Agniya Hill is a financial planning specialist, a member of the 2023 San Francisco Innovation Hub community, and a financial consultant. We asked Agniya to talk about the importance of maintaining social networks for entrepreneurs and experts, as well as to share how she is developing her personal brand and the benefits her blog already provides.
“One of my biggest mistakes was that for many years, I managed my social media only for friends. I am certain that because of this, I missed out on millions of dollars. Let me start with an example: not too long ago, I attended a Russian-speaking conference where one of the speakers was an American man who had his own boutique company, and we were in the same business. At the time, I was a partner in one of the largest Russian-speaking teams in the world, at Morgan Stanley, Top 100 Forbes Next Gen Advisors. It would have been beneficial for the organizers to invite me as a speaker to the conference, and they wouldn’t even need translators. However, I was just an attendee, like everyone else in the room. Do you know why? He had a million followers. I had just over a thousand. This speaker told me that he had been posting content for a year and four months, but there was no progress, and he decided to stop wasting his time on it. However, his team convinced him to continue, and in a couple of months, he gained almost a million followers. His business and personal brand reached a new level; now potential clients find him on their own, and he receives constant offers to speak at conferences. Why did I completely ignore the need for social media until the last few months, even though I understood that many people are making big money there? Maybe I don’t dream of becoming a top blogger, although why not, but I have something to share and show. I am a successful financier in the USA, living between New York and Miami, flying to significant conferences or events with successful entrepreneurs every month, and I have a strong network. So I decided it was time. I can tell you right away that starting is very challenging, especially when you don’t know where to begin. You need to get equipment, lighting, a microphone, install apps on your phone, learn video editing, and devote daily attention to your social media. Take courses, invest real money in it! In the end, I decided to also focus on my social media. The results are still in their early stages as it’s only been a couple of months. Right now, I’m learning a lot, testing various content, but thanks to my visibility, I was invited to speak at a conference in Dubai, invited as a guest for a YouTube film interview, found an agent for publishing a book, won a competition at a business conference in Las Vegas, and now all 90 of my potential clients know about me. And this is just the beginning, of course. Even if you think that in your business, you don’t need to be active on social media or consider it beneath you, just give it a try. Take some basic training or hire a professional manager, and the feedback you receive might surprise you. And believe me, your competitors have long started developing their social networks.”
