Shadowing Practice: Don't build a social media account. Build a personal brand instead. - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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I quit building a social media account and I started focusing on building a personal brand instead.
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I quit building a social media account and I started focusing on building a personal brand instead.
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And the reason why this is important is
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because I don't think a lot of people understand the difference between building a social media account versus building a personal brand,
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you can absolutely grow your social media account by staying within a niche and sharing information within a specific category.
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A lot of people have done it.
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But if you don't build a personal brand in the process and have people be invested in you as a person,
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the moment that you start talking about something else or the moment that you pivot into something else,
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you are going to lose a lot of people because you haven't built that type of loyalty.
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And I personally think it's unrealistic to think that as a creator,
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you're going to be talking about the same thing for decades.
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That's just not how the human experience works.
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And what's really unique about this profession of being a content creator is that it's very tied to you personally.
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And as a human being,
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you're naturally going to have a change in values.
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You're going to have a change in life stage.
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you being a single person creating content might look really different when you actually start a family.
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It also comes with just getting more experience and learning more about yourself as a human being.
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And knowing this, it's natural for you to want to pivot your content at some point,
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but what will make it easier for you to do
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that pivot or for you to actually retain the audience
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that you have is if you actually start laying the foundation of building a personal brand,
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I kind of relate it back to friendships, right?
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Like let's say you have friends where you only talk business with,
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and that's the only thing you have in common.
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The moment that they decide not to do a business anymore,
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or maybe you don't decide to do a business anymore,
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you basically lose touch with that friend.
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I personally have a lot of acquaintances in my life where I've lost touch
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because there was literally like one interest that we had in common.
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And it was just like a really one dimensional friendship.
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But the types of friendships that I have found to be the most long lasting is
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when we have multiple things that we have in common and not just business,
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but maybe our love for animals,
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or we have the same sense of humor,
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or we both love fashion and we both love beauty,
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or we both are in relationships.
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And we like talking about relationships.
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Like when there are multiple layers to that relationship,
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it will last longer than those relationships that are just built off of one interest.
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And so using that example,
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it also applies to the relationships that you have on social media and the accounts that you follow as well.
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If their account is solely focused on delivering information about a specific niche or category,
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the moment that they change up or they switch up,
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you are more likely to unfollow and unsubscribe because you actually don't know them as a person.
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And that is because that creator has made the mistake of not building their personal brand.
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Now I asked chat GPT to explain to me what a personal brand is.
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And I want to read it to you.
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A personal brand is the unique combination of skills,
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experiences, values, and personality that you project onto the world.
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Your personal brand is the story that you tell about yourself,
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which includes your professional expertise,
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but also your passions, your values,
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and the way that you interact with others.
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Building a personal brand involves strategically attracting like-minded individuals or clients and to stand out in your field.
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And so when I hear that description,
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I think about a few things.
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First thing I think about is how a lot of us,
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we're very focused on the professional expertise part.
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We're constantly just focused on delivering information because we feel like the only value
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that we can provide on our accounts is by offering information.
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In my case, I used to share a lot of how to's,
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frameworks, tactics, strategies, and I'm not saying that you shouldn't be doing that.
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But what I am saying is that if you only do that,
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you're basically building a one dimensional relationship.
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And that's not how healthy relationships work,
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or that's not how successful relationships work.
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Not only this, I also think that when you're solely delivering information that might've worked five years ago,
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but now with AI, with chat GPT information is a commodity.
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Like people can find how to content frameworks anywhere,
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but what's becoming rarer and rarer is storytelling is being invested in someone's personal life is connection.
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That's something that AI can't necessarily give just yet.
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AI can't tell personal stories that will make you feel like,
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Oh my gosh, I went through that exact same thing.
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And now I feel really invested in this person or in this character.
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And so back then, if you asked me five years ago,
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yes, finding a niche and sticking to the niche will make you successful.
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But if you ask me now with how the industry is and how technology has evolved,
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I actually think that human connection and relationships is becoming more and more rare.
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And it's actually what people are trying to find.
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And so if you are still stuck with only doing content in your niche,
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I think that you will get left behind either by technology
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or by the fact that you are going to change as a person.
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And when you pivot or when you try to pivot,
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you're not going to retain most of your audience.
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The second thing too, is when chat CPT explained
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that building a personal brand is also for you to strategically attract like-minded people.
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And I really resonate with that because before I would always post about how to use framework strategies,
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tactics, and I didn't necessarily share a lot of my values or my interests or my passions outside of work,
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but there were times where I would attract people that would be interested in my services,
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but they wouldn't necessarily be a 100% fit.
