Get your head in the game so you can maintain your brand integrity
Personal branding is scary.
You don’t want to step out from behind your brand. And if you do, you have questions.
How much do you need to share?
How personal is a personal brand?
Do you need a brand for your business and for you?
And does it really make a difference to the bottom line?
We’ll find out all this and more on today’s episode
Tune in to learn:
- Why Clarity is the first step towards building a personal brand
- What role Confidence plays in your messaging
- Whether Consistency is really important
- How to measure the results of your personal branding
- What are the downsides of personal branding
- What are the positives of personal branding
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And big thanks to ATL Lamb for their lovely review.
About Kat
Now she’s on a mission to help other humans build profitable personal brands of their own so they can ditch their soul-sucking 9 to 5ers and get paid to do what they love.
She’s terrified of grasshoppers and karaoke.
Connect with Kat
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Transcript
Kate Toon:
Go. Personal branding is scary. You don’t really want to step out from behind your brand, but everyone’s telling you, you need to. How much do you need to share? How personal is a personal brand? And do you need a brand for your business for you? And let’s be honest, does it really make a difference to the bottom line? We’ll find out all this and more on today’s episode. Hello, my name is Katie and I’m the head chef here at the Recipe For SEO Success, an online teaching hub for all things related to search engine optimization and digital marketing. And today I’m talking with Kat Elizabeth. Hello, Kat.
Kat Elizabeth:
Hello, hello.
Kate Toon:
Hello, how are you?
Kat Elizabeth:
I’m wonderful. How are you?
Kate Toon:
I’m good. You’re looking very glamorous today. People can’t see you.
Kat Elizabeth:
It was, it was all for you really, honestly. You didn’t want to see me half an hour ago.
Kate Toon:
Well, I’ve just done the school run, I’m late. We’ve had a lot of technical issues. I’m very glad that we’re here and we’re recording this episode.
Kat Elizabeth:
Likewise.
Kate Toon:
So I’m going to read out your bio awkwardly as you stare at me. And then we’ll get into the episode.
Kat Elizabeth:
Sounds great.
Kate Toon:
So Kat is an actor, turned copywriter, turned personal branding coach. She decided to launch a YouTube channel in 2018 in order to build own brands. She’s now on a mission to help other humans build profitable personal brands so they can ditch their soul-sucking nine to fivers and get paid to do what they love. And we had a funny fact, which I’ve lost. So what was your funny fact? I like to have funny facts in the bio.
Kat Elizabeth:
I think I had three, I couldn’t choose.
Kate Toon:
What were they?
Kat Elizabeth:
Okay. Number one, I’m absolutely terrified of grasshoppers. I’ll have nightmares about grasshoppers because they’re just hideous. Yeah. Number two, I am a professional singer who was terrified of karaoke. So there’s obviously a theme here, I’m a scaredy-cat. And also-
Kate Toon:
And number three?
Kat Elizabeth:
And number three is that I have a nodule thing on my neck that’s like an Adam’s Apple.
Kate Toon:
I love that you’ve shared that.
Kat Elizabeth:
I think I should tell more people, you can see it often and I get a little bit self-conscious.
Kate Toon:
I have never seen your nodule. I’m going to share one. I have a random hair on my neck that I call Bob.
Kat Elizabeth:
That’s right.
Kate Toon:
Yeah. And he’s kind of not there, and then all of a sudden he’s like seven feet long, and I don’t know what happens. It’s just part of being an old woman. If you’re still listening after talk with Bob and have you given your nodule a name?
Kat Elizabeth:
Boop.
Kate Toon:
Boop?
Kat Elizabeth:
Beep Boop. Like a little button like, “Beep boop.”
