Social media is crowded.
There are thousands of creators sharing similar content, following the same trends and talking about the same topics.
And if you’re already spending time creating Reels, sharing your experiences and trying to grow an audience, you’ve probably wondered:
What makes me different from everyone else?
Particularly when you’re hoping the time you’re investing in social media could eventually lead to opportunities to earn.
Here’s something I wish I’d understood when I first started building an online presence.
Standing out isn’t necessarily about finding something nobody else is talking about. It’s about deciding what you want to be known for and identifying what makes your perspective different.
Before you create another piece of content, here are three things worth considering.
1. Identify what comes naturally to you
When I first started exploring social media as a way to create opportunities for myself, my first question was:
What should I post about?
I had plenty of options.
I was a teacher, so I could share educational content. And that’s exactly what I did.
I built an education brand that grew to more than 6,000 Instagram followers and an email list of almost 4,000 teachers.
But I could also talk about raising my deaf son, cochlear implants, Auslan or navigating life with a child who has complex medical needs.
I could share what I was learning about online business or how I was rebuilding my professional identity after leaving teaching.
All of those topics were part of my life.
But just because you can talk about something doesn’t mean you want to build your personal brand around it.
Start by identifying the knowledge, interests and experiences that come naturally to you.
Ask yourself:
What do people regularly ask me for advice or help with?
What could I happily talk about for an hour without preparing?
What have I spent years learning, practising or experiencing?
What subjects do I genuinely enjoy discussing?
Don’t overlook the things you find easy. Your existing knowledge and experience could be valuable to someone who hasn’t learnt what you already know.
2. Identify your unique point of difference
You don’t need to invent an entirely new topic to stand out on social media.
You need to recognise what you bring to that topic that makes your perspective different.
Consider:
Your experience: Have you overcome a challenge or experienced a transformation?
Your expertise: Have you developed skills through your career, education or personal interests?
Your perspective: Have your circumstances given you a different way of approaching something?
Your strengths: What are you particularly good at explaining, demonstrating or helping others understand?
For example, two women might both create skincare content.
One shares elaborate beauty routines and enjoys experimenting with new products.
The other shares simple skincare routines for busy mums who want to look after their skin without spending hours on themselves.
They’re talking about the same subject, but their experiences and perspectives shape how they approach it.
Your unique point of difference isn’t necessarily what you talk about. It’s what you bring to the conversation.
And that’s something worth understanding before deciding what you want your personal brand to become known for.
3. Decide what you want to be known for
Here’s an exercise I want you to try.
Imagine Forbes magazine calls you tomorrow.
They want to write a feature article about you and the topic you’ve been sharing online.
You know this article will introduce your name to thousands of new people, including people you admire and respect.
Now ask yourself:
What topic would I feel proud to have my name associated with?
What would I love people to approach me for advice about?
Would I still want people coming to me about this topic in five years?
That last question is particularly important.
Because you might have knowledge or experience in several areas, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you want to become known for all of them.
For me, I eventually realised that I wanted to be known for the pivot.
Helping women who have had to rethink their careers because their circumstances no longer allow them to commit to conventional working hours.
I wanted to help them recognise the value of their existing skills and experiences, learn how to build an online presence and create opportunities to earn around their children’s needs.
That’s what led me to attraction marketing.
I draw on my background in psychology, teaching and audience building to teach women how to create content that attracts the right people.
My experiences raising my deaf son have shaped my direction, but they don’t have to define everything I share online.
Your personal brand is something you get to build intentionally. It doesn’t have to be defined by every experience you’ve had.
4. Stop trying to compete with everyone else
One of the easiest traps to fall into as a content creator is comparing yourself with people who appear to be doing the same thing.
You see someone creating content about a subject you’re interested in, and you start wondering whether there’s room for you too.
But someone else sharing a similar topic doesn’t mean you have nothing valuable to contribute.
Your experience, knowledge, communication style and perspective all influence how you share that topic.
Instead of asking:
How can I create something completely different from everyone else?
Try asking:
What do I want people to associate with my name, and what makes my perspective worth listening to?
When you have a clearer answer, you can become more intentional about the content you create.
And when you’re already fitting content creation around your child’s unpredictable needs, you want the time you’re investing to count.
5. A 10-minute exercise to find your point of difference
Open your Notes app, Google Keep or wherever you normally write down your ideas.
Complete these three tasks.
Task 1: List three things you could talk about for an hour
Think about your knowledge, interests, strengths and experiences.
What could you happily discuss without preparing?
Write down three topics.
Task 2: List three things you DON’T want your brand to be about
What messages, expectations or values don’t align with you?
For example, I don’t want my personal brand to promote the idea that mums need to spend all day online to make progress.
I want to teach sustainable attraction marketing and content creation strategies that fit around family life.
Knowing what you don’t want to represent can help you become clearer about what you do.
Task 3: Complete this sentence
I want to be known for helping [WHO] to [DO WHAT].
Here’s my example:
I want to be known for helping mums who can’t commit to set working hours use their existing skills and experiences to create content, attract an audience and explore opportunities to earn online.
Write your own version.
It doesn’t need to sound like a marketing slogan.
It simply needs to reflect what you’d genuinely like people to associate with your name.
Then ask yourself:
Would I feel proud to become known for this in five years?
If the answer is yes, you’ve found a direction worth exploring.
What comes next?
Once you’ve identified what you want to be known for, the next step is understanding the specific problem you want to help people solve.
That’s where we’ll go next.
Because finding your point of difference gives your personal brand direction.
Understanding the problem you help solve gives your content a clearer purpose.
And together, they begin laying the foundations for attraction marketing.
Learn attraction marketing inside Pivot → Impact
I’m a former teacher and Attraction Marketing Mentor helping mums who can’t commit to conventional working hours learn how to attract the right audience and create opportunities to earn around their children’s needs.
Inside Pivot → Impact, my free Instagram voice-note channel, I break attraction marketing into practical skills you can learn and apply in the time you have.
Hi, I’m Trudy 👋
Former teacher, medical mum raising a deaf son and Attraction Marketing Mentor.
I teach mums how to turn the content they’re already creating into opportunities to earn around their children’s needs.
Follow me on Instagram for more tips and behind-the-scenes insights.
Interested in building a business alongside me?
