Volume 29. Not Paid In Full Disclosure.
Britney's memoir. Rules for self-disclosure in personal branding. Another cool girl moves to Substack. My two fave YouTubers. And how Cydnee DeToy made 25K on LinkedIn in 8 weeks.
Hey hey. Welcome to Volume 29 of Content People.
Let’s get into it.
The Content People Episode
Cydnee DeToy is a Career and Empowerment coach with a big, active following on LinkedIn (and a great newsletter). Fun fact: She made 25K of revenue from LinkedIn in about 8 weeks. And built out a nearly full book of business in that time. Not too shabby, right? We talked about how, exactly, she did that. And, also: why are millennial women so burned out?
Find the episode here or wherever you get your podcasts.
🔊 This is the last ep of Season 2. We’ll be back on Jan 2nd for season 3. In the meantime, check out our back catalog. And we’ll still be here in your inbox once a week.
Listening
Like everyone else: I’m reading Britney’s memoir The Woman in Me. (The audio version, voiced by Michelle Williams.)
Reading
Related: This article on Self-Disclosure uses Britney’s memoir as a jumping-off point to consider the risks and rewards of publicly sharing our most intimate, personal stories. A great read.
As someone who works in personal branding, I want to emphasize this: You can have an impactful, engaging, and authentic social media presence without sharing things you’d prefer to keep private.
I’ve worked on many LinkedIn / personal brand strategies that were successful without being overly personal. It’s 100% possible. Aliza Licht’s book On Brand offers great advice on navigating these decisions. And we talked about it in her Content People episode here.
My 7 rules for self-disclosure in personal branding:
Figure out and stick to your own unique, personal boundaries when it comes to sharing personal information.
Avoid the urge to overshare for likes or approval. Think: How will I feel if this post flops? Still ok with what I said?
If you decide to share something very personal, approach it like you’re writing an angry work email: (1) Draft it. (2) Sit on it for at least 24 hours. (3) Then make your decision.
Recognize that being open about your life online is a morally neutral choice, not a measure of your authenticity.
Know that keeping vulnerable feelings or moments private doesn’t make you fake. You don’t owe strangers on the internet anything.
Believe that it’s 100% possible to stay true to yourself - and maintain your privacy - while striving toward your goals. You can build a brand on your own terms.
Consider your motives for sharing online. Are you sharing something to build a persona, or are you building a platform to achieve a goal? It’s a subtle distinction, but I think that the latter feels more in alignment for most folks.
Following
Kirbie Johnson - a former Content People guest - was featured here in Vogue Beauty for her Doja Cat costume transformation. I think Kirbie won Halloween.
And, speaking of Kirbies I like: Vermont-based blogger Jess Ann Kirby is moving over to Substack. She wrote a very thoughtful post about what propelled the decision. I’ve followed Jess for a long time and will be happily reading her on the ‘stack moving forward.
Content People guest Florencia Cavallo (who along with Elise Labau runs Stories Consulting - listen to their episode here) wrote this incisive post on the biased coverage of Whitney Wolfe’s departure from Bumble. It went viral.
Watching
Paige Wassel’s interior design videos. Paige and former Content People guest Caroline Winkler (listen to our convo here) did a very cute video together as part of Paige’s perfectly named Check Out This F*cking Home series. Paige just started a newsletter (here) too.
Medbury
My agency Medbury offers LinkedIn, Substack, newsletter management, personal brand support, and podcast consulting. We work mostly with founders, executives, authors, public figures, and brands. To get in touch, just reply back here or email Meredith@MedburyAgency.com.
Ok. That’s all she wrote.
Thanks for reading.
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Meredith