10 Actionable Tips To Build Your Brand & Work A Full-Time Job

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Want to know how to build your brand or become an influencer but you still are working a full-time job? Then I am here to tell you. But you must keep in mind that you cannot believe the hype that you see on social media. That becoming an influencer is super easy and all you have to do is just take a few pictures on Instagram or start a blog and then voila tomorrow you are an instant success.

It does not work like that, because to build your brand and even becoming an influencer does take a lot of work and dedication even more so then your full-time job and just know right now if you are not willing to put that work in then you are not going to be successful.  I know there is this growing trend is to just take a leap of faith and quit your job to build a brand online if you choose to do that, then that would be a very dumb decision.

The first thing I tell people is there are a time and a place to quit your job (see my blog here), but the fact of the matter is; is that if you have financial obligations and the bills need to be paid you cannot just up and quit your job to build your brand, not unless you have someone who will support you financially if you choose to do so.  Many people set out to be an influencer and most of those people fail.

Yes, working a full-time job and building a brand is harder but it will also give you that safety net.  Just because you are working a full-time job does not mean that you should just stay in the safe zone and never pursue your passion. It also does not mean that you are going to make excuses and say you have too much to do and therefore you cannot do both. You can if you want it bad enough.

It just means that you are going to work 10 times harder because you have your job and your brand to do and they both require the same amount of time, in the beginning, to really be successful. So if you want to know how to become an influencer then you are accepting and understanding that in the beginning, it is going to take time, energy effort and work to do both. And that this is what it takes to be successful which I talk about in my video down below on how I huslted as a single mom while holding a job. Also don’t forget to click here to subscribe to my channel. 

1. How to build your brand while working a full-time job ~ choose your platform.

There are some people who are influencers in blogging, there are some people who are influencers on Instagram, there are some people who are influencers on YouTube, and there are podcasters.  You need to first determine what you want your platform to be.  Eventually, as you build your brand you can do many platforms but to get the most success at first you should focus on one. Spreading yourself too thin will overwhelm you. If you build your brand on one platform as you grow, your audience will follow you from each platform to the next. Here are the most profitable platforms that you can choose from to become an influencer.

• Build your brand on YouTube: Choosing YouTube As Your Platform means that you will have to do most of your shooting before or after work.  It’s not like you can just take a lunch break and shoot a video somewhere. Or maybe you can. But you still would have to edit it.  Just know that choosing this platform that you need to make time to create consistent video content which may take longer than other content.

• Build your brand on Instagram: Choosing this platform is something that can be done anywhere. You can literally go on your lunch break and take a co-worker with you in order to take pictures and there you go. However to be an Instagram influencer as with any other platform you need a niche. 

Meaning that you cannot just take pretty pictures and hope for the best.  You need a niche like beauty, motivational, or something specific.  Depending on your niche would depend on how you would need to shoot your content.  A beauty niche may require that you upload videos from time to time doing makeup. Or a motivational channel may require little one minute videos of you saying something motivational.

All these things need to be taken into consideration before choosing a platform, how much time you have to do what. Of course, if your plan is to pose naked all over Instagram that is not an influencer. You will gain followers, BUT you will not have an influence for anyone to buy your products or buy anyone else products.  Don’t believe me check out this Instagrammer with over two million followers and could not sale one shirt.  

• Build your brand ~ Blogging: My blog is my primary platform. When you do a blog you typically have to write something. Choosing to blog as your primary platform can be easier when working a full-time job. If you have an office job you can always write a blog on word or on your phone on break.  It does not require filming or a silent background. As long as you have a keyboard, that can even be your phone, to type something on you can create content for your blog anywhere or any time.  I would suggest writing on your blog, in the beginning, three times a week at the very least.

• Build Your Brand ~ Podcast: Is something that requires a private setting that you probably cannot do anywhere else. You are going to need a quiet room to record and then you have to edit and upload.  Which means you have to do it at home just to create content. But you would only need to create content once a week.

I am telling you all of this because if you are about to build a brand or want to build a brand and you have a full-time job you need to know what works best for you based on the time and resources you are able to do.

2. When You Build Your Brand Have A Personal Website

No matter what platform you choose you still want to have a personal website.  Even if you just upload all your YouTube videos to your personal website you still want to have one.  The fact of the matter is that any website you do not own has control over your content. Do you remember the site Vine? There were Viners making six figures on that site and then one day it shut down.

YouTube can suspend your account or even delete it, so can Instagram, a Podcast or any platform for that matter. I have seen You Tubers crying over their suspending accounts because they cannot make money.

Don’t be that person, have a self-hosted site to put your content on and even put your products on if that is what you want. That way if something happens on one of these platforms you just redirect people to your own personal site and go on as business as usual without losing money. I recommend using BlueHost which you can click my affiliate link here. 

