Financial Freedom x Branding Strategies, Marketing & AI
What if I told you that financial freedom from your living room is possible with a mixture of consistent branding strategies, marketing, and some help from AI? It sounds great. Yet, some people might want to stop you from working from the couch. How so?
You can see financial freedom from your living room in almost all the banners on this site. The reason is simple: I preach what I’ve achieved. I do enjoy financial freedom, working from home. Sometimes, I choose the living room, and other times, I choose the small office at home (basically a room that once had a bed).
Financial freedom is not slaving away for a company; you can earn from online sources or be a freelancer working on what you are good at and enjoy. You can choose how many hours you work a day and how many days a week. It’s great! Yet, this is not for everyone.
Moms, carers, coaches, disillusioned with corporate work, dreamers
If you’re caring for someone, you’re a mom with kids, you’re a coach, or someone disillusioned with corporate work, this might be for you. And of course, if you’re a dreamer, too!
The branding strategies and marketing tips you can learn from me are based on firsthand experience or through client work. I specialize in coaches and solopreneurs eager to start something online (VA business, coaching business, or how small companies can up their game). In fact, my new courses in this place will be based on branding and marketing first. However, you’ll see courses on how to do the same I did. (Interested in having the old version of the courses? Everything will appear little by little on dePepi’s Substack here).
You need branding and marketing
There’s no way around it: branding is a must-have now, even if you work for a company! You need to stand out from the crowd, and the only way to do so is to create a personal brand. When you do, it has to tune with your personality. As with everything in life, some people will love it and get you, and others will scratch their heads and even troll you. And that’s a good thing.
You can’t talk to everyone there, but you can talk to some people who will get you and might even follow you because you’re doing something they want to do as well. Or maybe, they might like your style so much, they’ll hire you for your skills. And that’s what you really want.
While branding is the personality you need to show, marketing is what will allow conversations. If you’re reading this, you might be a member of my community:
- A mom who needs working online to take care of kids
- A carer who takes care of old parents who needs an extra
- Coaches thinking about starting their brand or upping it
- VAs starting out their business online
Preach what you know and do
Perhaps the best tip I can give you is to preach what you know, which is what I do. What you’ll find here are all the strategies I use for myself and my clients (in the courses as well!) Also, I know this works because I’m doing it myself! But, I won’t lie to you: it isn’t flashy.
I started this blog on WordPress 15 years ago, and it has been with me across continents! I’ve changed jobs and countries several times. What started as a simple blog to communicate with my friends has ended up being the means for me to jump and become a happy freelancer, sharing my knowledge through courses as well. I made tons of mistakes along the way. Something you can avoid if you follow my tips!
Two weeks after being made redundant, along with most of the department I worked in, I found my first client. It happened not because of luck, but because I had already built a brand on the side that represented me and allowed me to show my skills easily. I popped out from the others, and I found my first big client super fast!
So, you’ll learn branding, marketing, and how to become independent with me in a fraction of the time it took me. (Basically, because you’ll go straight to the important bits, avoid all my mistakes, and have a guide of what works.)
Success isn’t luck, it’s consistency and planning
Although many people are convinced that success comes from luck, the reality is that it comes from consistency and a strategic plan. If you build a personal brand online, if you dare to create online and show off your skills, you’ll pop out from the crowd as long as you’re consistent.
Success is about knowing yourself, knowing your competitors, and knowing the place where you can shine and do it with style. It’s about being authentic and being willing to spend time on it.
Success won’t come overnight, but you can plan for it and have it in a couple of years. You can prepare strategically and transition from employee to working from the couch, as I do. The question isn’t about if, but when, if you are consistent and bet on yourself.
This is what I did, and this is what I preach on this site. You won’t find the golden goose by watching Netflix, but by allocating some hours a week to work on you and your dreams. I won’t lie to you: it won’t be easy. But you’ll be happy you started the journey.
Consistency is a commitment. Consistency can be work and fun at the same time. Consistency is rewarding in the long run. Be consistent and win!
Creating banners with AI
Finally, let’s briefly talk about creating banners with AI. I know my banners aren’t everybody’s cup of tea. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t allocate a budget for other types of visuals. As a solopreneur, creating all you need professionally is very hard. Can you imagine the cost of asking one banner a day? How many graphic designers would I need? Forget it.
However, ChatGPT allows me to stay on brand and present myself in a way that makes sense to me. Happily, I also allocate a budget to get professional photographs! (I also outsource other stuff, like the accountants.) If you’re wondering who has taken the pictures here, it’s Sophie. If you’re in Brighton and Hove, drop her a line.
