Hey friends,
Are you based in NYC? Join us for a happy hour. Last week, we gathered 50+ techies at one of the coolest spots on the Lower East Side. Friendships were formed, strengthened and word on the street is, people had a great time. Don’t believe us? We’ve got proof.
So, if you’re in NYC, consider joining us next time. We’d love to meet you in person.
In addition to throwing a great event, this past week we received an invite. One of the biggest startup banks asked us to deliver a workshop to their NYC team. The topic? Building a strong online presence.
Why would a bank want to do this? Turns out they are trying to get their team to break out of the buttoned-down persona we tend to associate with banks and show more of their personality, knowledge and passion online.
They have recognized that people resonate with people. That the more you show your personality and unique points of view the more likely you are to attract new customers. That if employees build a strong online presence, it not only elevates the company’s brand but it gives them optionality. After all, your audience stays with you long after you switch jobs :)
However, as we’ve previously established most people are just afraid to start. Yet, once you get started, the results can quickly exceed your expectations.
And we’ve got the data to prove it. Here are three people who were able to leverage their online presence into new job opportunities, starting and growing businesses and much more.
1/ Amanda Natividad
Amanda Natividad is VP of Marketing for audience research startup, SparkToro. She’s also a contributor for Adweek, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef, and a former journalist. Amanda previously led marketing for Growth Machine, led marketing for Liftopia, built Fitbit’s B2B content program, and led content and communications for NatureBox.
She first started writing online while she was a Growth Machine. What started as a way of increasing organic traffic and creating a steady pipeline quickly became a natural way for Amanda to increase career serendipity for herself.
About six months into her audience building journey, Amanda received a follow from one of her heroes (and current boss), Rand Fishkin. He liked her insights so much that he asked her to join his team and lead marketing at SparkToro. Talk about creating opportunity out of thin air!
2/ Ash Lamb
Ash Lamb is a Barcelona-based visual artist who has built a Twitter audience of 31,000 by deconstructing and illustrating ideas for creative entrepreneurs.
For Ash building an audience came down to one word: curiosity. He felt lost and unsure about the best ways to utilize his time, so he decided to focus on the activity that would lead to more optionality and impact in the future. A talented artist, he decided to share his art and document his journey on Twitter.
Showing up day after day to share his thoughts, ideas and projects soon led to previously unimaginable opportunities. Ash was able to meet and collaborate with people he had long admired, such as Steven Bartlett and Louis Howes, work with billion dollar startups and launch a course that teaches thousands of people how to create impactful visuals.
If this is not great ROI, we don’t know what is.
3/ Toby Howell
Toby Howell has been a fixture of the internet for years. Whether you know him from his Morning Brew days, his more recent stint at Homescreen or his new venture, The Game, chances are you’ve crossed virtual paths with him.
However, you may not know that Toby wasn’t always so prolific. In fact, he started his audience building journey by accident. He wrote a thread about what he had learned growing Morning Brew’s Twitter account, and before he knew it, he was going viral. By the next morning, he had gone from 600 to 8,000+ Twitter followers.
Growing this audience allowed him to land his gig writing Homescreen, before venturing out on his own to launch The Game and finally re-joining Morning Brew to host a daily news show. Talk about going full circle!
As you can see, having a strong online presence may be one of the best investments you can make. So next time you’re afraid to press the ‘publish’ button, think about one of these three stories. Toby, Ash and Amanda are just like you. If they can do it, so can you.
With love,
Team Salley
What is Salley?
Salley helps you accelerate your career by learning new skills, such as building a strong online presence.
