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Welcome to Jon Michail’s Personal Branding Masterclass. Jon is the founder and CEO of Image Group International, an award-winning image consulting and personal branding pioneer established in 1989. This podcast will bring you old-school wisdom, inspiring ideas, strategies, and hacks for the new tech world. Here, you will learn everything about personal branding: the system, the techniques, and the right mindset to have a successful personal brand, image, and reputation.
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Hello, everybody, welcome back to another episode of my show. I'm Jon Michail. And today we're exploring the power and content writing for authentic personal branding. Before I share today, I kindly ask you to connect with me on social media. My Twitter ex is Jon_Michail, my LinkedIn is Jon Michail. And you can find his image Group International on Facebook. So let's get this show on the road. In the age of information, words have tremendous power, you have to like a mind shift to Excel. So I have a question for you. Are you a consumer of content or your creator of content, this is very important, this mindset shift. This understanding ultimately will decide the results of your strategy. Because blogging and article writing and not just about sharing information. They are powerful tools to showcase your thought leadership and expertise because you connect with your audience on a deeper level and build an authentic personal brand that can certainly monetize. So let's dig into some strategies that can help you leverage blogging, and article variety to strengthen your personal brand. First and foremost, it's essential to find your unique voice. Authenticity, as we all know is the cornerstone of authentic personal branding. Obviously, you know, when writing, it's important that you're true to yourself. Authenticity resonates with readers, and helps build trust and credibility. So defining your authentic personal brand, and white matters. While the research clearly shows that trust is going down, daily and even faster in the digital world. So aligning your blog content with your personal brand values, and mission is critical to your audience's attention and trust. Next, we must focus on providing value that counts and counters the gravity word here, your blog posts and articles should offer genuine value to your specific audience. Example, if it's a LinkedIn audience do not post Tik Tok style videos, and vice versa. Whether you're sharing Industry Insights, practical tips, or thought-provoking ideas, and show your content is in all very engaging, and certainly relevant to your readers. And the word of value, there is the assumption that the more value you provide, the more audience you will gain and of course, will see you as a trusted authority in your field. And of course, ultimately, buy your products and services. Because if they don't buy your products and services in the end game, why are you doing all of this, you know, there's an investment involved in time and energy. And of course, in the end, there has to be, you know, a call to action where people will buy your services or products, otherwise, why you do it. And although this whole value conversation sounds really, really reasonable. In theory, it's largely a myth.
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And let me explain that you in content creation refers to the perceived benefits an audience derives from consuming content. This can include thought leadership, knowledge, entertainment, emotional connection, or practical solutions like we've covered in past episodes. While value is essential for attracting and retaining an audience. It is not a direct guarantee of revenue, though, and this is an important clarification. Many times there is a discrepancy between value and revenue. The gap between value and earning revenue arises from several factors. First of all, market saturation. The digital landscape is overcrowded with content. And basically, is terrible, with a lot of the overuse of terrible bad content. And it's difficult for any single creator to stand out. Another challenge is monetization. Even valuable content requires effective monetization strategies to generate income. And number one is audience behaviour that consumers Jutes in big tech conditioning often expect free content and may not be willing to pay for value. So these are all some of the damages. And now, for some real-world examples of that. There are many YouTube content creators who create no TV, high-quality, valuable content, but struggled to monetize effectively. For instance, a creator might produce educational videos that receive 1000s of years. But due to YouTube's ad revenue model, they are only a fraction of what is needed to sustain their efforts. Others are bloggers and writers bloggers often share valuable insights, tips and stories but find the challenge to convert traffic into income. The reliance on ad revenue, affiliate marketing and sponsored posts can be unstable and insufficient. Another example, of course, is podcasts. Podcasts can offer immense value through experience abuse, stories and advice, however, monetize in podcast responses, ships, ads, and listener type of donations can be inconsistent and challenging to scout. So as you can see, in a digital world, you have to get beyond providing high-quality content. You also need other strategies as part of that, or what I would call this