Guess what? 2017 is coming to an end, 2018 is literally a few weeks away. So what does that mean? Well of course everyone is talking about all the changes they are going to make: loss weight, be more outgoing, smile more, meet new positive people, pick up a hobby and of course cut all the toxic people out of their lives. The list can go on and on but today I’m going to talk about what’s been on my mind and that’s BRANDING MYSELF!!!

For those who aren’t aware I’ve always been into my writing and blogging but this year I started to take myself seriously and that meant focusing more on my craft. Funny thing is that was my resolution (well part of it) for 2017. I began writing poems, affirmations, story-like quotes and working on my novels. I started to think to myself, “okay you’re writing and broadcasting your work on Instagram but what are you going to do with it?” That’s when it hit me, I began compiling my poems in a word document and when I seen it was over a hundred pages worth I decided to reach out to a fellow writer and entrepreneur. Long story short, I wanted to know if her publishing company ever thought of publishing a poetry book, the answer was yes but nothing worth putting out. I sent her what I put together and she loved it. From there we started working. It fills me with joy being able to say, “My poetry book “The Diary of She” will be releasing on Valentine’s Day 2018″ and that’s because I decided to jump out of my comfort zone.

Once I announced the release to the social media world my mind went into over drive. Once the book is released I want the The Diary of She series to continue, (more books, a vlog and maybe even a web-series). Ways to promote started coming to me. What could I do to bring more attention to my book? How could I brand myself around The Diary of She? I have the blog and I’ll have the book soon, so what else is there for me to do?

Here are the steps I’m taking to Brand Myself:

1. Coming up with a plan – The first step for me was deciding who my brand is meant for and why. I can’t just say hey this is The Diary of She and not define who SHE is.
2. Creating a Logo – I want to create clothing, mugs and even start a YouTube channel but before I can get that far I had to decide on a logo. That meant coming up with a vision of the brand in my head and then finding someone who could bring it to life for me since I couldn’t do it myself. That means you have to be willing to invest in yourself, that involves spending money you might not have planned to. I now have a logo/vector I can work with.
3. Creating A Second Account – I already have an Instagram but it’s a lot going on. I never know if I should slow down on the personal post of me and family or if I should stick strictly to the brand. SO I decided it was best to create a new account strictly dedicated to all things The Diary of She @_thediaryofshe.
4. KEEP PUSHING – Just because people aren’t liking or commenting doesn’t mean they aren’t seeing what you have to say. Keep on posting! Don’t let likes determine your success.
5. WEAR YOUR BRAND – Currently looking into getting samples with some of my work on it. What better way to promote than wearing your work and taking a bunch of cute pics and videos.

Most importantly PLAN & INVEST. If plan A isn’t working go to Plan B. After all it’s 26 letters in the alphabet. You can’t succeed without making a few or 20 mistakes down the road. It’s okay to start over :).