Simply put, a persona is the 360-degree vision of your target audience. Basing your content strategy on straight forward facts, such as age, geography, and perhaps, income range, will not generate valuable content. It is all about the qualitative aspects of these people.
Hey, I've been there.
YOU'RE NOT ALONE
Being a slasher is definitely an option.
How to make it
It's normal to have a multitude of interests
(and be good at all of them!)
The concept was coined sometime during 2011, and was on the rise since then. Viewed by the public as millennial's solution to job insecurity and the lack of creativity in their 9-5 jobs, it became a way for individuals to develop parallel careers to express their true self identity.
Here's my story
I was a dancer for over a decade, working as a part-time dance instructor and a project-based commercial dancer throughout university and after graduation.
I love to write, so I naturally became a reporter and later an editor as my full-time job.
While juggling the two, I felt like I had nowhere to express my knowledge and passion for visual art. So I started an art and culture magazine on the side, created youtube content on nail art, and started providing hairstyling services to other dancers upon request.
I achieved various milestones for each title and was recognized as a writer/ dancer/ art enthusiast before I reached my 30s.
It's not just about the money
It escalated quickly from there. I started using my hairstyling skills in lookbook projects for my arts and culture magazine, promoted and hosted events with my content creation abilities and acquired clients for my dance choreography service from PR connections I've made at my full-time job.
All of the opportunities started to intertwine and have expanded my slasher qualities as a whole. Most interestingly, it attracted headhunters referring me to new job opportunities, transforming me from a writer to an all-rounded content director.
But how do you get there?
"50% of new customer for service-based companies are from word of mouth" - Drip
I no longer pursue everything, but each of the titles mentioned above came from a demand for my unique qualities, which would not have existed if I were not to start a slasher career. And during this time, most of the opportunities came in through word of mouth.
Passion is your fuel, but building your identity is the engine
But word of mouth had to come somewhere, and likely from your first client. But how are you supposed to land your first client in the beginning?
My answer has always been content.
Confidence
You need to use content to make people believe what you say.
Competence
You need to use content to show people you have the skills to do what you say.
Benevolence
You need to use content to reassure people that you are acting on their behalf.
Taking the right steps
As you can tell, I've been doing this for almost 20 years. The mistakes I've learned from can easily prevent you from wasting your time. And slashers do not have to do this all alone!
Unlike entrepreneurs and small business owners, it is not an employee or a "guru" we need - it is knowledge.
We are willing to get our hands dirty and learn skills to build our careers ourselves. We just need to find the right person to answer our questions and guide us on our journey.
Here's where I come in.
Personal
Mentorship
One-on-one mentorship program that follows a 3-month personal growth program, guiding you every step of the way
Slasher
Events
Intimate talks and events where you get to learn strategies and techniques to start building your identity online.
