Branding Bits // Find your Niche

Today's post will be about how we define our core topics, so called niches. Personal branding is a process that will never fully be complete, as our interests can change and shift, but defining our topics is a crucial step in developing professionally and personally.

Just a few months ago, I couldn't really answer the question about "my" core topics. What do you stand for? Where do you want to go with your career? And to be honest, I hated it how everybody was talking about their niche, because I felt like I was interested in everything and nothing. I couldn't really commit to clear topics and define them for myself.

Foundation of your Personal Brand

That's exactly where the problem lies. If you don't know what you stand for, how should others know? That's why in the last few months I've been concentrating on formulating more clearly what I'm interested in, both on and off the job.

• What do you like to talk about?

• What are you interested in?

• What are you good at?

• Favourite and least favourite task at work?

• Are there topics that accompany you all the time on your professional path?

• What do I read? Which articles do I click on? What podcasts do I listen to and what do I think about?

These are the questions that lie the foundation of your personal brand.

My core topics and how I evaluated them

Let me share my process of defining my core topics with you.

What is my reputation at work? What topics do people refer to me? At work, I have earned a reputation as a feminist, and heads always turn to me on issues around equality. And I am proud of that. I volunteer for "Young Women in Business Vancouver" as a Diversity & Inclusion Facilitator. So my first core topic is equality and inclusion.

Innovation is part of my portfolio at work. I'm particularly interested in sustainability and cleantech, and when I'm looking for people to talk to, it's usually in the transport and mobility, food and building sectors. Over the past months, I realized that I am reading a lot of cleantech reports and sustainable stories. Innovative ideas fascinate me and I like to bring people from different sectors together to facilitate an exchange. So my second topic is cleantech and sustainability. And another skill stands out: bringing people together.

Generally, I'm very interested in people's stories and I love reading portraits of people in the newspaper. It can also be in a political context or around current events. I have no problem reading a portrait of the newest presidential candidate in Kenia and the one on the queen of Japan. So the third topic is people and their stories. I also like to tell people's stories.

What is something that I love to do? Privately as well as professionally, I am very interested in social media and personal branding and what opportunities they offer. I run the Facebook and Instagram channel at work and privately my focus is on Instagram and LinkedIn. Since the start of the Corona crisis, I've also been keen to educate myself and have taken a digital marketing course at Brainstation, as well as courses at Hubspot. So my fourth and final topic: social media marketing and personal branding.

I would like to encourage you to think about your core topics. What are you interested in? What do you read about, talk with your friends about, browse about on the internet? Take your time and observe your interests over the next months.

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Find more articles related to personal branding under "Branding Bits" and read interviews with inspiring women who share their advices on personal branding.