Personal branding is not an ugly word. People just apply it in an ugly way. I have a famous saying: “People Trust People.” So when you want more people to trust your business, be it as a consultant, a doctor, a coach, or whatever type of business, you want them to know why they should trust you. One element is your knowledge, but it’s also your morals, your discipline, your interests, your culture, and so much more. That’s why I encourage businesses that depend on a person delivering value to work on personal branding for whoever that might be. At times we can work with a whole team of key players in a company, not just founders. At other times, we just focus on the business lead.
In that context, it doesn’t help if you steal content, it doesn’t help if you avoid making a moral statement so you don’t get criticized, it doesn’t help if you don’t allocate time to respond to messages. It definitely doesn’t help if you don’t show the real you. I know people who are really bad at public speaking but have gained great attention just from speaking from the heart.
People trust people.