How To Build a Personal Brand

I did not wake up and decide to build a “personal brand.”

My personal brand is the result of my work, my experience, and deciding to write about the things I learned online.

I think brand really means “reputation” - and I spent ~10 years working and building a career in marketing. 

I was able to help a few of the companies I worked at produce great results with marketing, and I had space in public to talk about my experience (through podcasting and writing online).

At the end of the day you can tell people how they should think about you, but they are going to form their own opinion based on your work – and that is where your “personal brand” is created.

But today I am able to reap the benefits of having built a personal brand in a niche.

I wake up to an inbox filled with:

• Founders who want to hire me as a consultant to work 1:1 on their marketing
• Partners and sponsorship opportunities for my business (Exit Five)
• Invites to speak at events, webinars, and podcasts

These opportunities give me leverage: I don’t have to go back and work for an employer if I don’t want to.

And now I can keep building on top of this audience in business and marketing. I could do deeper in this niche, or I could pivot and create content and find opportunities in new areas (because people that might follow along for marketing strategy are also people with other interests in life and business, and new ventures become easier when you have an audience in place already).

If you want to begin building your personal brand, I would recommend:

1. Renting a Lamborghini 
2. Take a picture of you sitting on the hood the car either shirtless or sleeveless (your call)
3. Post it on LinkedIn and X
4. Start sharing quotes about hustling, and the grind, quotes from Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk; maybe throw in a few lessons from the Roman Empire

And you’ll be on your way to building a personal brand.

Or you could:

1. Find a niche that you have deep experience and expertise in
2. Start writing about your lessons and learnings online
3. Be patient and see what happens

For me the niche was marketing. But you could be in sales, a videographer, or a DIY at home expert; I bet you can make content online helping people learn about a particular topic you have expertise in and begin to “build your personal brand” too.