Who the hell am I?
The dilemma of consistent personal branding when you're an entrepreneur with multiple projects.
Since creating this newsletter, I guess I’ve been going through a bit of an identity crisis.
In real life, the different sides of my businesses don’t often collide but being forced to be 100% online over the last few months has made me realise how much cross-over there is.
If I’m asked what I do, I tailor my answer based on who I’m speaking to. If it’s at a race track, I’m the founder of Racing Mentor. If I’m out and about in Norwich meeting new friends, I’m an automotive journalist. If I’m networking, I’m the owner of a content agency.
The problem with this, though, is that these separate groups of people don’t know about all the other things I do.
For example, recently, I had a motorsport friend ask if I could recommend a copywriter…
So I knew I needed to do more to spread the word of what I do and where the crossovers are. Most of my content work is in automotive but it can easily translate into motorsport and other industries, so it seems silly to keep those two sides of my business separate.
I toyed with the idea of going further down the entrepreneur route. After all, I do run multiple brands, have a variety of projects on the go, and have shares in other businesses too.
But I feel like the phrase ‘entrepreneur’ is a little woolly. In the same way, it can explain what I do successfully, it could also describe someone who has tried and failed (which, actually, is a big part of being an entrepreneur), with no successes.
I don’t want anyone to think that I am unfocused and bouncing around projects because that’s absolutely not the case.
So I’m currently experimenting with the phrase ‘entrepreneur’ on my social platforms. I think this will become easier as I’m allowed out to meet people again. I can clarify ‘entrepreneur’ by talking briefly about my projects and what I do.
I’m curious, if you have multiple businesses or projects on the go, is this something you’ve ever struggled with?
Social Experiment
Storytelling is a hugely important element of any kind of online content. I use storytelling on Instagram, as I mentioned in a previous edition of this newsletter but I’m now setting my sights on LinkedIn.
Over the years it has and hasn’t worked for me. I’ve landed some huge clients through LinkedIn but I know I could do so much more with it.
This is the beginning of this experiment so watch this space. I plan to post at least once a week with a simple but relevant story
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Jess Recommends
📖 Read: Profit First by Mike Michalowicz — Disclaimer, I’m not the whole way through this yet but I’m hooked. It’s all about focussing on the profit in your business. It’s very different to how so many of us manage our money so the concept feels really strange but I can definitely see the benefit. This is definitely worth looking at if you want to get to advanced levels of money management.
🎧 Listen: The Racing Mentor Sponsorship Podcast — Shameless plug alert! I am finally a podcaster again. The first episode of the Sponsorship Podcast (all about the role branding plays in sponsorship) is now live on Apple, Spotify and anywhere else you like to listen to podcasts. I’d love to hear what you think!
📺 Watch: Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanual Acho — This is a really moving, powerful video that I think everyone needs to watch. It answers all those tough questions we’re asking and seeing across social media.
Win of the Week
I want you to share your wins with me. So please reply to this email and tell me what’s going well for you.
Getting the Racing Mentor podcast up and running again has been a big deal. The last iteration of it died a death in 2017 because I didn’t have the support behind me in terms of production and admin. Now I have that team, all I need to do is record! I know the Racing Mentor audience loves podcasts so this is a massive win for me.
This newsletter is an experiment. I hope you found it interesting. I’d love to get your feedback so if you have something to say, hit reply to this email.
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