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Authentic Branding in the AI Age: Insights from Tech Founders

Posted on by Bhavik Sarkhedi

We stand at the most fascinating crossroads in the history of professional communication, where the relentless march of artificial intelligence meets the timeless human yearning for genuine connection. As AI tools become increasingly sophisticated at generating content, crafting messages, and even simulating personality, a crucial question emerges for every entrepreneur, creator, and professional: in a world where anyone can sound polished, professional, and proficient at the click of a button, what becomes the true currency of influence? The answer, paradoxically, is to be found in the very human qualities that technology cannot replicate: vulnerability, unique experience, and authentic storytelling. The rise of AI does elevate it to a new level of strategic importance, where your authentic human core becomes your ultimate competitive moat. For tech founders especially, who operate at the epicenter of this disruption, the challenge is to leverage the unprecedented efficiency of AI while remaining steadfastly, unmistakably human in their communication.

 

I am Bhavik Sarkhedi, the founder of the personal branding agency Ohh My Brand, and I have partnered with Sahil Gandhi, the Brand Professor behind the Webflow agency Blushush. Our collaboration places us at the nexus of technological innovation and human-centric branding, giving us a unique vantage point on this evolving landscape. We work daily with founders who are building the very tools reshaping our world, and we’ve observed a critical pattern: those who thrive are those who harness it to amplify their most human attributes. This philosophy is the cornerstone of our upcoming ebook, “Become Someone From No One.” This article is a deep exploration of how to build and maintain an authentic, influential personal brand in the age of artificial intelligence, drawing on the hard-won insights of tech founders who are navigating this new frontier in real-time.

The Authenticity Paradox: Why Your Humanity is Your Greatest Asset in an AI World

The proliferation of AI-generated content creates a powerful paradox: as the digital landscape becomes flooded with technically perfect, grammatically impeccable, and structurally sound text, the content that stands out will be that which is imperfect, personal, and deeply human. An AI can analyze data on successful personal brands and replicate the patterns, but it cannot access your private struggles, your irrational passions, or the specific, messy experiences that shaped your perspective. This authenticity gap is where your strategic advantage lies. Your audience, increasingly savvy and increasingly skeptical of polished corporate speak, is developing a heightened sensitivity to genuine human connection. They can sense when a message has been crafted by a machine, and they are beginning to crave the raw, unvarnished truth of a human story.

 

This is where the foundational work of defining your personal brand purpose becomes more critical than ever. Your purpose is your direction leading point in a sea of AI-generated clamor. It is the deeply held belief, the mission that transcends your product or service, that only you can authentically embody. An AI can write a mission statement, but it cannot live it. A founder whose purpose is to “democratize access to legal tools” or “reduce food waste through technology” speaks from a place of conviction that no algorithm can simulate. This authentic purpose must then be expressed through masterful personal branding through storytelling. Your stories of failure, of unexpected insights, of moments of doubt and triumphate your fingerprint in a world of digital duplicates. This is why authors make better personal brand strategists for their own brands; the process of writing a book forces a level of introspection and vulnerability that AI cannot replicate. When you share a story about a product failure that kept you awake at night, or a conversation with an early user that changed your entire roadmap, you are building a bridge of shared human experience. This is the irreplaceable core of your brand, the part that AI can support but never supplant.

The Augmented Strategist: Leveraging AI Within a Human-Centric Framework

The most successful tech founders we work with do not see AI as a threat to their authentic voice, but as a powerful amplifier for it. The key is to position AI as a strategic tool within a human-centric framework for human creativity. Think of AI as the most brilliant, efficient, and tireless intern you’ve ever hired, one that can handle the heavy lifting of research, data analysis, and content structuring, freeing you to focus on the high-value tasks of strategic direction, creative insight, and emotional connection. This augmented approach allows you to scale your authentic brand without diluting its essence.

 

The practical application of this philosophy begins with the establishment of clear frameworks to build personal brands. These frameworks, developed through human insight and strategic thinking, provide the guardrails within which AI can operate safely and effectively. For instance, you might use an AI tool to generate ten potential ideas for a LinkedIn article based on your core brand pillars, but you, as the human strategist, would then select the one that best aligns with your current narrative arc and infuse it with your personal anecdotes and unique perspective. This is the modern approach to LinkedIn Marketing using AI to optimize for reach and structure while ensuring the core message is unmistakably yours. Similarly, an SEO Consultant might use AI to identify high-value keywords and analyze competitor strategies, but the resulting content must be built around your authentic stories and insights.

