Having not grown up in a “selfie” era, recording yourself on film is very foreign to me. In fact, I think it's kind of weird. However, I realized if I wanted to continue to provide value, I needed to get over my apprehensions and as Nike would say, Just Do It.
So with that thought in mind, on April 4th I decided to flip the camera around and start documenting. One thing to note. The words that will appear under the video are a transcript of the spoken words in the video. I will not alter them, much.
CareerKred TV Episode 1
I'm heading into work this morning. It’s funny. Many people I speak with about personal branding or building their digital brand, don't realize I still have a full-time job. LinkedIn Profile HERE.
All of the brand building or things of that nature, I do in the evenings and on the weekends. Sometimes even during my lunch hour. Basically, I do them during the margins within my life.
Why? Well, because I prioritize this as something I really want to do. So rather than sit and watch TV in the evening, play video games or flip through Facebook, I spend my time reading books, editing podcasts, writing blog posts. Basically, creating content for others to consume.
Starting a side business (freelancer) as a full-time employee
One of the perks for me of moving to my new home state was getting rid of an hour-long commute. During that commute, I did listen to podcasts and audiobooks so it wasn't completely wasted time.
But then I decided to start being intentional. Rather than waste time, I started to make it more productive. So in the evenings, on the weekends, and sometimes during lunch, I began working on building my personal brand and my side-business, CareerBrand.
I also used this time to write my book, CareerKred. Which you can pick up at any virtual bookshelf near you. Additionally, I use “the margins” to speak with potential clients and people who follow me on any one of the social media platforms. During a few of those conversations over the past couple of weeks, one of the things that really surprised me was that they thought I ran a big branding agency.
CareerBrand, A Personal Branding Agency?
As a branding agency, they thought I had a bunch of people who worked for me. All of them were really surprised to learn that I'm not running a full-time business. I am still very much a part-business. It's probably more accurate at this point in time to say I'm a freelancer.
Anyway, in the spirit of these conversations, I thought I’d start the vlog off by letting you know I am a full-time employee first. I’m working on building a side business, second. But the truth is, it’s hard.
But the truth is, it’s hard.
Another good thing about the move to Colorado for me is now I live so close to work, I get to come home for lunch. Something I was not able to do for the last two decades. Yes, you read that right.
This means I can take a few minutes over lunch and to do some editing in my tiny little apartment studio. At least that's what I like to think of it as. NOTE: I've since moved into a house.
Why create a Vlog?
When it comes to this vlog, I think there are a couple of things I want to say upfront so you understand my motivations behind doing this.
1 – I want to share my knowledge with a broader audience.
I've learned a lot over the last several years about personal branding, digital branding, and online reputation management. I’ve also learned how it all works with your career. Hopefully in your favor, but unfortunately for many people, it doesn't exactly work out that way. So, with this vlog, I want to help people understand the importance of building a personal brand. And how using your digital brand, by taking advantage of the tools that are available to you now, can help you boost the credibility in your career. Or your CareerKred, as I like to say. We all have great experiences but nobody will know about any of them if we don't share those experiences. Which we can do if we take the time to build our credibility online. We live in a digital-first world where literally you can make a first impression even while you're asleep. Think about it. If someone wants to know more about you, they will look you up on Google. They'll search for you on Facebook. They'll find you on Twitter. What they find will become the basis of their perception of you as a person, as a job candidate, as a human being. It's super important that we pay attention to our online presence. I can help.
2 – I want to get more comfortable in front of a camera.
As I said at the top, it's never been something that I've done before. It's also not something I'm terribly comfortable with. I've said this many times on my podcast, which by the way if you don't subscribe to the podcast check it out HERE.
3 – Stop scripting and Start documenting
I can be somewhat of a perfectionist. As an example, one of the things I do for the solo shows on the podcast is script everything out, word for word. My hope is that this vlog is going to help me move away from scripting stuff out and having the need for something to be written down as kind of a crutch in order to know what to say. So that's a little bit about me and my motivations behind the vlog. Now I need to head back in my “studio” so after dinner I can have a couple of hours of an interrupted fun editing videos and podcasts.
If you liked what you saw, head on over to youtube (CareerKred.TV) subscribe to the channel and like the video. More to come.
