Thread by @ShontaviaJEsq

Grow your brand, they said. Just put yourself out there, they said.

But what does this actually look like?

Here are some *free* ways to start promoting yourself, your expertise and your work. Don’t do em all—just pick 1 or 2 & roll with those for a while.

A thread.

1/ Write. On your own platform AND someone else’s.

Pitch op-eds to local newspapers & articles to other media editors using @TheOpEdProject’s tips. If you’re in Higher Ed, pitch @ConversationUS.

Bonus points if you #ownyourgenius and create a copyright strategy.

2/ Go Live.

This is nobody’s favorite thing to do but it works 🤷🏾‍♀️

Show that you know your 💩but keep it simple.

➡️ Pick 1 platform & stick w/ it for a bit
➡️ Talk about 1 topic per Live.
➡️ It’s OK if no one shows up. You can chop it up for future posts.

3/ 🗣Nominate yourself for awards. THE BIG ONES. Eff imposter syndrome.

You deserve it, Sis.

No, seriously. You do.

If you can’t nominate yourself, find an excellent nominator and help them draft a phenomenal nomination for you (if, of course, the rules allow it).

4/ Speak to groups.

Pitch organizers. Finesse invitations. Start a YouTube channel if nobody’s checking for you right now.

Start talking about whatever you want to talk about to groups who need your help & who have speaking budgets.

Shoot, this tweet needs a part 2

4b/ Re. speaking, stop thinking you have to give up your expertise for free.

You. Don’t.

I refer people to @TaraJFrank’s phenomenal thread about this at least a few times/ month:

https://twitter.com/TaraJFrank/status/1340342015821836289

5/ Do. Not. Pay. To. Play. With all of the free ways to get your message out there, you just don’t need to pay for it on this land.

Once you reeeeally get in your bag, the media requests will come.

A good PR person/agent can help, of course. But you gotta do the work first.

6/ Start making content. Post it and share it wherever you do that.

Don't know what kind to make? Check out this list of 60+ types of content you can create at startmakingcontent.com .

6b/ But also, stop thinking you can post once today & blow up tomorrow.

Engage w/ the people who comment/share/like your posts.

Visit your followers' social media posts & show them love by commenting, liking, sharing, etc.

As my grandma always said, you get what you give.

7/ Collaborate, but don’t hop on everybody’s podcasts, Lives & Clubhouse stages. Be clear your values align by 1st listening to/watching potential partners.

It’s dope to expose yourself to amazing communities who don’t know you yet. But, the wrong collab WILL cause problems.

What’s the best early step you took to grow your brand? Mine was public writing.

My 1st op-ed was about the disclaimers people post every few years revoking permission for Facebook to use their posts.

Not deep🙈🤷🏾‍♀️, but it got me out of the gate

desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/…

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