How to Build a Brand When You're Multi-Passionate

Some people struggle to find their thing or their spark. (I just watched Pixar’s Soul and I loved how they referred to it as “spark.”) Other people have many sparks and they struggle to narrow it down. That’s the category I am in: multi-passionate.

You may be multi-passionate if:

• You have a long list of passions, hobbies, and interests and they all excite you.

• There are a million things you want to try, you never feel bored, and your to-do list is always full.

• You don’t feel like you fit into a single career path.

As a multi-passionate person, I’ve come to realize that you need to separate out your passions from your hobbies.

For example, I absolutely love cooking. I’ve lived a vegetarian lifestyle for over 10 years and I developed into a major foodie and self-proclaimed home chef. I wouldn’t say I’m passionate about cooking, though. I love cooking, but it’s not my purpose in life. I’m not trying to monetize that interest. I may share some recipes every now and then, but I’m not interested in teaching people how to cook or starting a full-time foodie blog right now.

I heard this on a podcast last year and I constantly tell myself this as a multi-passionate person: Just because you like doing something and you’re good at it, doesn’t mean you need to go run and start a business centered around that.

Allow your hobbies to be just that – hobbies. I love yoga, hiking, and planning my next DIY home project, but those don’t always fit into my personal brand, so I don’t allow them to take up my business mind space. I just sprinkle them in every now and then when it makes sense.

So how do you figure out what to monetize? Where should you focus your time and energy when you’re multi-passionate? Ask yourself what it is that lights you up the most. What is it that you love doing more than anything else? Can you narrow that down to 1-2 things?

I’ll give you another example: my two things are brand design + music. Second House Creative is my brand design and social media business. I’m passionate about helping small business owners build their brand online with design and content strategies. I’m also passionate about music. I’ve been singing for my whole life and I want to inspire others through music and share my story. You can see that side of me on my personal Instagram (@mollierittenhouse). In my case, it makes sense to have separate accounts. Second House Creative is a business, whereas my personal page is more lifestyle oriented. Both areas have so much content potential and there was no way I was going to have a clear message if I tried to combine the two. You may feel the need to build two accounts, but you may be able to use just one depending on what it is you’re offering and who you are serving.

Here’s how to tell if something is your *thing* or your *spark:*

• You could talk about this thing to a room full of people for an entire day if you had to.

• You are inspired by this thing and you have the drive to help others.

• You are frequently asked about this thing.

• You are seen as an expert in this thing to people around you.

• You are driven by this thing and you feel compelled to share value and insight to others.

• You are happy when you are doing this thing and and it’s a part of who you are.

When you’re passionate about something, people will notice.

Building a brand around multiple things can be challenging, that’s why focusing in on just a few things makes it easier for you, and also very clear to your audience what you’re all about.

Everything can’t be the star of your show. Decide what is going to take on the supporting roles.

This doesn’t mean you are leaving parts of you behind. You are just redirecting your interests to have more clarity in building your brand. Remember that you don’t need to share every hobby with the world – just the ones that mean the most to you and compliment your brand.

I see the beauty in niching down, but I also believe that it is important to share a well-balanced scope of what makes you YOU. Niche down in what you offer and who you serve. When the time is right, share stories and relatable content that will resonate with your audience.

Being multi-passionate is a gift. Having the drive to do many things is both exciting and overwhelming at times. When you find your focus and map out your MOST passionate interests, you’ll see how things can start to fall into place when you get clear about what you want to share with the world.

3 Instagram Features Your Small Business Needs to be Using

I'm spilling the tea about some of the most important Instagram features that you should be using. I know IG can be overwhelming. That's why I narrowed it down to only 3 right now. I paired examples with each of them so you can immediately implement these into your IG strategy.

1. IG Stories

Stories are about nurturing your followers. This is where you show the behind the scenes of your business and daily routines. Serve your audience with quick tips and encourage conversations by using stickers like questions and polls. If you're only sharing to your feed, you're missing out on the number one connection point you have with your followers. Keep it laid back. It's like a coffee date with your best friend. The only person judging you is yourself.

Example: Just made a post to your feed? Take 5 minutes after you post it to get on stories and introduce the post–yes, you! Your beautiful face! Then share the actual post to your story as the last slide with a “tap here!” sticker or text. A lot of your followers may never even see your feed post unless your share about it in your stories. You want more eyes on it, right?

2. Location based tags

If your business is based on location and you want more people following you who live near you, listen up! Add your city as the location to every feed post to increase your reach and discoverability.

