Personal Branding for People Who Hate Personal Branding

Let’s be honest. The words “personal branding” can make a lot of people cringe.

It can sound like you need to constantly talk about yourself, post inspirational quotes, share your achievements and somehow turn your LinkedIn profile into a daily bragging campaign.

And if that’s what personal branding meant, I’d hate it too.

But that’s not what I mean when I talk about personal branding.

Your personal brand isn’t about becoming an influencer or making yourself the centre of attention. It’s simply about how people know you and what they remember about you.

You already have a personal brand

Whether you like it or not, you already have one. Think about the people you work with. If I asked them what you’re known for, what would they say?

Maybe you’re the person who always finds a solution when things go wrong. Perhaps you’re great at simplifying complicated ideas. Maybe you’re the person clients trust, the person who brings calm to a stressful situation or the one everyone goes to when they need a particular kind of expertise.

That’s your personal brand.

It’s not a logo. It’s not a colour palette. And it’s certainly not how many followers you have.

It’s the reputation you build through your actions, expertise, communication and relationships.

You don’t have to “sell yourself”

This is probably the biggest misconception about personal branding. You don’t have to constantly tell people how good you are.

I’d much rather see you SHARE something you’ve learned from a project OR TALK about a challenge you’ve solved OR GIVE your perspective on something happening in your industry OR EXPLAIN a common mistake you see clients making OR CELEBRATE a team achievement and SHARE what made it successful.

You’re not saying, “Look how clever I am.”

You’re simply giving people an opportunity to understand how you think and what you know.

And over time, that builds credibility.

Your personality matters too

Personal branding isn’t just about expertise. People also want to know what it’s like to work with you.

You might be knowledgeable, but are you approachable? Curious? Generous with your knowledge? Someone who makes people feel comfortable? Someone who challenges the status quo?

You don’t need to share your entire personal life on LinkedIn to show personality.

Your writing style, the stories you tell, the way you engage with others and the things you choose to talk about can all give people a sense of who you are.

Professional doesn’t have to mean boring.

Lastly - Don’t copy someone else’s personal brand

This is another trap I see quite often.

You find someone on LinkedIn who is doing really well. They have a big following, their posts get lots of engagement and their content looks polished. So you try to do the same.

Your personal brand should reflect your strengths, your expertise, your personality and your audience.

If you’re naturally thoughtful and considered, you don’t need to suddenly become loud and provocative.

If you’re practical, be practical.

If you’re analytical, share the thinking behind your work.

If you’re naturally funny, let some of that personality come through.

The strongest personal brands don’t feel manufactured. They feel like the person.

You don’t need to become someone you’re not.

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The LinkedIn Content Mistakes Smart Professionals Keep Making

Here’s something I see all the time on LinkedIn.

Someone is brilliant at what they do. They have years of experience, know their industry inside out, have worked with great clients and have plenty of valuable insights to share.

And then they post on LinkedIn… and nobody really stops to read it.

Not because the expertise isn’t there. It’s because the content doesn’t make people want to keep reading.

That’s an important distinction. Because being an expert and creating good LinkedIn content are two different skillsets.

Your audience doesn’t want a lecture

One of the biggest mistakes smart professionals make is turning their LinkedIn posts into mini presentations. They start with everything they know about a topic and try to squeeze it all into one post.

There’s lots of information, lots of terminology and lots of points to get through. But the person reading it is thinking: “Why should I care?”

Your audience doesn’t necessarily need everything you know. They need the one thing that is useful, interesting, surprising or relevant to them right now.

Your job isn’t to prove how much you know. It’s to make your knowledge useful to someone else.

Expertise needs a POV (point of view)

There’s a lot of generic advice on LinkedIn. “Communication is important.” “Leadership is about people.” “Customer experience matters.” “Change creates opportunity.”

All true, but none of these statements give me much reason to stop scrolling.