Bluehost is very affordable, they will host your site and then you will create a free site from WordPress.org and login in through Bluehost.  That way you will always have a site to revert back to in the event that anything happens.

3. How To Build Your Brand While Working A Full-Time Job Tip Try to decrease your hours or get a high paying part-time job.

The more time you have to work on your brand the easier it is to build something successful.  Building a brand is hard and it takes many hours of hard work in the beginning. If becoming an influencer is your ultimate goal then you are going to want it to take off as soon as possible.  So the more time you can dedicate to your brand the faster it will grow.  If you can find a high paying part-time job that you can work 30 hours a week as opposed to 40 plus hours a week but still make the same money, then you will have more time dedicated to becoming an influencer.

Build Your Brand ~ Case in point: Me

For example,  I ended up switching my work schedule to working four days a week 10 hours a day. Yes, the days were longer but that gave me an additional FULL FREE day during the week to get things done for my blog and it made so much more of a difference.  My main platform is blogging but as you grow you will want to incorporate other platforms as well. On the day that I am off, it helps me to create an additional video for my YouTube Channel and also put content on IGTV.  Also check out my video down below where I talk about how I became a blogger.

4. How To Build Your Brand While Working A Full Time Job Tips & Tricks ~ Ideas that you could do to maximize your day off:

• You can use the day to create videos, multiples videos that you can release over time. This is ideal for YouTube Videos, IGTV videos, or even one-minute videos for Instagram. 

• Take pictures. If Instagram is your main platform of even if you need to take pictures for your blog, this would be the day to do it so you can post them throughout the week. 

• Record Podcast. This would be the day to record as many as you can since this is the platform where you have to shoot in a quiet space such at your home.

5. How To Build Your Brand Remember Time Management

Since you still work a job while you are trying to build your brand your time is already limited. Come up with a schedule. Sticking to a schedule and knowing what time you want to do what and how much you want to do each day is the best thing you can do. It will keep you consistent, on track, and keep you from running around like a chicken with your head cut off. If every time you have a break at work and when the break comes you spend 30 minutes trying to figure out what to do, that is 30 minutes wasted.

What this looks like on the days you have to go to work.

• For video content and stories: You can shoot this on your way to work even while in the car. Do not try to upload it while you are driving of course. You can up your video quality once you become full time. But sometimes you just have to do what you can and if getting it done in the car gets your content out there then do it.

• It is better to get content out on a consistent basis then not do it at all. Overall be SAFE. Do not just try to make eye contact with the phone while driving an get into an accident. This was just an idea based on what other people have done. Park and shoot in the car if need be.

• For picture content, it is best to take it before work. Your makeup is fresh and you look your best.  Take my Instagram photo below. 

If you want to be an Instagram influencer you do not want each and every one of your pictures to look like you are holding the phone some need to be candid, you can do that with a stand and a remote. Either way, you can take pictures before work in order to stay on schedule.

• Other content can be done after work or before work.  It is important to know how long it takes you to complete each task. If you want to record a podcast and each podcast is 30  minutes, then you want to give yourself 45-1 hour to record either in the morning or after work.  So if you get up too late and have only 5 minutes left, that will delay your podcast, thus delaying your content.  One way to kill your progress as an influencer is to fall behind or not be consistent which is why sticking to a schedule is a must.

6. How To Build Your Brand While Working A Full-Time Job Tip Do What You Can, With No Excuses

When I first started my blogging journey I use to make excuses about what I could not do because I was working a full-time job.  But understand that excuses will get you nowhere. Because there are people who are not working full-time jobs who are giving it their all, there are people who are working full-time jobs that are giving it their all.

And understand that the more you don’t give it your all that you are just allowing other people to come in and succeed over you. People who are influencers work hard, never get it twisted and think it is easy, no matter what the pictures show you.  You have to think of building your brand like your full-time job, when you don’t show up you don’t get paid. And there is no paid leave or anything.

At the end of the day when you are exhausted or you don’t want to get up in the morning then understand not doing will only limit you.  There are so many hours in the day. Each day you need to do something that will work toward your goal and understand that whatever it is you choose to do that day, then you have to make it count.

If your plan is to create at least three blog posts a week and at the end of the month you have only created three blog post for the entire month, don’t make excuses for it and say ” oh well that is all I could do.”  Move some stuff around in your schedule, see where you could have worked better, see what you could have done better in order for you to have reached your goal.

• Could you have skipped happy hour one night?

• Could have not gone out on Saturday and stayed in to work on your content? 

• Do not make excuses for your shortcomings but see what you can adjust to do better. 

