How to Promote Yourself Online

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur or a creative of any kind, you need to master the art of promoting yourself online.

Self-promotion is not a luxury, it’s a must. If you don’t promote yourself, no one else is going to promote you.

Personal marketing skills are crucial for career success, often distinguishing those who succeed from those who don’t.

The problem is, everyone pretends to know what they’re doing, but in reality, only a few people have a clear strategy to build a strong online presence.

In today’s letter, I’ll show you the foundational elements to promote yourself effectively. I will give you a simple framework that you can implement right away and get solid results.

Before we jump into it, I would like to mention that if you’re not dedicated to your craft, no amount of marketing in the world is going to get you anywhere.

With that in mind, if you’re looking for a quick fix, this isn’t for you.

On the other hand, if you’re passionate about what you do, believe in yourself and your work, and dedicated to promoting yourself, then you’re in the right place. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Identify Your Target Audience

Who are they?

To identify your target audience, you need to first identify exactly what you do and what you offer. Then, ask yourself who is most likely to be interested in what you do? More importantly, who is most likely to benefit from it?

Then, you need to narrow down your audience to those who are the most ideal target for you. The best way to do this is by creating a Buyer Persona that describes your ideal customer by gathering the most valid information about them in a way that is relevant to your product or service.

Where are they?

After you’ve identified who your target audience is and created your ideal customer profile, you need to find where they hangout. Which platforms do they use and how do they engage with those platforms?

For example, if they’re on LinkedIn, which creators do they follow? What kind of content they engage with the most? How active are they? When is the best time to catch their attention?

Step 2: Choose Your Platform

First, you need to understand that you can’t be everywhere at once, it’s a recipe for failure. You’ll burn out in the process and disappoint yourself and your audience. Focus on building an audience on one platform first, and then you can expand as you grow.

There are a few variables that come into play when choosing your ideal platform. To keep it simple, focus on the intersection of your audience’s preferences without ignoring your own.

Your Audience’s Preference

Where does the majority of your audience hang out? You would’ve already answered this question while creating your buyer persona.

If you’re targeting Justin Bieber fans, they’re probably not on Medium reading blogs. In this case, the majority of your audience is more likely to be on TikTok or Instagram.

Having said that, don’t take anything for granted or make decisions based on fleeting assumptions. Do your research and find where your audience congregates online. It’s critical to validate your assumptions with real data before deciding to invest your time in a chosen platform.

Your Personal Preference

What’s your preferred medium for communicating your thoughts and promoting your work? To answer that, you need to ask yourself what are you naturally good at? Seriously, what’s your preference?

If you’re good at writing, start a blog and use LinkedIn or X as your main social media channel. Or maybe you’re a good photographer and like to create visual content, then build an audience on Instagram. If you’re a good conversationalist and love to talk, start a podcast.

If you choose to do what you’re naturally good at, you’re more likely to succeed. You’ll be able to sustain the effort until you start reaping the benefits. Don’t frustrate yourself by choosing something you don’t enjoy.

Step 3: Create Valuable Content

Now that you know who your audience is and where to find them, you have to grab their attention by contributing and adding value. You do that by creating content that your audience values, cares about, and loves to engage with.

There are three kinds of content that work best on the internet:

Educational Content

Educational content is one of the best ways to add value to your audience. Teaching others is not only a valuable contribution to your audience, but also positions you as an authority in your industry.

Entertaining Content

Whatever you do, don’t be boring. Find a way to keep your audience entertained in a way that aligns with your brand. Don’t take yourself too seriously and share your fun side with your audience. Never become too predictable, recreate and reinvent your content.

Inspirational Content

Sharing inspiring stories, personal experiences, and ideas, can help you build an emotional connection with your audience. This will show different layers of your personality and help you build rapport with your followers.

The best content is a combination of two or more of the above categories. If you can educate, entertain, and inspire at the same time, you will create a stronger connection with your audience.

Step 4: Find Your Groove

How often should you post? Your average marketing guru will tell you to dish out as much content as possible. The truth is, there’s no simple answer.

It depends on the platform, your resources, and your ability to produce valuable content in a timely manner.

Quality Vs. Quantity

There’s a ridiculous amount of content on the web and the competition for attention is fierce. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to produce compelling content at a high velocity.