What makes content interesting is your perspective. What have you noticed? What do you disagree with? What have you learned the hard way? What would you do differently now? What’s happening in your industry that people should be paying attention to?

That’s where your expertise becomes content.

Instead of simply telling people what you know, tell them what you think.

Start with the problem, not the solution

Another common mistake is jumping straight into the answer.

For example, “Here are five ways to improve your sales process.” It might be useful, but it doesn’t necessarily give me a reason to stop scrolling.

Try starting with the problem your audience is actually experiencing.

Perhaps your opening is: “Your sales team probably doesn’t need more leads. They need to convert the leads they have.”

Now you’ve created a reason for me to keep reading.

Think about the questions your clients ask you, the problems they keep coming back with and the misconceptions you find yourself correcting. Think about the conversations you’re having in meetings and the things you explain to colleagues over and over again.

Those are content ideas.

Some of your best LinkedIn content is probably already sitting in your inbox, your meeting notes or the conversations you’re having every day.

Stop trying to sound like an expert

This might sound strange, but one of the quickest ways to make your content less engaging is to try too hard to sound clever.

Long sentences, corporate language, industry jargon and words you’d never actually use in a conversation can make even really good insights difficult to read.

You don’t need to sound impressive. You need to sound like you.

Imagine you’re sitting across the table from your ideal client and explaining something to them over a coffee. How would you say it? That’s probably much closer to how you should write it.

People don’t connect with corporate language. They connect with personality and a point of view.

Tell the story behind the expertise

Facts and advice are useful, but stories make them memorable.

Instead of simply saying, “Building strong client relationships is important,” tell me about commercial relationships which have been born out of time and effort invested.

Instead of saying, “Leaders need to communicate clearly during change,” tell me about a time when poor communication created a problem and what you learned from it.

Instead of saying, “You should listen to your customers,” share something a customer said that completely changed your business process.

Your experience is part of your expertise. Don’t leave it out.

One post. One idea.

This is one of my favourite rules for LinkedIn content: one post, one idea.

If you’re trying to cover seven different points, you probably have seven posts. And that’s a good thing.

You don’t need to say everything in one go. If you’ve spent 20 years building expertise, you have plenty to talk about.

Take one insight, make it clear, give it some context and share your perspective. Then let people respond.

Don’t forget the reader

This is probably the biggest shift I’d encourage professionals to make.

Before you publish something, ask yourself: “Is this interesting to me because I know a lot about it, or is it actually useful or interesting to the person reading it?”

There’s a difference.

You might be fascinated by the technical detail, while your audience simply wants to know how it affects them. You might want to explain the entire process, while they only need the three things they should do differently.

You might be proud of how much you know, and you should be. However, your expertise only becomes valuable on LinkedIn when it matters to someone else.

You don’t need to become a content creator

And finally, you don’t need to turn yourself into a full-time LinkedIn creator.

You don’t need to post every day, jump on every trend or make everything into a carousel. You certainly don’t need to become an influencer.

You just need to share what you know in a way that makes people want to listen.

Share the lesson from the project you’ve just finished. Answer a question a client asked you. Talk about something happening in your industry. Share a mistake you’ve made and what it taught you. Give your perspective on a common problem. Start a conversation.

That’s interesting content.

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What Do People Say About You When You’re Not in the Room?

Here’s a question I want you to think about: What do people say about you when you’re not in the room?

Not what you hope they say, what your LinkedIn profile says, or what’s written on your business card.

What do people actually associate with you? Because that’s your personal brand.

Your reputation is your personal brand

Personal branding isn’t just about being visible online. It’s about what people remember about you.

Are you the person who always shares useful insights? The one who gets things done? The person people go to when they need advice? The one who brings great energy into a room? Or perhaps you’re the person people know as really good at what you do.

That reputation doesn’t happen overnight. It’s built through the things you say, the work you do, the way you show up and the relationships you build.

And yes, LinkedIn is part of that. But it’s not the whole story.