Example: I usually list either Edwardsville, Illinois (my actual city) or St. Louis, Missouri (closet big city)

Compile a list of local hashtags for your feed posts, as well. Take 10 minutes to search Instagram for local hashtags that align with your business and ideal client. Location hashtags should be used in addition to your other hashtags.

St. Louis examples: #stlbusiness #stlblogger #stlphotographer #stlmade #stlfoodie #stlouisgram #stlouiswedding #stlboutique

3. Educational Carousels

This is the most popular feed post style right now and you're missing out on engagement if you aren't posting them. Carousel posts (multiple slides that you can swipe through) make users stay on your content longer. Someone is more likely to interact with your post if they take a few seconds to swipe through 3 or more slides, versus scrolling right past your single-image feed post.

Example: Create a carousel with one main image that will show on your grid and then 3 slides that follow it. First image should introduce what you're going to teach us/show us. The next three should each be their own tip/how-to/explanation/example for what it is you're talking about.

Industry examples:

Fashion blogger: How to style your summer clothes in the winter.

Photographer: How I capture personality in a couples session.

Health & Wellness: Do these stretches daily to improve your posture.

Food: Fruit & vegetable must-haves for a healthy immune system.

Want 30 free content prompts and organization tips to get you started? Click here to get your guide!

10 Tips for Better Engagement on Instagram

Engagement is the Queen of Instagram. She tells the algorithm that you are sharing interesting content and pushes it out to your current followers and new audiences. So I put together a checklist of my top 10 tips for better engagement to help you.

Engagement isn't about likes and followers. It's about shares, saves, comments, and DMs. These are what you need to focus on if you’re trying to grow your business through Instagram and if you want to have fun. It's not any fun if no one comments on your posts and no one DMs you right?

1. Diversify your content.

Only posting static photos to your feed and your story? Your followers are so bored! Videos, graphics, photos, carousels, lives, reels – your followers (and new ones) want variety!

2. Personalize your brand.

You’re building your brand on Instagram, not just your business. People want real stories and life lessons. They want someone to connect with and someone who’s been in their shoes. You don't need to share every detail of your life, but humanizing your brand goes a long way with your audience.

3. Talk directly to your followers.

Use stories like you’re on Facetime with your best friend. Write your captions like you are speaking directly to a single person – not a crowd.

4. Collaborate.

Have an Instagram BFF that you always find yourself talking to in the DMs? Connecting with other business owners and individuals who compliment your business in some way could make for a great collab! Plan a live together or plan a story takeover. You can get in front of their audience and they can get in front of yours. Think of it like networking!

5. Join the conversation.

Leave meaningful comments on posts and reels that you connect with – especially people that have a larger audience. For example, it can be a person/brand that you admire. They will likely reply to your comment and you may get a few of their followers to check out your page! Bonus points if they end up pinning your comment to the top for everyone to see.

6. Quality photos, graphics, and videos.

I’m not saying your IG will fail if you don't hire a professional photographer. I’m just saying you need to be mindful of how you’re portraying your brand through your imagery. There are so many free tools and tutorials out there for you to take better photos on your iPhone and plenty of apps for video editing and quick graphics. If you want people to take your business seriously, you have to dedicate the time to having aesthetically pleasing visuals.

7. Experiment and ask questions.

The beauty of Instagram is that there are so many features. Play around with content and see what sticks. Stories is the perfect place for this. Use the poll and question stickers to learn more about what your audience wants to see. If something goes over well in stories, plan a reel or an IGTV training to expand on the topic.

8. Consistency.

Your business is open right? You have to show up consistently online or else people might forget about you. If people see that you consistently share valuable and entertaining content, they will engage with you more and more. That’s how you build relationships. Social media is like dating. You can’t ask someone to marry you on the first date. You need to gain their trust and keep their interest.

9. Create interest.

Do you think your business is super boring? If you do, then I can’t help you. Maybe it is boring. I once had to write social media content for an answering service and let me tell you, THAT was boring. No way is your business that boring. If you absolutely love your business and you want to help more people with whatever it is you sell or offer, then you can create interesting content that draws people to your brand.

10. Ask for the saves and shares.

It sounds simple because it is. Start training your audience to save your content and share it to their stories if they found it helpful, funny, whatever it may be. “SAVE this post to reference again when you need it!.” Asking a question in a story? Tell your followers to DM you if them have a thought to share.