Social Media is Your Most Powerful Personal Branding Tool
Social media is the best tool available for building your personal brand… but there are some mistakes you might be making. Keep calm and read on, my friend, because luckily… they’re easy to fix.
The fear of making mistakes is often enough to keep people stuck, afraid to post, engage, or put themselves out there.
The good news is that the “mistakes” we’re going to reference below aren’t life or death. We’re talking about using social media to build our personal brands. A simple mistake, like a typo or grammatical error won’t doom your business.
The real difference between success and failure in this space runs deeper. The biggest mistakes we see often come down to an individual’s belief in themselves and their story.
If you’re struggling to build momentum on social media, chances are you’re making one (or more) of these common mistakes. Let’s break them down and, more importantly, learn how to fix them.
Mistake #1 – You Don’t Give Yourself Enough Credit
The amount of therapy I’ve had for anxiety that relates directly to imposter syndrome is comical at this point. And I know I’m not alone.
It doesn’t matter if you’re an entry level employee or the CEO – you’ll face self-doubt and “Can I really do this?” type thoughts at least once.
This is one of the biggest roadblocks to building a personal brand. The mistake is thinking you need to prove your worth before you can start building your brand.
Here’s the truth: Wherever you are in your journey, there’s someone who can relate to you.
- You don’t need to be the best in your industry to start sharing.
- You don’t need a massive success story to be valuable.
- You don’t need to wait until you have everything figured out.
Relatability is one of the most powerful tools in personal branding. People connect with what feels real, familiar, or inspiring to them. Your path and experiences, right now, are more interesting and valuable than you probably think. Have you ever heard the idea that you only need to be a few steps ahead of someone to help them. That definitely applies here!
How to Fix It: Shift Your Mindset & Start Sharing
Instead of thinking, “Who am I to share this?” ask yourself: “Who needs to hear this today?”
Share your journey as you go. I often refer to this as “building in public.” It’s vulnerable but honestly, people love that. It reminds them that they too can try something new.
Your story is your brand so share the behind-the-scenes moments to build trust.
Mistake #2 – Thinking You Need to Sell to Build
When you feel uncertain, it’s easy to focus on selling instead of building trust.
We’re constantly told that it’s “easy” to make money through social media, so naturally, we want quick results. Especially when launching a business or trying to hit a financial goal, the instinct is to start pitching your product or service as much as possible.
But here’s the problem: Sales don’t come before trust.
People don’t follow you on social media because they want to be sold to. They follow you because they find your content valuable, relatable, or entertaining.
How to Fix It: The 80/20 Rule
- 80% of your content should provide value – Educate, inspire, or entertain your audience.
- 20% should be promotional – Show them how they can work with you and what’s in it for them.
When you focus on giving first, the sales will come naturally.
Mistake #3 – All Content, No Community
Posting content without engaging with your audience is like talking at people instead of with them. Ignoring comments, messages, or failing to build real connections can have the opposite effect and actually weaken your brand.
You can follow the 80/20 rule I just mentioned and have the most badass content out there. However, it’s crucial to ensure that you take time to respond to DMs and comments, interact with other aligned creators, and really hone a sense of community.
How to Fix It: Prioritize Engagement
You don’t need to spend hours engaging with your audience. Just 10 minutes a day can make all the difference!
- Respond to comments and DMs
- Engage with other creators in your industry
- Join conversations instead of just posting and leaving
This isn’t just another chore on your to-do list. It’s what makes social media fun. You never know which comment section or DM exchange might lead to your next big opportunity!
Build Your Brand with Confidence
If you found yourself nodding your head while reading this, here’s the good news: I created a step-by-step guide to walk you through personal branding best practices in detail.
The Fearlyss FLOW Framework is designed to help you:
- Define your personal brand in a way that aligns with your business goals
- Use social media to propel your career forward
- Build a brand that attracts opportunities (instead of constantly chasing them)
You can also check out my latest YouTube video here.
