I earned 7,000 followers in 29 days because I show up consistently.
Same voice. Same values. Same topics.
How to figure out your own personal brand (even if you don’t know yourself):
Thinking about who you are is a loaded and emotional process.
So today, we're going to focus on one little slice of you.
Who you are on Twitter. And specifically, how others experience you on the bird app.
And while I don't love this term, we'll use it:
Your Personal Brand
Thinking of your twitter account as a brand is the key to follower growth:
KNOW -> LIKE -> TRUST
• We get to KNOW someone through consistent, ownable representation
• We start to LIKE someone when they talk in a tone that we relate to, about things we care about
• We learn to TRUST a someone when they are consistent — upholding their values, addressing topics of interest, and sounding like themselves no matter when we encounter them
People are more likely to know, like, and trust you with a consistent brand.
A consistent twitter brand is composed of:
🔹 Values (Never changes)
🔹 Voice (Voice doesn't change)
🔹 Style (Can change over time)
🔹 Topic (Likely changes over time)
🔸 VALUES
Values underpin who you are.
They may not be obvious in every word your type, but they're the centerpiece of what you're trying to communicate here.
Ask yourself, what do you stand for?
Examples:
• A bias toward action
• Habits for compounding growth
• Deep dives into topics
• Smart financial decisions for long-term wealth
• Using psychology to understand the world
• Combining physical, mental, and spiritual health
You may have ideas, but then consider how these values can be universally appealing.
For example, if your value is being a Christian:
Decide whether to speak more broadly about spirituality. Your message may resonate with anyone who feels a connection to something greater.
Sketch out some rough values. Here are mine.
My Values (@thatroblennon):
• Cultivate an abundance mindset and share your best knowledge
• Be a champion for originality and authenticity
• Invest in underdogs and the underrepresented
• Add humor to boring business topics
🔸 VOICE
Now let's take your values and figure out the voice to express them in.
Your voice shines through naturally. You may feel like skipping here, but defining your brand voice will add clarity and make you comfortable being yourself.
Ask yourself, how do I communicate?
• Where on the 'casual'<---->'professional' spectrum am I?
• What grade level do I write at?
• Do I write utilitarian lists or tell personal stories?
• Do I write lofty ideas, or in-the-weeds how-tos? (Or both?)
• My Voice (@thatroblennon):
Storytelling and jokes combined with intellectual curiosity.
When I give tips, I provide specific tactics that can be applied immediately.
Aim for a 5th grade level but end up in 9th grade sometimes.
I use satire and play with conventions.
🔸 STYLE
What’s your posting style?
You want people to be able to recognize your tweets, and to have expectations about them.
Take time to think about how you prefer to format your letters, bullets, and tweets overall. Play with it a bit, then try to stick with it.
Questions to ask yourself about your tweet style:
• Do I capitalize?
• Spell properly?
• Do I use jargon?
• Colloquialisms?
• Intellectual words like "colloquialisms"?
• Swear words?
• Do I write in sound bites or long sentences?
• Do I include images or drawings?
•My Style (@thatroblennon):
Tight, punchy, with the occasional longer phrase.
Conversational. Unafraid to break conventions (or publish with typos).
Few emojis, but I do use them for formatting (🔸)
.
Sometimes I add extra line breaks so a sentence will stand out.
.
🔸 TOPIC
I have so many interests. (Everything!) What do I share?
Most people start with a topic, but I left it for last on purpose (or on porpoise you'd say if you're a long-time fan).
For 🐦, you want ~3 categories of knowledge that you'll be sharing as part of your brand.
Why have 3 twitter topics?
You're a dynamic and onion-like human, full of passions and interests.
We need to let plenty of that out, but not so much that people don't know what to expect from you.
Pick three topics:
• 1 General
• 1 Middle
• 1 You're a subject expert
This allows your brand to have wide appeal, while also being able to go deep into the areas you care about most.
And don't kill yourself trying to be unique. This is just a small piece of your brand.
My topics are hardly original, but because of my values and voice, I still offer twitter followers what no one else does.
My topics (@thatroblennon):
• Mental mastery / Personal development
• Online businesses (startups and side hustles primarily)
• Writing and publishing
Topics can shift for many reasons:
• You want to explore a different passion
• Your interests change
• You need to address new topics to find a larger audience
Don't worry if you change topics. Most people who became fans because of your voice and values will stick around.
🔸 SUMMARY
People follow people they know, like, and trust = a consistent brand.
People remember you when consistently show up as you (and can spot fakers).
Create your twitter brand around your VALUES, VOICE, STYLE, and TOPIC.