar of your website. These will be the primary pages that users can use to learn more about your brand. On my personal website, I have the following:
POETRY: A page with my selected poetic works
BLOG: Features my weekly blog posts and other thoughts!
PUBLICATIONS: A list of selected publications my work has been published in
VENTURES: Links to my company, Invictus Prep, and the Pens and Poison YouTube project
NEWS: Big updates about my work
SHOP: A link to my merch shop
ABOUT: More information about me
These are appropriate pages for a writer. If you’re a mathematical researcher, you might want a tab highlighting your research and another with a full CV. You might also consider a publications tab. Finally, you’ll want to have an “About” page with a bio that summarizes your work.
Establish a Blog on Your Personal Website
I am biased, of course, because I am a writer, but I do think that establishing a personal blog is a great way to get your name out there and to start building your follower base. My blog is devoted to all things literature and writing and other miscellaneous posts such as this one, but if you are tech guy, you can create a blog devoted to the development of Artificial Intelligence, for instance. The world is your oyster on this one, but the idea is to post consistently to engage your audience and create a following for yourself.
Create Social Media Channels for Your Brand
Now that you’re online, you’ll want to spread the word! The best way to do so is by creating social media channels for yourself. Here are the basics to get you started:
You don’t even need all of these (I don’t have TikTok, for instance), but a couple to start out with will help you get the word out there about yourself!
Create Profiles on Other Industry-specific Websites
Another great way to get your name out there is to share your work on other platforms that are relevant to your industry. As a writer, I have accounts set up on Substack and Medium, for instance, but if you’re a software developer, you might consider creating a profile on Github, and if you’re an entrepreneur, you might want to feature yourself and your company on Crunchbase or Wellfound. These websites will help you get your name out there and appear faster in Google Search.
Start Sharing!
Now that you’re an online wizard, get to spreading the word through engaging posts and content. You’ve taken the first step to establishing your personal brand and should hopefully gain some recognition soon!
And don’t forget to follow your favorite writer Liza Libes over on Pens and Poison.