It’s not a matter of this or the other, you need both quality and quantity.

When it comes to quality, I mean value. You can film a video with a 4K camera, but if the content is weak, the production quality isn’t going to save you. The value is in the content itself not just in how its presented.

When it comes to quantity, more isn’t always better. You need to understand how the algorithm of your chosen platform works and test it to find your sweet spot.

Consistency Vs. Frequency

Consistency is what separates the amateurs from the pros. If you post sporadically, you’re setting yourself up for failure. It doesn’t matter how good your content is, you need to be consistent and find your groove.

Consistency could be achieved by posting 10 times a week or 3 times a week. Don’t post 10 times a week and then post only twice the week after or take a week off before you post again.

You’re better off posting 3 times a week every week rather than confusing your audience with an unpredictable schedule.

Frequency increases visibility. On YouTube for example, posting one video a week should keep you in the good books with both your audience and the algorithm. On X or Threads you should post at least 3 times a day for optimal results.

Your success on the internet depends on how quickly and easily you can share content that resonates with your audience. But it’s not the same for everyone, so don’t be afraid to experiment and find your own groove.

Step 5: Build A Relationship with Your Audience

While great content is the most important piece of the puzzle, you will need to go beyond that to make sure you’re building a good relationship with your audience. The following three ways will help you do that:

Share Your Story

Storytelling is key to creating a strong emotional connection with your audience. Open up and share your personal stories and experiences.

This helps your audience to know you on a deeper level and believe in you as an experienced individual that can contribute to their journey.

Be A Conversation Starter

Ask questions and let your audience share their stories too. Allow them to voice their opinion. Let them give you feedback and have a say in what you’re doing. Listen closely to uncover valuable insights.

Engage With Your Tribe

Your audience wants your attention as much as you want theirs. Do your best to reply to every comment, answer every question, and make conversation.

Engaging with your audience not only boosts your engagement but also strengthens your relationship by making them feel seen and appreciated.

The main thing is to keep the human element alive. People want to interact with people who they like and admire. It shouldn’t be a one-sided relationship; we all know those ones don’t work.

Step 6: Build Relationships with Influencers

This step is by far the most effective way to reach a large and highly-targeted audience without spending money on paid ads.

Identify Key Influencers

Do your research and make a list of all the influencers in your industry that could help you distribute your content to your target audience.

Qualify Key Influencers

Distill your list of influencers into those who are more likely to work with you based on your current audience size and marketing budget. Aim for those who are slightly ahead of you and work your way up as you grow.

Work Your Way In

Follow these influencers and engage with them consistently. Share their content, help them spread their ideas, and find ways to add value. At some point, they will start noticing you and maybe even engaging with you.

After you’ve been actively engaging with them for a while, you can message them privately and start building a relationship.

Avoid asking for favours, instead, look for opportunities to create win-win situations where you help them promote their content and they help you promote yours.

Step 7: Measure and Improve Your Results

You can’t grow what you can’t measure. Therefore, you can’t promote yourself online without analysing what’s working and what’s not.

Identify Key Metrics

Not all metrics are born equal. Your key metrics should be directly derived from your key objectives. What are you trying to accomplish?

Match the appropriate metrics to your objectives and monitor them closely. The numbers will tell you a story so you can make the necessary changes to improve.

Avoid Vanity Metrics

Some metrics can elude you into thinking that you’re making progress. For example, if you’re trying to increase revenue generated from social media ads, an increase in follower count is not an indicator of success. Focusing on irrelevant metrics can lead to ineffective changes and poor results.

Final words

The online space is becoming more competitive by the minute. To promote yourself online and build an engaged audience, you must be prepared to invest time and effort.

Patience is key, as your hard work may go unnoticed for a while. Don’t give up too soon. It’s meant to be a continuous learning process.

If you follow the above steps and stay consistent, soon enough the world will start taking notice and new opportunities will start to find you.

If you found this helpful, please share it with a friend.

Until next time, keep creating!

Omara

P.S. If you’re reading this, you’re one of my early subscribers. So, thank you! I appreciate you being part of my creator journey. If you have any feedback or suggestions, reply to this email and let me know.

P.P.S. If you need help building your online presence and growing your business, book a 1:1 Coaching Session and save yourself months of trial and error.