Katie Harbath on Uncovering Your Unique Voice - Chief Influencer - Episode # 017

Katie Harbath is the Founder and CEO of AnchorChange, a civic tech strategies firm focused on developing solutions at the intersection of technology, policy, and business, focusing on global issues related to democracy, elections, and civic engagement online. She is also the writer of a popular Substack (AnchorChange), along with her work as a Non-Resident Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, Senior Advisor for Technology and Democracy at the International Republican Institute, Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center, and more. Katie joins Host Anthony Shop for an enthralling discussion of what success looks like in today’s changing media landscape, why leaders need to discover their own voice, and the keys to developing an audience online.
Takeaways: While many leaders are used to discussing stories and topics from their company’s perspective, they have not put much time into thinking about how to tell their own stories. After leaving Facebook, Katie decided to proactively tell her own story and share her views. Her honesty and openness have been integral to her Substack’s success. Leaders should focus on the number of people their message resonates with, instead of impressions, likes or engagement. You don’t need to think up outrageous hot takes for your content to be successful. Instead, prioritize creating content that is valuable. Katie gave two examples: 1) Sharing job openings within a specific industry. 2) Curating links to the sources you use to keep up with the latest news in your industry. No one does it all by themselves and no one’s life is always perfect, so don’t feed into this cultural facade. Rather, spotlight the people and resources that make your success possible. As the social and mass media landscapes continue to fracture, it’s impossible for leaders to effectively share their message everywhere at the same time. Because of this, micro-influencers are becoming an increasingly important part of reaching target audiences wherever they are. For example, TikTok’s popularity has surged immensely, particularly among younger generations, making it a great channel to reach new voters. However, the app is banned on devices of anyone in the federal government. To circumvent this, federal leaders have worked with micro-influencers to create and share content about their message.
Quote of the Show:“It's not just a numbers game, it's also a quality game” - Katie Harbath
Links: Substack: https://substack.com/@katieharbath AnchorChange Website: https://anchorchange.substack.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katieharbath/?hl=en  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harbath/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/katieharbath 
Shout Outs:Bruce Mehlman: https://www.chiefinfluencer.org/episodes/bruce-mehlman-on-sharing-insights-freely-chief-influencer-episode-008