Kate Toon:
I can just feel myself losing listeners right now. Bob and Beep Boop are bringing you this episode today. As you know, one of the things I love about your brands and I’ve been following you, that sounds weird, in the bushes for several years now. Is that you are very you, you’re very transparent. You share your highs and lows. You’re generally much perkier than I am, but you’re not ashamed to talk about Beep Boop on a podcast, which I think is awesome. But other people might be listening, going, “Do I have to share the fact that I have a strange rash in my groin to have a personal brand?” Let’s start with the fear thing. What do you think holds a lot of people back from creating the personal brands?
Kat Elizabeth:
I think the idea that it gets too personal. That you really actually have to share your entire story, all of the icky behind the scenes stuff. Your relationships, what you ate for breakfast. And that people are like, “Whoa, no. I don’t want to do that, so therefore I’m just not going to have a personal brand.” But I am happy to report you don’t have to tell us what you ate for breakfast in order to have a personal brand. It’s very much more about your audience than you. And that’s kind of what I always say is use your audience as your compass, as your guide. What do they actually need to know about you? And what would they like to know about you to feel like they know you, they trust you that you’re a human? And it’s going to be different for every person’s audience.
Kat Elizabeth:
So some of them are going to be like you said, we may have lost a few listeners from this intro so far. And they’re obviously not my people, and that’s fine. And then they’re going to be some people like, “Yes, finally people are talking about real things.” So I think if you can get to know your audience and really understand what it is they’re looking for in order to go, “Yeah, that’s someone I want to work with or buy from.” And that’s a really sort of good guidepost. Also, if something feels really uncomfortable to you, you probably shouldn’t be sharing it. There’s that level of discomfort when you get out of your little safe zone, and sometimes we just have to get over that, like getting on camera for the first time and talking to an audience. That’s scary, but you know it could be good for you. But if there’s also that icky feeling of like, “Uh oh, I don’t think I should be sharing this thing.” And that’s when you-
Kate Toon:
Do you think it’s intrinsically tied up with confidence then? Because I think the thing that I would say, I’ll pay Susie business woman. Okay, great, I’ve got to think about what my audience would be interested in. I haven’t got a clue what my audience would be interested in. Where do I start? What are the first few things that we can start to talk about in terms of personal brand? And how do we know if there are things our audience want to know or if we’re oversharing?
Kat Elizabeth:
I think that’s where, it’s obviously going to be a little bit easier if you’ve already worked with some clients. So the first thing I say is, if you have any sort of client or customer base, even if it’s really small and you feel like you could reach out and have a few conversations with them, that is just such a simple place to start. Again, it could be a tiny bit scary, because you’re like, “Oh my gosh, I have to talk to people?” But it’s like yeah, because this could actually mean that you get information that is so valuable that it leads to more customers and clients like these people. So I always say, if you can just schedule a couple of calls. Reach out to some people that seem nice, where you could start a little bit safer with a questionnaire and incentivize it.
Kat Elizabeth:
And then if you see that a few people answering questions really well and seem to be wanting to share their life story, maybe that’s a good indicator that they would hop on a call with you and you can just start asking. But the other thing is social media, there’s a reason it’s called social media. We’re not meant to just be putting out content. We can use our platforms to actually just ask questions, and that could just start with polls or the Instagram stories where you ask a question and say, “Hey.” And come up with something that you’d like to know. And try by starting by sharing something and going, “Did you like that? Do you want some more of that or did that turn you off?” But also we can use analytics for that kind of thing too. So that’s kind of getting a bit more … I’m jumping ahead now.
Kate Toon:
Yeah. Well, this is it. It’s still, playing Susie businesswoman, I’m still like, “I wouldn’t know what to ask in the survey. I don’t know. Should I start by sharing a picture of my boob? Or should I tell people the name of my cat? Or I don’t know. It sounds still terrifying.” So to allay people’s fears, I know that you have a bit of a five point plan for helping people get through this personal branding thing. So why don’t we start with those five CS? Isn’t it? What’s the first C?
