Most online writers miss the one thing that keeps them fired up and creates die-hard fans and buyers

‘Personal branding’ is fake and bullshit.

…If you’re trying to be like everyone else, that is.

Many people say to me: ‘Hey Alex, how do you make money doing what you love while getting to live in cool places like Thailand and Poland?’

Being intentional about building a personal brand over many years has made this possible.

These things are out of reach if people don’t know you, trust you or connect with the real you.

Your job is to demonstrate how you are uniquely suited to how you can make someone’s life better.

Seeing this, your people will gather around you like excited flying ants around an evening street lamp.

Personal branding makes this possible.

It’s taken me a while to understand what separates the great brands from the ones that splutter and die.

When I look at the language a lot of people use to promote the idea of personal branding, I see:

• Freedom

• Grow your audience

• Monetise

• Escape the 9-5

• More time for other things

• Close more clients…

Notice, it’s very YOU focused.

I DO believe it’s essential to have goals that serve you and allow you to support yourself and your family.

It’s vital that what you build is sustainable, keeps money coming in, and that you’re not working hard at the expense of your personal joy and sanity.

But many have a lack of PURPOSE that sustains their work over many years.

This is why so many entrepreneurs burn out, need more direction, and lose faith in the process.

I can’t tell you how many friends I’ve made online over the years who are now nowhere to be seen.

Many become carbon copies of everyone else and wonder why something is missing.

I’ve had many phases in my 15-year career working for myself where I felt bored, flat or even angry.

I didn’t know what I was doing it all for, which was painful.

I learned that no personal brand can be sustained if you don’t understand the broader implications of your actions.

This is where natural, burning, even obsessive energy comes from.

It’s about understanding how you are uniquely contributing in the world.

It’s about knowing exactly how you’re needed.

It’s about connecting your purpose and your unique skills to the marketplace.

This is how real personal brands set themselves apart.

I am legitimately excited about working on my business every day because I know it’s about more than getting paid.

I know I am making a difference.

I am fighting a cause.

It’s the fight that energises the crap out of me.

What’s my other little secret?

My inner dragon 🐉.

Wait, what?

You got it.

We all have an inner dragon waiting to be put to use.

He’s usually fast asleep.

The little fucker wakes up when we identify our enemy.

Your dragon gives you energy when there is a fight to be had.

This doesn’t mean living in anger.

It just means you know what deeper problem you’re out here solving - both for yourself and for the world - and that energises you.

Being aware of an antagonist in your life is the missing ingredient many miss.

The things that repeatedly brought you pain and frustration in your past can be seen as an enemy.

No movie or novel in your top five is without a juicy enemy.

Enemies give us something to fight for, and this is what sits at the heart of a purpose-driven life.

“Without enemies around us, we grow lazy. An enemy at our heels sharpens our wits, keeping us focused and alert. It is sometimes better, then, to use enemies as enemies rather than transforming them into friends or allies.“ - Robert Greene

I struggled to express myself at school because I was terrified of rejection.

So I learned that my big enemy was self-suppression.

Now I help others overcome this challenge through my brand and business.

I’ve become a master at communication and human behaviour without realising it was because the enemy awakened the dragon within me.

I now help people become unstoppable, authentic leaders through the brands they build.

I have direction.

This direction benefits both those who follow my ideas, but it also gives me direction, and it raises my value in the marketplace.

Knowing my purpose defines every aspect of my personal brand, from the dragon imagery to my content strategy.

And notice how the focus isn’t on me.

It’s on helping other people overcome an enemy and build a purpose-driven business. And this is enlivening for me.

It’s what makes me want to write about it and get on podcasts about it.

It makes all this bullshit about ‘personal branding’ easy.

So, to build a personal brand that sustains you but also fulfils and energises you…

You must identify your enemy and weave that understanding into all you do.

What are you fighting for?

How are you helping others in this fight?

Reflect on what this might be.

This is the secret sauce.

P.S. If you need some close guidance for writing stuff that will grow your personal brand asset (vital) over the coming months and years…

Online Writing Alchemy shows you how to write stuff that actually builds an audience of people who want to hear more from you.

Buy the course here.