I teach a class called Social Media Strategy at Taylor University. It’s a required course for my Professional Writing majors, although I usually get a plethora of other majors taking the course as well.
It’s purpose? In the first half of the semester, I help students navigate social media personally (more in another post about the second half of the semester). While many are active on social media, most students don’t know how to be strategic in beginning to think of themselves no longer as “kids” or even “college students” but as professionals seeking internships and jobs.
Since 67% of employers use social media sites to research potential job candidates, my students need to up their game. This class gives practical hands-on skills and encourages students in wise use of social media in all areas.
One of the first things we do is create a website. Each student uses a free platform (no $ or coding required) in order to nab their own piece of real estate on the internet. Their other social media then will branch out from this hub. But this is where it begins. This is where they showcase their brand and then build consistently on it through all their other media.
What do I mean about “brand”? When you think about a brand, you think about, for instance, McDonald’s arches—and then you immediately have some kind of emotional reaction tied to their branding of families coming together to eat, or eating in the car on road trips, or how that burger tastes the same whether you’re in Marion, Indiana, or Paris, France. Let me let Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy, authors of Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself, explain this: “It’s an emotional response to the image or name of a particular company, product, or person” (6). So, when you think about yourself as a brand:
Branding yourself means that you create the right kind of emotional response when someone hears your name, sees you online, or meets you in real life. The “right” kind doesn’t mean being someone you’re not. It’s your personality, your voice, your interests, your habits—everything about you that you want people to know. The information you show to other people, the things you say, and the photos you post should all fit within the theme of your personal brand. (7)
For instance, in the first iteration of my website and blog, I wrote devotional thoughts. A later version was about moving from the city to the country and the attendant adventures (like the time our rooster attacked me from behind and jumped on my back). Those were fine, and I still have those blog posts in my current website under various categories.
But what is my brand? What am I most knowledgeable and passionate about? What should I be writing about? What do I have to offer into the world?
For me, it’s anything having to do with writing, editing, and publishing.
When I figured that out, that made all the difference. This gave focus to my website and my blog topics, and it helped me understand how to use my website and social media more strategically.
Deckers and Lacy suggest asking yourself, “What do I want to be known for? What qualities do I want people to associate with me? What is the first thing I want to have pop in their heads when they hear my name?” (7).
As my students realize that potential employers will be seeking out their social media (which we clean up) and will find their website, this is where they can express themselves as future writers, editors, PR professionals, journalists, filmmakers, etc. This is where they show that they aren’t just one of many students graduating from college in their chosen field; this is where they show how serious they are about what they’re learning, and this is where they show their uniqueness, how they are “purple cows,” standouts.
Their website is a powerful tool. They will continue to change and adjust, as I did, but I’m counting on them being able to impress their future employers because they are more than just a name on a resume. They are interesting people with their own stories.
This is their brand.
Writers, what’s your brand? What are you known for? How might you build your website to showcase that?
More on social media usage for writers in upcoming posts.
Linda Taylor: Teacher, Editor, Publishing Professional 
Great post, Linda! Your students are blessed to have you! Branding seems like a thesis statement: it narrows the focus!
LInda, your post is convicting to me as despite the fact that I’ve had two books traditionally published, I don’t really have a brand. And perhaps that’s largely because my first book covers so many Christian living topics, and the second is a humorous gift book with recipes. If you have any advice for me, I’d welcome it!
I’ve built brands for almost two decades, and based on everything you wrote, I like what you wrote here “everything about you that you want people to know,” although it should be “everything about you that sets you apart from everyone else.” I cite that because you do say it later when you say “what are you most passionate or knowledgeable about.”