tactics. Okay. One of them is, of course, SEO as part of your strategy. So what is SEO while it's search engine optimization, so it doesn't matter if you're a single individual, basically, writing content for your thought leadership, or a business effective use of content with SEO intertwine can significantly enhance visibility of your content, making it easier for people to find you online. And it's essential for that, because that's how Google will find you. And intelligent arises, you know, in the spotter network. So of course, the public can search and of course find you easily. So using relevant keywords naturally with your content, and crafting compelling headlines and showing your posts are well structured with, you know, subheadings, bullet points, and short paragraphs, etc. is essential. Optimize it, of course, images and including internal and external links can also boost your search engine ranking. And again, I regard as critical, especially the links that would actually be from high domain authority sites and add a lot of credibility to your whole storytelling. So consider hiring also a freelance copywriter with the proven results to help you with that, if that's what's required. So I want to explain some other aspects. Of course, I briefly just mentioned storytelling. Yes, storytelling is essential. And we've covered this in past episodes. Stories have a unique power to connect with people on an emotional level. So use storytelling to illustrate your points. Share your journey and make your content more relatable and memorable. Personal anecdotes are real-life examples make your writing authentic, compelling, and of course, impactful. People are interested in real stories that, of course, you also become memorable.
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And the speaking of authenticity, do you know what can undermine your blog content and damage your credibility, using AI as a replacement for you to write your blogs. I know it's a touchy subject today, being of course, a potentially trillion-dollar industry and more. But the thing is this, it's critical to consider if and how you will use it. So using AI to fully write your blog contact can really hurt your authenticity and effectiveness because it lacks the personal touch and creativity that only you can bring to the situation. Although it's getting better by the day, I generate content often feels generic and misses that depth and originality that surely engages readers. And in this case, even listeners, plus it's hard for AI to maintain your unique brand voice and build unique connections with your audience. Okay, so this is why authenticity really matters. And let's not forget the ethical issues; people expect honesty and transparency. Using AI might make them question your credibility if it's a straight out copy. Lastly, it's how to promote your content. Now, what we recommend is not to be shy about sharing your blog posts and articles on different platforms using social media, email newsletters, and professional networks to get your content in front of a wider audience. So the more you target your reach, the greater your impact as a thought leader and authentic personal brand. So now I'm going to share my personal experience in creating blogs. And there are many blogs that you can write on including your own blog, other people's blogs, or other examples like Medium, etcetera. My phone aver, of course, is LinkedIn.
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And I'm going to be sharing a lot about that moving forward. Now, whether you're a seasoned professional just starting out, I think you'll find some of the insights I'm just about to share as inspiration from my journey. I've been on LinkedIn. From the start, I was told by LinkedIn that I was the first personal branding coach and image consultant on LinkedIn in the world. And that's at least 16 years ago. So let's just start at the beginning. Like many of you, I joined LinkedIn initially as a way to keep my professional profile up to date, and to network with peers worldwide. For the longest time, I used it passively. I wasn't that active on it, because connecting with people occasionally liking posts, but never really diving into content creation until about seven, eight years ago. And that's when it all changed. When I decided to take the plunge and start actively creating content. That decision to start creating content wasn't spontaneous. It was a strategic move. I had been observing how influential some professionals had become quite consistently shown that thoughts, insights, and expertise. And trust me when I say some of them that claim this and bat were absolutely fairly useless from a historical point of view, other than just writing content, it was like they didn't have any other evidence to prove that they had done what they claim they have done in the real world. So I realized that if I wanted to grow, and actually even stay at my level that I was I had to grow aspects of my personal brand. And I wanted to do that internationally and establish myself as a thought leader, beyond my industry, I needed to contribute my voice to the conversation. Definitely a personal branding, reputation management, Image Consulting, but of course, my interests been fairly eclectic is to actually offer a lot more than just to my specialties in my industry. So getting started was both exciting and also daunting. I began with simple costs, including showing my Forbes and entrepreneur articles