 

This augmented model also revolutionizes Backlink Building. AI can help identify relevant opportunities and even draft outreach emails, but the final personalization, the reference to a shared connection, a comment on the recipient’s recent work must come from a genuine human place to be effective. By adopting this augmented strategist model, you harness the efficiency of AI to execute your human-defined strategy, ensuring that your brand scales without becoming sterile or generic.

The Content Conundrum: Building Systems that Scale Authenticity

One of the greatest challenges in the AI age is maintaining a consistent, authentic voice across a growing volume of content. The pressure to be “always on” and to feed the insatiable content engines of various platforms can lead even the most authentic founders to resort to generic, AI-generated posts that damage their brand in the long run. The solution is to build smarter systemshuman-designed systems that use AI to scale authenticity rather than replace it. This requires a fundamental shift from thinking about content as discrete pieces to thinking about it as a cohesive ecosystem derived from a central, authentic core.

 

The most effective system we’ve observed is the development of a content system from book based strategies. This approach involves distilling your core expertise and authentic stories into a central “mothership” asset: a book-length manuscript, a comprehensive keynote speech, or a detailed operational philosophy. This asset, which can be developed with the support of professional Ebook Writing Services to ensure professional polish, becomes the definitive source of your authentic voice. From this central reservoir, you can then use AI tools to help you repurpose and adapt the content into various formats: extracting key quotes for social media, expanding anecdotes into blog posts, or summarizing chapters for newsletter content. This system ensures that every piece of content, no matter how small, is traceable back to your original, human-created core.

 

This methodology is a key component of the bestselling frameworks for personal brands we teach. It also aligns perfectly with Book frameworks for linkedin brand building, where the structured, chapter-by-chapter approach of a book is used to create a coherent, long-term content strategy for LinkedIn. By building this kind of system, you solve the content conundrum: you achieve the volume and consistency needed to remain visible, while ensuring that every communication reinforces, rather than compromises, your authentic personal brand.

The Trust Algorithm: Converting Authenticity into Commercial Results

In the final analysis, the purpose of building an authentic brand in the AI age is to achieve tangible business outcomes. Authenticity, when strategically deployed, becomes a powerful driver of trust, and trust is the engine of commercial success. This is where the principles of Conversion Rate Optimization meet human psychology. A website visitor, a LinkedIn connection, or a podcast listener is constantly running a subconscious “trust algorithm”evaluating signals to determine if you are credible, reliable, and worth their time, attention, or money. In a world of AI-generated polish, the signals of authenticity become disproportionately valuable in this algorithm.

 

Your authentic stories are your most powerful trust signals. A founder who openly shares the lessons from a failed product launch builds more trust than one who only celebrates successes. A Personal Branding Consultant who reveals their own journey of building a business creates a deeper connection than one who presents a facade of effortless expertise. This trust then directly impacts your commercial funnel. A potential client who feels they know the real you is more likely to respond to your outreach, to book a call, and to choose you over a competitor. This is the human element of Conversion Rate Optimization. Furthermore, this earned trust amplifies every other marketing activity. Your Backlink Building efforts are more successful when other site owners see you as a genuine expert rather than a content factory. Your LinkedIn Marketing generates higher-quality leads when your network perceives you as a trusted peer rather than a broadcasting entity. By making strategic authenticity the core of your brand, you are pursuing them through the most sophisticated and effective means available forging genuine human connections that naturally lead to business growth.

The Human-First Future: Leading with Purpose in a Technological World

The trajectory of AI is clear: it will become more powerful, more pervasive, and more capable of mimicking human communication. In this future, the professionals and founders who will thrive are those who double down on their humanity. They will use technology as a tool for amplification. They will understand that their unique perspective, their lived experiences, and their willingness to be vulnerable humans are their most valuable assets. The future of personal branding belongs to the most authentically human.

