Spoiler alert: it’s not selfies and lattes and staged photos. In fact, it’s not about self-promotion at all.

I’m excited to share that my new Skillshare class Building Your Online Presence: Personal Branding through Social Media, begins today! I know, I know, I realize I’m already breaking one of my rules around social media and self-promotion.

Let me step back for a second. One aspect of social media I find fascinating is our ability obsession with controlling our own narratives. As I watched successful, smart, and highly sought-after individuals craft online images the way one goes about writing resumes (myself included), I knew I had to design a class around being human online. Here were these perfectly lovely people who were either too modest to share their accomplishments or so in-your-face about their successes they came across like a total ass. You’d think for as much time as we think about how others perceive us that there would be fewer cringe-worthy moments happening each day.

What’s been interesting in this age of Narcissus, is how successes are presented in the online social stratosphere. We hide behind self-deprecation and hackneyed hashtags, worried about the repercussions for exuding confidence; concerned about how others will perceive us. These feeling have plagued me for years, and it wasn’t until I realized my brand consulting work would come in handy for not only businesses but for people.

Before this blog, I worked in design and brand strategy, and since going out on my own, I’ve worked with both large and small brands on developing an online presence; a persona, if you will, that provides a voice to the brand to share successes, acknowledge criticism and learn from failures. One of the reasons I think I’ve been “successful” in social media is that I’ve spent time and energy thinking about my channels not as a personal outlet, but as a vehicle to make my dream and goals a reality. That’s the difference between @witanddelight_ and @kateapeters.

Admittedly, “personal branding” sounds like a dirty word. Or at least a word that shouldn’t be tossed around lightly. So before you write me off, ask yourselves this: how often have you decided to not eat at a restaurant because they didn’t have a website? Or stalked [ahem] researched the new employee on social channels. In this digital age of ours, we are more often than not, to judge the proverbial book by its (digital) cover.

So in this age where everyone and their grandmother has a social presence how does one stand out?

This is the part where I introduce Skillshare and my latest class: Building Your Online Presence: Personal Branding through Social Media. This course provides information on how to control your digital narrative; it will teach you how to put your best foot forward and help grow your social media presence to build a personal network.

Fair warning: this class is not how to grow a Twitter following or garner 10 million likes on Instagram. There is no quick solution or easy fix. It’s about how to authentically represent yourself as a real human in this brave new virtual world of ours.

Also, if you enjoy this class and are interested in taking more, Skillshare is currently offering three months of Premium services for only $0.99 cents! I encourage you to visit their site; check out the incredible amount of classes provided by Skillshare and join today!

Kate Arends

Kate is the founder of Wit & Delight. She is currently learning how to play tennis and is forever testing the boundaries of her creative muscle. Follow her on Instagram at @witanddelight_.