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And so I feel like for those of you who are entrepreneurs,
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maybe you're a service provider,
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I think you can relate where technically on paper,
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someone checks all the boxes,
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but there's something off about the vibe.
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Like you just know that you're not going to get along with this person.
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And so if you want to avoid those situations,
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it's really important for you to showcase more of you and your personality in order to attract like-minded people,
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because people liking your how-tos or people liking your information is simply just not enough.
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And personally, if you want to have a really harmonious relationship with social media,
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you want it to be fun being a creator,
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you want to be in love with the community you're building,
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it is very important to build a community of like-minded people,
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of people that you can see yourself being friends with,
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of people that you can be totally down to meet in person in real life
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and like totally vibe and hang out and chill.
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Those are like the best relationships that you can build online.
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But if you're a creator and you're solely focusing on delivering information
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and you're building an audience of people that you don't actually really like or enjoy being around,
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then it really impacts your mental health.
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And you start resenting the job.
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You start hating being a creator because you don't like your audience.
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So if you got to this point in the video,
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you're probably like, okay, great.
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I get it.
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I need to build a personal brand.
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How exactly do I do that?
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Well, I can tell you what I'm doing.
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Okay.
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I would say that I am in my character building era right now.
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And the reason why I say character building is because I've been reading fiction books.
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And I noticed that most of the fiction books that are recommended to me are always in a series.
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So you've got the Magnolia park series,
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the ACOTAR series, the Empyrean series, the Harry Potter series.
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And I noticed that what makes those books really successful are the characters.
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It's the character building and the world building that happens within those books.
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Each book may have a different story,
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but the reason why people keep reading the books within those series is because of the characters.
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And the only way that I can get invested in the characters is me knowing more about their past,
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why they do the things that they do,
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what their personal life is beyond just the storyline.
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How did they grow to be the person they are?
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What thoughts do they have?
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That's what makes a good character, right?
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And it takes time to build.
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And so me thinking about the best practices of fiction books,
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I started applying that to my social media.
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So on my social media,
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I will still talk about content creation.
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Like this video is about content creation,
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but specifically on my Instagram,
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I've started to really share different things that have nothing to do with social media.
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So I want to give you six very specific examples of how I've been able to character build
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and world build within my social media account.
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First one is I posted this Bulgarian split squat video.
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And the reason why I posted that was because I genuinely thought it was hilarious.
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Me and Leon laughed about that video for so long.
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And rather than posting it on my stories where it would expire,
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I decided to post it on my feed because I want to show people that this is my sense of humor.
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And I also want to show people that I am new to the fitness game.
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And I want to attract people who are also interested in fitness.
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And to my surprise, that video actually went viral.
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And to this day, months later,
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people still tag me in Bulgarian split squat videos,
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or they will DM me and say,
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I just started Bulgarian split squats.
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And I thought of you.
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And what it's showing me is that my presence is expanding.
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My footprint is expanding beyond social media.
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And there are things that are happening in people's daily lives where they automatically think of me because I posted that content.
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Another example is this video right here,
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where me, my fiance, my brother
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and my brother's girlfriend we did the give me my money challenge and we pranked my dad
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and i decided to post it on my instagram
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because i thought it was hilarious too
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but i also feel like in an indirect way it's showing people
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that this is what i value i value time with family
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this is a glimpse of what it's like hanging out with my family we are very humor focused.
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We have a lot of fun and it was really cool because in the comment section,
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people loved it, but also a lot of people can relate to having fun with your family.
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Next example is my newsletter, the creator journal.
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This is where I write a lot of stories that happen in my life,
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but I also share the feelings and the emotions around it.
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And my newsletter is very well received by a lot of people
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because they can relate to a lot of the emotions
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that I've gone through and also a lot of the lessons that I've learned.
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And so I'm building an emotional connection with my readers and through these stories,
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I'm also showing people what my values and thought processes are.
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Other examples of things that I've done is I've shared posts about my beauty routine, period talk.
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I've shared more about like my fashion sense,
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because these are all things that I personally am interested in.
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And the goal of doing this is to have fun,
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but also to attract people that I would want to be friends with
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and that I would actually want to grab coffee with.
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For example, back then there would be people that want to grab coffee with me.
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But if I'm being honest,
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like I don't necessarily want to have coffee with someone where all they talk about is business and social media and content.
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Like I talk about that enough.
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And so for me, my goal is to actually be able to show my audience,
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like, Hey, I have interests outside of social media.
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I actually really like fashion.
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I like beauty.
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I like health.
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And so by putting that out there and people understanding,
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Oh, like the door is open to talk about these things.