Kat Elizabeth:
Yes. So the first C is clarity, because that really is the beginning of any plan needs to start with clarity, otherwise, you have no idea where you’re going. So at this step, this is where we do that little bit of work on going, “Okay. Who is your ideal person?” And the nice thing about this is it’s not about trying to come up with 10 different profiles of all the customers you’ve had. It’s like, “No. Who is your dream customer or client? The one that just raves about you on social media? And every single time you release something, they’re the first person to buy it. They’re on the wait list, all of that.”
Kat Elizabeth:
So we need to figure out who the hell they are. And this is so much more, demographics to me, I’m just like, “Okay, that’s great for Facebook advertising.” But beyond targeting people with demographics, it’s more about knowing what’s going on inside their heads. And sometimes again, we learn this from already having had customers and clients. Sometimes we have to start by making up a little story about who our ideal person is, hoping that starts to attract more of the real ones, and then we sort of fill out the details as we go along. But what we want to know is … Oh, sorry, go ahead.
Kate Toon:
No, I was going to say, it’s like, you kind of put out there what you want and then you start to get what you want. It’s like the secret or something like that, isn’t it?
Kat Elizabeth:
It actually is, yeah. Because the thing is, if you have a visual in your head of this kind of person, you’re probably going to show up in a different way in the way that attracts that kind of person. So even though people can be like, “Oh, the law of attraction is woo.” But, everything is energy. How we show up for our people is going to be a huge part of the game. Are you showing up being super perky and encouraging and motivating, or are you super corporate and together and very level headed? Because a different kind of person is going to be drawn to each of those kind of characteristics. So that’s why we want to know who your ideal, who is your dream person? If you could fill your books or fill your database with those people, then we can start moving on to, “Right, how do we actually need to show up for them? What is the messaging that we’re going to be using that sums up how we help them in some way?”
Kat Elizabeth:
Because I love the saying that people aren’t buying a product, they’re buying a better version of themselves. So every single thing that we do or that we’re selling, ideally is going to help make your audience’s life better in some way, even if it seems really inconsequential. Usually we’re trying to either save them time or make them extra money or improve their relationships, improve their health. So you’ve got to go, “Right, what is that specific thing that I’m helping people do?” Because once we know that we can talk about it more and we can get better at communicating that and all of those things. And so I’m obsessed … oh, go ahead. We keep jumping over each other.
Kate Toon:
You’re just going, man. It’s great. So the first thing is both identifying the audience and identifying what problem you’re solving for them, is that right?
Kat Elizabeth:
Exactly. Yeah. So about them and about what you do for them.
Kate Toon:
Yeah. Cool. So that’s C number one. What’s C number two?
Kat Elizabeth:
C number two is confidence. So this is actually about making them believe that you’re the right person to help them. And sometimes when I’m working with my clients, we actually have to start with the self confidence, because it is actually a missing piece of the puzzle. If you don’t believe that you’re really offering value, when you have the ability to change someone’s life in some way, then that’s probably going to come across in the way you show up.
Kat Elizabeth:
So we kind of start with the whole inside out confidence, then we go, “Right, how can we make you look like more of an expert or really good at what you do?” That could be that you start becoming more visible on podcast interviews or speaking on a panel, it’s showing social proof. And then it’s also really making sure that you have a really professional image. Do you have that, @yourname.com email address, as opposed to a Hotmail address? Are all of your social media handles consistent? Is all of your profile images and your bio the same everywhere? Because consistency actually kind of helps build that kind of trust and confidence in you, so people know what to expect from you and everywhere they see you is kind of the same. That’s a really good starting point. Because they’re like, “Cool, this person is reliable. Now I want to know more.”
Kate Toon:
Yeah, I like that. So, C number two is confidence. And we use certain tools to kind of almost … I don’t think it’s kind of faking it until we make it, but it’s building up our confidence. I often talk to people and maybe they have quite a duff website and they’re like, “Oh no, no. I’m really good, actually, but please don’t look at my website. Or don’t look at my Instagram, it’s terrible.” And as you said, that basic thing of sending an email from like a Gmail or whatever. So you kind of put things in place that make you appear like a more serious subject matter expert. And that in turn goes internally and makes you feel more confident. Is that right? Am I getting it right?
