Why I'm Building A Personal Brand

Author

Josh Lawrence
May 07, 2023

I always cringed at the idea of a personal brand…

…but now I’m building my own.

(My story)

London

3 months ago I was living in London, earning decent money online working in Web3.

Life was good.

I’d been working remotely for the last year so I’d experienced relative autonomy and freedom, but I was still at the mercy of employers to receive paychecks.

This was beginning to frustrate me, and I knew that my income was capped by being an employee.

It was around this time that I came across Dan Koe’s content, and honestly...

...I was floored.

His message just resonated with me.

As well as his philosophy on solopreneurship.

After just one of his videos, my whole perspective on online business changed drastically.

That bastard made me realize that I HAD to start building online.

But in order to do that, I would have to go into a spell of deep focus.

And that simply wouldn’t have been possible in London.

So in mid-January, I booked a flight, packed my bags, and left for Mexico.

Mexico

When I arrived in Mexico, I was still afraid to jump right into building a personal brand.

I’m a private person by nature, and the thought of sharing my ideas with the world just didn’t sit well with me, so I decided to start a service-based business instead.

The business was called Scribely, a localization agency that helps content creators tap into foreign markets via dubbing and social media management services.

And after a month of a pseudo “monk mode” I managed to land my first client…

… only to realize that I wasn’t going to be able to deliver the service.

Why?

The business model was too expensive, and I didn’t take into account that trying to do business in foreign languages would be difficult.

Go figure.

This is when I said to myself… fuck it.

It’s time to start a personal brand.

Here’s why I’m going all in and why you should too:

A personal brand is your public resume.

You NEED one to succeed online.

Why?

Well, without a personal brand, you essentially…

… don’t exist.

How could I succeed if no one knew I existed?

I couldn’t.

Think about it for a second.

In the digital world, no one is reading your CV, and no one cares about your degree.

But if you can successfully build a personal brand, the amount of leverage and opportunities you can gain is INSANE.

If you want to find clients or customers, doesn’t it make sense to have a public platform where you can show off your skills, knowledge, and ideas?

Even if you don’t want to start your own business, having a strong personal brand will open up doors for jobs that you would never imagine.

Not to mention the skills you gain along the way.

But I think the scariest part is…

You’re building someone else’s future if you aren’t building your own.

This actually gives me the shits.

To succeed online, you HAVE to be building for yourself.

And if not?

You risk being commoditized.

You risk being phased out.

You risk being replaced.

I don’t know about you…

…but fuck that.

Why should I be a cog in the machine?

Why should I be someone’s passive income?

I shouldn’t. You shouldn’t. No-one should

The moment I realized this, my whole mindset shifted.

I knew I had to start building for myself before it was too late.

And as they say, the best time to start was 10 years ago, the second best time is today.

Dan also made me realize that…

Life is a video game

If you treat it like one, you win.

If you don't, you risk becoming an NPC.

Here's the path of an NPC:

  • School

  • 9-5 job

  • Retire at 65

There's nothing inherently wrong with this.

If this is the path you want to take, then take it.

But personally, I couldn’t think of anything worse.

It’s cliche, but we only get one shot at this life thing, and the last thing I’d want is to be on my deathbed having regrets.

So, what's the solution?

Productize yourself.

This is something that everyone should take the time to research and think about.

As Dan Koe says, "You have a $100,000 product in your head"

But what does he mean by this?

  1. Identify a problem in your life

  2. Make a transformation

  3. Document the journey

  4. Build an audience

  5. Sell the solution

Here’s an example:

You’re overweight, so you decide to start hitting the gym to lose weight and improve your health.

You start posting about your progress, as well as the things you’re learning along the way on Twitter.

And because you’re posting valuable content, people that are looking to lose weight follow you.

This audience sees you as an authority and thought leader in the space, which gives you the ability to package your knowledge, processes, and techniques into a course or other digital products.

Boom. You’ve productized yourself.

This can be applied to anything, here are a few examples:

  • Music Production

  • Videography

  • Web Development

  • Graphic Design

  • Health and Fitness

  • Personal Branding

  • Content Creation

  • Wealth Building

  • Writing

  • Marketing

  • Sales

  • Community Building

The list could quite literally go on, and on, and on, but I think you get the point.

Everyone has something that they excel at.

And people will pay you money to acquire your knowledge and skills.

It just comes down to building an audience, establishing authority, and providing value.

If you can do this. You can productize yourself.

If you’re starting on your own journey of self-improvement, personal branding, and online business, consider joining WndrLink, the Discord community I’ve created for likeminded individuals that want to:

  • Self improve

  • Grow on Twitter

  • Build our network

  • Have daily support

  • Be held accountable

  • Make a bunch of money