Let's talk about networking

Happy Wednesday everyone, I hope you’ve had a lovely week so far!

Can you believe it’s October already?! This year is absolutely flying by.

September was a busy one for me, with a holiday and birthday celebrations. I’m definitely looking forward to cosy evenings this month! What are you looking forward to?

Today we’re talking about Molly-Mae, networking and sharing our challenges!

Let’s get started!!??

Today we have to speak about Molly-Mae’s incredible pop-up for Maebe!

Molly-Mae is an absolute personal branding queen so there was no doubt that her latest launch would be a success.

She has created a loyal following who are obsessed with her content and ready to buy.

This was clear when tickets to her free Maebe pop-up sold out fast with those attending queuing up to get a sneak peek of her clothing line.

For me this really shows the importance of personal branding and community building. These are factors that can make or break your launches!??

What did you think of this?

I’m excited to welcome today’s guest, meet Lauren Ridgewell . She is sharing her advice for networking and building your personal brand!??

“Hello to the readers of Diary of a Young Marketer! A massive thank you to Imogen for inviting me to feature in this month’s newsletter.

I’m Lauren, a 23-year-old Social Media and Influencer Executive at Serotonin, a Digital Marketing Agency based in Manchester.

I’m excited to share my top 10 tips on networking and stepping out of your comfort zone to build your personal brand. These have certainly been life-savers so far for me in my early career.

So let’s get started…

1. Attend networking events: Look for events that align with your industry, interests, and career goals, such as online webinars and in-person meetups.
2. Set goals: Define what you want to achieve from networking events. Are you looking to meet potential mentors for your career, freelance clients, or new friends?
3. Be?active on socials: Create and regularly update a professional profile on LinkedIn that reflects your personal brand and your core values.
4. Follow up messages are key: After meeting someone at an event, follow up with a message. This can open up future opportunities.
5. Actively listen in conversations: Show genuine interest by asking open-ended questions and avoiding distractions within the environment (can be hard in loud environments).
6. Step out of your comfort zone: Set small challenges, like introducing yourself to one new person at each event. Try new activities or roles, such as public speaking or attending an event solo. It isn’t as scary as it seems!
7. Be?consistent: Ensure your personal brand is consistently reflected across all platforms and interactions. Your tone of voice is key.
8. Be?open to criticism: Accept constructive criticism as an opportunity for growth and improvement from employees, managers or friends.
9. Share informative content on LinkedIn: Regularly create and share content such as trending news, favourite marketing campaigns, and insights into new learnings. Use LinkedIn’s scheduling tools to stay consistent. No excuses here!
10. Set personal goals for growth: Decide how you want to measure your growth. Is it the number of LinkedIn followers? The number of webinars you attend each month?

Pushing yourself in your career is essential for personal growth, opening up new opportunities, and positioning yourself strongly in a competitive industry.

If you have any questions or would like to find out more about my career so far, please drop me a message on LinkedIn!”

I love this advice!! Everyone’s goals both professionally and on LinkedIn are different so it’s important to figure out what matters to you. There’s so much that can be learn from others and there is also a lot of support within the marketing community on here. Building your personal brand can open so many doors!??

Today’s advice is to show yourself some love??

We all have a negativity bias meaning it can be so easy to be critical of yourself.

Today I’m encouraging you to challenge that and be kinder.

Remember all the things you love about yourself, reflect on your journey and treat yourself with the respect you deserve ??

We all love to speak about the highlights of our careers.

But the low moments aren’t always mentioned.

Today my post prompt is to share the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your career so far and how you overcame it.

You may well help someone who is currently in a similar situation ??

I look forward to reading these, please use #DiaryOfAYoungMarketer so I can come and show your post some support.

Have a lovely rest of the day??

Speak soon!

Imogen xx