Ten quick tips that will make your online personal brand more unique, grow faster, and sell more products

You’ve all heard me repeatedly talk about the importance of building a ‘personal brand.’

The funny thing is that most people don’t actually care about building a ‘personal brand.’

What does it even mean, anyway?

We want to be known. We want to make an impact. We want to make more money each month.

...Especially doing cool things that bring us to life.

We also want more free time to do what we love doing.

That’s leverage.

Personal brand is how you get there.

That’s why I talk about it.

It’s an asset - one you take with you right till the end. It’s a reflection of you, after all.

I’ve been inadvertently building my ‘personal brand’ for the last 14 years.

Having my ideas plastered across the Internet (even though it’s a tic tac in the ocean) has brought me income, friendships, work opportunities and speaking gigs.

And that’s not even to mention the sense of purpose.

More recently, I’ve become more intentional about what I’m building.

And this is important. Because what you project, you attract.

I’ve made many mistakes and wasted tons of time.

Here are some tips:

Master the art of speaking clearly.

Think hard before you next deliver a message packed full of vague concepts.

The hairs on people’s necks don’t rise in the face of concepts.

Specific communicators build potent brands.

Make honesty your secret weapon.

Especially in this age, people are hungry for the truth. You want to be a beacon of truth, realness and refreshing transparency within the context of your brand.

This needn’t mean broadcasting every little thing about you for the sake of attention.

No - you’re honest for one explicit reason: to lift up your tribe.

Smile and nod when you hear a guru preach consistency, before being relentlessly consistent yourself.

I agree - that was a pretty ridiculous sentence.

Consistency is still king in personal branding, no matter what clever technology comes around. It’s what branding is - in essence.

Repeatedly showing up with your views, colours and stories paints a picture.

It also establishes you as a persuasive force.

Nothing that people want to believe in shows up only twice.

Don’t plan so much.

I’ve spent ludicrous chunks of my life sitting in cafes hunched over notepads, writing up plans for things that never materialised.

Pages and pages of the stuff. So what’s left to do?

Precisely that: doing things.

Save time by planning less and creating more. Feedback from the real world will show you what’s working.

You can’t figure it all out in advance of seeing what sticks. Be an action hero.

Learn to control your mind and your energy.

The root of a great personal brand is upbeat energy. Your audience will feed off this and - in turn - be lifted up with you. This is ultimately what we’re doing. It’s an energy transfer, not some posturing BS. So, as a leader, you must find a source of energy for yourself.

By controlling your mind, I mean having emotional control and not wasting energy through overthinking and petty habits.

Run an energy audit and see what tends to drain your energy the most.

Be ruthless in ridding yourself of these things if you want a happy life, which will drive a happy brand (which is what you want).

Be you and have a position.

Some people say your brand is you, so it doesn’t really matter that you have no niche and cover everything under the sun.

Others say you must must must have a super well-defined niche. I say find the middle ground. Strong brands have direction.

There is a clear transformation they bring their people through.

Know what this is for you. For me, it’s helping people grow their personal brand (meta, I know).

Most of all, when there is direction, you have direction, which will make for an energised approach.

Write every day, no matter your talent.

Before your toes curl in horror, think about this for a second. You don’t need to write a book every day. Just 5,000 words per day. I’m joking.

You could, but you need only write a few sentences for it to count.

The habit will mould your communication skills, as well as your discipline.

Secondly, you don’t need to publish your writing to benefit from writing.

Though it would probably be silly not to. You can formulate your thinking through writing.

I can speak and deliver my ideas far better after writing through my overthinking for years.

If you’ve done something for 30 days and hate it, pivot.

You must find a way to enjoy what you do, even if some of it is not considered conventionally enjoyable.

Not all of us are suited to the specific blueprint handed out by Chad McGrath on the Success Mastermind.

Do what fits with your style.

Learn the art of stories.

Last Saturday, this skinny guy approached me in the park and grabbed me by the shoulders. He looked me square in the eye and, without blinking, said:

‘Alex, you must learn how to tell a good story.’

This is a story in itself, as you can see. (So bad, it’s good, right?)

It is composed of a sequence found in all good stories: hook (grab attention), build (tension rising), and payoff (final conclusion to the story)).

You want to understand this format at the very least. It will apply to good tweet and non-fiction article writing as much as it applies to fiction novel-writing.

Great brands tell cohesive stories.

Learn how to defy expectations.

You may have studied any form of entertainment, whether telling jokes or writing powerful scripts for films.

Then, you’ll know that one of your main jobs as a creator is to continually lead your viewer or reader up one path, only to dash their expectations.

This creates ongoing intrigue and is cathartic, like telling a satisfying joke.

It’s sticky.

It creates fans.

Develop the habit of asking yourself, ‘What do they expect me to do next, and how can I do it differently?’

This is exactly what I cover in more detail in chapter 27 of my new book, The Never-Retired Writer, which launched recently.

It’s 62 short, actionable chapters on building a writing life that gives you income, freedom, and a body of work that compounds for the rest of your life.

Grab your copy here.

Enjoy!

Alex