Takeaways from Ronan Farrow for building your personal brand

Ronan Farrow’s lighting-in-a-bottle rise to journalistic prominence holds lessons for communicators.

His Harvey Weinstein exposé, published in October 2017, led to a new contract with The New Yorker, a shared Pulitzer Prize with The New York Times, a book deal and a deal producing documentaries for HBO.

Farrow was already an established journalist when that groundbreaking story helped shoot him to the top, and he’s now a go-to investigative reporter tackling abuses of power.

He’s also exemplified how communicators can use personal branding to elevate their standing in their industry.

Here are three takeaways to apply in your own life:

1. Positioning

The best business markets have tons of competition. It means there’s a lot of money at stake and that customers are already looking to buy what you have. So the problem isn’t a technical or innovation one, but one regarding marketing and positioning.

The same holds true for PR pros, because there is a low barrier to entry for new competitors and often very little that separates you from the next consultant, contractor or firm.