Steph Smith on Personal Brand Building

For the second version of Social Proof, we interview one of many prime examples of crafting a private model — Steph Smith.

Steph Smith is a multi-hyphenate with a profession spanning ten years. She just lately began a job at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a enterprise capital agency, as their podcast host. She’s additionally led Developments at The Hustle, a premium e-newsletter publication acquired by Hubspot, and was additionally Director of Advertising for Hubspot Creators.

Steph has many facet initiatives like her ebook Doing Content material Proper and podcast Sh*t You Didn’t Study In College. So when serious about who could be nice to kick off Social Proof, Steph naturally got here up as she’s been actively creating content material for her private model since 2018.

All through our dialog, Steph shares fascinating tales about how she constructed a Twitter following of over 118 thousand followers from scratch, beginning by sharing her progress in studying learn how to code.

So, how would possibly folks with a number of pursuits and talents discover what works for them and channel that into intentional private model development on-line? I am undecided, however we learn how Steph is doing simply that on this interview.

Q: Welcome Steph, and thanks for agreeing to this interview! So we needed to start out by having you outline how you concentrate on private branding.

Tim Ferriss as soon as mentioned that everybody has a private model, no matter whether or not you’ve 10 followers or 10 million followers – and I agree. It’s the notion that folks have developed of you. For instance, you can be related to a sure stage of intelligence, an business, or private attributes like being humorous or reserved.

And I discover constructing a private model fascinating as a result of simply as you develop as an individual, your model additionally evolves. However typically, how folks see you and the way you wish to be seen can turn out to be disjointed – or typically, they’re aligned very nicely. It is at all times fascinating to listen to how folks view your private model versus the way you understand your self.

Q: That’s an fascinating approach to consider it — everybody seeing you a technique and also you not having the ability to management that picture totally. This results in my subsequent query: Have you ever deliberately constructed your private model?

So I like that query. As a result of I feel I’ve been intentional in some methods. However I additionally suppose your private model is typically out of your personal attain. What I imply by that’s that I’ve constructed many issues during the last couple of years, and you can say that these inputs have a stage of intentionality. However I am unable to at all times management the issues that folks latch on to.

An instance of one thing folks have latched on to that I did not count on – nor did I deliberately attempt to seed – is my being a “content material individual”. And other people would possibly say, nicely, after all, folks view you that approach, you’ve a weblog, you wrote a ebook – however I by no means noticed myself that approach. There are issues that you’ll do and issues that you’ll attempt to work on so intensely and even at occasions, you’re successfully screaming, “Hey, view me this manner!” And other people simply will not. Counter to that, there can be belongings you do and methods you do not see your self that different folks will begin to ascribe to you.

Q: What key phrases would you utilize to explain your private model?

If I had been to label myself, I’d use the phrases ‘curious’, ‘considerate/intentional,’ and ‘clear.’

Curiosity: Every little thing that I do is actually pushed by my curiosities. And I feel I try this greater than the common creator who will usually take a look at a number of issues, work out what works, after which double down on what the market desires. This works nicely and might be a extra profitable path, however I choose to pursue that which pursuits me, and fortuitously that’s had some market want alongside the best way. However I even have finished so by disjointing my artistic pursuits and my full-time job.

Considerate/intentional: One factor I at all times hope comes by in my work is that it is considerate. And what I imply by considerate is that after I create one thing, it is as a result of I actually wish to create it, however I additionally do it as greatest I can and don’t sacrifice parts of it to get extra of a following or extra gross sales. An instance is my ebook, Doing Content material Proper – I’ve by no means run advertisements for it and by no means promoted it in ways in which I feel are sleazy.

Clear: After I be taught one thing …, I’ll most certainly share it, whether or not it is by tweeting or writing articles or podcasting … like after I was studying to code and discovered a brand new technique to combine with the Google API. I knew that was one thing that perhaps some fraction of the world needed to know. And so I might take the time to put in writing that up and have finished one thing comparable a whole bunch of occasions now, together with how I constructed my open web page. I feel I am extra clear relative to not less than the common creator, as a result of I see the house as positive-sum.