Kat Elizabeth:
Yeah. It is a spiral. Oh, I don’t know if a spiral, it kind of works both ways. It keeps bouncing off each other, so the more confident you feel, then the more confident they feel and vice versa. So you have to really not have any of those skeletons in the closet, because if you are dreading that someone lands on your website or your Instagram like you said, then you suddenly look a little, like you’re just going to give off the wrong kind of vibes, and it can damage you as well. Depending on what we’re selling, sometimes people are looking for other kinds of proof before they actually hand over their credit card. So you got to be really careful with that.
Kate Toon:
Yeah. And I think there’s a few things to kind of trackback on that is that number one, you got to kind of in that first piece you were talking about in terms of the first C, of choosing your customers. You’ve got to pick something that you feel like you know something about. I do feel that there’s a bit of an issue at the moment of people, they do one two week course and suddenly they’re an expert in, “Blah.” And therefore they can’t really show up in a really confident, authentic way because they’re terrified of being revealed as a charlatan or an imposter.
Kate Toon:
Which I think we all have a little bit. Still, even now I’m like, “Someone’s going to realise one day, I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about.” But picking something that you’re confident in. And then if you have skeletons in your closet and I’ve got lots of them, either you’re just embracing them as well. If you can’t fix them all … my Instagram is appalling and I just make that part of my brand, that’s part of my personal brand that I am beautifully flawed. Do you know what I mean?
Kat Elizabeth:
Absolutely.
Kate Toon:
I think it can work both ways, but I think confidence is a huge one. I almost felt like that should be number one. But anyway, it’s your framework, I’ll shut up.
Kat Elizabeth:
Right. Oh great. Now I have to just throw everything out. Thank you.
Kate Toon:
What’s number three? Let’s see number three.
Kat Elizabeth:
So number three is communication. So really, it comes down to the things you’re saying, whether that’s written or spoken. The way you look, and so that is all of the visuals for your brand, as well as the way you show up looking in real life or on video. And then your actions as well, because obviously there are so many things that we do that actually communicate a message to our audience. And again, like you were saying, it’s not about trying to make sure everything is perfect, but instead making sure everything is intentional. So you go, “This is actually the message I want to send to my clients, and if that means not having the perfectly curated Instagram feed and I’m owning that and they’re going to love that and embrace that.” Perfect. I think everyone hears communication and the visuals and they’re like, “Oh great. Now I need to spend like $3000 on a photo shoot or something.” And it’s absolutely not the case as much as I love my photo shoots.
Kate Toon:
Of course you do. I’ve never, ever in life seen a business owner who has more photos than you. Is that because of the acting background? Literally you have thousands.
Kat Elizabeth:
It’s less than you think.
Kate Toon:
Really? What’s the strategy behind that though?
Kat Elizabeth:
Yeah. I think it started for the acting thing, and then also, sort of my foray, I guess, into what I’m doing now was I had a blog for a while and it was going to be kind of that lifestyle thing. And it was very much about wanting … I hate repeating photos on my Instagram feed, and I also don’t like spending she logo and graphics. Because I’m the kind of person that I’ll spend an hour on one social media graphic. I’m like, “This is a terrible use of my time.”
Kat Elizabeth:
So I just found a couple of … and I have a lot of talented photographer friends, which helps as well. So yeah, I guess the main thing was, I book a photo shoot where they give you the entire library of photos and you’re not paying any extra. And I was like, “Sweet, that’s it. It’s done.” And it actually is easier for me to do that than to try and come up with lots of things. And I’ve tried the stock image thing, sharing in my feed, the flat lays, they died a horrible death. People hated them, no one was engaging. Whereas, when I show my face, they do.
