The robots are coming for your job.
It might sound like I’m quoting a line from a science fiction movie but it’s true. Even though new OECD research that indicates fewer jobs may go than previously thought, 66 million are still at risk from computerisation across 32 countries.
And what’s worse, the majority of those who stay in work are likely to have to put up with less-interesting, boring labour, leaving only a lucky few with interesting, stimulating roles.
This is one of many reasons why you need to strike for freedom now by building a personal brand online.
It is far better to take preemptive action rather than to sit around waiting for the day your boss calls you into some sterile meeting room to hand you your severance offer and request that you vacate the premises with your belongings before lunch.
A personal brand online is your safety net. It’s a way of future-proofing your career. Why? Because you can’t automate genuine human emotion, or connection, which is what a personal brand offers.
If you can build up a loyal worldwide audience online – which everyone has the tools to do these days – then you can make money by selling products and services to them for as long as you live.
Better still, your income is limitless – it simply depends on how hard you are prepared to work and how creative you can be.
You just have to keep putting out content that captivates and delights your audience. As you do this consistently over time, more and more people will be drawn to you, will hear your message, welcome you as a part of their lives, and want to give you money in exchange for the books, courses and mentoring that you will offer them.
Building a personal brand online is a way of creating a business that is built entirely around YOU. So while you might use a platform like YouTube to give people information on a specific topic – baking tips on YouTube, for example – you will always ensure that your voice and perspective are central, so that people buy into your personality.
(Baking is not unique: you are).
This means that as your interests change, develop and grow, you will be able to talk about new things to your audience. It’s not like the old days where once you’d specialised in a particular ‘thing’ that would be your identity for life. These days you can discover new areas and take your audience on the journey with you.
Where To Start?
If this is all new to you then you might feel overwhelmed.
‘But where do I start?’
Well, storytelling is one of the most powerful tools on earth. And each of us has a unique story. The modern tools technology has provided us with – Twitter, WordPress, Instagram, Facebook and so on – are just the modern-day campfires around which people gather for you to tell them your story.
So tell it.
Don’t overthink this. Get a Twitter account, or an Instagram account, or a Youtube channel, and start posting stuff. But make it professional. Put notes in your calendar saying how many posts you’re going to publish today and this week. And stick to it.
What you’ll find, over time, is that a few interesting things will happen. For a start you’ll get into the rhythm of posting regularly. Secondly, you’ll start to build an audience, and people will be drawn to you as they notice and start to follow and comment. And thirdly, after a time they will start asking you questions and telling you the type of content they would like to see from you.
Creators pivot and change all the time throughout their careers. It’s fine to do that – in fact, it’s better to do that than getting stuck in a rut. But the point is that at the beginning there’s not point in worry too much about your ‘direction’
Just start.
Just start making content and putting it out there. Don’t worry about the quality.
Just get it up.
Over time you will refine and shape your work. That will come. Don’t sweat it now. Right now, simply sit down, and create. Create content about what is foremost in your mind. And get it up.
For right now, leave the rest to your more-than capable future self to deal with.
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