Building A Winning Personal Brand With Caroline Mutoko

Is there a path to becoming an icon? Is that even the goal? What’s at stake in every decision you make as an emerging media personality? Caroline Mutoko, renowned media aficionado, graced our Masterclass space last week to dive deep and get real about the entrepreneurial journey on how to build a personal brand and how make it as a professional influencer. Her mantra for the day: Remember this is a job–not a hustle–take it seriously and put in the work!”

Here are our hot takes and highlights on this high-power session with one of Kenya’s greats. 

‍So what is a personal brand anyway and why does it matter? 

‍Let us count the ways in which a personal brand matters. There’s a multiplier effect that comes into play when you master the profession, and not everyone can do it. Becoming a media personality doesn’t happen in a day, and you must CONSISTENTLY work on yourself.
What is a personal brand?

• A personal brand is your story.
• A personal brand is how people perceive you.
• A personal brand is something that people think about you.
• A brand must be sure that the influencer’s content aligns with who they are. 
• Who are you and what brands are you hoping will approach you and how do you align in that area?
• Being an influencer is having a relationship between a brand and an influencer that people are willing to listen to. 

Key Steps to Building Your Personal Brand

Be your authentic self

One common mistake influencers make is that they "try to be somebody else." Audiences can see through it. They'll spot inauthentic behaviour from a mile away, and it's a major disservice to your brand. Believability on who you are is key. There must be a belief that you live the brand, you work it and consume it.

Be Consistent

Be consistent with what you do so that we know this is who you are. Owning your space is extremely important and that is what brands in your niche look out for. Give your potential advertiser something to work with. Treat it like a job, influencing is not a hustle. Create content consistently and treat it like a job. Let your content rise to the top until people actually speak about it. You need to be known for something, be known for how you deliver, what you're good at -- automatically that is your ROI. ‍

Build social capital with your audience

Be conscious about how you build social capital with your audiences. Have something that you do that endears audiences to you. What really matters to your audience? Are you championing those things? Honing in on these things will help you build that social capital as you bring your brand to life through your actions.

‍Chase quality numbers on your socials

Chase quality numbers because numbers on their own are a vanity trick these days. What you put out and how you do it will determine the quality of your audiences. You can have thousands of followers on your socials, but are they quality numbers? Are you getting the right engagement? It's all about focus.

How you carry yourself is very important

Money goes where it is respected, not where it is needed. Bring your business self to meetings. You need to know that you are the CEO of your business.

A promise made, a promise delivered is what brands live on.

Remember this is a job, not a hustle! Take it seriously!

Watch the full video on our Youtube page 

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