Kate Toon:
It’s funny though, isn’t it? Because I guess again, another of the big things that people will say is, “I don’t want to keep posting pictures of myself because it feels like it’s all just too much about me. Or maybe I don’t particularly like the way that I look.” How would you tell people to overcome those things? Because you’re right. When I share a picture of myself, people do respond to it more. They also respond to quotes and tips and funny things, but the photos do get big impact, but I also continually feel like a wanker every time I share a photo of myself. So how do we get over that?
Kat Elizabeth:
Yeah. I think one thing is, like you said, looking at the analytics and if you are getting a better response, then use that as confirmation that people aren’t thinking you’re a wanker, they actually like seeing your face. I think, look at other brands that you follow or influencers and look at the number of photos they’re sharing. Does it bother you when they share that many? Or are you like, “Cool.” And you don’t even pay attention? You’re like, “Oh, that’s a nice photo.” And then you read the caption. So we definitely are so much harder on ourselves, but also for me, I give myself like a ratio rule. So I try and make sure that every second photo is not a photo of myself. So that can be helpful for being worried about that.
Kat Elizabeth:
But I think you should try doing a nice photo shoot where you actually get taken care of that day, like the hair and the makeup and everything and a photographer who’s going to capture you as you. You don’t have to look at the camera, it doesn’t have to be square on, like you taking up the whole thing. It could just be like you at a desk in the background of the photo almost. But I just think some proof that you exist as a human is a really nice thing. We like that.
Kate Toon:
I think it is. And I did the same as you. I’ve got a big Instagram shoots done and then loads of loads of photos, most of which I haven’t used. And I think you just have to be careful, especially as a female entrepreneur, not to laugh at salad. That’s a really, really annoying one.
Kat Elizabeth:
Agreed.
Kate Toon:
Not to blow confetti as well. Not to be just, uproariously looking into the distance and uproariously laughing into empty space. That seems to be very popular as well.
Kat Elizabeth:
It is.
Kate Toon:
We’ve we’ve done the first three Cs. Recap them for us. C one was?
Kat Elizabeth:
Okay. So number one, clarity. Know your audience, know your role in their journey. Number two, confidence. So starting with belief in yourself and then making sure that people have confidence in you from the way that you’re coming across.
Kate Toon:
Number three.
Kat Elizabeth:
Number three is … what is number three? Number three is communication. So the things that you say, the way you look, all of that.
Kate Toon:
Fantastic. We’ve got two more Cs to go. What’s number four?
Kat Elizabeth:
Number four is consistency, which I have technically already mentioned, but it is a huge, huge deal.
Kate Toon:
Such a hard one.
Kat Elizabeth:
So, that’s about it is really difficult. Yeah. It’s where most people fall off. So there’s sort of two pieces to the consistency. So one of them is more of that brand integrity. So that consistency across platforms, making sure that when you show up in a space, people know what to expect. They don’t get some headshot from you that looks one way and this bio, and then you show up looking completely different. We sort of just need to give people a little bit of an idea of what to expect and so, not having a gorgeous Instagram and then your website is held together with sticky tape, which happens, or vice versa. And then the other consistency is showing up consistently because for me, it’s that consistency of showing up that’s actually led to the results. No one particular thing that I’ve done has blown up, it’s just that compound interest of doing it week after week.
Kate Toon:
I love that, and that’s something … Kat came into our group, the Digital Master Chefs and did a session on YouTube and branding and SEO. And you want to kind of believe that she put up one video and it just went boom, and it went viral and suddenly she was famous, but it’s not, you’ve worked away. And I’ve watched your Instagram channel, particularly the number of likes just increasing, the number of comments increasing. And I say the same thing I say that, it’s not necessarily that one thing did well for me, but I just wore people down.
