Build A Strong Personal Brand With These 3 Key Questions

Personal branding is sharing stuff that you want to be known for.

And for the longest time, I have been over complicating it.

What it all comes down to, is you sharing stuff so that other people see it. If you’re intentional with your personal brand (that means: know what you want to use it for) you can make wonderful things happen.

I’ve seen great examples of entrepreneurs who leverage their personal brand to improve their businesses. I’ve seen people getting high-paying jobs without formally applying.

Both can be possible when you’re intentional with your personal brand. But in both cases, it is effectively the same: a person sharing interesting things that reflect well on them.

Make no mistake, that doesn’t mean that you should only share your wins. Failures, struggles, problems… Those are what make you human.

And remember, people follow people.

The Follower Journey

People see your stuff, look at your profile and follow you. Or not.

So we’ll dive a little bit into the follower journey before we start, as this is the basis for what we’ll be discussing today.

You’ll see that someone comes across some piece of content you’ve made. Either a post or a comment. If it’s of interest to them, they might look at your profile. If they like your profile, they might even hit the follow button.

So our approach is threefold:

1. What am I about
2. Who am I
3. Why should you trust me?

Lets dive in!

What Am I About

People follow people, based on the interests they have themselves. So if they see one of your posts on photography for example, they might follow you for it. Even though you might also talk about fitness. Or Excel tips. Or your love of opera buildings. That’s why I don’t believe in niches all that much.

I think it’s better to talk about the things you would talk about in real life. That makes it a lot easier to decide what you’ll be posting about. And it’s not just me saying this either. People like Dan Koe and Matt Gray, Sahil Bloom. None of them “niche down”.  

To make it a bit easier for yourself though, create 3 high level buckets for yourself containing everything you talk about. It’s helps to use the big 3 out of marketing: health, wealth and relationships. Those are the three main topics people are interested in. Why? It makes them better. 

For every post you put out there, put yourself in your reader’s shoes and ask yourself: What’s in it for me?

Then for every post you write, think: why should any one care for this post? 

And even better (I learned this from Matt Gray): why should someone share this post?

It’s important to share stuff people care about. In the end, you want people to see your content. If people think: “sweet, I’ll share this with someone”, more people see it. That’s how you grow organically.

Now you cannot make sure that everybody cares for your stuff, therefore it helps to get specific as to who you’re talking to.

That always seemed a bit daunting to me, figuring out who I was supposed to talk to but then I ran into some Alex Hormozi stuff. He is using his twitter profile as a “note to self”, basically. What that has taught me, is that you should write for your prior self. 

Think of it this way. Everything you read, teaches you something.
Because you’ve now learned something new, you’ve grown. You know more than “your prior self”.

So how would you explain this, in simple terms, to the old you? How would you teach yourself? You know what you like, and out of all the billions of people around, chances are, there are a lot of them liking you as a person. (and thus follow you for your content).

Your personal views and experiences with any topic are interesting for others to read. There are a lot of people on X posting about and selling stuff they haven’t actually done, but we’ll cover that in why should you trust me. 

Who Am I

Contrary to popular belief, it actually doesn’t start with your bio. People only click through to your bio if they see a post of yours. Makes sense right? 

So “Who Am I” actually starts with your content.

People can read between the lines. Every time you put out any type of content, your personality shines through. You have a voice. Even if you’re emulating other people, you still have your own way of saying things. Words you use. Sentence structures you apply. 

That is actually where it all starts. Write something interesting, either in a comment (probably the first encounter anybody has with your work) or in your own posts, and somebody might be likely to visit your profile. That’s why it’s so important to write quality comments, instead of just commenting.

People can derive who your are through your content. The tone of your profile then must match the tone of your content otherwise it feels conflicting and won’t result in more followers. 

So the content leads people to your bio, your bio can invoke someone to follow you.

In your bio, make sure you have a professional profile picture showing the actual you. Again, people follow people. A good profile picture trick I’ve come to learn over the years is either:

• Look at your content
• Look at people.

Never look away from your content because psychology teaches us that visitors will do the same. So they won’t read much of it.

The header is the largest piece of visual real estate in your bio. But a lot of people don’t really use it. It’s a really good place to add authority or the value you provide, so be intentional with it.

Then, finally, there’s your bio text. But well cover that next.

Why Should You Trust Me

You need to give people a reason to trust you. You can do that you’re showing your experience with things. In your bio, you can state either social proof, or actual proof. So show reviews someone left about the work you’ve done for them or something that proves you know what you’re talking about.

Everybody wants to be the sage on stage while you should be the guide on the side. — Chris Do

Be transparant about your accomplishments. Don’t fool around with them. Don’t lie. We’ve all seen the “growth guru’s” that tell you how to get a 1000 followers in 4 days (even though they have only 600 themselves). Don’t be that guy. 

Do be the person that shares personal experience with things. Even if you’ve just learned something new (and are open about the fact that you’ve just learned it) you can share your experience with it. You can share problems you had towards the thing you’ve learned. 

It’s really not more difficult than that.

So here’s a wrap up

1. Post good content. “Look at this” over “look at me”. 
   • Your view in comments
   • Own experience in posts
   • Things worth sharing in posts
2. Make sure your bio is welcoming and professional.
   • Use your banner
   • Show your faceAdd authority in your bio text
   • Pin a high performing post
3. Help people trust you.
   • Be transparant
   • Don’t be a guru
   • Show proof

Alright, that’s it for todays newsletter! It’s a lengthy one but I hope it’s helpful. 

MIss something? Want more insight? Let me know! I read all the replies I get.

Enjoy the weekend for now!

Resources

_{From Unknown To Expert by Matt Gray}

_{How To Build A Succesful Personal Brand in 2024 by Chris Do (The Futur)}