As a creator with your own platform, you’ve already accomplished something that most people couldn’t do. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 19 percent of people are either in the process of or have founded their own business in the last three and a half years. While nowhere near as low as it used to be, you are still breaking ground in a way that only 19% of the world is. You should feel proud of the work you’ve put into yourself and your own future. However, I have a question that may shake you up a bit- why stop there? We all know cross-promotion is a key strategy to growing your brand, so why not expand your brand through various forms of media so it can have a larger presence and be promoted on various platforms?
Over the last year, I’ve turned my own brand into a podcast, a television show, and a book (on top of my blog), and the growth I’ve seen out of this has been substantial. So, in this post, we will discuss what it looks like to expand your brand across various forms of media, the obstacles that may arise when you do so, how to keep the integrity of your brand in the process, and where to start this journey.
Expanding Your Brand
Simply put, growing your brand means making it visible to more people and getting more brand-loyal visitors. This can be difficult to do, as we all know that growth takes strategic planning which includes giving your readers what they are looking for and providing unique thoughts and ideas. But growth clearly can happen, and expanding your brand out into other avenues is a way to get more attention from people who may not have found you otherwise. In fact, it’s a pivotal key to directing new viewers to your website or platform.
2022 was the year I first committed to working on my website and treating it like a real business. I began putting out regular content and joined the SHE Media Collective. In 2023, I decided to expand my brand. I changed my content strategy to release more articles, and I started my podcast as a companion to the blog. I also began heavily promoting my television show, Weird World Adventures, which will air on Amazon Prime and Tubi this spring. By committing to and expanding my travel blog MaloriesAdventures.com, I saw an increase in traffic from only 42,000 visitors in 2022 to 95,000 visitors in 2023, with the last several months bringing in tens of thousands of visitors each. By implementing better practices and with the release of my podcast, I doubled my viewership and expanded the reach of my brand into Audible, Google Podcasts, iTunes, Spotify, and iHeart Radio.
Starting a Podcast
I know, the joke is that everyone and their mother has a podcast nowadays. That doesn’t mean that it’s not a great strategy to grow your brand. After all, if you have a specialized niche with a unique perspective, it can be easy to bring in more viewers just by putting your presence out on the platforms I mentioned in the previous paragraph. If your specialty is travel, think about making it even more specific so you can bring in a more loyal and interested audience. For instance, my realm of focus in the travel world is ‘strange places’ and ‘weird travel’, so I keep the podcast focused on that rather than travel, overall. Aside from that, by including my website link in the description of my podcast, my site got attributed backlinks from Google Podcasts, which helped with my Domain Authority. Having a searchable presence across these established podcasting platforms truly does help in building authority.
Creating Video Content
In the same way that having a podcast on well-known and trusted platforms can help establish your footprint, having a show on reliable streaming platforms like Amazon Prime or Tubi will, of course, do the same. But you don’t need to start out that large. Think about expanding into a YouTube Channel or creating TikTok videos or reels. Adding a video element to your brand helps give a face and a personality to your brand in a way that can make your content more relatable. It allows people to get to know you and care more about what you’re putting out there. It’s just another way to add credibility and authority to your brand. Think about starting small and trying to film one video per week (whether it be a beauty tutorial, a product review, or a hiking adventure- depending on your expertise). You could embed the video into an article so it gets viewership on your blog while also posting it to social media so you can double dip to get more views.
Becoming an Expert in Your Niche
To help you become an expert in your niche, I don’t think it needs to be said that you need to know your specialty like the back of your hand. When I decided that my specialty would be strange travel and places, I began working towards my master’s degree in anthropology. I wouldn’t say you have to take it that far, but by being an expert in your niche, you can invite opportunities to write a book and/or to provide speaking engagements. I turned my love of travel into a paycheck and then wrote a book about that specific process. From there, I am turning it into a speaking opportunity at many travel and adventure shows. I highly encourage you to write a book about your specialty if you have the time and knowledge to do so. Once you do, you can attend shows and speaking engagements with your book where you can sign copies of the book and make an additional income, all while promoting your brand. You can create a master class online where people can pay to learn your secrets. You have to be a salesperson to sell yourself and your brand, and writing a book is a great way to learn and master this process.
Now, I’m not saying to do it all, but each of the ideas above is a great opportunity to consider. Expanding your brand should be done carefully, one small step at a time.
The Obstacles that May Arise While You Try to Expand
Expanding your brand must be done with care. One of the biggest mistakes you can make along the way is to try to take on too much at one time. If you do this, you will risk putting less time into your content, which will hurt your brand. So, try to start small! Pick one thing you’d like to expand on (such as adding some video content to your site or expanding into a podcast) and start there. Be sure to plan out a schedule ahead of time to manage this so you don’t get overwhelmed.
Another major obstacle that gets in the way of most creators is their own fears and insecurities. Many times, as creators, when we don’t know how to do a task, it could intimidate us from performing the task. If you’ve never done a podcast, you may be unsure where to start or fearful to try. However, to expand your brand and grow, you need the mindset to see the skills you don’t know as an opportunity to learn. Instead of not expanding your brand “because you don’t know how”, do some research and find the information out there on the steps to start. For instance, starting a podcast is pretty easy to do, and with a quick Google search, you can easily find the tools to do this.
The final obstacle I want to bring up is losing integrity. Sometimes, if we either expand too much too quickly and spread ourselves too thin or if we put some control in the hands of others, we could lose the integrity of our brand. You don’t want to do that. To maintain the integrity and quality of your work, be sure to know your brand like the back of your hand. Have clear goals and values and communicate those to your team if you wind up bringing others on board. Be firm in your brand’s values and stick to your expert niche as much as possible. Also, be sure to schedule your time intricately. That way, you don’t overcommit to anything. When I created my show, I had to fight with production companies and agents over what I was and wasn’t willing to compromise on. It’s okay to make compromises, but knowing your brand’s core values and not being willing to negotiate on them is a valuable thing to hold onto.
Where Should You Start Now?
I know there was a lot of information discussed in this post, so the best thing I can end with is the very first step. Where should you start if you are looking to expand your brand? The answer is simple: start wherever you want! Pick the best media you wish to expand your brand into and commit to it. However, the most important thing to keep in mind with this is to start small. Be sure to take baby steps by committing to just one new medium at a time. Schedule your expansion into clear and easy steps for yourself. If you’re starting a podcast, plan out one day a week to record the podcast for a couple of hours and another day to edit it. Schedule out each and every step and one small piece at a time and ensure that you don’t officially launch until it’s been intricately planned.
I wish you all the best as you work on your brands and focus on growing and expanding them to amazing new horizons.
By Malorie Mackey | MaloriesAdventures.com
Malorie Mackey is a twice-published author (My Playboy Story: Hopping from Richmond to Hollywood and Choices: What Love Has Taught Me) and writer known for discussing travel and adventure for her brand MaloriesAdventures.com, consciousness for the Monroe Institute, and women’s lifestyle topics at VIVA GLAM Magazine. Malorie’s work in the realm of travel not only helped to create her unique travel show Weird World Adventures (which will be airing on Amazon Prime and Tubi in the spring of 2024), but it has also allowed her to join the world-famous Explorers Club, where she works towards conservation and scientific travel. With an extensive resume traveling for her writing endeavors and working with tourism boards to volunteering on numerous scientific expeditions studying both anthropology and animal sciences, to say that Malorie has become an expert in the field of travel is an understatement. Stay tuned as Malorie brings the beauty and wonder of the world to you through her brand’s various outlets.