In today’s social marketing social media world to be successful means to create something. But, what if that something is already created; what if that something is you? I wrote a family column for 15 years in a smaller community. What that meant is that often readers would come up to me in public, either when I was alone, or with my daughters. The column often focused on my daughters and events or milestones they had achieved from birthdays to graduations. I liked that people liked what I was writing about. It had been, and still is, a dream of mine to be a published writer. I never considered the column being a published writer because I also associated being paid as part of that recognition, which as a writer I dare say I’ve earned less than $500 in my many years of writing with the bulk of my writing being unpaid to “build clips”.
Now as I diversify myself into websites, social media live events, and my latest being a podcast creator, I realize I’m the brand or product that will be needed to generate income for myself as I head into the last big chapter of my life. Here’s the plan for creating the brand of UpNorthMinimalist.
First off I rebooted a column where I will focus on minimalism, homesteading, writing, and teaching as the focus of becoming known as the UpNorthMinimalist. As you can see, or rather read, the first key is to identify what you want to be known as. The second key is to spread the word. This means having a tag in an email or an email that is the tag. I have an email that is upnorthminimalist@briankeithforeman.com. This email is attached to this website, feel free to message me. I have TikTok, Twitter or X, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and my newest of them all is my podcast on Swell. When reading all of this it becomes overwhelming for sure.
Why do I want to live my life as a brand; here’s why. I’ve worked since I was 16, (earlier if you just count working for farmers etc.). In 2022 I thought I had bought the big one, cashed in my chips, etc. when I had what I thought was a heart attack. I was treated as if that’s what happened and let me tell you, that’s a wakeup call. I ended up leaving a high-stress position, ran through all my savings, and hit financial rock bottom. You can’t start the climb until you hit the bottom. Now I’m relying on me, and only me, (with the exception of my oldest child who’s now an editor of this site), to be successful. I teach at a few places, work as a supervisor where most of my time is remote, and I’m developing my hobby farm income as well, more to come on that as time goes on.
Promoting yourself may seem vain, but have you ever worn a band t-shirt, or advertised where you work? Did that earn you anything? Focus on yourself, your skillset, and your dreams. Put the same energy into that as you did your promotion of your workplace and let’s see where that goes.
UpNorthMinimalist 