The perils of building a personal brand

I’m all over the place.

Unstructured.

Unorganised.

Unplanned.

Shooting from the hip and not planning these newsletters properly.

Also, I feel like Newsletter is not an appropriate word for this, it feels very “official” like an organisation that needs to provide updates.

I guess that’s what I’m doing, but I want a more “personal” feel. I’m building a Personal Brand after all.

I'm rebranding this newsletter to 'Jono's Journal' for a more personal touch.

Anyway, the last few sentences are a perfect example of how my brain works. 

I get easily distracted by thoughts and jump on tangents and my Journals, from my perspective, have felt like they have each had their own tangents.

There’s no underlying theme or direction.

So, after my recent holiday to Australia and taking a break from building on X and daily writing, I created enough head space to think clearly and come to this realisation.

Self-Awareness is Key

Therein lies one of many perils of building a personal brand. 

Awareness of your problems.

You need to know your blindspots.

Building a personal brand is a self development journey, your business is a reflection of you.

The healthier you are, the healthier your brand is.

When you start to build a brand, you start to see the blindspots, therefore it’s kinda like seeing the blindspots in yourself. 

So, my Journals are getting my full attention again.

I've built a system to make them consistent, be authentic af and stay true to my goals.

Embrace the Uncertainty

There is no path.

The personal brand journey is vague af.

There’s no clear steps

There’s no shortcut to the destination

Hell, there’s no destination

Personal branding is a journey.

You’re an explorer, think Christopher Columbus, sailing into unknown seas and discovering America.

He didn’t know what the end goal looked like, he didn’t know he’d discover America and lead the European settlement of “The New World”.

That’s personal branding, it’s a journey, you just gotta keep sailing forward, discover things along the way and chart your course

➳ Learn

➳ Grow

➳ Iterate 

➳ Document

That’s as simple and as clear this journey is gonna get.

You’re Not Alone

Fortunately you’re not alone, there are hundreds of others on this journey with a similar goal:

Freedom.

Freedom to work

➳ How you want

➳ When you want

➳ Where you want

And they’re all sharing their processes, they’re documenting their journey, they are selling valuable resources which are their solutions to the problems they’ve faced.

Some of the creators I follow:

➳ Dan Koe

➳ Harry Beadle

➳ Dakota Robertson

They all have various products and resources they’ve shared along their journey to get to where they are

This does introduce a new problem though.

Everyone has their own opinion and there’s a lot of conflicting information.

Dan Koe says “You are the niche”

Harry Beadle says “Niche down”

Dakota Robertson says “Choose a niche in the beginning then branch out”

This has led me in circles. 

I take one creator's advice and start heading in one direction then I am faced with conflicting info from another, leading me in a completely different direction.

Imagine Christopher Columbus bumping into other sailors being told which direction to sail.

What I’ve learned is to follow ONE creator you want to be like, absorb their knowledge, purchase their courses, subscribe to their emails and learn everything they’re doing.

Stay true to what you want from a Personal Brand and remember why you started in the first place.

Focus and consistency

With enough information you gather momentum and you form your own pathway of the Personal Branding journey.

Your internal compass becomes calibrated.

You start to sail in one direction and over time you will see new land (results).

However, distractions will pop up.

New creators will give you a new map (product) to follow, which will lead you to sail away from the direction you’re heading.

This is counterproductive to building because you've already consumed enough info to start building something, consuming new info will only miss calibrate your internal compass.

Trust that you have enough information to build.

Keep a daily journal and review the things you have learned, every day.

99% of us already have enough info to get started, however we believe we need to keep consuming more inf

Don’t.

It’s a trap.

Just keep building,

Head in the direction you feel or think.

Once you hit a wall or are stuck, then research how to get unstuck.

Document how you got unstuck, and now you’ve got a product you can sell or give away.

There are 1000s of other people out there like you, who want your knowledge. Leverage it.

This journey is awesome

I’ve highlighted some perils

But instead the message is to encourage.

I love where I’m going.

I love writing.

I love that I’m writing to you.

I love that I can share this information.

It’s rewarding, I feel accomplished, fulfilled and I have a purpose.

I’m building an awesome tribe and building digital products.

Upcoming E-Book: "The Subtle Art of Standing the F*ck Out"

I’m excited to announce my upcoming e-book, which will delve into the challenges I’ve faced and provide actionable steps to help you find your unique brand and start your content creation journey. 

If you want early access, reply to this email, and I’ll send it to you.

Remember, you are an explorer, discovering new land and uncovering deeper insight into yourself, don’t be led astray by others, follow your inner compass.

Thank you for your attention, I appreciate you.

Much love,

Jono