Your LinkedIn profile should support your reputation

Your profile shouldn’t just be a list of job titles and achievements. It should reinforce what you want to be known for.

If you want to be known as an expert, does your content demonstrate your expertise?

If you want to be known as someone who understands your industry, are you joining the conversations?

If you want to be known as approachable and knowledgeable, does your profile actually feel like you?

Your online presence should match the experience people have when they meet you offline.

Consistency builds credibility.

Visibility is only the beginning

You can post every week, grow your connections and have a beautifully optimised profile. But visibility on its own isn’t enough.

The real question is: What are people seeing when they see you?

Are you adding value? Sharing your perspective? Starting conversations? Helping people? Showing what you know?

Because the goal of personal branding isn’t simply to get noticed. It’s to be remembered for the right reasons.

Sometimes you need an outside perspective

This is exactly where my 1:1 LinkedIn coaching can help.

Often the challenge isn’t that someone doesn’t have the experience, expertise or credibility. They absolutely do. The challenge is translating all of that into a LinkedIn presence that clearly reflects who they are, what they know and what they want to be known for.

In a 1:1 session, we work through your positioning, your profile, the people you want to connect with, the conversations you should be part of and the topics you can genuinely own. It’s practical, personalised and designed to give you clarity and confidence around how to show up on LinkedIn in a way that actually feels like you.

Because when your LinkedIn presence properly reflects the reputation you’ve worked hard to build, it becomes a much more powerful professional asset.

So, what do you want to be known for?

This is a great place to start.

Finish this sentence: “I want people to think of me when they need someone who…”

What comes after that?

That’s your starting point.

Then make sure the way you show up, online and offline, consistently reinforces it.

Because your personal brand isn’t something you create once and put on LinkedIn. It’s the reputation you build every day.

And ultimately, your strongest personal brand is the one people talk about when you’re not in the room. ❤️

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Your People Are One of Your Best Marketing Channels

I see businesses overlook this all the time. One of your biggest and best marketing channels is sitting inside your business.

Your people.

Your employees are on LinkedIn. They have networks, industry connections and relationships that your company page simply can’t replicate.

LinkedIn has reported that, collectively, employees’ networks are around 10 times larger than their company’s follower base. That represents a huge opportunity for businesses to extend their reach beyond the people already following the company page.

And then there’s trust.

According to the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, 63% of people trust brand employees to provide accurate information about a brand - compared with 58% who trust the brand’s CEO.

Which reinforces something I’ve believed for a long time:

People trust people.

However, this is where businesses often get employee advocacy wrong.

Sending your team a message saying, “Please like, comment and share our latest post” isn’t really employee advocacy. 😅

That’s homework.

Give them something worth sharing

If you want your employees talking about your business on LinkedIn, give them things they genuinely want to talk about.

Think:

• Projects they’re proud of

• Lessons they’ve learned

• Team achievements, milestones and product launches

• Industry insights and observations

• Behind-the-scenes moments

• Client or customer outcomes

• Stories about the work they’re doing and the people they’re doing it with

And importantly… don’t give them a script.

Give them the key message, the information or perhaps a few talking points  -and then let them put it into their own words.

Because it’s their perspective that makes the story interesting. It’s also what makes it believable.

The hot tip? It’s not just about reposting

Employee advocacy doesn’t mean everyone needs to repost every company update.

In fact, I’d much rather see an employee write a thoughtful comment on a company post than simply hit “repost” without adding anything.

Advocacy might be someone sharing an industry insight and adding their perspective.

Celebrating a colleague.

Talking about a project they’ve worked on.

Sharing something they learned from a client conversation.

Or celebrating their own career milestone.

The goal isn’t to get more people pressing repost.

The goal is to get more of your people genuinely active on LinkedIn - building their own visibility, showcasing their expertise, growing their networks and, naturally, talking about the business they are part of.

That’s a very different thing.

Start with the willing

And don’t think you need your entire workforce posting on LinkedIn from Day 1. Start with the willing.

