Everybody has a personal brand.
The question is, who knows it exists?
Are you building it deliberately in a way that gets you what you want? Or are you building it randomly and hoping for the best?
I want to show you what a personal brand that actually sells looks like. Because there’s a lot of advice out there that sounds good but doesn’t work for people in the real world.
Watch the webinar below or continue reading for the summary.
The Problem With Most Personal Branding Advice
Let me show you what I mean.
I saw a post recently where someone was flexing their results. 155,000 impressions. 640 likes. 801 comments. 10 reposts. And from all of that, they got two clients.
Two clients.
They were using this as a success story. But think about it. The average LinkedIn user doesn’t get anywhere near 155,000 impressions. So this person is recommending a strategy that most people can never achieve.
And even if you could achieve it, that’s a 0.001% conversion rate. That’s not a personal brand that sells. That’s a personal brand that barely converts.
This is the creator model. Get as much attention, visibility, engagement, and followers as possible and hope it converts. It might make you famous, but it’s not going to make you money. And you’re reliant on huge numbers just to get a handful of clients.
So let’s talk about what actually works.
The Five Things You Need
If you want a personal brand that sells, you need five things in place.
1. Clarity Of Offer And Audience
This is the foundation. Without it, everything else falls apart.
There’s a concept in psychology called the mere exposure effect. The more people see you, the more familiar you become, the more they trust you. That’s the foundation of personal branding.
But for that to work, you need a consistent message and a consistent offer. On average, someone needs to see you about 11 times before it sticks. That’s content, profile views, all of it building up a picture.
If you’re not clear who you’re talking to, that will come out in your brand. If you’ve got too many things in your head, that will come out too. Your name might become familiar, but people won’t remember why. Fame without fortune.
If you’re unclear, your message will be unclear. And unclear messages don’t convert.
A good personal brand should also repel. It should repel people who can’t afford you. It should repel people who are the wrong fit. It should help the right people understand exactly what they can buy from you.
Simplify what you do. Make it easy for people to understand. That’s clarity.
2. A Profile That Pre-Sells
Your profile is the first thing people see. Every time you do anything on LinkedIn, people check you out.
Is your profile pre-selling? Is it educating? Is it capturing leads? Or have you just thrown it together?
Your profile should show what you do and who you do it for. It should explain the problem you solve and show proof you can deliver. It should make it easy for people to take the next step.
My profile brings me leads all the time. People check it out and it does the work for me. It’s sat there 24/7 getting traffic. You want that traffic to leave knowing the value you can bring.
3. Social Proof
Social proof is evidence that you’re not full of shit.
The internet is full of BS. People have been scammed. Trust is almost non-existent. You have to earn it.
Social proof is other people telling the LinkedIn world that you’re legit. That you’ve got results for them. People will believe your clients more than they’ll believe you.
You can put testimonials in your recommendations. You can have a Trustpilot. You can share case studies. But you want as much evidence out there as possible.
One of the ways I do this is with what I call a wow post. It’s a story of a client’s journey. Problem, what they tried, how I helped, transformation. It’s all about the client, not about me.
When you try and sell, let the client’s story do the selling. You don’t need to tell people how good you are. Let the client’s journey be the selling piece.
People are smart enough to read between the lines. If they see someone like them getting results, they’ll think maybe you can help them too.
4. A Content Rhythm That Builds Trust
Content isn’t the most reliable way to get leads. But it can build trust and set up conversations.
The problem is most people create content with no purpose. They post randomly. They’re not building to anything.
I break content into three types:
- Attract content is about visibility and engagement. It’s lighter, broader, not salesy. It helps people get to know you. Think of it like the small talk you’d have when you first meet a prospect. Easy to engage with, no sales pressure.
- Nurture content is about being useful to your ideal client. What are their day-to-day struggles related to what you do? Share little things that help them. No sales agenda. Just building trust and showing you’re valuable in their world.
- Convert content is about driving action. This is where you agitate problems and create curiosity gaps. A curiosity gap is when someone sees a problem or outcome and has to take a step to get more information. That’s when they download your guide, DM you, or book a call.
The balance matters. If you convert too aggressively, your visibility suffers. If you attract too much, your conversion suffers.
The sweet spot is roughly 20% attract, 40% nurture, 40% convert. You can adjust based on how much you post, but keep that balance in mind.
The reason that post with 155,000 impressions only got two clients is because the content was catering to a mass audience, not speaking to the real challenges of actual buyers.
If you build an audience of non-buyers, you’ve got a brand that doesn’t convert. They love your stuff but they’re not going to buy. And eventually, you’ll resent them for it. But that’s not their fault. You built that audience.
5. Conversations That Create Pipeline
Your personal brand should be bringing you conversations. That’s the ultimate measure. How many conversations is it creating per week?
Content is nice. Inbound leads from content are brilliant because they’re easier to convert. But you have no idea when they’re coming. You can’t build a pipeline on hope.
You need a system. A system gives you predictability. Something you do over and over that brings you a flow of conversations.
No pipeline means up and down months. No pipeline means scrambling when things go quiet. Pipeline means you’ve got more opportunity in front of you than you need right now.
Posts don’t close deals. Conversations do. You need a mechanism to create predictable conversations.
I do these LinkedIn Lives every week. I give value, explain what I do, and know that some people will message me afterwards wanting to chat. That’s my system. It creates flow.
Your system might be different. But you need one.
The Backend Matters Too
Here’s something people miss. Even if you’re good at getting leads on LinkedIn, you might be messing up the backend.
You get the lead. Then you need to get them on a call. Then you need to run that call well. Then you need to keep the momentum until it closes.
When someone comes off a call with you, they go back to their day. The memory of your conversation fades. The interest level drops. Other stuff comes up.
So it’s not just about chasing them with “just following up” messages. It’s about reminding them of what they want to achieve and keeping the momentum going.
A sales call isn’t about thrusting your stuff on someone. It’s about understanding them, recommending solutions, then asking permission to show them how you can help. Very simple.
If you run that middle bit right, proposals happen naturally.
The Real Measure Of Success
Here’s what matters.
You don’t need 155,000 impressions to get clients. Some of my clients are doing 20-30% meeting booking rates because their message resonates. When they get a call booked, they convert two or three out of five. Some are converting 70-80%.
That’s what a personal brand that sells looks like. High resonance. High conversion. Not reliant on massive numbers.
So here’s your checklist:
- Clarity of offer and audience
- A profile that pre-sells
- Social proof that builds trust
- A content rhythm that attracts, nurtures, and converts
- A system that creates conversations and pipeline
Without these five things, you’re just making noise.
And I’ll leave you with this. That post with 155,000 impressions and two clients? That’s not something to aim for. That’s a warning sign.
You don’t need to become a full-time content creator spending hours engaging just to scrape a few clients. That model isn’t built for people in the real world with businesses to run and clients to look after.
Build a personal brand that actually sells.