Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs

April 13, 2024

In this guide to personal branding for entrepreneurs you will find the steps I applied creating SBMarketer.

Developing a personal brand is an exciting time where your business vision starts to evolve & you begin to create a new identity!

The idea is to capture your passion, skills, & value in a unique way that builds credibility & inspires people to connect & work with you.

If you’re undecided on a business vision, these steps to personal branding will point you in the right direction.

“It’s not about the goal. It’s about growing to become the person that can accomplish the goal – Tony Robbins.”

Ten Personal Branding Steps For Entrepreneurs

Here are ten personal branding steps for entrepreneurs that helped me transform.

1. Create Your Business Vision

To create a new vision, write down fours skills & four passions you have, then prioritise your favourites, & connect the number one skill & passion.

The intersection of these could be the start of your new business vision.

Some examples:

Your skill is using technology, & you love keeping fit & personal training – so you build a PT business with a membership site, & videos;
Your skill is storytelling, & you love to write about business – so you build a Ghost-writing business with a website, blog, & email list;
Your skill is cooking, & you love to source foods locally – so you build a sustainable food business with a recipe lead-magnet, website, & videos;
Your skill is graphic design, & you love photography & concerts – so you build a Photobook business, with a cart & lead-magnet.

“The smaller you get with your dot (niche) the better, as your ideal customer is almost always you from before.” Dean Graziosi

For example, if your business idea is guiding people how to become Internet entrepreneurs, & you’re me, that’s perfect.

Think about your deep Why for the business? Why am I being pulled to my future-self? Are you looking to control your own destiny?

Write down 7 reasons for your Why so you can draw on these when facing self-doubt, & naysayers. Try writing your new Business Vision (like below):

My name is “Troy Miller”, & I “help managers & tradies to become Internet entrepreneurs” with “high-performance websites & marketing systems.”

Next ask yourself this question, “Is there a market need for my product or service?”

If you’re not sure, ask your family & friends, “Are there many people like me with a similar problem?”

That way you’re not in the 42% of start-ups that fail from no market need (Neil Patel).

2. Identify Who You Are

People who are extraverted will find sales work easier, while introverts might prefer passive income.

By identifying who you are, listing your goals, values, likes & dislikes, you can evaluate the types of businesses that match or kill your personality.

“Think about your ambitions & goals, who you want to serve, & what skills & habits are needed.”

If you’re a people person, try coaching, or consulting, as you have people skills & like serving. Or if you want to be a people person, start with digital products.

Either way, by applying this personal branding for entrepreneurs step your moving closer to the goal.

Try creating an alter ego as it can motivate you mentally & create distance between you & challenges. Kobe Bryant used “The Black Mamba” for a boost.

David Goggins, named his alter ego “Goggins” & calls this out when facing challenges, because he knows “Goggins” is the “Hardest Mother-F on the Planet.”

Kobe would visualise himself stepping out the cage as the Black Mamba to transform into a powerful state, or get back in the cage as punishment for mistakes.

Try Positive Stacking, a method by Tony Robbins to uplift yourself & release endorphins. Write down all the wins & happy times in your life to recall them.

Ask what you want written on your gravestone, & work backwards from it (Ali Abdaal)? Things like good husband, father, coach & consultant works for me.

3. Identify What You Fear

Fear is like a covert North Star that is pushing you away from something.

But if you lean into fear & say “I Must Do it,” then try it, you will get better & fear dissolves.

Think of driving a car in city traffic as a new learner driver. We all sweated bullets the first time we drove there, but after practice, it became automatic.

“Write down three things you’re avoiding or fearing. Did you grow up or work in an environment that supported or discouraged entrepreneurship?”

Stop limiting b eliefs, “I can’t be an entrepreneur, I didn’t go to college?” If you catch yourself sabotaging, stop giving power to it!

I was lucky my parents were small-business people, & they encouraged it, but I also worked in academia where there was disdain for entrepreneurs.

Tony says, “You’re ready when you step up & make yourself do something.” Just make the decision to get started on the new you – take a leap of faith.

“Turn uncertainty into action, allow yourself to feel the fear & what it’s telling you about your limiting beliefs – then free yourself from these & take action.”

Do you fear coaching, or consulting, or small businesses? With the right amount of information, practice, & systems you can succeed in anything.

Money is one aspect affecting fear – if you can fund your life for 6-12 months, then you’re able to make a clean break from the bad workplace without fear.

But without money, your best option is starting a side hustle business & transforming over 12-months.

Learn more The Top Ten Benefits of Being A Digital Nomad in Asia.