Find the people who are already interested, somewhat active on LinkedIn, proud of what they do and open to learning.

Help them build their confidence.

Show them what good LinkedIn activity actually looks like.

And most importantly, help them understand what’s in it for them.

Because this shouldn’t just be about increasing the company’s reach.

Being more visible on LinkedIn can help your employees build their professional reputation, showcase their expertise, grow valuable industry relationships and create new opportunities throughout their careers.

When they understand that, advocacy becomes far more natural.

A Brand Ambassador Program can be a brilliant kick-starter

If you’re wondering how to turn all of this into something practical, a Brand Ambassador Program is a great place to start.

Rather than trying to activate an entire business at once, choose a smaller group of willing employees and give them the training, tools and confidence to use LinkedIn well.

Help them optimise their profiles. Show them how to grow the right networks. Give them ideas around what they can talk about. Teach them how to engage thoughtfully. And then provide some ongoing follow-up and accountability so it doesn’t all disappear two weeks after the training.

Once that first group starts showing up consistently, something interesting happens.

Other people in the business start noticing.

They see their colleagues building their profiles, sharing interesting ideas, having conversations and becoming more visible in their industry.

That’s when employee advocacy can start to build its own momentum.

Finally… let your people tell the story

Your company page absolutely has an important role to play.

It tells people what your organisation does. It shares company news, achievements, announcements and expertise. And it provides an important source of credibility for anyone researching your business.

But there’s another layer to your brand story that a company page simply can’t tell in quite the same way.

The human story.

• The culture.

• The people.

• The challenges.

• The projects.

• The lessons learned along the way.

• The impact your work is having.

These are the stories your employees can bring to life.

And when your people talk about those experiences in their own words, your target audience gets to see the business through the eyes of the people who actually work there.

That’s powerful.

So instead of asking your employees to simply share more company content, give them the confidence, tools and freedom to tell your story in their own way.

When you empower your people to become visible, you’re not just extending the reach of your company page. You’re building a much bigger network of trusted voices around your brand. ❤️

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When AI Makes Everyone Sound the Same

AI has made content creation faster, easier and more accessible than ever. You can generate ideas in seconds, turn rough thoughts into a structured article, and polish a post until it reads well.

That is useful. There is no question about that.

But there is also a growing risk that we need to talk about: a lot of content is starting to sound the same. Not bad. Not wrong. Just the same.

You can see it clearly on LinkedIn. A post might be neatly written, logically structured and perfectly acceptable, but somehow it feels like you have read it before. The same opening hooks. The same rhythm. The same tidy takeaways. The same “here are three things I learnt” format.

There is nothing necessarily wrong with this type of content, but there is often very little to remember. And that is where the opportunity sits.
The professionals who build strong, trusted and memorable LinkedIn presences are not simply sharing information. They are sharing perspective. They are helping people understand how they think, what they have noticed, what they have learnt, and why it matters.

That perspective is usually shaped by experience. It comes from client conversations, leadership decisions, mistakes, patterns, observations, and moments where judgement has been required. It is the context behind the idea that makes the content valuable.

AI can help bring that thinking to life, but it cannot replace the thinking itself.

Used well, AI can be a brilliant support tool. It can help organise your ideas, sharpen your message, improve structure, simplify language and even challenge your assumptions. But the real value still needs to come from you.

Your opinion. Your experience. Your reasoning. Your voice.

This is where many professionals are getting caught. In the effort to be more efficient, they are removing the very thing that makes their content interesting: the nuance. The context. The personal judgement. The real-world experience behind the point they are trying to make.

The answer is not necessarily to create more content. It is to take more ownership of your thinking.

That might mean explaining why you made a decision, not just what the decision was. It might mean sharing what did not work, rather than only presenting the polished outcome. It might mean adding context to a topic that others have oversimplified. It might mean having a clear point of view, even if it is a considered and measured one.

Standing out on LinkedIn is not about being louder. It is about being clearer.

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