The 3 Most Common Mistakes Founders Make When Building a Personal Brand (And How to Fix Them)
Author
Oscar Hoole I Co-Founder of ContentSmash
Building a personal brand as a founder isn't just nice to have anymore - it's become a critical business asset.
Yet most founders approach it completely backward, burning countless hours on content that generates little to no business impact.
After working with dozens of founders to build their personal brands from scratch, I've noticed the same three mistakes appearing again and again.
These aren't just minor missteps - they're fundamental errors that can waste months of effort and prevent you from seeing real business results.
Let's break down each mistake and how to fix it.
Mistake #1: Creating Content Without a Strategic Foundation
Most founders start their personal branding journey by jumping straight into content creation.
They post a few LinkedIn updates, maybe a Twitter thread, and wait for the magic to happen.
When nothing happens (which is almost always the case), they either give up entirely or double down on creating more content - neither of which solves the actual problem.
Content without strategy is essentially shouting into the void. You'll spend valuable hours creating posts that:
- Get minimal engagement;
- Attract the wrong audience;
- Fail to position you in a way that drives meaningful business outcomes.
The Fix: Build a Strategic Foundation First
Before creating a single piece of content, you need to answer these critical questions:
Who needs to see you as an authority? (Be specific - "everyone in my industry" is not a target audience)
What unique perspective can you offer that others in your space don't?
What business outcome do you want your personal brand to drive? (Investor attention? Sales conversations? Partnership opportunities?)
This foundation then informs everything from content topics to distribution channels.
Example in action: One founder we worked with was creating general SaaS content for months with minimal traction.
After developing a strategic foundation focused specifically on bootstrapped ecommerce founders dealing with warehousing challenges, his content started generating high-quality leads within weeks - despite having a smaller audience.
Mistake #2: Being Too Promotional Too Early
Many founders jump straight to selling their products or services before establishing any trust or credibility with their audience.
They use their content as thinly-veiled sales pitches, forgetting a fundamental principle of personal branding:
You can't sell to people who don't know, trust, or see you as an obvious choice.
Pushing promotional content before establishing value creates immediate resistance.
Your audience quickly learns to tune you out, engagement plummets, and you miss the opportunity to build genuine connections that could eventually lead to business relationships.
The Fix: Follow the Trust Sequence
Effective personal branding follows a natural progression:
Visibility: First, people need to know you exist (awareness)
Value: Then, consistently provide value without asking for anything in return (credibility)
Trust: As you demonstrate expertise and authenticity, trust develops naturally
Authority: Only after establishing trust can you position yourself as the obvious choice
Focus 80% of your content on providing value, 15% on showing your personality and authentic journey, and only 5% on direct promotion.
The most successful founders we've worked with typically maintain this value-heavy ratio for at least 2-3 months before introducing any product mentions.
They recognize that each value-driven post serves as a deposit in the "trust bank" with their audience, while promotional content makes withdrawals.
If you make too many withdrawals before sufficient deposits, you'll quickly find yourself in trust debt.
A practical way to implement this: create a content calendar with color-coded post types to ensure you're maintaining the right balance.
Green for pure value, yellow for personal/journey content, and red for promotional posts.
Your calendar should be a sea of green, especially in the early months.
Mistake #3: Inconsistent Execution Without Systems
The third mistake is approaching personal branding as a random, “when-I-have-time” activity rather than a systematic business function.
Sporadic posting creates a stop-start pattern that prevents momentum from building.
The algorithms reward consistency, and your audience needs regular touchpoints to develop familiarity and trust.
Without systems, personal branding becomes the first thing to drop when business gets busy.
The Fix: Build a Sustainable Content System
Effective personal branding requires three key systems:
Content creation system: A repeatable process for turning your expertise into valuable content without starting from scratch each time
Distribution system: Methodical approach to getting your content in front of the right people
Engagement system: Structured process for building relationships from content interactions
Here's what a minimal viable content system might look like:
Creation: Set aside 2 hours every two weeks for a "content extraction" session. Use this time to either:
Record yourself answering common client questions
Have someone interview you about your expertise
Document processes or insights from your daily work
From this single session, a team member (or external help) can create 8-10 content pieces across platforms.
Distribution: Create a simple checklist for where each piece of content should go. For example:
LinkedIn post → Also share in 2-3 relevant groups
Twitter thread → Repost at optimal times using a scheduling tool
Blog article → Send to email list, share with partners
Engagement: Block 15 minutes daily to respond to comments and engage with potential clients/partners. This small daily investment compounds significantly over time.
The key is finding the minimum effective dose - the smallest amount of effort that produces meaningful results - and then building systems to make that sustainable.
The Path Forward: Strategic, Impact-Focused, Systematic
The founders who successfully build powerful personal brands approach it as a strategic business function, not a random marketing activity. They:
Build on a strategic foundation that aligns with business goals
Earn trust before attempting to convert their audience
Implement systems that ensure consistency without burnout
Remember: your personal brand is a business asset that compounds over time.
The founders who approach it with intention today will have an enormous advantage tomorrow as traditional marketing channels become increasingly saturated and expensive.
The best time to start building your personal brand was when you founded your company.
The second best time is now - but only if you avoid these three critical mistakes.
Thanks for reading!
Before you go…
I'm committed to sharing actionable content like this every week in my newsletter, where I break down more strategies for building a personal brand that actually drives business results.
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If you're a founder looking to build a systematic approach to content that drives real business outcomes, book a direct call with me here.
– Oscar