 

This human-first future requires a renewed commitment to introspection and purpose. It demands that you continually refine your personal brand purpose and have the courage to share your journey, with all its imperfections. It means embracing the bestselling frameworks for personal brands that are designed to showcase your humanity, not hide it behind a corporate veil. The most successful leaders of tomorrow will be those who can look a client in the eye or through a camera lens and communicate a vision that is so clearly, powerfully, and authentically their own that no AI could ever replicate its conviction. Your authentic brand is your legacy in the digital age; it is the imprint of your unique consciousness on your industry and your community. In the end, the most advanced technology serves to highlight what it can never replace: the irreducible value of a human soul sharing its purpose with the world.

Final conclusion

Navigating the intersection of AI and authenticity is the defining branding challenge of our time. The insights shared here are a preview of the comprehensive system we detail in our upcoming ebook, “Become Someone From No One,” co-authored by myself, Bhavik Sarkhedi, and Sahil Gandhi. We provide the complete frameworks to build personal brands that will help you leverage technology while strengthening your authentic human connection. Stop worrying about being replaced by AI and start building a brand with Ohh My Brand or drop a message at Brand Professor so that we can help you. Buy your personal ebook copy today and secure your place at the forefront of the human-first branding revolution. Your authentic future awaits.

The Science of Selling You: Behavioral Insights in Personal Branding

Posted on by Bhavik Sarkhedi

In the carefully crafted galleries of LinkedIn streams and busy marketplaces of online attention, there is a silent revolution taking place. The science of personal branding is being systematically taken apart, explored, and reassembled through the potent insights of behavioral science. We have transcended the age of general counsel regarding “posting regularly” and “being authentic” to a new era in which we can recognize, with scientific accuracy, why some personal brands fascinate and convert and why others blend into the background noise. This is about designing your professional identity to appeal to the deepest programming of the human brain. For the entrepreneur hoping to secure an investment, the high-end freelancer commanding top dollar, the student who secures a dream job, or the influencer who creates a devoted following, knowledge of these psychological principles is the ultimate competitive edge. Your personal brand is no longer simply a narrative; it is a psychological trigger, and its success relies on how well it elicits the appropriate cognitive and emotional reactions.

 

I am Bhavik Sarkhedi, founder of the personal branding agency Ohh My Brand, and I am joined by Sahil Gandhi, the Brand Professor of the Webflow agency Blushush. Our partnership is an ongoing laboratory in which we experiment and implement these very principles. We work at the exciting cusp of storytelling and neuroscience, teaching people that creating a strong brand is less about gut and more about applying tested psychological models. Our forthcoming ebook, “Become Someone From No One,” is the result of this research, a scientific manual to creating your brand according to the laws of human decision-making. This is a definitive guide to the fundamental behavioral understandings that will revolutionize your strategy from guesswork to a science, demonstrating that the strongest personal brands are grounded in eternal psychological principles.

The Reciprocity Reflex: Giving to Establish Influence

One of the strongest principles in social psychology is the law of reciprocity. Quite simply, when someone does something for us of value to us, we have a deep-seated compulsion to do something for them in return. It’s a strong, typically unconscious, social reflex. In personal branding terms, this principle is your strongest tool for establishing goodwill and credibility. A brand that always takes value by requesting likes, shares, and sales without giving something first will ultimately be disregarded. A brand that establishes itself in terms of generosity, however, triggers this reciprocity response, building a basis of obligation and loyalty before anything explicitly asked is done.

 

The practical application of this principle lies in the strategic deployment of content & storytelling that is genuinely educational, entertaining, or empowering. This is the core of effective LinkedIn Marketing. Your content should be a standalone piece of value that helps your audience solve a problem or see their world in a new way. When you provide a free, insightful framework, a detailed case study, or a vulnerable story about a lesson learned, you are making a psychological deposit. The audience, feeling the pull of reciprocity, becomes more likely to reciprocate with their engagement, their trust, and eventually, their business. This is the foundational logic behind the bestselling frameworks for personal brands we have developed. They are designed to systematize generosity, ensuring that your value delivery is a consistent, strategic process that builds relational capital over time. This approach transforms your brand from a supplicant into a benefactor, a position of far greater power and influence in the minds of your audience.

