The Big Idea

Growing A Personal Brand from Scratch — Week #1

My name is Erik and I’m on a mission to grow my personal brand through internet comedy videos. Also, I’m starting from scratch. So there’s that.

This is the first in a weekly series following my journey from online anonymity to being a recognizable voice. Each week I’ll let you know what I’m up to and if it’s working or not working. I see this as a play-by-play for building a personal brand from the ground up. If you’re looking to do the same, regardless of the basis of your content, please reach out and let’s learn together.

About Me:

I’m a 25 year old guy living in Michigan and I make my living producing videos. Mostly one-man-band news/documentary style stuff. I’m always behind the camera. I’ve been professionally producing video for 8 years and I love it, but there’s one thing keeping me from total, professional happiness. My ego.

I think I have more to offer the world than what I’ve been working on. I’ve spent my career creating videos that help my employer’s reach their goals, but I wasn’t doing the same to make my dreams happen. Why??? In an age where I can reach millions of people with a camera, internet connection, and something to say what’s stopping me from becoming the social media personality I want to be? If you feel the same way, what’s stopping you?

Why I’m Launching My Personal Brand Now:

I don’t think there is ever a bad time to start a personal brand, but I can say that now is a really good time for me. I believe that the online video landscape is undergoing huge changes, and content creators looking to get their name out there are in a really good position to take advantage.

(I wrote a separate post all about this. Check it out here when you’re ready.)

Where I’m Starting:

I am still figuring out a smart way to gauge the success of growing my brand. I think that the quality of engagement is more important than the number of followers, but for now I will be using follower totals to watch my growth. These metrics will likely be tweaked over time.

Facebook — 658 Friends (I’m considering a Facebook Fan page)

Medium — 12 Followers

Twitter — 21 Followers

Instagram — 187 Followers

YouTube — 12 Subscribers

As you can see my online following is extremely average, maybe even lower than average. I’ll compare this data each week to see what’s happening.

Why You Should Care:

If you’ve made it this far into my post you must either know me or be interested in growing your own personal brand. If you are the later here is why you should care. There is no equal to the experience of going through the motions yourself. But, I believe that documenting the process and sharing the experience in real time will be a very valuable record for myself and others traveling along this journey. I promise to be honest and share what is really going on week by week. I don’t think that hiding obstacles is a good way to learn from them.

We Can Do This Together:

Please feel free to connect with me and chat about all this stuff. I hope you do. If you’ve found this idea interesting I would love to have you follow me and like this post to increase exposure. If you are also interested in launching your personal brand or if you already have let’s share what we are learning and grow together.