Q: One thing fascinating you talked about is experimentation as a technique to evolve a private model — are you able to elaborate on that?

Should you have a look at the creators which have sustained their audiences over time, they’ve needed to reinvent many occasions over. Placing sufficient variations of your self on the market, as unusual because it sounds, means there are extra possibilities folks will latch onto one thing.

It is virtually like a startup. A startup should proceed iterating, experimenting, and placing totally different variations of its product on the market. And what they cannot management is finally what the market desires. However they’ll create sufficient variations or run sufficient checks to provide themselves sufficient alternatives to search out product-market match.

Q: Persevering with with this theme of experimentation, what are moments in your skilled journey while you’ve needed to evolve or iterate on what you thought your private model was going to be?

Yeah, I can name out a number of factors alongside [my journey]. After I began within the workforce, I needed to pivot as a result of I did my diploma in chemical engineering. However then, the out there jobs weren’t those I needed to do; most had been in oil and fuel. In order that was the primary evolution – regardless that I considered myself as an engineer and put all this work into this diploma, I needed to do one thing new.

I went into consulting and had a transparent path of motion there, however then I needed to be distant. So I needed to reinvent myself once more, which fortunately led me into tech and created an fascinating inflection level, the place I used to be requested to steer a publications staff. And it isn’t a lot that I do not like being branded as a content material individual, however I had this response of “I do not lead publications groups… that is not what I do.” However I ended up doing it, and it was an important choice.

I needed to permit myself to turn out to be somebody I had by no means thought of being. – Steph Smith, a16z Podcast Host

That was one other instance the place I needed to permit myself to turn out to be somebody that I by no means thought of being. That interval is after I began coding and creating content material on-line. I used to be creating indie merchandise by code, which I assumed could be my “factor” – an identification as a lady in tech, and I even began writing about that. However then I began writing about writing; writing about content material.

There have been many evolutions the place I’ve needed to, you can say from an outdoor perspective, rebrand myself. However internally, as corny because it sounds, it was nearly following what I used to be fascinated by on the time and what alternatives fell on my plate.

Now, I’ve tried to dissociate extra from my identification and the way I view myself, and as a substitute concentrate on what pursuits me on the time as a result of now, changing into a full-time podcaster, I may have by no means predicted that. That was one more section change, the place I needed to shed what I used to be earlier than to start out one thing new … I feel now it is come extra simply as a result of I simply view myself as a multi-hyphenate.

Q: So, as a multi-hyphenate, you’ve finished loads of work in podcast internet hosting, coding, and writing. A typical thread is how a lot ardour and energy shine by in every venture. Do you see your initiatives as a automobile for rising your private model? And the way do you join these efforts to one another to craft the picture folks have of you?

Sure, the whole lot I do will relate to my private model, some greater than others. I can’t assist that. There are issues that attain many individuals and can be most impactful. However each little bit contributes, so I attempt to do my greatest regardless of the scenario, whether or not I’m starring on somebody’s podcast or releasing a ebook or one thing a lot “smaller”.

Every little thing I do, whether or not I prefer it or not, pertains to my private model and is a automobile for it. However finally, what drives that automobile, good or unhealthy, is how I carry out in each a type of circumstances. And hopefully, it is extra optimistic than destructive.

Once more, you’ll be able to’t at all times management what folks take into consideration your work, however you’ll be able to sway the best way folks see your private model by the initiatives you pursue and the way you pursue them. That is why I feel many creators discover themselves on the slippery slope I discussed earlier. If the standard of your work doesn’t match your viewers’s expectations and looks like a cash seize, you’ve harmed your private model and that belief is tough to win again.

Q: I’d prefer to dive into one thing that’s a necessary a part of this collection — the place of social media in creating a private model. You’re tremendous lively on Twitter — would you say that’s the principle platform you’ve used to develop your on-line presence?

Twitter has been the principle platform for rising my on-line presence, and the “why” behind that’s fairly easy – that is the place I take pleasure in spending essentially the most time, and creating content material there’s simpler for me than creating content material on different platforms.