Kate Toon:
I just wore people down until they just felt they had to buy something. It’s a different way of doing it. And I think you can be inconsistently consistent. So for example, I am consistent in terms of turning up, but there isn’t a huge amount of clarity and consistency in my messaging and whatever, it’s a bit random, but that’s kind of part of my brand, it kind of works. It’s funny, isn’t it? Because there are no real set rules because it’s a personal brand. So what works for you is your personal brand, to a degree. Do you know what I mean? Am I getting a bit existential there? I don’t know.
Kat Elizabeth:
A tiny bit, but it kind of is that way, so you’re spot on. And so you do set the rules and that’s, I think why people just get so up in their heads about it is they’re like, “I want structure, I want an exact roadmap.” I’m like, “Well, it’s going to different for everybody.” And it depends on your audience, your resources, how much time do you have? What do you actually want to achieve? And so for some people it’s just going to be making a few tweaks here and there, making sure everything looks pretty and in place. For someone like me, I’m trying to grow an audience. I’m trying to land speaking opportunities and television opportunities. So I’m like, “Well, audience growth is a huge part of it.” So my strategy is not going to look the same as someone else’s strategy and that’s fine. It’s what you want to achieve.
Kate Toon:
And I think taking that pressure off yourself, one of the things that once you truly embrace who you are and who you want to be online and … you don’t know what people want of you, but what you want to give of yourself to people and how that’s going to work, then you can just turn up everyday and do something. Because you don’t have to go and check it back to some kind of brand guideline and go, “Do I talk like this?” It’s like, “Well, you should be talking how you talk.” So it shouldn’t be effort to write every post. Anyway, let’s get onto the final C. I’m intrigued to know what the final C is.
Kat Elizabeth:
Yeah. The final one is called compass, which is where most people kind of just ignore. I mean, I ignored it. This was originally four Cs of personal branding. I was like, “Hold on. There is a missing piece.” So compass is about actually looking at what you’re doing and learning from it. So where are you getting the best results? What is leading to more clients or opportunities? What’s not working? What’s underperforming? Does is mean you need to make a tweak or do you need to ditch it completely? And that allows us to just keep adjusting our strategy so it’s as effective as possible. And set new goals as well, because then the cycle continues.
Kate Toon:
I think, that’s very much the missing piece for me. I kind of take this just to throw everything out there and hope that something hits. And then the importance of taking a step back, which I’ve never really done because I’ve been in this such growth phase for so long. But I’m actually taking a couple of months off later this year to kind of sit back and go, “Well, what do I want to continue doing? What works?” And I found, much as you’ve said, the things that maybe make me almost feel a bit ick the things that work.
Kate Toon:
Sharing photos of myself, sharing stories, anything where it’s kind of my voice or videos or Facebook Lives or anything where people feel like they have a bit of a personal connection. And I know that people are listening to this going, “No. I just want to keep sharing quotes and graphics.” And it’s like, “Nuh uh uh.” So it’s challenging, isn’t it? So, what sort of metrics should we be looking for? Because it’s very easy to just look at the likes and go, “Okay, well, 10 people liked that. I did okay. I’m going to post something else like that tomorrow.” What kind of metrics do you really kind of say like, “This is working.”?
Kat Elizabeth:
Yeah. And look, it will depend on sort of the model that you have for your personal brand, whether your own personal brand is monetized. If you’re selling yourself kind of thing, as opposed to trying to support your business. But the thing I really look at are the meaningful metrics. Trying to understand, “Okay, is this actually growing my audience?” So are people resharing this content and saving this content and tagging their friends? Is it leading to them reaching out and making an inquiry with me? Whether that’s an email or a DM. Is it leading to direct sales? Are people clicking on this thing and it’s taking them to a checkout page or something like that. And also just opportunities. If you can see that people are reaching out to you because they saw you on something in particular. So that’s huge for me, is I used to forget to ask how people found me, whereas now I always reply if I get some random email and like the other day I literally got an opportunity to be on a television show, a cohost of a TV show.
