CEOs are writing newsletters. Accountants are making TikToks. Lawyers are starting podcasts. Your LinkedIn feed is full of people sharing their morning routines and business wins.
Maybe you’re doing it too. You’re building a personal brand or thinking about starting one. You’ve got your new headshot, defined your content pillars and you’re posting more often. Your profiles are growing and the leads are coming through. Friends have started to comment. Customers have started to notice.
As long as you don’t stop, you’ll continue to see success. And it only snowballs. More data to learn from. Ideas flowing with ease. More people seeing your work on a regular basis means introductions, opportunities and referrals. Your business starts to explode.
It’s all going in the right direction, right? Actually, maybe not.
The future of personal branding, and what to do now
The problem is, everyone is doing it. Aspiring thought leaders publish books, create courses and share articles in their hundreds of thousands. Personal brand consultants have never been busier. Ghostwriters are building seven figure businesses. Editors are awash with clients and premium microphones are flying off the shelves.
In 2017, 52% of 6-17-year-olds said they wanted to be a YouTuber when they grew up. Now they’re aged 14-25, that’s exactly what’s happening. Gen Zers are showing up on YouTube, dancing on TikTok, playing the algorithms and making careers out of their personal brands. They’re not overthinking. They’re hitting publish. That’s all they’ve ever known.
Everyone wants to be famous. Everybody’s a somebody. But the market is becoming saturated. Can everyone be special? Is there room for us all to thrive?
Launched a course? Join the queue. Written a book? Yawn. Started a YouTube channel? So what? LinkedIn is drowning in thought leaders. Twitter is packed with gurus. Everyone with a webcam thinks they’re the next big thing.
So what happens next? For personal brands to grow and keep growing, there are three options:
Niche right down
To be famous for your work you have to own a word in people’s heads. Habits. Writing. Systems. Professionals everywhere are trying to claim their word. “The funnel guy,” “The SEO pro.” We won’t run out of words, but we’ll run out of the good ones. There will be multiple people trying to park on a term, fighting it out in LinkedIn feuds.
The solution? Niche right down. Be the funnel guy for dentists. The SEO for restaurants expert. The LinkedIn banner redesigner. Too broad, and you compete. More niche, you’re easy to define and way more memorable. Potential customers are drawn to your relevance and the specificity of your knowledge. You stand out among the vagueness.
A fitness coach who helps corporate mums return to training post-pregnancy will beat a general “fitness for women” coach every time. An AI consultant who helps estate agents write property descriptions will win over someone who “helps businesses with ChatGPT.”
What do you want to be known for? What topic are you uniquely placed to educate or entertain on? Which ace cards can you play? The more specific, the better. Build a personal brand around being more you.
Pick your niche by writing down the last 20 client wins you celebrated most, listing industries where you’ve spent 1000+ hours. Find the overlap between what lights you up and what pays well, then go narrower. Add a location, add a platform, add a specific problem you solve.
Be insanely experienced
Content is fast becoming a commodity. AI-generated content is everywhere. Most of it is terrible. People browsing the internet are fed up and they are looking for realness. They’re looking for connection. The personal brands that continue to rise will be the ones who have ultra relevant experience in the field they are talking about.
For any given topic there are twenty instructional videos on YouTube. Providing they have slick production, the most experienced messenger wins. In the first minute of the video, the presenter needs to share their credentials: why they are the best person to listen to, and why you should care. Attention is finite, and time is too. No one is going to waste their days on theory. Experience-led personal brands are the only ones that will last.
Someone who built and sold three marketing agencies has more kudos than someone who read a book about marketing. A strength coach who deadlifts 600lbs will attract more followers than someone who studied exercise science. The internet knows the difference between theory and practice.
Do cool stuff and teach other people how to do the same cool stuff. Keep quality high with your content. Teach only what you know. Get to the top of your field and then share the journey. Don’t teach anything you haven’t personally lived. Be the one who practices and preaches.
Have every type of wealth
An overweight and tired-looking business owner is giving you business advice. You know they are a multi-millionaire. Their career is inspiring. But is their life? If you have to sacrifice health and sleep to emulate their success, would you do it? Or is no amount of money worth a dad bod and eyebags?
Thought leaders and personal brands can no longer be one-dimensional. Increasingly, their entire life is under scrutiny. Two people made two hundred grand this month but one did it working 40 hours a week and one ten. One has a happy family, the other three divorces. One has been to fifty countries, the other has never left the USA. It shouldn’t matter, but it does. With so many people to follow, we want the whole package.
No one wants business advice from someone who looks exhausted. No one wants productivity tips from someone who neglects their friends. No one wants lifestyle design guidance from someone stuck in their spare room. Winning at business while losing at life isn’t winning at all.
The personal brands of the future will be almost godlike. How do you stack up? Consider every type of wealth when you make your goals. Financial (revenue, profit, investments), sure. But mental wealth (stress, happiness), physical wealth (energy, strength, sleep) and depth of relationships (friends, family, networks) matter. Talk about your life. Share how healthy, calm or happy you are, and the steps you took to get there. Add B-rolls of your day into your videos. Being one-dimensional is not aspirational. For serious personal brand success, you have to be more.
How to create a personal brand that stays relevant forever
If every business leader is becoming a thought leader, everyone with something to say is saying it on YouTube, and teaching is not reserved for teachers, how do you stand out?
Niche right down. Become the best in the world at what you do. Lean into your own strengths and combination of interests. Bring your most relevant experience to the table, keep progressing your knowledge and achievement in your field, and don’t be humble when introducing yourself online.
Play all your ace cards. If you’re good on camera, get on camera. If writing is your superpower, do it every morning. Hit publish to get data and iterate faster than the newbies can keep up.
Become the role model you wish you had, but be multi-dimensional. Build the life of your dreams. Your dream business, routine, partner, setup, physique and disposition. Don’t compromise health for wealth. Be fundamental about your beliefs to attract kindred spirits and the right kind of following.
Build a personal brand that will continue to serve you, long after the bandwagon has joined. Get this wrong, waste time, cash and energy. Get this right and be forever glad you did.
Read the full article here