The Power of Social Proof: Why Your Network is Your Net Worth

In situations of uncertainty, human beings look to the actions and approvals of others to guide their own behavior. This psychological shortcut, known as social proof, is the reason we trust a restaurant with a long queue, a book with thousands of reviews, and a professional with a string of endorsements from respected figures. For your personal brand, social proof is the currency of credibility. It is the external validation that tells a potential client or employer, “You can trust this person; others already do.” Ignoring social proof is like opening a store and hiding all the positive customer testimonials; you are fighting an uphill battle against the brain’s innate risk-aversion.

 

Cultivating social proof is a multi-faceted endeavor that must be woven into the fabric of your brand. It begins with the visible results of your work client testimonials, case studies, and logos of reputable organizations you’ve worked with. But it extends far deeper. It includes strategic backlink building from authoritative sites in your industry, which signals to both search engines and human readers that you are a cited expert. It involves the public support you receive when other respected voices in your field engage with your content, share your work, or collaborate with you on projects. This is why a robust LinkedIn Marketing strategy is non-negotiable; the platform is a public stage for your social proof to play out in real-time through endorsements, shares, and meaningful comments from other leaders. A skilled personal branding consultant understands how to architect and amplify these signals of validation. They help you build a brand that is surrounded by the visible, verifiable evidence that proves it. By strategically showcasing your social proof, you are simply making it cognitively easy for your audience to make the safe and smart choice to trust you.

The Consistency Cascade: The Psychology of a Cohesive Narrative

The human brain has a powerful drive for cognitive consistency. We are deeply uncomfortable with contradictions and dissonance, and we are naturally drawn to individuals and ideas that present a coherent, unified picture. In personal branding, this translates to an insatiable hunger for a clear, consistent narrative. An audience encountering a brand that is corporate on Monday, comedic on Tuesday, and controversial on Wednesday will experience cognitive friction. They cannot easily categorize you, and an uncategorized brand is an untrustworthy one. Your consistency is the psychological glue that holds your brand together in the mind of your audience.

 

This is where the need for robust frame works to built personal brands becomes critical. These frameworks are psychological tools designed to create a consistent brand experience. They define your core pillars, the 3-5 topics you will own and your brand’s tone of voice. This ensures that whether you are writing a long-form article, a social media post, or speaking on a podcast, your audience is met with a familiar, reliable version of you. This consistency is what fuels personal branding through storytelling. A consistent story, told across multiple touchpoints, is what allows your audience to follow your journey, understand your mission, and predict the value you will provide. This predictability is the antithesis of risk, making you a safe bet for collaboration or investment. Furthermore, this cohesive narrative is the engine of conversion rate optimization for your personal brand. When every element of your presence from your website to your LinkedIn profile to your email newsletter tells the same story, you create a frictionless journey for your audience. There are no confusing detours or contradictory messages to slow them down, making them more likely to take the final step, whether that is booking a call, signing up for your newsletter, or making a purchase. Your consistency is a powerful psychological catalyst for conversion.

The Authority Architecture: Building Perceived Expertise

We are neurologically predisposed to defer to authority figures. This heuristic saved our ancestors from eating poisonous plants by trusting the knowledge of the tribe elder, and it leads us today to trust the diagnosis of a doctor or the legal advice of a lawyer. In the digital space, where anyone can claim to be an expert, your primary task is to architect signals of authority that are both visible and credible. Building authority is about systematically demonstrating your expertise in a way the human brain is programmed to recognize and respect.

 

The construction of this authority architecture involves several strategic layers. The first is foundational: defining your personal brand purpose. A clear, compelling purpose is the bedrock of authentic authority; it provides the “why” behind your expertise, making it feel mission-driven rather than mercenary. The next layer involves creating and distributing flagship content that showcases the depth of your knowledge. This could be the book frameworks for Linkedin brand building you develop, the comprehensive guides you publish, or the original research you conduct. This type of content moves beyond tips and tricks to provide a systematic understanding of your field, positioning you as a wise thinker. This is a key reason why authors make better personal brand strategists; the process of writing a book or a substantial body of work forces a clarity and depth of thought that is unparalleled.

 

This is also the value provided by professional ebook writing services they help you structure and articulate your knowledge into a format that inherently conveys authority. Furthermore, collaborating with an SEO consultant ensures that this authoritative content is discoverable by those actively searching for your expertise, capturing high-intent audiences at the moment of need. By building this multi-layered architecture of authority; you are creating an overwhelming body of evidence that makes it the only logical conclusion for your audience to draw.