are Australian media features that I was all our company involved, including awards, and other type of business case studies that we created. And of course, carousels with our thought leadership series. You know, I found that inspiring, and people adding to my commentary also was really appreciated. But I quickly realized that to stand out, I needed to offer something more unique, I'd say, my perspective, my experiences, my stories, in other words, my voice, so I started writing Rhonda posts, some of them shared on LinkedIn, some of them on medium, and other platforms, sharing my professional experiences, lessons led, and tips that helped me along the way. So finding my voice was a critical step to this day. And of course, it's something that I recommend for all our listeners to do as well. And of course, our clients. At first, you tried to emulate others, I certainly did that as well and felt inauthentic. I sensed this garment that authenticity, resonated with my audience, and more importantly resonated with my spirit, I stopped worrying about sounding you know, too professional, and started being myself sharing not just successes, but also failures and the lessons that came with them. This authenticity further built trust and engagement with my audience engagement is a key on LinkedIn, I made it a point to respond to every comment on my posts, to engage in discussions and to connect with those who interacted with my content. This Noorani boosted my visibility, but also helped me build meaningful relationships that have resulted in numerous seven-figure collaborations. I've met incredible people through LinkedIn who have become clients, mentors, and even friends. Of course, there were challenges. Content Creation is a time-consuming exercise. And balancing that with my professional responsibilities was at times taxing. So going back to the past, there were times when a post didn't get the engagement I hoped for. And it was easy to feel disheartened, but Allah to see that every piece of content as a learning experience, analyzing what worked and what didn't help you refine my approach, the impact on my career has been significant. By consistently creating valuable content, I've been able to position myself as a thought leader in my field, but not only in Australia, of course, globally, opportunities, of course, started accelerating my way speaking engagements, collaborations, and even job offers. And that's the funny thing, because as I'm a founder of several businesses over the years, and having led my own companies for the last 35 years, it's hilarious to be headhunted with job offers. Overall low it's amazing. It's actually good for your ego and the aspect of a strong LinkedIn presence. This can certainly add further influence to your professional life. So what tips do I have for aspiring LinkedIn? Content creators?
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Well, here are a few. Be authentic. Share your genuine thoughts, experience, and insights. Remember, authenticity builds trust, engage, don't just post it forget, engage with the audience, respond to comments, and join discussions. Don't be a snob, build relationships with people. And of course, the next one is consistency is key readily. A posting content helps you keep up along with your network. And that's part of it. Because in this busy, busy, busy world, especially digitally, people will forget you very quickly if you don't stay top of mind. In conclusion, creating content for LinkedIn has been a transformative experience for me. Not only that, I'm a recognized LinkedIn top voice, but more importantly, about building a personal brand that I'm proud of, and of course, contributing to community, sharing knowledge and building relationships that would have been impossible, if not for that Knology of LinkedIn. If you've been on the fence about diving into content creation, encourage you to start share your voice. You never know the impact that you might have. And of course, the opportunities that might come your way. I mean, if you want the opportunities of your new possibilities, how are you going to expect any of that to happen if you don't put yourself out there. By following these strategies, you can use blogging and article creating, to certainly write authentic and powerful articles. You'll also create powerful connections with the audience. Establish yourself as an authority and thought leader, of course at a strong personal brand. Well, that's all I had to share with you today. If you valued my sharing, please rate us on Apple podcasts and subscribe for more valuable content and share the podcast with others interested in personal branding, of course, through content writing. If you need my help in your personal branding journey or producing authoritative content, please contact patricia.bosa@imagegroup.com.au. Thank you for tuning in. Remember, your words are your authentic expression, they have the power to shape a personal brand and inspire others to greatness. And until next time, cheerio.
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Jon Michail’s Personal Branding Masterclass Podcast is sponsored by Image Group International, a global team of practical, digitally savvy personal brand and image strategists based in Australia, committed to maximizing your impact, influence, and authority in the business world. To learn more and apply for personal coaching, seminars, and group workshops, please visit imagegroup.com.au or call 1800 631 311.
