People online are selfish, so lead with what they get

The hardest part of building a personal brand is getting started. Getting traction. At the beginning, founders want to tell their story and assume people care straight away.

People online are selfish. They want other people’s stories for their own benefit.

Sam Stoffel had just sold a business, and generic business advice is so oversaturated that it is almost impossible to cut through. So we worked out what made Sam stand out. His moat: he had used his face for over a decade as the face of his business, telling his story to make money online. That became the way to break through.

Then what?

It becomes a format game. I start by overwhelming the algorithm, advice from Michael Lim, who led media and content for Alex Hormozi. Systems, processes and a team posting three pieces a day in regular formats, to get traction before we work out what the hero pieces look like.

And founders have ego. Part of the job is making them understand that nobody cares about them as much as they do. Same for brands.