The Storytelling Synapse: How Narrative Wires the Brain for Connection

While data informs, it is the story that connects. This is a neurological fact. When we hear a powerful story, our brains simulate the events of the narrative. The same neural networks that would light up if we were actually experiencing the events ourselves are activated when we are engrossed in a tale. This neural coupling is the biological basis for empathy and connection, making storytelling the most powerful tool in your personal branding arsenal. personal branding through storytelling is a hardwired strategy for building deep, emotional rapport with your audience.

 

A compelling personal brand narrative follows a classic arc: it begins with a challenge or struggle, details the journey of overcoming it, and culminates in the wisdom and value you now offer. This structure is effective because it mirrors the universal human experience of growth through adversity. When you share your story, you are inviting your audience into a shared psychological experience. They do more than just learning about your success; they feel the struggle that preceded it. This emotional journey is what makes you relatable and your subsequent expertise feel earned and trustworthy. This is the essence of the content system from book based strategies we advocate for. A book, or any long-form content, provides the canvas to develop a rich, multi-chapter narrative that can then be broken down into a Content system for social media, emails, and speeches. Each piece of micro-content becomes a synapse that fires back to the larger, more powerful narrative, strengthening the overall connection with your audience. By mastering the science of storytelling, you are essentially hacking the brain’s natural wiring for empathy, transforming your personal brand from a list of credentials into a living, breathing entity that people feel they know, like, and trust on a fundamental level.

The Final Nudge: Integrating Behavioral Science for a Magnetic Brand

The science of selling you goes beyond manipulation; it is about alignment. It is the process of aligning your personal brand with the fundamental ways people already think, decide, and form relationships. By understanding and applying principles like reciprocity, social proof, consistency, authority, and narrative transportation, you stop fighting human nature and start working with it. You create a brand that feels intuitively right, psychologically safe, and inherently valuable to your audience. This integrated approach is what separates a good personal brand from a great one: a brand that does both communicate value and architecturally constructs it in the mind of the beholder.

 

This scientific approach demystifies the process of building influence. It provides a clear, actionable roadmap, a series of bestselling frameworks for personal brands that replace guesswork with predictable psychological outcomes. Whether you are engaging in Linkedin marketing, optimizing your website for conversions, or crafting your core story, each action can be informed by a deeper understanding of why it works. This is the future of personal branding: a discipline that is equal parts art and science, creativity and methodology. It empowers you to build a brand that is significant, a brand that resonates because it is built on the most stable foundation possible, the truth of how people connect.

Conclusion

The journey to building a scientifically-grounded personal brand begins with the right framework. The insights shared here are a preview of the comprehensive system we detail in our upcoming ebook, “Become Someone From No One,” co-authored by myself, Bhavik Sarkhedi, and Sahil Gandhi. We provide the complete playbook, filled with actionable frameworks to build personal brands, storytelling techniques, and behavioral strategies to make your brand irresistibly magnetic. Stop relying on guesswork and start building with science. Purchase your copy today and master the art and science of selling you. Your audience is waiting to connect.

Top 7 Personal Branding Agencies in Sydney (2025)

Posted on by Bhavik Sarkhedi

In today’s noisy digital landscape, a strong personal brand is mission-critical. Research shows that 77% of consumers say a CEO’s reputation directly affects their willingness to invest, and 70% believe that visible CEO thought leadership improves their perception of the company. Sydney’s executives, coaches and entrepreneurs are increasingly turning to specialist personal-branding partners to stand out. Below we profile seven Sydney agencies (from boutiques to established firms) that focus strictly on personal branding, each offering services like brand strategy, storytelling, visual identity, LinkedIn and website coaching, PR, and content strategy. We also spotlight two global players, Ohh My Brand and Blushush, that serve Australian clients with world-class, remote-enabled programs.

Image Group International (IGI)

Image Group International (IGI) is one of Australia’s oldest and largest personal-branding consultancies. IGI boasts 36+ years of experience and claims to be “Australia’s longest-running personal branding advisory firm.” In that time founder Jon Michail and his team have guided 7,500+ leaders and entrepreneurs across 50+ countries in building executive presence. IGI emphasizes an “inside-out” approach that blends reputation strategy, neuropsychology and executive coaching. