I chose a little white and black card that described me. This little card had two words, one word is something I 100% identify with and the other I wish I had more of. My words included adventurous and daring, can you guess which one I need more of?
I love adventure, I am one of those people that will text you out of the blue and tell you we are going on a road trip in 20 minutes and to be ready for anything. I book flights on a whim, despite my own financial instability, just for the rush of going somewhere new. I thrive when put in new and exciting situations, I crave this type of adventure.
However, that doesn’t mean I am daring; spontaneous maybe. Daring to me means risking my life or stepping away from a major plan to do something completely ridiculous and possibly stupid. Something like selling everything I own to move to a different country. That is the kind of daring I need in my life.
I am a planner to a fault, I have planned my life out for at least the next five years. Finish college, finish out my lease in Grand Rapids, get a job in San Diego, move across the country for at least two years, and then travel the world as a travel copywriter. This plan sounds far-fetched and ridiculous but it is the only thing I want to do and it is the daring side of me that will have to grow a lot in between now and next year to be able to even pull it off.
My personal brand already exemplifies my adventurous side, I mean this blog is titled “The Travel Enthusiast”. But if I were to solidify my brand based on these two words I definitely want to write more about my travels, what I did wrong, what I did right and dictate my adventures as I experience them. If I were a bit more photogenic and less awkward behind a camera I would consider doing a travel vlog or even a podcast to talk about what I am up to when traveling.
Not only would these two things help me solidify my personal brand and show my readers who I am and what I strive for in life but it would also give me more experience in mediums outside of writing. Vlogging is a talent I have not quite grasped yet due to the spontaneous nature of having to come up with eloquent wording on the spot or in turn suffer through multiple takes. But for my future career in travel writing, I will definitely be doing some research on effective vlogging to keep my personal brand fresh and lively.
On top of these two tactics, my Instagram game is weak in comparison to current travel writers in the industry. Lately, I have been experimenting with Instagram stories to try and figure out how to get more reach out of my profile. I think Instagram is the most important platform for travel writing because writing and travel photos go hand in hand. I know that I always click on links to blogs if they are attached to beautiful travel photos. I want to develop my personal brand by working on my Instagram skills, I want to drive traffic to my blog and brand by showing cool photos with catchy captions.
Based on that little black and white card I started with, I have learned that my personal brand has some necessary tweaking. I will only be able to develop my brand by showing who I am through multiple mediums (vlogging, Instagram, and photography) as well as tapping into my more daring side.
I am ready to take on this adventure and I dare you to join me.
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