Nowadays many people are starting to create their own brand or business. Simon Tam was ahead of the 
game when he began his first company at the age of thirteen. By the time he was twenty-one, he bought and sold three companies.
How Being a Rockstar Can Teach About Branding
Many of us may think that is a lot of achievement at a young age, but for Simon it was natural. Simon comes from a family of entrepreneurs who have all worked hard to start their own business and be successful. In 2006 Simon started an all Asian-American dance rock band. By focusing on music, Simon learned everything about branding from being a rock star.
You learn to connect and create an image and reputation as a rock star.
He turned this into a career by helping other artists create a brand for themselves. One of Simon’s largest benefits from having his own personal brand is having an audience, and support from his fans. By becoming passionate about his band, it helped him become advanced in the marketing world. Through other artists reaching out to him, he formed a connection with people and is able to have more relationships and more support from his audience and clients.
Developing Trust
Simon also used his skills in marketing and in social media to help non-profit organizations. Charitable projects are very important to Simon, including Liberty in North Korea, which helps rescue Korean refuges. Over a million dollars have been contributed to charities dear to Simon by developing trust through his followers and fans.
How to Be Like Simon
Simon also organizes awareness campaigns for charities and non-profit organizations as well. He and his band have helped raise awareness and enough money to help several organizations. To stay connected and involved in the social media world, Simon is a part of many social media networks, and he’s very involved in blogging. Simon uses LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook the most. He pulls the audience back onto his website by staying involved in the networking sites.
Trends come and go. The most important tools are sites where your community is.
Simon manages thirty Facebook pages and his own personal one. He also runs sixty different social media accounts. To manage his time, Simon said, “I do not sleep and stay very organized and very productive. Both are very important when having your own personal brand. I take advantage of free and automatic apps to help manage my time better.”
He uses analytics to help him figure out where he should go online and what he should be doing. He 
uses tools like Hootsuite to schedule out tweets, blogs, and other important information throughout the week. This helps him from getting too overwhelmed.
Simon’s Advice to You
For someone who is considering working on their own personal brand, Simon’s advice is to “focus on a niche – don’t try to be all things to all people. Be passionate and specialize in your talents that make your stand out from the rest of the crowd. Know yourself better so you can target your audience better.” Simon encourages anyone working on their own personal brand to take advantage of free tools and apps to help keep you organized and connected to the social media world. One of his examples is Ice Rocket. “It is important for brands to be listening. Social media is more about engagement and making conversations than it is a platform to form yourself. Social media is like a telephone, not a megaphone; it should be a two-way conversation.”
Over the years through mastering social media, Simon has become an author, a marketing rock star, a non-profit leader, musician, speaker, and entrepreneur. To find out how to grow your brand as successfully as Simon did, check out our personal branding class!
