First impressions are just as important online as they are offline. When meeting someone in the physical world, they can gauge how they feel about you in a matter of seconds. In the digital world, it’s even less.

As entrepreneurs, we’ve all asked ourselves the question, “Am I good enough?” But it could be this very question that is standing in the way of better clients, a larger audience, and an unforgettable brand experience for your clients and customers. 

Do you ever get that nagging feeling after you’ve posted something perhaps *a little* too honest on social media? Do you ever second-guess yourself on Instagram Stories; so much so, that you replay the video over and over again until you’ve watched yourself so many times that you can’t take it anymore? Does your Instagram bio change by the week? (Summarizing everything that you are in 150 characters is damn hard).

While building a personal brand is a lot of work, it doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, it can be the cheapest way to start a business. All things considered, there is very little overhead. You can build your personal brand in between meetings, after work, on the weekends, don’t overcomplicate this. It can be very easy. The biggest investment you will make in your personal brand is time. And this a resource that most people have and can willingly give.

You know you should be posting to Instagram. You know that you should be recording yourself on video, posting photos, and writing captions. You know that your competitors are already out there; building brand, closing deals and rising to the top. If you don’t level up on social media soon, you’ll be missing out on one of the massive opportunities of our era. Your brand is worth it. I don’t have to tell you this, because you already know it. So what’s the problem?

As I look back at 2019 in reflection, I can see that building my personal brand has been of the most transformational experiences of my life.

So you're building your personal brand... How many social media platforms should you be on? All of them? Some of them? Your favorite one? Here's my recommendation in today's blog post. It may not be what you think...

I looked at everyone else around me and wondered, “Have I done something wrong?”

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably know me better than some of my family members. Seriously, there’s not much I won’t share. Everything from the last Bumble date I went on, to what I think about Instagram removing likes, to what I’m wearing to dinner this Friday night--is all out there for people to see.

I walked up to the reception desk and asked to speak to the nurse who had been helping me. As she came around the corner, I caught her attention. “I’m so sorry,” I said, “I think I’ve made a mistake here.”

After working from home these last few years, I’ve finally found what works best for me. These tips are tried and true: I hope they help you as they’ve helped me.

This year, I’ve completed helped Authors, Executives, Influencers, CEOs, Coaches, and Entrepreneurs build their personal brand using Instagram—and these are the 4 things I tell them they absolutely 💯need to succeed on this app:

While some people had already built successful businesses and raised millions of dollars, some had nearly just begun. What all of these people had in common was their innerving desire to create change, solve problems, and serve their communities. 

Passion isn’t passive, it’s active.

If you’re just starting to think about what having a personal brand might look like for you, you’re not alone. These are the 4 things you must identify before you start building your personal brand:

When you’re trying to keep a full pipeline of clients, serve the clients you already have, and also squeeze in time for half of a social life and an ounce of self-care, it can be difficult to justify spending precious time on content creation (especially when it’s for your personal brand).

In 2016 I thought I knew what my dream life was going to look like, and now it is so much better than I ever could have imagined.

A personal website (along with a personal marketing plan) allowed me to mold the perception that my colleagues and superiors had of me. It gave me the clarity, credibility, and recognition I needed to succeed as a young professional. Now, I’ve become the #1 personal brand strategist on Google, and I get to work at my absolute dream job (the very job and title I’ve created for myself).

You’ll enjoy this podcast if you’re a self-starter, if you’re unsatisfied with the status quo, if you long to go your own way, and share your personal journey with the world.

Today, I’m laying out 5 of the most common mistakes I see people making on Instagram, and exactly how you can avoid them.

You shared. Now, what do you typically do next? I’m guessing you sit on your phone and re-watch your story 5x before you can do anything else, right? And when you do finally get up and walk away, you come back an hour later to do this all over again.