Are you an influencer or an on-air talent? The line is blurred between the two, so the answer is: BOTH!

As I said in a previous article, radio DJs were the first influencers. Radio was the first form of in-home entertainment. At the time, television didn’t exist. It was entirely up to the DJs on the radio to push products onto the listeners. Families everywhere bought a certain brand of soap because they were informed of the quality of the product, they bought shoes for the kids because they heard about them on the radio, and they invested in a certain type of house because they knew the structure was solid from what they were told by…you guessed it…the on-air talent from the radio. Not much has changed between then and now, except our platform has grown exponentially.

It’s time to build your on-air brand! You have been in the game long enough to know how influencers work. Influencers have a niche, something that makes them different from other influencers. As far as Tik Tok is concerned, many know who the D’Amelio family is. Charli and Dixie started their career just posting dances. Those clips eventually got them NUMEROUS endorsements, and even their own TV show! If you work your brand appropriately, you can gain more recognition for yourself and turn that recognition into money.

As a radio influencer, how do you create your ‘brand?’ First of all, you need to know what ‘brand’ means. It’s not just a logo you’ve created for yourself, or a slogan. Think of your brand as your company. What do you want your company to sell? How do you want to sell it? What are your priorities and morals for your company? This will require you to sit down and really think…what do I want my brand to be about?

Once you’ve realized what this means to you…be that on the air! Of course, be yourself! However, if you’re catering to the mom listeners, remember that every time you crack the mic. If you’re catering to the rock listeners, keep this in mind every day. If you cater to the county listeners, make sure you know what their likes and dislikes are.

This doesn’t mean just talk about what you think your listeners want to hear. This is more than just your voice. This is a lifestyle. Are you sarcastic and witty or bubbly and outgoing?

Determine how you will go about showcasing this to the listeners. What are your guidelines. Write them down so you never deter away from them. Know what you want to be about. Know what you’re willing to do and, more importantly, not do. Understand this is going to be something you have to take with you as long as you are an on air talent and influencer.

In building your brand, there’s a lot more research that needs to happen than you might think. There’s a lot of planning and there’s a lot of writing. Building your brand can be incredibly lucrative. If you do it right, this could turn into a plethora of endorsements and, hey, maybe even syndication!