Kimberly Gauthier is the Editor in Chief and founder of Keep the Tail Wagging. In 2009, Kimberly discovered blogging and wanted to blog what she is passionate about: her dogs. Knowing that the pet world is very passionate and sensitive, she needed to have thick skin to go further with her blogging.
Getting Started on Her Personal Brand
By 2011, Kimberly gained the confidence and tough skin it would take to become successful at blogging and start her own personal brand. For inspiration and guidance to get started, she started to search through “mom blogs” to see how they formed a strong community and reached out to one another. She also looked up questions dog owners were asking so she knew what to focus on in her upcoming blogs.
“Many people are stuck using search engines to research their questions about their dog and many times find an answer that is much more dramatic than it should be. I wanted to be a resource for these everyday questions.”
Positioning Herself as an Expert
After people started to read more of her blog posts, Kimberly saw people relating more to her story. She was receiving personal emails and replies to her posts. Kimberly wanted to make herself available to anyone with dog questions. When Kimberly decided to really push forward with her blogging, she was told it would be hard and it would be too much for her but she disagreed. She knew that if she stayed passionate about it then others would follow and connect with her.
Blogging soon became more than just a hobby for Kimberly as people started to see what all she offered.
We are living in a world full of social media but not many people understand the importance of blogging and how to connect with people more directly.
Large companies started reaching out to Kimberly and she was asked to speak at functions for small businesses. The rapid flow of emails and comments from others pushed Kimberly to go further in her business and continue to dedicate time to her blogging. Kimberly is not only the owner of Keep the Tail Wagging, but she also still has a full time job. How does she do it all?
I give myself business hours and stick to them. On weekends I dedicate one day to blogging and schedule posts for the week. I also take advantage of social media sites.
Managing Your Time
By giving each of her priorities set times and days, Kimberly is able to stay more organized and give the right amount of time and focus to each business while keeping a social life.
Kimberly’s two most import social networks are Facebook and Twitter. “Facebook is where everyone is which makes it easy to build an audience. Twitter is great to build a connection with brands and other bloggers.” Kimberly tries to stay as open as possible on Facebook for fans and for friends. She spends about ten hours a week on social media network sites and about twenty minutes a day promoting her business. By being involved with social media, she is giving herself constant contact to marketing herself and business.
Kimberly’s Tips for You
For someone trying to start their own personal brand, Kimberly says that “Facebook is powerful. It is a community and you can draw your audience from their to your website. Once you find a website that works for you or a social network, become a pro at it!”
Kimberly also suggests getting free reports and tracking how you are doing. Two websites she recommends to use for reports are Crowd Booster and Simply Measured. By keeping track of your business, you can see where you need to improve or which audience to connect more with. F
or anyone looking to start his or her own personal brand, Kimberly suggests that you find what you want to be known for and what you are passionate about. “The Internet is overwhelming and there is so much coming at you and it can be tempting. Take a step back to see what you want to be known for. Reach out to people, especially people who read your blogs, and ask them to describe you in three words and go from there.”
Kimberly wanted her blogging not for the fame but to go somewhere and help people. Getting comments from people makes her feel confident and that she is connecting to people. She focused on making her blogging serious, fun, and personal. She wanted to build a solid community for dog lovers who see their pets like their children as she sees hers. Kimberly is continuing to succeed in helping others and maintaining both jobs. Her words of wisdom are, “Best articles in blogging come from the heart, and the next best come from questions from fans. They all together help build your community, your business, and yourself.”
To learn how to build up your personal brand like Kimberly did, check out our personal branding training course!
