How To Create A Personal Brand
How To Create A Personal Brand
It's Not All About You!
Look around you here on Substack. Are the people posting Big Tech? Brands? or a faceless company?
NO.
They are people like you.
The difference between you and some of the big names you follow is that they focus on building a Personal Brand.
They have a strategy that they are implementing and it’s delivering results.
I’ve been doing this for 20 years so here is my take on building a personal brand,
What is a Personal Brand?
It’s simple to define a personal brand: it’s the public perception of you as a person and as an expert in your niche.
You're seen as a source of reliable information and as the “Go To” person for your niche (or preferably sub-niche… more of that later.)
You don’t get to that position by constantly trying to sell and make money from your audience; you do it by providing high-quality information and guides that your audience can follow and implement.
Why a Personal Brand Matters
Who would you rather learn from?
An anonymous poster who regurgitates platitudes and frequently posts common “advice,” e.g., “Don’t buy $5 coffee, cancel Netflix… (yawn!)
Or someone whose content is original, has personality and has helped you in the past?
When people recognise your personal brand, they don’t just see you as someone trying to sell something; they view you as a trustworthy source, someone worthy of their time and maybe even worth sharing.
You aren’t just another voice shouting into the void. They see you as a reliable source, someone who brings a unique voice and a wealth of expertise.
How To Build Your Personal Brand
Let’s look at some steps you can take to start to build that valuable personal brand.
Define Your Niche and Message
A focused personal brand is far more powerful than a broad, unfocused one.
Choose your niche and then niche down.
What specific problem can you solve?
When I focused on email marketing, hundreds of people and courses taught how to do “email marketing”.
I couldn’t compete, so I focused on sharing how to write emails that engaged with an audience and led to 30%+ conversion rates.
That is what I could solve for my audience.
To this day, 8 years later, that training is still being read, and the course I created is still being sold.
Once you have defined the problem you can solve, it’s time to consider your messaging. I recommend creating five core messages and then five variations of each core message and then writing about each of them regularly.
Here is my content from this week… what do you think my core messaging was?
Once you have the problem you can solve and your core messaging, you will have clarity about what you can help your audience with.
This is your USP (Unique Selling Point/Proposition)
This clarity will help your audience quickly understand why you are relevant and who you are.
Take that clarity and use it as part of your social media profiles.
For example:
TIP: Use your USP as part of your social media profiles.
Craft and Share Valuable Content Consistently
Regularly share high-quality content that resonates with your audience’s needs.
Anyone can post common knowledge and position it as “Golden Advice”, anyone can regurgitate the rubbish you can see spouted as philosophy on Twitter (never X!) and hope to build a brand.
But to stand out, you need to draw on your experience and expertise and use that to create content that genuinely helps.
Before you shout, “But I’m not an expert,”… if you’ve been doing something for a month, you are an expert to the person who started today… so no excuses!
Share personal anecdotes to help highlight the information you are posting. No one wants a series of bullet points and dry and dull content, but deliver that woven into a story of how that affected you or what you discovered, and you have their attention.
Take your advice and present it in different ways, articles, podcasts, videos, short-form posts, long-form posts, spread you ideas far and wide.
TIP: Repurpose your content across multiple channels and combine content into books and longer videos
Showcase Your Expertise Through Case Studies and Testimonials
Social proof is crucial for building authority.
You know you are an expert, and you have something valuable to offer. Your audience knows you are an expert and have helped them, so get some testimonials from them and use them.
Testimonials are the best way to ensure that future customers can see that you aren’t a fly-by-night marketer and offer real value.
Below is a selection of some of the 5* Testimonials I collected from our community members. If you visited the sales page you’d recognise many of them from here which adds value to their comments.
TIP: Use tools like Senja to collect testimonials; you then be able to use them in multiple locations… as I did above.
Network and Collaborate with Others
Collaborations expand your reach and credibility.
Someone far wiser than me said, “No man is an island; no man lives alone.” and it is doubly true for us online creators. We can’t do this alone. We need to connect with others and share ideas.
Reach out to others, interview them, collaborate on projects with them, and consider podcasts or live calls. Don’t be afraid to share other people’s ideas with your audience.
I regularly share
’s and others’ content with my audience because it aligns with what I teach. A year ago, I interviewed Jamie and shared it with my audience. They got a lot of value. He picked up some of my audience, and I picked up some of his .. it was a win-win for both of us AND our audiences.TIP: Consider doing regular interviews and collaborations with others in your niche, it will help both of you
Be Consistent and Authentic
Personal branding isn’t a “set it and forget it” process.
You need to work at it, stick to a strategy, keep it simple, share what you can, and give value.
Don’t take the “Fake It Until You Make It” approach; people can see through it.
So be genuine and authentic and share what you are doing. If you look at my notes, you’ll see many photos of me having coffee or overeating on ice cream; that is what I do.
You won’t see pictures of me with a hired Lambo or in my friend's Ferrari (because it scares the crap out of me!)
If you met me here in Marbella, this is where we would hang out…
The greatest compliment I ever received from a customer was when we met at an event I ran, and they said, “Wow, you are the same in real life as you are online.” That was when I knew I was doing it right!
TIP: Be yourself. When people meet you in real life, they should see that you are exactly the same person they’ve pictured in your content.
The Long-Term Benefits of a Strong Personal Brand
Building a personal brand as an expert is one of the best long-term investments you can make.
It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen given enough consistency if you stick at it.
Every piece of content you create has a snowball effect: As more people see your content, more opportunities will open up.
I’ve been asked to speak at events in Europe and the US, all because of some words I wrote online. I’ve done nine events so far, and I wonder where the tenth will be.
Me a speaker! I never would have thought that would happen.
The more you write, the bigger your audience will become; the bigger your audience becomes, the more respected you become, and the bigger a loyal audience you build.
A well-crafted personal brand doesn’t just open doors-it builds bridges. With each piece of content and every engagement, you’re laying the foundation for a legacy as a respected authority in your field.
Build that personal brand!
Have a great Week
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