For small business owners and creators, building your brand is the way to show the world what makes you great and why they should care. Teresa Au speaks to personal branding expert and content creator Phil Pallen about developing an authentic and consistent brand that will help you reach your goals. Phil explains why branding isn’t just about looking pretty on the internet, how your brand can help you stand out in a crowded marketplace, and the best reason to build a branded website. Plus, Phil gives tips on all things Instagram, from what you shouldn’t worry about when you post, practical tips for efficient posting, and how to make posting a growth experience.

• How Phil got his start in brand marketing thanks to a controversial Hollywood star
• Thinking about what your audience is getting out of your social posts
• What is a brand?
• The importance of consistency
• Defining and positioning your brand
• Logos and brand identity
• Is there a difference between marketing companies and people?
• The power of strategic distraction
• Branding vs marketing
• What makes for great photos for your personal brand
• Phil’s advice to the camera-shy creator
• How Phil went from brand strategist to content creator
• The nuts and bolts of brand partnerships
• Selling via social media is a rapidly growing market segment
• Do you need a website if you do business on social media?
• What building a website really does for you
• All things Instagram–how much should we post, when should we post, and why should we post
• Timesaving tools for Instagram–Adobe Express templates and Adobe Express Scheduler
• Why content creation is a learning opportunity
• Surprising information about when it’s best to post
• Instagram hashtags vs SEO terms
• Getting caught up chasing likes can be bad for business
• Practical tips for growing your social media audience
• Gen AI ideas for small businesses
• Phil’s One Word for 2023

Phil Pallen is a brand strategist and keynote speaker who helps people and companies position, build, and promote their brands. He founded Phil Pallen Collective in 2011 and has worked with hundreds of brands across all industries, including a Shark on Shark Tank, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, politicians, and some of the most important names in entertainment. He frequently speaks at conferences in cities all over the globe, including London, Tokyo, Dubai, São Paulo, Medellín, Auckland, Helsinki, and Los Angeles. Phil’s insights have been featured in media outlets around the world, including CNN, Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, and The Daily Mail, to name a few.

Teresa Au (@tautastic) is an executive for community engagement at Adobe. Her career spans diverse creative fields, primarily in New York’s fashion industry, as well as architecture firms, and now Silicon Valley tech companies. She has always prized working with distinctive design and the interesting people behind it–from designer Elie Tahari to start-up CEOs. 

Learn more about this podcast, and find transcripts and links, at adobe.ly/inthemaking. In the Making is brought you by Adobe Express and Adobe Creative Cloud. 

Past episodes of Wireframe can still be found in the show archive within this feed, or online on Behance. 

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