7. How To Build Your Brand While Working A Full-Time Job Tip ~ Do what you can at work

That’s right I said it. And don’t feel bad for it. Whenever you are on lunch or have downtime on the job,  try to plan or do something that goes toward doing something toward your brand. Now a disclaimer to all of this is that you always need to do your full-time job FIRST.  You should not be working on your blog so much that your full-time job suffers and you are not doing what you are supposed to do at work. That will get you fired. And that is something you don’t want.

But there have been times where I have gone outside to take a picture or two for Instagram or to record a story or two for Instagram.  There have been times that during my break I have done something toward my blog. Or there have been times when I have finished all my work early that I take time to knock some stuff off my to-do list.  That could be coming up with content ideas, editing photos on my phone, and if you have recorded a video on your phone you can even edit a video through your phone.  If you have extra time, instead of playing around in the break room take the time to actually work on building your brand.

8. How To Build Your Brand ~ Take a Day off from Time to Time

Never underestimate the power of taking a full day off from work. If you have paid time off or vacation time do not be afraid to use it. And when you take off a day be sure to make the most of it.  There is no sense in sleeping in on your day off and only getting the half amount of work in.

When I was recording my audible for my books I would literally stay up the night before to get as much as I could do, then wake up early to get as much as I could do. I knew that my audiobook could only be done at home. So when I took a day off I made sure to really maximize the task that I could only do at home.

Ideas of what to do when you take time off from work:

• Schedule any interviews or collabs on that day. I have taken off a day to do several interviews on a podcast to promote my book.

• Batch content, videos, pictures, and record any and everything that you would not be able to do anywhere else. 

• Edit videos, podcast, or even a blog post. Upload them and put them on a schedule.  If your goal is to do three blog post a week, you get them all done on that day. Upload them and schedule them to be released on Monday, Wed, and Friday. That way all your content is done for that week and your focus can go elsewhere.  

Also, check out my video on how to build a professional set up which is useful if you want to build your brand using video and you need a professional background.

9. How To Build Your Brand ~ Utilize the Weekends, Holidays, or Your Normal Day Off

When you have a full-time job most people have some days off.  That would be the weekend or even if you have time off during the week. Whatever the case maybe you need to take those days to build your brand.  I know that when you have a day off you want to use it to go shopping or doing something else that you want to do. But the reality is that you are trying to build a successful business.

When you build your brand. It is a business that you are trying to make a full-time job.  So with that being said, you are going to have to sacrifice some of your free time on your days off from your full-time job to really go full force on getting things for your platform. In order to do this effectively, you NEED to have a schedule.

There is no point in sleeping in Saturday morning, walking around for a while and figuring out what you need to do. Spending two or three more hours coming up with a schedule and then getting started on your content.  That is so much time wasted.  A real way to implement your day off would be the following:

Let’s say you are doing a podcast:

• You want to come up with a schedule the night before. What you want to record, how long each podcast is going to be, and the specific topics you want to record about. 

• You always want to have a definitive start and finish time. If your goals are to record and edit 5, 30 minute podcast then you may want to start at 9 am and be finished by 2. Before you move into something else. AND have an exact idea, schedule, and time frame of what that something else is. 

• The more you can do on your days off, the less you will have to do during the week. You can always schedule things to come out, so during the workweek, you won’t have to worry about much. 

10. How To Build Your Brand ~ Be Consistent

When you decide to be an influencer you have to be consistent. You can never go months on end without doing something for your platform or even weeks for that matter.  When you are an influencer your driving forces are your fans and the people who follow you.  They are only going to follow you when you are giving them what they want. The moment you stop producing content, produce poor quality content, or go long periods of time without producing content is the moment they have no use for you.

Don’t believe the hype in thinking that fans are just there to worship the ground you walk on. They only become fans when you are giving them what they need from you and that includes being dedicated to them and showing up all the time no matter what. There is too much competition out there and if you are not consistent then people will quickly forget about you and go to someone who is.

Your goals are to become an influencer and make money right? The way to do that is to have fans that are dedicated to you. That want to buy your products, watch your videos, listen to your podcast, look forward to your content on Instagram or whatever that may be.  Each and every platform that I have mentioned has an algorithm.

Even if you choose to blog Google has an algorithm. Meaning that is how that platform prioritizes your content. The more consistent you are the more the platform shows your content to other people, the higher it shows up on Google, the more it becomes a suggested video on YouTube or the more downloads it has in a podcast. Consistency lets fans know when to come back to look up your content it creates fans and more fans create influence and influence creates money.

I hope that all of these tips helped you out with learning how to build your brand while working a full-time job. And even if you are feeling frustrated or overwhelmed know that hard work will pay off (see my blog here). If you keep working hard, being consistent, and if you continue to work hard, and to put out good quality work, eventually you will succeed.