Why you should become niche famous
The personal branding workshop I taught live to 100 people this week (slides and worksheet included)
Hi, I’m Hannah! Welcome to Nonlinear News, where I write for smart, ambitious people choosing the nonlinear path.
One of the weird contradictions of social media is that you can have an audience of 300K+ and still be scared that no one will show up to an in-person event.
I hosted my third in-person event this week as part of my 5-9 Builders Club, a personal branding workshop with my friend and fellow creator, Claire Barthelemy.
A few months ago I met Claire in person for the first time after being Instagram friends. She’s a multi-hyphenate creator who’s done content for herself and for businesses across six different accounts in 8 years while working and studying. We talked about hosting a workshop for people who want to build a personal brand online, but struggle because they’re doing it on the side of a demanding job, or so multi-passionate and nonlinear that they don’t know what to talk about.
We called it “Niche Famous”, based on our shared belief that it’s better to be known by 1,000 of the right people than 100,000 of the wrong ones, especially if you want to grow your visibility for your career or business. We spent over a month planning, wrangling invites, venues and sponsors. We were still asking ourselves minutes before pressing publish on the invite: “What if no one shows up?!”
520 people signed up.
We were *only* able to fit about 100 into the room.
And I couldn’t have asked for a better room. We had professionals in every field from tech and startups to finance and consulting. People with a decade of corporate experience and new grads. Founders. Creators who already built followings of 100K+ looking to expand to other platforms or refine their brand.
Smart people with real substance who want to build something of their own in their own name, grow their career, and expand their network.
Everyone had realized - visibility is the new currency, whether it’s a tool to promote a new business, to market your own skillset independent of a company, or just to explore a new creative outlet.
I’m sharing everything we talked about that night (I recorded the entire thing) in today’s newsletter:
The exact slides we presented (everything from tactical content creation to the mindset you need to build a public brand)
10 tips for building your personal brand and Q&A
The worksheet we gave to every attendee to take home and use to build their personal brand positioning and messaging, not just hear about it
But even though we’d prepared detailed slides and a worksheet for our workshop, it was clear by the end of the night that the true value of our event wasn’t the advice, the tips, or the frameworks.
It was meeting other people doing the same thing as you, hearing their motivations, and realizing that you’re not alone in “climbing cringe mountain”…instead of sitting at home watching “how to create content” videos but never starting.
520 of you signed up for 100 spots, which means an in-person event every few months only goes so far, so…
I have a favor to ask you…help me help you!
I want to help more of you, in a deeper way. I know there's no shortage of personal branding courses, communities, and advice out there already. I have no interest in adding to the noise. If I build something, I want it to be something you'll use, and the only way to find that out is to ask you.
Tell me where you are with your personal brand, what you’re stuck on, and what would help most in a quick 3min survey. A few people who fill it out will get a free 1:1 session with me, and you’ll be the first to hear about anything I build.
✨ Fill out the survey (and enter to win a free 1:1 session with me) ✨
Stay tuned here and on my IG stories for future events and more personal brand resources (in-person and virtual soon, I promise!). You can also subscribe to my page on Luma to make sure you see new events as soon as they’re posted.