I do wish to discover extra platforms as a result of I’m fairly targeting Twitter. However I even have to contemplate a easy content material advertising and marketing query, “The place’s my viewers?” If I am speaking about know-how, there’s loads of content material round that on TikTok, in order that’s an instance of a platform that I am debating venturing into.

Q: Has rising a web based presence utilizing social media, particularly Twitter, helped your profession?

After I discovered to code in 2018, I used to be not lively on Twitter, so I ended up wiping my account and beginning with zero followers. Nobody knew who I used to be nor why I is perhaps fascinating.

And from the place I’m immediately, I can confidently say that a number of of my current roles have come by (or not less than been closely supported by) my presence on social media or my private initiatives, not my official resume. One instance of that is how I joined The Hustle. Sam, the founder, noticed an article that I had written, which went viral on Hacker Information and was shared by a well-known VC. By that time, I feel I perhaps had about three thousand followers. That is how he found my work, which led me to The Hustle, which was later acquired by HubSpot.

Q: Since you’ve expertise cleansing the slate and beginning anew on a social media platform, what would you suggest that folks with zero to minimal presence on social media do when serious about learn how to use theirs to develop a private model?

If I used to be simply beginning out, I might work out what I am most fascinated by proper now and double down on that. I might share the whole lot I am studying in that capability and turn out to be generally known as somebody uniquely fascinated by that house. After which, when you construct just a little little bit of a following, you’ve the liberty to diversify and concentrate on different issues, as I’ve finished.

This can be counterintuitive to the whole lot I’ve mentioned about experimentation and evolution as a technique to develop your private model, nevertheless it’s important at first of your journey to plant one seed and nurture it.

Q: Earlier than we wrap up, do you’ve any closing ideas to share?

Hundreds of thousands of individuals create content material, so it’s important that you just discover a area of interest and provides folks a purpose to observe you among the many sea of others. One key technique to method that is by the subjects you speak about.

One other approach many individuals miss, which may be simply as efficient, is the way you speak about a subject. For instance, there are tons of people that write about know-how daily. However there are particular influencers, many who’re newer, that do it higher. They is perhaps funnier, extra contrarian, extra visible, and so forth. So it isn’t nearly time within the recreation but additionally the way you’re doing it.

Takeaways

Listed here are some methods to implement Steph’s private brand-building ways in your journey:

• Be intentional about constructing your private model: It doesn’t matter what you select to do to develop your model and on-line presence, at all times deliver your greatest self. Put together for talking engagements, create high quality content material, and deal with each venture as an extension of you. Transparency is an effective way to remain intentional about your targets, and Steph has loads of expertise with each as she grew her Twitter by sharing her coding journey and indie initiatives. Try this text for concepts of learn how to observe transparency as a technique to keep intentional.
• Don’t be afraid to experiment: A giant theme of Steph’s journey has been experimentation. Strive totally different content material codecs, sort out new subjects, and create for various platforms to search out what works greatest for you. On the subject of making an attempt new issues, the small companies on this article have their technique down pat.
• Double down on one space: Whenever you’re simply beginning out creating content material in your private model, it’s vital to turn out to be recognized for one thing. This helps you construct experience and credibility, and offers your potential viewers one thing to latch on to. To determine the balancing act of experimenting with out tackling too many issues without delay – and on the danger of sounding repetitive – time within the recreation is much less vital than the way you’re doing all your work. Should you take a brand new method to your chosen area or subject, you’ll be able to win folks over or not less than make them curious. For some inspiration, take a look at this text on fascinating TikTok creators.
• Be open to new experiences: Steph talked about being cautious about taking over a job as head of publications as a result of she’d by no means finished it earlier than however selected to forge forward anyway. If you wish to speed up the expansion of your private model, it’s vital to be open to new challenges once they come. Placing your self and your work on the market can really feel scary, however it may be very rewarding. Try this text for tactics you’ll be able to open up new experiences for your self utilizing your on-line presence.

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