Kat Elizabeth:
And I was like, “Whoa.” And I got all excited. And I was like, “Hold on, hold on. Excuse me. How exactly did you find my website?” And then I found out it was a YouTube video and I was like, “Ah, okay. That is really good to know.” Because every time I get a little bit, “Ugh.” About my YouTube channel, because it’s a lot of work, I then get more confirmation that it’s actually generating a lot of opportunities and a lot of potential clients and things.
Kate Toon:
Oh, I had myself muted there. [crosstalk 00:24:55] yeah, it’s so important to ask, because again, you have a podcast as well. We’ll talk about that in a minute. But putting this podcast together, it’s such a lot of work and I do sometimes wonder, “Is there anyone out there? Anybody?” And then someone will come along and say, “I’ve listened to all 100 and something episodes of the podcast. I was listening to you as I was walking across the Appalachian mountains.” Whatever. And that’s lovely.
Kate Toon:
I think another really sort of not intangible [untangible 00:24:59], have I just made a word up. Is when I-
Kat Elizabeth:
Let’s roll with it.
Kate Toon:
Yeah. I’ve had the pros and cons … I want to finish on something that’s not the Cs. We’ve done the Cs, love the Cs. But there are some negatives to the personal branding as well. And I’ve had quite an interesting experience over the last few weeks because I do think that my brand is relatively approachable, I’m quite open and I’m quite honest about my flaws and whatever. I think people think they can write anything to me and message me and phone me and whatever. And it’s a funny thing. I’m not sure what I’m trying to say here. So I guess from your point of view, what are the negatives of having a personal brand and what other negatives have you experienced?
Kat Elizabeth:
I mean, I think one is the pressure that once you’ve set the bar about showing up and potentially sharing some of your story, if you go through something and you’re like, “I need a time out.” Knowing that that could potentially come at a cost because people can notice that you’re gone. So that’s one. And then same as what you said. I have a very, I think approachable energy, everyone that sees my YouTube channel thinks I’m their best friend. So I receive countless DMs and emails and people asking me for free advice, “Do you mind just telling me this and telling me this.” I had someone send me links to makeup the other day wanting me to let them know if I thought that makeup was good for them. And I was like, “Okay. I feel like maybe I need to adjust my boundaries and I’m not being clear enough on the videos about what’s free versus where I need to send you a booking link for my coaching course.”
Kate Toon:
Really, that the hard thing I get, because people will be like, they’ve watched the [inaudible 00:27:01] and they’ll send me an eight page email with their particular problem. And I have to come back and say, “I would actually love to help you with this. But if I did, I wouldn’t be able to make any money.” Because I can’t give away my … and then you’re worried, “Well, have I let them down?” But I think again, people’s assumptions of you are not your business to a degree. We can only do so much. It is tricky. I think the tide can turn against you sometimes, I thought that was interesting about not showing up. I think a couple of weeks ago I had a day where I didn’t post on social media and I received an email telling me that my silence was being noted.
Kat Elizabeth:
Oh my gosh.
Kate Toon:
About a particular human rights issue that’s going on in the moment. And it’s like, “I was offline for one day. One day.” And now I’m getting an email telling me that I’m not being an advocate for … and it really, really rocked me. The other thing I found interesting, and the thing that I kind of want to finish on is it’s actually quite scary when your personal brand starts to work. And this is from personal experience, in the last couple of months, I’ve realised that people are watching.
Kate Toon:
People are listening to what I’m saying. People do listen to the podcast, they are reading my emails. Because for so long you do it and you’re kind of throwing your voice out into the wilderness. And then I think it’s almost imperceptible when it starts to turn around and you realise, “Wow, this is actually working.” What’s your experience with that? Because I feel like you’re at that point now. Do you feel like you are?
Kat Elizabeth:
Yeah, definitely. And it’s where I start to notice that yeah, people taking my advice. And then I realise, “Oh, that video was two years old.” Some of my opinions have changed. What do I do now? They’re taking this as gospel. And so yeah, it is a really strange experience and it’s a double edged sword where you’re so excited, all this work is finally paying off, but now there are expectations and it’s probably going to demand more of your time and you have to probably get help. And you need to think more carefully about what you say yes to and know that when you say no, people might be more upset than they were before and all of those things. So it’s fascinating, but I asked for it.