4. Build Your Gap Map

We all have gaps on where we want to be in life, especially aspiring entrepreneurs.

When you map it on paper, it helps to identify tasks & remind you how to move forward.

Dean says, “Change doesn’t happen until you’re honest, & if you know you’re meant for more,” write down your vision & examine the skills gaps to fill.

“The skills & training gap from where you are now to where you want to be is the pathway to success with clear actionable steps – put it on paper!”

You might be stuck in the corporate world or on a job site looking for an exit, but with a gap map on where you want to be in 12-months, just keep taking steps.

Dean says, “Get disturbed with inaction,” then take the right action & enjoy the journey.

Try These Actionable Tasks For New Entrepreneurs:

Identify your Business Vision;
Identify your Why, go seven levels deep;
Create your Personal Brand & resources, e.g. logo, images & graphics;
Create your Story, to attract similar people, build credibility & trust;
Create your Online Resources, e.g. website, social media (X, LI, FB, IG, YT);
Build your Business Model & System, e.g. Coaching & Services;
Create your Lead-Magnet & offers in MBS;
Build your Marketing System, e.g. automated email marketing in MBS;
Build your Story Video, e.g. the best tool for attraction;
Build your Online Portfolio, e.g. show project examples.

Draw an ascending timeline on paper, from where you are now (at bottom), to where you want to be (at top), then add in the tasks, education & training.

Once it’s on paper, it becomes easier to visualise, & you can get to work on the tasks.

5. Identify Your Target Market

Here’s a secret from Dean & it makes perfect sense – people like you, with your painful problem from a few years ago, will be comfortable choosing your solution!

“For new entrepreneurs, the target market is almost always YOU from before.”

“Don’t think a ton of traffic to your website will work. It’s more beneficial to attract a smaller number of ideal people.” Neil Patel

Having a small niche is a good way to differentiate yourself from the competitors, & to build thought leadership to a smaller group.

Try creating fictional personas for your ideal audience, what’s their name, gender, occupation, lifestyle & problems, e.g. mine is “Manager Mark” & “Tom the Tradie.”

Mike Place explains it well, “Go a mile deep & an inch wide, not the other way around.”

Starting narrow helps with locating your audience – ask “Where do my people hang-out?” It will assist you to find similar people & develop connections.

Being niche will also help you generate referrals as you become known for your specialised expertise.

If you’re a frustrated manager or tradie, Troy will guide you on building an Internet businesses!

And a small niche will help you find opportunities with the right groups.

6. Build Your Offer

An offer can be the results you’ve achieved personally or professionally, then divided into a series of smaller offers like a bridge, & bundled in a package.

Ask what is your unique value? I was fortunate to have skills & experience with websites & automated marketing systems to build leads & sales.

“Coming up with core offers can be simple with the right mindset – ask what is the client’s main outcome & how do I simplify it?”

Start by developing low-ticket (LT) & high-ticket (HT) items, that work for the main outcome. Promote the LT items first, as they will start cash flow in a business.

Low-ticket times are travel/service guides ($19), digital templates ($19), introductory courses ($49-99), free workshop upsells ($49 recording), consultations ($49-99), or group memberships ($49/mth).

High-ticket items are consultations ($199-299), courses ($299-499), workshops & masterclasses ($299-499), group memberships ($249-499), retreats ($499-999), & masterminds ($999-4999).

Create subscription products early to stabilise your income. This might be a $19-49 monthly support service with Q&As, or a Zoom workshop.

Your end goal is Dean’s Value Ladder with offers across the range of LT & HT prices, for people in beginning, messy middle, & advanced.

The Value Ladder you create over time is how you’re able to scale your business & be profitable doing a range of LT (high-sales) & HT (low-sales) offerings.

Deploy Reforge’s four customer stages, Sign-up (newsletter/LM), Set-up ($1 sale/trial), Aha (LT or HT sale), & Habit (recurring sales) when you’re live.

7. Develop Your Personal Story

People are drawn to stories – whether it’s inviting them on a journey as you become an entrepreneur, or how you escaped from the uncivil workplace.

I had been working in automated lottery marketing for one company & two NFPs & had to jump out of two of them to leave the gaslighting & incivilities.

In hindsight, I should not have taken the last role as this type of behaviour was common, & I could have started my business earlier.

Your story will help your ideal clients to avoid the same mistakes & get results faster.

“Ask yourself what is the power in your purpose, why are you here, what kind of people will you serve, & what learnings come from your story?”

If you need help follow Justin Welsh or Tim Denning.

