Why Solopreneurs Need A Personal Brand (And How To Get Started).
The Beginning
It was 5:58 PM.
I had just gotten off work at 5:30, and I was sitting in my car, eagerly waiting for my phone to ring.
Little did I know, I was waiting for a conversation that would change my life.
Two days earlier I had a DM conversation with a business coach I was following on Instagram.
In the midst of our conversation, I told him I had a business idea.
He wanted to hear more about it, so he asked to get on a call with me.
It was my first time starting a business, and I was eager to learn from people who were already successful at it; so naturally I agreed.
Nervously shaking my knee up and down, I was in my car waiting for the clock to strike 6.
I remember that day like it was yesterday.
It was pouring rain outside, and I’m pretty sure I was the only car parked in the parking lot.
Finally, it rang.
“Hello.”
“Hey, is this Danny?”
“Yes it is,” I said.
I had been following him for years, and was a fan of his work.
His content inspired me to start my own online business and break away from my 9-5.
The thing was, I had no idea how.
So I started telling him about myself, and the business idea I had.
I told him it was “a writing business”.
He was like, “Okay. What kind of writing?”
I said copywriting.
For a moment he didn’t say anything.
And for another moment, I was confused.
Finally, he said, “Dude, you want to be a copywriter?”
I said, “Yeah, I’m thinking about it.”
I didn’t really know what copywriting was at the time, but he said to me,
“Okay, the trajectory of this call just took a turn for the better. I’ll be honest, I had my doubts when you said writing business. But now that I know it’s copywriting, I think you have a brilliant business idea.”
“Why is that?” I said.
He said, “Danny, copywriting is everywhere! Almost everything you see on the internet is copywriting. And business owners need writers like you to write it.”
You can imagine how excited I was when he said this.
At that point in my life I hated my job, and was willing to do anything to quit.
So to hear I had a good business idea, from a successful entrepreneur, gave me a lot of hope.
But I still didn’t know enough about copywriting.
So later that night I did tons of research on it.
I researched it before, but I really didn’t know what it was.
So I buckled down, did my research, and was determined to find out why I supposedly had a brilliant business idea.
In the midst of my research, I came across a YouTube video.
It was really an interview between two copywriters: Michael Fortin and Gary Halbert.
For those of you who don’t know them, they are BRILLIANT copywriters.
Think of Gary Halbert as the Tom Brady of copywriting.
He’s the G.O.A.T (greatest of all time).
The video is called:
Michael Fortin interviews Gary Halbert - part 1
If you’ve never seen it, I recommend listening to all four parts.
You will learn about copywriting and business principles you can apply to your business.
By the way, don’t think you don’t need to learn copywriting.
I have a fun fact to share with you…
No one will ever love your business more than you.
Therefore, no one will sell your products and services as passionately as you.
You may think you can hand off your copywriting tasks to a freelancer or ChatGPT.
And that can be true, but you still need to learn copywriting.
Freelancers who actually know how to write copy will always be a valuable asset to your business.
But you won’t know the difference between quality work and mediocre copy unless you learn it yourself.
Copywriting is sales, and your business needs sales.
So prioritize copywriting.
It’s the oxygen your business needs to breathe.
That video is exactly 1 hour and 3 minutes long, and I listened to it from beginning to end.
After that, I knew what copywriting was.
And I realized why my soon-to-be business mentor thought I had a brilliant business idea.
Needless to say, I was IN.
One credit card purchase later, I had my first business mentor, and began my freelance copywriting career.
We worked together for about 6 months.
And he opened my eyes to what freelancing is like:
Cold outreach, virtual selling, writing copy for myself and clients.
He answered tons of my questions, and helped me land clients.
Thanks to him, my freelance journey looked like this:
Content creation
Look for potential clients on Instagram
Send 50 DMs a week
Get on sales calls
Close 2-3 clients a month
Do client work
Rinse. Recycle. Repeat.
And I was doing this while working a full-time job.
Sounds like a success story, right?
I discovered copywriting (a lucrative skill).
And thanks to my business mentor, I had a way to get clients.
Now I can quit my job and freelance full time.
I’d love to tell you that was the case, but it wasn’t.
The reality was, I was burnt out.
But Danny, why didn’t you just quit your job and freelance full-time? You would’ve avoided burning yourself out.
I could’ve done that. But my intuition was telling me not to.
The truth was, I didn’t want to run my business that way.
I didn’t want to constantly chase clients, hoping I’d have enough money to pay my bills next month.
I needed a smarter way to work.
So I spoke to my mentor.
I told him everything:
That I was burnt out.
I didn’t feel safe leaving my job.
I wasn’t enjoying my work anymore.
I thought I wasn’t cut out for solopreneurship.
I didn’t have the work ethic.
I didn’t have enough passion for what I was doing.
I didn’t know what it was.
All I knew was I wasn’t happy.
“Danny, it’s none of those things,” he said. “If I was in your position I’d be feeling that way too.”
“So what do I do?”
“You need to change your approach.”
“What do you mean? I’m doing everything you said. I’m reaching out, getting clients, making money, but I’m miserable.”
“Yeah, you took the freelance approach and you’ve done great. You know how to find clients and make money for yourself. You don’t need to rely on anyone for money. You know how to go out there and get it when you need to. But if you want a more sustainable approach to building a business, you need to be more proactive in one key area. It’s going to take time, but it’ll be worth it.”
“What is that?”
“You need to build a personal brand.”
Personal Branding
I was blind but now I see.
Personal branding.
I had never heard of it before.
But my mentor was adamant about it.
“This is why content creation is so important,” he said. “You need to grow and attract. Create an online presence, build a following, then getting clients will be WAY EASIER.”
It was so obvious!
How did I not realize it before?
After all, personal branding was how I found my mentor.
Suddenly there was hope.
I didn’t need to settle for a job I knew deep down inside I didn’t want.
I knew I had the right work ethic.
I knew I had a passion for writing.
I just needed to change my approach.
I needed to build a brand around something I was passionate about and had experience in.
So I began.
How It Works
For you solopreneurs out there who don’t know what personal branding is, here’s how it works:
1. Find a platform you enjoy.
There are two types of platforms: video-based platforms and text-based platforms.
Do you want to show off that pretty little face of yours?
Or do you prefer to write?
An important factor that can help you decide is knowing where your audience hangs out.
Lots of fitness trainers and dating coaches hang out on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube.
Writers, marketers, and finance professionals are on text-based platforms like LinkedIn.
It all starts with your audience.
Find out where they are, go to their platform, and introduce yourself with your content.
If you’re not sure how to do this, go to ChatGPT and type this in:
I want to create content for [niche]. I prefer [text-based/video based] platforms. Which social media platforms am I most likely to find [niche] so I can create content for them?
See what ChatGPT gives you and take it from there.
2. Post content.
Post content about something you have experience in or are passionate about.
Keep in mind, quality trumps quantity.
3 quality posts a week is better than 7 posts that offer no value.
A common problem beginners face is knowing what to talk about.
Like I said, you can talk about something you’re passionate about or have personal experience in.
Whatever you start with doesn’t mean you have to stick with it. But keep it relatively the same.
Don’t start posting content about keto diets then transition to personal finance.
A confused audience is a lost audience.
It starts with you. Find something you want to talk about and share your insights with the world.
As you grow an audience you’ll see which content people engage with and which content they ignore.
Stick with the content that gets the most engagement.
Here’s a tip to get started.
Go to ChatGPT and type in:
I want to help [niche] reach [desired outcome]. Give me 10 content ideas I can share on social media.
See what it gives you and take it from there.
3. Create a FREE offer.
Create a free offer around your content that solves your ideal client’s pain points.
Then… give it away for FREE.
This can be an ebook, template, webinar, course, etc…
If you want to know the best kind of offer to create for your audience there are two ways to figure this out:
1. Listen to your audience. Post content on social media and stick with it for at least two months. See which content gets the most engagement and create a free offer around that kind of content.
Or…
You can go to ChatGPT and type this in:
I’m [type in what you do]. My plan is to [type in the kind of high-ticket service you want to offer]. I want to create a lead magnet that gives them a complete solution to [type in a desired outcome your audience wants to achieve]. This lead magnet should provide value and make them want to hire me and/or buy my digital products. Give me 10 potential lead magnet ideas.
See what it gives you and take it from there.
Once your free offer is done, let your audience know.
Post a link to your homepage and each social media post.
Guide followers to your opt-in page and have them exchange their email address for your free offer.
4. Start an email list.
Consistent content creation and your free offer will get subscribers onto your email list.
It won’t grow to hundreds or thousands of subscribers overnight.
But stay consistent for 6 months to a year and it will happen.
Lots of solopreneurs focus solely on growing a social media following.
But this is risky business.
Algorithms change and that makes it harder for you to reach your target audience.
Also, one false move on social media can cause the platform to ban you.
If you want to grow a following, create a community that trusts you, and buys your products and services, then you have to start an email list.
An email list is the ideal platform to convert a rented audience to an owned audience.
When you have at least 500-1000 subscribers on your email list, you create an immense opportunity to make 10k a month in passive income.
It comes down to effectively selling to your email list.
I’ll talk more about this in another post.
But this is the starting point to building a successful personal brand.
It’s not easy, but simple.
Don’t Wait
It doesn’t take years of skill and experience to get your email list working for you.
But it requires a level of determination to make it work.
I’m writing this article to help you avoid the mistakes I made.
And that is, don’t hold off on building a personal brand.
There are solopreneurs out there starting their entrepreneurial journey.
Most of them think owning a business will give them the freedom and money they’re looking for.
I certainly thought that.
And that CAN be the case, but it will never happen if you choose to work harder instead of smarter.
Not building a personal brand to market yourself is going to require more effort on your part to get clients.
And marketing yourself via social media is only the beginning.
Keep in mind, you don’t own your audience on social media.
You don’t own it on google either.
So if blogging once a week is one of your ways to market yourself, that’s great.
But don’t let social media or SEO be the end all be all to your marketing efforts.
You need to start an email list.
Why? Because you OWN your email list.
When you convert social media followers and blog readers to email list subscribers, you now have an owned audience.
And an owned audience allows you to convert them to a monetized audience.
And a monetized audience allows you to make more money while working less.
With the right marketing plan in place, your email list can become your biggest asset.
Allowing you to live the solopreneurship dream.
You can focus most of your time creating content so you can give to your audience.
In return, your business makes money for you while you eat, sleep, spend time with family, travel, etc…
It’s the smarter way to run your business.
But it starts with building a personal brand FIRST.
This is how you avoid burnout.
Don’t make the mistake of constantly being on the chase for clients.
Don’t get me wrong, being able to find clients is important.
Having the ability to sell is important.
But solely relying on this method will cause burnout and your business will no longer be enjoyable.
Build a following, get them on your email list, and become a master at selling your products and services that way.
You will work less and get paid more.
More importantly, you’ll be happier.