Kate Toon:
Yeah. You got to be careful what you wish for. And I think, there’s a level of responsibility, and I thought this was a really interesting comment that I read that if you do put yourself out there as a personal brand and you do get people to love you, buy your products, trust you, whatever, you have a bit of a responsibility to them. And like you said, making sure that what you’re saying is factual, that you don’t make throwaway comments.
Kate Toon:
You can’t necessarily be as cheeky and playful because it’s really interesting. I could talk about this all day, because I think as I said, having a slight existential crisis about it. But I guess if we were to finish up and, Susie businesswoman don’t know I’ve called her Susie. Allen businessman is listening to this thinking, “Actually it sounds bloody awful. The last thing I want to do is have an Instagram shoot with a thousand shots and start showing up consistently.” What would you say are the real benefits? The real positives that you’ve had from, from creating this personal brand that you’ve built?
Kat Elizabeth:
Yeah. My entire business is built off my personal brand. So my personal brand is now actually paying the bills, which is awesome because it used to be a side hustle. And it’s meaning that I start thinking about things, opportunities I want to attract and then they actually happen now. So speaking on stages and getting interviewed on cool podcasts and actually feeling like I’m having a bigger impact than if I was hiding behind my business brand. And to speak to Allen, hi Allen. I would also say that, remember that you can create what the rules are for yourself and if you don’t want the photoshoot and you don’t want Instagram, that does not mean you can’t have a personal brand. There are so many ways that it can be packaged. So keep an open mind and think about what would be the kind of personal brand you want to have.
Kate Toon:
I love that. I think that’s brilliant advice. Now you have a free Facebook group where we can go and learn more about this. Tell us the name of your Facebook group.
Kat Elizabeth:
It’s literally just called the Personal Branding Project Free Group. And I would love to welcome you in.
Kate Toon:
We’ll go and find you there. And website Katelizabeth.com, is that right?
Kat Elizabeth:
No, it’s actually personalbrandingproject.co. So .C-O.
Kate Toon:
.C-O. I will add links to both of those into the show notes. I highly recommend you follow Kat. Also, check out her YouTube channel. Just to kind of see how it’s done. So Kat for me, someone that it’s kind of that person that’s running a little bit faster than me and you go, “I’m going to use them as my little person to follow.” I think you do an amazing job on YouTube, especially. So Kat, thank you so much for joining us today and yeah, that’s it. We’re done.
Kat Elizabeth:
Thank you for having me.
Kate Toon:
Now, I awkwardly do the end bit of the podcast and I haven’t done this for a while, so I’ve forgotten. You have to be quiet now Kat, shush shush. It’s the bit where I read random stuff out from my notes that I’ve not made properly.
Kate Toon:
Here we go. So that’s the end of this week’s show. If you have questions about personal branding, then head to my, I Love SEO group on Facebook. I also like to end the show with a shout out to one of my lovely listeners. And this is from ATL Lamb in the United States. Kate’s podcast really hits the nail on the head. Not only is she a super expert on SEO who brings in great guests, she also knows how to keep listeners listening.
Kate Toon:
So many technical minded podcasts are dry, but this one is witty and funny and I always look forward to listening. Oh, that’s very nice. Thank you very much, Kat Elizabeth. And thank you for listening. If you liked the show, please don’t forget to leave a five-star rating and review on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you heard the podcast. You’ll help others find the show and learn more about the wonderful world of digital marketing, and you’ll get shout out on the show. As I said, don’t forget to check out the show notes for this episode at therecipeforseosuccess.com, where you can learn more about Kat, check out the links and leave a comment on the show. And that’s it, people. Until next time, happy digital marketing.