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Now I feel like I'm actually forming friendships and the conversations
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that are happening in my DMS are a lot more interesting before doing this,
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all my DMS would just be about people asking me for social media advice.
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And I was very burnt out from that to the point where I almost resented it.
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But now because I've showcased like different aspects of me,
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my DMS are a really fun place to be in.
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I have girls asking me about my lash routine.
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I have girls asking me about how to track their cycles.
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I have people asking me for the links to the clothes that I'm wearing.
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And so it's just adding more dimension and diversity to my social media experience.
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And that's what has made content creation and building a community much more enjoyable than before.
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Last example.
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And I think this is the most important example with an actual tangible result of how this is a good thing.
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And that is before, whenever I drank bubble tea,
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I would post it on my stories and it wasn't intentional.
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It's just that I love drinking bubble tea a lot.
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Like I was obsessed and addicted to bubble tea.
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And the crazy thing is,
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is that years later, I decided to start a new business
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and I asked my audience to guess what business they think I started.
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And to my surprise, when I looked at the results,
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most people guessed that I started a bubble tea company or a milk tea company and they were right.
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And so me starting Superboba,
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which is my new business was so effortless and so easy to transition into.
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Nobody in my audience was surprised and
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if anything everyone was super excited about it but that's
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because years ago i had already planted the seed unintentionally
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that i love bubble tea i drink it all the time this isn't to say
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that you need to share things
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that you don't want to share what i am trying to say is
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that there is value and there is merit in sharing more of the things
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that you genuinely enjoy outside of work
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because there is going to be a day where you decide
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that the niche that you're in isn't serving you anymore
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and you want to make a pivot
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and it's going to be a lot easier to do that
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when people are invested in you as a character very similar
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to the example i shared the reason why people keep reading
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books within a series even though each book has a very
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different story very similar to you how every season of your
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life is going to have a new chapter is going to
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have a new story the reason why people keep reading is because they're invested in the characters
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And so it's really important in this journey as a creator to build your character,
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not just your niche and not just your social media account.
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And again, I genuinely believe
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that the creators who understand the importance of the personal brand sooner rather than later
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and are able to build up their characters, build up their worlds.
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They're going to be able to survive the AI technology boom,
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whatever it looks like in the future.
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And they're also going to be able to future-proof their personal brand
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so that they can earn more and sustain this career in the longer term
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and be be able to pivot into any industry or any tangent that they'd like.
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That is a better reflection of who they are in that moment.
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But anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this video.
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If you want to learn more of the things that I'm learning when it comes to being a creator and starting businesses,
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then make sure you subscribe to the creator journal.
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It's free.
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This is where I really share the in-depth behind the scenes of what it's really like being a creator as always.
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Thank you so much for watching and I will catch you in the next one.
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Bye guys.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will focus on how to build a personal brand rather than just a social media account. You will practice understanding the distinctions between these two concepts, enhancing your English comprehension and speaking skills. By exploring the personal brand strategy, you will learn how it relates to maintaining audience loyalty and authenticity in content creation. This lesson is particularly beneficial for individuals looking to improve their English pronunciation and communication skills, useful for both everyday conversations and formal settings like IELTS speaking practice.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Personal brand: The unique combination of skills, experiences, values, and personality you present to the world.
- Social media account: A profile created on a platform for sharing information and engaging with others.
- Pivot: To change or adapt one's content or focus in response to new insights or experiences.
- Audience loyalty: The commitment and attachment that followers have towards a creator or their content.
- Multi-dimensional relationships: Connections based on various shared interests, rather than a single focus.
- Comprehension: The ability to understand information and concepts communicated in speech or writing.
- Invested: To be emotionally or financially committed to a person or idea.
Practice Tips
To get the most out of this lesson, take advantage of a shadowing site like shadowspeaks. Here are some tips to enhance your learning experience:
- Listen Intently: Start by watching the video carefully, paying attention to the speaker's tone and pace. Note how they emphasize key points.
- Repeat and Imitate: Use the shadowing technique where you repeat what you hear in real-time. This will help you improve English pronunciation and mimic the natural flow of the language.
- Focus on Emotion and Context: As you shadow, try to convey the same emotions and context as the speaker. This will make your practice more realistic and impactful.
- Record Yourself: After shadowing, record your voice and compare it to the original to identify areas for improvement.
- Daily Practice: Incorporate this lesson into your daily routine. Regular practice using learn English with YouTube will help solidify your understanding and fluency.
By following these tips and engaging with the vocabulary presented, you'll enhance both your comprehension and speaking skills, paving the way for successful communication in diverse settings.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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