^{By NanaDelRey}

Hey Guys!

On Today’s Agenda:

• 🔍 Vanessa Lau, IG Growth Expert, Gave Her Best Advice for Building a Personal Brand to Build a Business Online on a Podcast This Week

• ✨The Creator Collective Club: Recap + Next Meet-Up

🔍 Dissecting a Discussion with Vanessa Lau, IG Growth Expert, on Ryan Pineda’s Podcast on Building a Personal Brand Online

• If you’re not familiar with Vanessa, she has successfully branded herself online as the IG growth expert resulting in building a multi-million dollar business with 9 people at her height.

• But she’s a lot more similar to you than you probably think..

  1. In 2018 she was a corporate girly making $65K at a Fortune 500 company, Lo’real as a brand manager

  2. She quit and started making minimum wage as a barista so she could work on becoming a content creator

  3. In 2019 she founded Vanessa Lau International Inc. where she specialized in educating early stage entrepreneurs on their online marketing

  4. She’s built multiple 7-figure businesses all through Social Media and has garnered 20M+ views across all her channels

  5. This year in February she announced that she was going on an indefinite sabbatical because she was burnt out from content and growing her business at the rate she was

• Her journey is truly a spectacle for us aspiring and current content creators because while it showcases that growing online certainly can be done and bear us endless fruits to our labor, it also shows the reality of what it takes to be a soloprenuer/creator which is what most of all will always be 

• Vanessa's journey is more than just a success story. It's a spectacle, filled with lessons for aspiring and current content creators. It shows that the path to growth online is paved with possibilities, but it's also riddled with challenges and sacrifices. It's a journey that proves that being a solopreneur and content creator isn't always glamorous, but it's a path many of us are determined to tread… Including myself.

• Everyday I wonder what my life would be like if I stayed at my corporate job making $100K+ comfortably at 24 years-old. But everyday I am so grateful that the stability of that income didn’t stop me from chasing a life full of passion, creativity, and growth.

• Vanessa's story is an inspiration and a reality check rolled into one, reminding us that we're all on a shared quest for success and social media could be one mechanism that can get us there if utilized accordingly..

Why She Credits her Success Online to Niching Down 

• Vanessa's content creation journey began just like many of ours, with a diverse range of topics and posts. We've all been there, right?

  While the idea of posting about everything you like sounds nice, it's not the secret to early growth. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

• Vanessa's breakthrough came when she realized the importance of focusing on what truly mattered. She began by creating a multitude of content but honed in on the ones that garnered the most engagement.

• She took a strategic approach, doubling down on the content that resonated most with her audience. This laser-like focus paved the way for her to build a thriving business, serving clients and eventually offering digital courses. Her approach is tailor-made for those seeking to leverage their social media presence to generate sales and establish a successful business not necessarily becoming the next Alix Earle. But honestly I think Vanessa is cooler anyways.

Utilizing Each Platform Differently: Your Content Should Be Different & Not Just Repurposed

• The idea of creating a single long-form video that can be divided into multiple short-form videos has its appeal. But in this conversation with Ryan Pineda and Vanessa Lau, they both agreed that tailored content for each platform always performs better.

• I’ve posted over 1000 pieces of content and have worked with various social media teams, one thing has become evident – what performs well on one platform doesn't necessarily translate to success on another. Here's my take on it:

  • The Secret to Cracking Instagram: This is the realm of meticulously crafted and curated content, both for videos and photos.

    • Stories: These offer a chance to be less polished and perfect, allowing you to build your brand and a thriving community. Approach it with intention and add value sometimes not just aesthetic pictures of your food. Encourage engagement here these are powerful in the grand scheme of things.

    • Direct Messages (DMs): These are akin to a focus group for startups. Your early customers or followers in this case, provide feedback based on what you've posted so far. Listen, pivot, and adapt your content accordingly. Also respond, I always make it a point to sit down and go through messages I haven’t seen yet. It’s hard but its worth it in the beginning when your figuring it all out.

  • What is TikTok Best For: It's a free-for-all playground where both raw, unfiltered content and polished pieces can thrive. But even the polished content needs a touch of relatability; otherwise, views won't convert into a community.

    • While you can post almost anything here, storytelling content is almost always the standout. Even if you’re someone who wants to educate on a topic, think about how you can turn it into a story. This is more engaging to watch and reveals your personality so people actually care about you and not just your information.

    • Find what works on TikTok and double down on it, but only if you genuinely enjoy creating that content regularly. TikTok isn't the place for DMs, so use it as a top-of-the-funnel tool to get your brand out there.

    • To build a real community, shift your followers to your IG. This shift is the litmus test for if your TikTok following is genuine. If they don't follow you to other platforms, it's likely they don't care about you personally. If they do, you've earned the freedom to be the versatile creator who can post anything.

  • The Power of YouTube: Here's where long-form video shines, nurturing your most dedicated fans by delving deep into your chosen topics.

    • Vanessa Lau favors YouTube for growth but notes that it might not be the best for sales. YouTube boosts your recognition and status in a celebrity-like sense, while IG growth paves the way for easier business sales in her opinion.

    • As for my journey, I'm gearing up to return to posting on YouTube, targeting once a week, starting this weekend. I've grown to almost 3K subscribers by repurposing TikToks into Shorts, but it's time to invest in long-form content. Earlier this year, I was lost about the value I wanted to provide, but now that I've honed my content strategy across all platforms, I'm setting a Q4 goal to have 10 new videos by 12/31/2023. The plan is to analyze the results and hit the ground running in 2024. If you're curious about my journey, you can watch it here.

“Complexity is the Enemy of Creation”

• Vanessa said this and it really hit me because I loved it so much. Creating often feels like a battle with oneself.

• When starting on something new, it's easy to erect imaginary roadblocks that you believe must be overcome before you can begin the actual task.

• Let's take content creation as an example.

  • You might think your filming space isn't ideal, so you feel the need to purchase items for a better background.

  • If the sun isn't shining today, you may decide to postpone or even delay them until tomorrow.

  • Unfinished makeup or hair might prompt you to prioritize that task instead of just hitting the record button.

  • On days when you feel uninspired or low, you might decide to wait for a more motivated day.

  • Lacking the best camera could lead you to delay until you actually get one…

• All these are excuses, but none of them are valid reasons not to create. In reality, you're only hindering your progress, as your learning curve becomes increasingly longer. The most effective way to overcome the inevitable mistakes when you're just starting out is to make them quickly. Prepare your filming environment, plan your focus for the next day in advance, and then simply get started. since much a creation often feels like a war with yourself.

I hope you enjoyed today’s little deep dive on brand building, content creation and social media growing. We’re all on this journey together so if you ever want to connect feel free to reach me on my socials 🙂

 💌 THE CREATOR COLLECTIVE CLUB

Our Creator Collective Club met up this past Sunday in Palisades Village for some content creating & chatting.

We had some full-time, part-time & aspiring to be creators join and talk all things about their journey and aspirations for posting content. I am not a creator for brands any more but even I learned some things on how creators are landing PR from big brands with small followings, and how many gigs gifted product versus paid. Always valuable to know especially as I grow my agency where I actually to pay creators to incentivize the best possible results for my brands.

We can’t wait to keep growing the club but here are some pics from how it went ✨

• If you want to join our meet-up next month DM us on @contentflowz

If you’d like to connect or give me feedback on anything please feel free to DM me on IG: @nanadelbiz or @contentflowz