3 myths about building a strong online presence

Hey friends,

Earlier this week we spent an entire afternoon talking about building a strong online presence. Huddled over coffee in an artsy Flatiron spot, we met a number of New Yorkers who were looking to take their personal brands to the next level.

We had so much fun doing this that we decided to do it again, only bigger and better. Instead of cozying up with a coffee in the middle of New York, this time we’re going virtual. Anyone, anywhere can participate. And we’re teaming up with Esteban Constante who we profiled a few weeks ago. You will be able to book time with Esteban and us to get advice on building up your online presence.

Here’s how it works:

1. If you’ve been enjoying Story Alley, refer friends here. Make sure you tell them to include your name in the “How did you hear about Salley?” field.

2. Refer 10 friends and you’ll get a 1:1 personal branding session with either Esteban or us - your choice.

During the time we’ve been building Story Alley, we’ve spoken to hundreds of people interested in building their online presence. Over the course of these conversations, we couldn’t help but notice that there are some very persistent myths around creating a strong online presence for yourself.

Let’s debunk the most common ones:

A personal website is a must-have

One of the first things people think about when they’re intent on building a strong online presence is launching a personal website. With barriers to entry lower than ever, it’s never been easier to do this. You can showcase your projects, skills, writing and interests all in one place, which comes in handy for potential clients or employers.

However, chances are your website wouldn’t attract a lot of traffic. Yes, folks like Paul Graham and Naval can count on getting a good amount of website visits every day, even if they had no other online presence. But for the rest of us, things look different.

It doesn’t matter how great your website is unless people are actively looking at it. Since this is unlikely to happen, you’re better off concentrating your efforts on a platform that would give you more distribution. Yes, you can still have a personal website, if you want, but skipping it wouldn’t hurt you.

A personal website is a nice-to-have, not a must-have.

Posting frequently is the most important factor for success

A common piece of advice when building an audience is that consistency is key. While this is true, you should be wary of advice that suggests you *need* to post several times a day, every day. This could lead to burnout very early in the game of building your online presence.

In addition, while consistency is important, quality is even more so. You’re better off posting high-quality content 3 times a week than posting half-baked thoughts several times a day just for the sake on consistency. If anything, putting subpar content into the world could hurt you. It could make some of your audience click the unsubscribe/unfollow button. That’s the exact opposite of what you want.

To optimize for attracting the right people, settle on a cadence that works for you. Depending how far along you are and what your daily life looks like, this could be monthly, weekly or daily. The most important part is to sustain an overall level of good quality. If your audience knows they can count on you for this, they’ll forgive you, if you post less frequently.

You should be on all social media platforms

While there are ostensible benefits to diversification, it is not necessary. Especially if you’re in the beginning of your online presence journey, you need to focus on one platform and master it before adding additional ones. This will help you build your creative muscle and develop your unique voice without getting overwhelmed.

Once you have traction on a specific platform and are seeing results there, you may explore expanding to other platforms. However, you don’t need to be on all of them. Before you start building your presence on a new platform, you need to ask yourself how it fits your overall goal. If the people you’d like to reach do not hang out on this platform in droves, you’re probably better off skipping it. There’s no point in adding a new platform to your online presence, if it doesn’t attract the audience you need to reach.

If you’re mindful of the platforms you use, you can get the most results with the least amount of effort.

Just like anything else, building a strong online presence requires persistence. But if you’re intentional and spend your time wisely, you’ll see results quicker than most.

With love,

Team Salley

What is Salley?

Salley helps you build habits that allow you to create a strong online presence. With us, you can stay accountable and earn stress alleviating rewards for hitting your content goals.