We recently connected with Milou Pietersz and have shared our conversation below.

Milou, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

One of the biggest trends I’m seeing in our industry is vertical video. While this may get repetitive, video really is the direction we’re heading and continue to head as an industry. It allows us to connect with customers on a more personal basis. On top of that, your personal brand will become more and more important. It is no question that having a personal brand is a non-negotiable in 2022, but I see people struggle to put themselves out there as a personal brand and on video.

I always tell people, the more people see you, the more they will like you. We like the things we’re familiar with, so showing up consistently (with your face) in front of your audience will create that connection for them and allow you to build a relationship.

We help our clients with both. Video is very time-consuming for most people. You need to come up with a strategy, creative brief, execute it, it will require editing, etc. With our done-for-you social media management service, we help women leverage their personal brand. People connect with people and that’s why personal brands and video are not going anywhere any time soon.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I’m originally from the Netherlands (Dutch), I came to the United States to pursue my Bachelor’s as a Division I student-athlete. During my last year of college, I started exploring the idea of working for myself. I was the former Advertising Account Executive at my university and had record-breaking sales, which inspired me to start a business of my own after I graduated with a degree in Media and Advertising.

What started out as a solopreneur journey has now turned into a multiple 6-figure agency where I manage a small team of 5. We now help women scale their personal brands to 7 figures and beyond through social media strategy and execution. Our most requested service is done-for-you social media management. We help our clients show up authentically and in a way that doesn’t feel like a chore while our team does the heavy lifting.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Within two years’ time, I’ve built a personal brand that supports my agency and has created opportunities I didn’t know existed. I live by the phrase “You are your own biggest client.,” which has allowed me to show up consistently to build a brand. My personal brand is the main lead generator for our agency, it serves as a case study, and has created additional revenue streams for myself and the agency.

Of course, building personal brands is what I do, but for someone that is just starting out my advice would be to start yesterday. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and put yourself out there regularly! Having a personal brand in 2022 is a true asset and the opportunities are endless.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

This will bring me back to my previous answer, but my personal brand has been the way to grow my clientele, on top of the referrals we receive from happy clients. Having an online presence in place is crucial. While 90% of your audience may not be ready to buy from you right now, when they are, you want to be top-of-mind. This is why social media marketing is a long-game and ongoing investment our clients make with us. When I first started out, I relied a lot more on referrals, but this has now turned into digital word-of-mouth.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/simplymediadvertising
• Twitter: twitter.com/simplymediadv

Image Credits
Divina Stennfeld