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Crafting Your Personal Brand with Casie Stewart

Creator of the blog This is My Life, avid tweeter, Provocateur for Virgin America and an all-around plugged-in pioneer, Casie Stewart has a few tips to offer when it comes to channeling business and creativity into your very own online personal brand. Read as Shape What’s to Come member Casie tells us how she developed her online brand and how you can do the same.

Mum used to tell me I was “someone special,” and I guess you could say I believed her. I’ve had lots of different jobs growing up, but my current job is one I only ever dreamed of.  When I started a blog, I didn’t think I was starting a brand. In 2009, I was on a TV show and the host asked, “What do you want to be?” I responded without hesitation and said, “I want to be a world brand.” Yes, that was reaching pretty far, but I knew one thing was certain: I was building a personal brand and nothing could stop me.

Not too long after that, social media really started picking up. I was right in the middle of it, spinning a web of content around me via my blog, Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook. I fell in love with the Internet and social media because it gave me an outlet to let my creativity run wild. That’s the beauty of building a personal brand: creating a representation of who YOU are and sharing it online.

A personal brand is you in an art form; it’s a mix of business and creativity. My mum used to say, “Casie, just because you don’t have money doesn’t mean you can’t compete. You just have to be more creative.” We’re lucky to live in a day and age where you can set a profile, create a voice and build a brand with an idea and the Internet.

Here are some tips on building your personal brand to help  establish yourself online:

1. Set a goal: Make a plan for your brand. What are you passionate about? What do you want to be known for?

2. Start a blog: Use Wordpress, Tumblr, Blogger or Posterous to create a free home for your online activity.

3. Find a mentor: Find someone who is doing what you want to do and introduce yourself, learn from them and get inspired.

4. TGIF: Twitter, Google, Internet, Facebook: Create profiles for yourself online and update them regularly with things that align with your brand.

5. Get Involved: Seek out events related to your passion and get involved by volunteering. This is a great way to grow your brand, meet others and learn from experts.

I’ve been building my personal brand online for over five years. At first, no one read my blog, and I had no followers on Twitter. We all have to start somewhere but have the potential to go anywhere. In the words of Napoleon Hill, “What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

Have questions for Casie? Tweet her, leave her a comment or contact her through her Shape What’s to Come profile.