Try Justin’s 6-Steps To Persuasive Writing: 1. Problem (pain points & challenges), 2. Amplify (inaction consequences), 3. Story (Illustrate problem), 4. Transformation (solution), 5. Offer (introduction), 6. Response (CTA).

If you’re unfulfilled in corporate/NFP worlds, or tired of the job site, & working on someone else’s goals with uncivil people – then plan your escape.

The moral of my story is get out now if you can!

Leave while you still have the energy to go all in on a new business – as working for others is like holding a poison chalice, surviving on mercy.

8. Build Your Website

One of the assets you need as an entrepreneur is a website to display your online resources e.g. services, articles, videos, & legals.

WordPress.org is perfect for Internet businesses. You create pages, posts, & CPTs with a little practice, then customise with plugins, & optimise with SEO.

“Grow by leveraging technology with a high-performance website & marketing automation.”

If I can do this, so can you—if you’re frustrated in corporate or too old for a trade, you can escape by building an Internet business on your PC.

With my High-Performance Website Checklist Quiz & the “Fantastic Four” system (WP, Bricks, ACSS, Frames), non-techies can build a pro website.

I used this exact system to create SBMarketer.

It’s beginner-friendly, powerful, & designed to do the heavy lifting. Just follow my instructions—no guesswork & build in your own time.

If you can use MS Office – you can use Bricks builder for the heavy lifting (HTML), Frames for page wireframes, & ACSS for styling.

Start on Base Camp One or Two with a Website Launch Kit, skipping WP set-up & plugin wrangling.

SBM’s stepped pricing means blueprints, wireframes, & websites, are affordably priced with flexibility to choose your starting point.

When you buy a Website Launch Kit, my instructions guide you on how to install & use it, & I can teach you how to use AI (CoPilot/GG) for content.

Get my High-Performance Website Checklist Quiz to begin the journey.

9. Compound With Writing

Writing seems hard, but it gets easier as you publish.

Think of compounding interest, your articles become snippets for your socials, newsletters, videos & calls.

When I worked in academia, I started writing event & course emails, then moved up to research project articles for the Business School.

“Writing is about expressing your worldview, so add in your thoughts, experiences & perspectives to attract your people.”

As an entrepreneur you will be writing all kinds of content, so you may as well add in your personality & some energy into your articles!

Build strategic topics using Hub or Pillar pages.

For example, if you’re building authority for website marketing (the hub), add your spokes, e.g. content on web-tech systems, SEO, & marketing automation.

This Hub & Spoke method improves your search performance from related & interlinked content that builds authority on the Hub page.

I experienced this contributing to an 800+ page Franchising website with thousands of visitors.

“95% of your copy success is in the headline or hook – Tim Denning.” The same goes for SEO, the primary keyword informs SERPs on your page topic & intent.

Learn Cole’s 4A’s – Actionable (tips, hacks, guides), Aspirational (lessons, mistakes, reflections), Anthropological (fears, failures, struggles), & Analytical (numbers & analysis).

If you like writing after ten articles, build a newsletter, & find online communities where you can blog, guest post, & answer questions.

10. Build Your Community

If you want to coach or consult & serve, start building a community of engaged people on social media.

Write a Community Mission Statement:

“Accelerating Internet Entrepreneurs with high-performance websites & marketing automation.”

Building a community goes beyond creating your profiles on the right channels & replying to comments.

Entrepreneurs like Tim Denning, Justin Welsh, & Christian LeBlanc have built loyal communities with their products, courses, & events.

Encourage discussion with members, & reward members who help others.

Tim says, “If there’s no shared goal in a community it feels weird for members to talk.” Try to create groups of people to engage with a shared goal or challenge.

Use private Facebook groups & Telegram channels for events, challenges & attendees.

Christian’s Lost Creator Academy channel on Messenger has 4.3K members who have taken his course, attended events, or joined a mastermind.

The goal is to direct your leads, audience & customers into an App, to facilitate bi-directional communication & advocacy.

Apps like Slack or Telegram, can do this with user email addresses or phone numbers. Create a channel for subscribers, then sub-channels for events.

Accelerating Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs

This guide to personal branding for entrepreneurs will help you create a business vision that aligns with you.

Listing your goals, values, likes & dislikes, will help you assess the types of businesses that suit your personality & what to avoid.

Identifying what you fear is an important aspect to lean into, then you can start working on your skills Gap Map to move towards entrepreneurship.

Mindset is a key aspect that can accelerate you or hold you back. Try creating a powerful alter ego like Kobe’s “Black Mamba” to help you break through.