How To Build a Strong Personal Brand as an Entrepreneur
Like a superhero, every entrepreneur has unique abilities and an origin story to match. But what sets you apart from all the other Clark Kents and Peter Parkers?
In business, you don’t get a trilogy of movies to set up your character — you need to build your personal brand from scratch.
If this sounds like a time-consuming side quest, think again. Becoming a thought leader or influencer in your industry can help you land clients that would otherwise be out of reach. Why? Because they know who you are.
And actually, personal branding doesn’t have to take that much of your time. In this guide, we’ll show you how to define, cultivate, and grow your profile without filling your calendar.
You ready? Let’s dive in!
Why Every Entrepreneur Needs a Personal Brand
To understand the importance of personal branding in business, take a quick look at this list:
- Richard Branson
- Steve Jobs
- Tim Ferriss
- Elon Musk
- Bill Gates
- Jeff Bezos
- Ariana Huffington
Recognize anyone? Of course you do. In fact, you can probably name the companies associated with these entrepreneurs.
Whenever you see the same people mentioned on the news or tagged on social media, the same brands pop into your head. That’s a crazy-powerful marketing tool.
You probably also have some impression of who these people are. Love them or loathe them, at least you feel something about the businesses they own. You’re buying from a human, not a faceless corporation. That’s why 65% of consumers say that a brand’s CEO and employees influence their decision to buy.
The benefits don’t stop there. Building a personal brand as a business owner can also help you to:
- Boost your digital marketing campaigns: Building your own audience gives you a chance to promote your business brand.
- Prove your expertise: People tend to trust experts. Around half of business decision-makers say that thought leadership has directly led them to choose a company.
- Attract new talent: One study by the Brunswick Group found that 82% of potential employees will research a CEO’s online presence when considering whether to join a company.
We know what you’re thinking…“but I’m never going to be as famous as Bill Gates!” That doesn’t actually matter. What counts is whether your potential customers know who you are and respect your industry knowledge. That’s enough to get a major head start on your competition.
Industry-specific examples include:
- Brian Dean — Founder of Backlinko and Exploding Topics
- Lori Greiner — The “Queen of QVC”
- Noah Kagan — AppSumo
- David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried — Basecamp and HEY
There are also restaurant entrepreneurs who’ve built strong personal brands while growing their businesses through online takeout ordering systems and many more.
You won’t generally see these people dominating headlines, but they have each completely taken over their niche. Their businesses are thriving as a result.
The Building Blocks of Personal Branding
Following in the footsteps of these household names is completely achievable, even if you run a tiny business. The key is to have a rock-solid plan.
You can think of your personal brand as a house supported by seven stone pillars:
If you can identify what your pillars should look like, you’re already halfway through construction!
The rest of the work is about filling in the details and creating actionable steps toward delivering your personal branding strategy.
How To Develop Your Personal Brand
Enough with the theory. If you’re keen to develop an effective personal brand, it’s worth getting started ASAP.
That doesn’t mean rushing over to LinkedIn to drop some corporate truth bombs. No, we highly recommend taking a methodical approach. It might take a little longer in the short term, but strategic thinking is what will put you ahead of the competition.
Here’s a blueprint to follow:
1. Start With Self-Assessment
Remember those pillars? The first step in building your brand is really nailing down who you are, what you want to achieve, and how you want to be known.
In particular, focus on:
- Core values: What are your professional principles? This could be anything from respecting your peers to hard work. Having a clear understanding of your beliefs is essential for shaping your professional identity.
- Your expertise: Which unique insights do you bring to the table? These gold nuggets will help you shine when everyone else is sharing the usual generic dreck.
- Passion points: If you had to write about two or three professional topics every day for the rest of your career, what would they be? You’re much more likely to come across as engaging and sincere if you’re talking about something that genuinely interests you.
You can use the answers to your self-assessment to construct a personal brand statement. This is a short bio that sums up your professional persona. It should look something like this:
“I’m a nonprofit technology strategist committed to amplifying social impact through data-driven solutions and community-centered approaches. With a deep belief in technology’s potential to empower marginalized communities, I specialize in developing scalable digital platforms that connect grassroots organizations with meaningful resources. My work is guided by the principles of equity, transparency, and collaborative innovation.”
If you take a closer look at this example, you’ll notice that it:
- Begins with a strong, declarative statement.
- Highlights key professional identity and core strengths.
- Emphasizes a unique value proposition.
- Communicates broader impact beyond technical skills.
Use this template when crafting your own brand statement.
2. Learn About Your Audience
While effective personal brands are heavily based on the values, expertise, and interests of the individual, there is another important ingredient to consider: your target audience.
Say you’re an accountant. You might get really excited about payroll solutions. But your clients are probably more interested in tax advice that will save them money. As you create a personal brand, balance your own preferences with those of your customers.
