Why do you struggle with personal branding?
Is personal branding one of those things that you feel like you should do, but just...don't? Or you try on occasion, but it never goes anywhere?
I'm curious to learn why.
What have you tried that hasn't worked? What holds you back?
(And ps this is for the people who feel pretty sure this could help their business and want to be able to do it, not the people who just roll their eyes and think it's all lame)
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Honestly one of the things that hold me back is not having something successful to show, it's hard to sell yourself without some relative success in something, the first question that comes to my mind is: who would like to read something about me? or be interested in me without having achieved something in the first place...
That's what I tell myself.
Why should I write something if I can't back up my words with proven success?
i wrote some larger thoughts on this topic: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/personal-branding-for-indie-projects-13edb522df
i like this topic a lot.
I LOVE this. I couldn't agree more. I think any founder that isn't investing in their personal brand is seriously undercutting their chances at success.
💯
I struggle with this. I'm a first-time founder. My experiences/skills are all over the map.
As founders, the industry demands a beautifully captivating narrative. Mine is my obsession with sports and tech, and a perpetual dissatisfaction with the current sports industry. Took a year of journaling to metabolize it myself.
I love this. I've learned through my work that founders with really diverse experience (or who are polymaths) often struggle with this narrative. It's one of the things I most love helping with.
Nice! Do you work as a consultant? I'd love to get more help here.
I do, actually - a consultant and coach. I'm actually building out a new cohort of hybrid 1:1/group coaching for founders.
Send me an email: [email protected] or let me know how I can get in touch!
My big hangup is that I can't seem to find the "connective tissue" that unites my various traits. I'm a no-code, non-technical founder on one hand, then a senior leader at a tech-heavy company focused on digital transformation of enterprise and government agencies. It feels so totally unrelated that I worry about brand-building in one area having a negative impact on the other. Maybe that's silly.
Andrew - this is sooooo interesting. I'm realizing that this is the #1 thing every founder I've coached on personal branding has in common - they are polymaths with diverse experience that struggle to craft a cohesive narrative.
What would you recommend in that situation?
Good question...when I coach clients on this, I help them take a step back to understand the common current that runs through all of it.
Example: I'm a marketer, growth strategist and now personal branding coach. I am also an avid reader, have been a powerlifter, and somewhat of a biohacker. For me growth is everything. I'm obsessed with it and the process of learning, testing, and improving. So I talk a lot about that and how my biggest challenges in life have led to my biggest periods of progress and personal growth.
Thanks for the answer :)
I am 200% sure personal brand is important
why?
because people buy from people
Nailed it!
I'm not sure you "do" a personal brand. To me, it's more being aware of what are your values and build your image around that. It even go further: imagine the person you want to be and build your image around that. Work everyday to bring your behavior as close as the image you want to give.
I have core principles I try to respect all the time. Everything goes from there. It's not like one day I wake up and I say to myself: "I'll build my personal brand!". Like everything interesting (arguably) it takes time.
I think for many people - especially those with imposter syndrome - applying some intention to really getting out there and being more public is the only way it really gets done.
But I totally agree that it all has to stem from personal values and vision for your impact.
Any insight into how you've thought through that image you want to give? I think some founders really struggle with this - especially polymaths.
Well, I just asked myself: what do I want to do in my life? What impact I want to give? What's my purpose?
I write often about these subjects, for myself. It helps me going through the ideas and reflect on them.
These are no easy questions, but I like to think about these things. To me, it's important to define what we are and what we want to be. Over time, I try to shrink all these ideas to core values that I'm ready to put in everything I'm doing or creating.
YES! This is basically how I coach people -> what impact do you want to have?
I think a lot about the Maya Angelou quote about how no one will remember what you did or said, but how you made them feel...so how do you want to make people feel?
Love this perspective.
I feel like sometimes you just need to be yourself, focus on your niche, and be an expert in your domain naturally. When you follow this constantly and put into a system, your so-called branding will arrive. No push, no pressure. @abetterjones
Love this! I think a lot of the folks that struggle are ones whose niche has evolved over time.
Could you expand a little bit by what you mean on “personal branding”?
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Oh don't get me wrong...I hate the term because it connotes a lot of superficial shit and Instagram "influencers."
But your personal brand is what you're known for. What people say about you when you're not in the room. EVERYONE has a personal brand. It's whether or not you put intention into it.