Theodorah Manjo: Building a brand starts with being relatable
Popularly known as Miss Manjo on the Twitter streets, Theodorah Manjo is a digital marketer and online influencer with a thing for helping the unemployed better themselves. Her timeline exudes positivity and humility and through her social media content, her passion for guiding and assisting the unemployed through knowledge sharing and upliftment is hard to miss. In this interview, she talks about building and maintaining a brand online and how to put your best foot forward with your CV. You are essentially Twitter famous, how do you get to 63k+ followers? I came across a cool social media team called The Hand of Sas (now known as HOS) about two years ago and it was like having an online family. We spoke about everything social media, online etiquette and how to have an “online voice”. I learned how to speak to “strangers” in a familiar way, showing my personality and allowing people to be a part of my life even when they didn’t know. I started falling in love with the aspect of being able to reach & speak to people in provinces I have never been to, and it expanded to Africa. I’m now part of a team called #AfricaTweetChat where we discuss all things digital media with people from all corners of this continent. It makes me so happy! [bctt tweet=”Building a brand online starts with being relatable. – @MissManjo” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Building a brand really starts with being relatable, following and talking to people and understanding that everyone will always be “strong” behind a screen & you shouldn’t take what people say online to heart because you WILL break. Don’t be reckless, if you say something online, make sure that you will be able to stand by that even 6 years from now because once it’s out there, somebody has already screen-grabbed it. How do you use your influencer status to continue to build your brand? It is all relationship building, making connections and again, being relatable to your audience. The biggest thing is being true to what your story is, you are either a food enthusiast, a budding entrepreneur, an artist or a student going through the motions. People follow you because they can ‘relate’ or they can learn from you and enjoy your content. I have always been vocal on unemployment, social media characters/influencers and how to conduct yourself online. Through my content on those topics, people got to know what makes me tick. Yes, my content varies – I have jokes, I have rants, but most of all I engage with my followers. I want to know what other people are busy with, what makes their day and how I can connect with them NOW so that later, we can have a meaningful relationship. It has proven to be amazing and I have met & befriended a lot of wonderful people online. [bctt tweet=”Don’t be reckless, if you say something online, make sure to stand by that even 6 years from now – @MissManjo” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] What is the ultimate story for Miss Manjo story? Hmm, what a thought-provoking question. What’s my story? I want to be able to reach and teach at least one person a month, at least ten people in a year. I want my presence online to be relevant and make sense. It’s not about me, it’s about us – how do WE get better at this life thing together?! Celebrate yourself. Are you happy, are you giving and are you helping someone be a better version of themselves? – These are my heart notes to myself daily. What is your strategy for online brand preservation? Think ahead! I want to be big in my industry, I want kids one day – will what I put out there make my future baby girl cringe? Will it result in me having a meeting with my CEO about being too expressive? If questioned about what I tweet personally, will I be able to look at the person in the eye, and stand by what I said without quivering?. I am still a person at the end of the day, things make me angry, people make me angry but what will this mean for me tomorrow morning? Is this who I want SA & Africa to think I am? Practice what you preach or change your speech. And sometimes, there is beauty in silence! [bctt tweet=”Practice what you preach or change your speech. – @MissManjo” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] On helping the youth get jobs, and keep them! How did the passion to guide and assist the unemployed come about? I started working at a recruitment agency while I was in between jobs. I only stayed three months because my spirit didn’t really agree with how recruitment worked in this particular place and also, I am a creative so I felt like I was boxed. The whole trend was that they would find people already in employment and headhunt them when in reality there are thousands of people who are unemployed and have the right skills. Through my frustrations of not finding candidates for my roles, I created a Facebook page and I wanted to explore a medium that had a lot of “word of mouth” but with individuals who may not all be employed, and that was how “I Need Someone Who…JOBS” was created on a Tuesday afternoon, without my team leader knowing. It was a risk in that I would probably get kicked out of my job or receive a warning, but my gut didn’t let me down; I was ready to fight for this cause even if meant I would have to be moved to an admin position due to disobedience. This is where I discovered just how much heart I had for those who were unemployed, because a month ago, I didn’t know where to look for a job, nor did I have the means to, but thanks to friends and connections I was lead to this place that has allowed me to change potentially thousands of South