To get inside the mind of your audience, it’s worth creating some ICPs (ideal customer profiles). Think about who is likely to engage with your personal brand, factoring in their demographics, where they spend time online, and who they already follow.
It’s also really important to think about their needs and their pain points — these will form the bedrock of your content strategy (more on that later).
Here’s an example ICP you can use as a template:
Mid-career professional pivot
- Age: 35–45
- Gender: All
- Income: $85,000–$125,000
- Location: Urban professional centers (NYC, San Francisco, Chicago)
- Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree
Key characteristics
- Feeling stuck in current career trajectory.
- Ambitious and seeking meaningful professional growth.
- Active on LinkedIn and professional networking platforms.
- Desire to differentiate themselves in a competitive job market.
Pain points
- Struggling to articulate unique professional value.
- Unclear how to translate diverse experiences into a cohesive narrative.
- Lacking confidence in personal marketing skills.
- Experiencing career plateau or uncertainty about next steps.
Needs
- Clear, actionable personal branding guidance.
- Strategies to leverage existing professional experience.
- Personal brand development that feels authentic.
- Tools to confidently communicate professional identity.
3. Find Your Unique Voice and Aesthetic
You should now have a clear idea of what your brand will look like — and who you’re trying to reach. The final step is to figure out your place in the wider world of brands.
Start by taking a closer look at influencers within your niche. What kind of content are they publishing? What tone do they strike with their content? Are there any gaps that you could fill?
As you consider these points, it’s also worth thinking about what voice and personality you want to build around your personal brand identity.
Remember that your brand is a professional persona, not necessarily a perfect depiction of you as an actual human. Throwing in a hint of spice or glitter is totally acceptable. The world is your stage — go out there and wow them.
Remember that branding isn’t defined only by what you say; the visual side of personal branding is equally important. Think about how to present yourself in a way that complements your persona, whether that is goofy selfies or slick profile portraits.
You should also try to pinpoint colors and fonts that match your aesthetic. Are you more of a high-brow Garamond type or a Comic Sans joker?
You might even want to create your own brand guide! This is a guide that clearly defines your persona, from your values through to your chosen color scheme.
So, you have a kick-ass personal brand….on paper. Now how do you translate that into being a well-known influencer in your field?
It’s all about promotion.
Here’s how to put your new personal brand on the map:
1. Craft Your Content Strategy
To build a following, you’re going to need to make some noise. In today’s world, that generally means posting on social media, writing blogs, and/or cultivating an email list.
Crafting your content plan is a multi-step process:
- Topics: Industry insights, process, personal development, leadership, etc.
- Content types: Educational, inspirational, behind-the-scenes, etc.
- Formats: Written (posts/articles), visual (images/infographics), video and audio snippets, etc.
Content strategy is a pretty deep ocean, but we only have time to paddle in this guide. If you want to dive beneath the surface, check out these resources:
2. Create Processes To Save Time
Hmm, this is starting to feel like a lot of work, isn’t it?
Don’t worry. The hard yards are definitely up front. Once you’ve clearly defined your brand and developed a content strategy, things get a lot easier. Trust us.
Along with your playbook, you can use the following techniques to reduce your time input:
- Repurpose your best content: Every business influencer reposts content. This can mean a simple repost, remixing an idea that has worked before, or converting your top-performing posts for other platforms.
- Use AI for faster ideation: We don’t generally recommend using AI to write for your personal brand, because you end up sounding like…a robot? But you can ask AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude to help you come up with new topics to talk about, and create a quick outline for your posts. AI tools can also help you quickly whip up visuals to complement your written content.
- Create content in batches: Finding the time to develop branding content every day is almost impossible if you run a business. Instead, try to create a heap of content in a dedicated session and then use tools to schedule the posts for the coming days.
If you’d prefer someone else to handle these tasks, our team of social media marketing experts would be more than happy to help!
3. Measure Your Progress
Don’t be discouraged if your brand doesn’t go global in the first month. That’s totally normal.
Even so, it’s definitely worth revisiting your plan every few months to see what’s working, and what needs to change. Even the most well-known personal brands are constantly evolving.
In your audit, make sure to assess:
- Your visual branding: Trends change quickly in design, so you might need to move with the times.
- Tone and voice alignment: Remember all that thinking work you put into coming up with a unique voice? Check whether your posts are actually following what you decided on.
- Content performance: Use analytics tools to figure out which types of content are resonating with your target audience.
Standing Out Is Way Better Than Blending In
Ultimately, developing a personal brand is about differentiating yourself (and your business) from others in your field. It doesn’t really matter which style you adopt, so long as your brand is distinctive and likable. Get it right, and you could see significant ROI within months!
Before you get started, make sure your website is ready for all the new visitors who will show up.
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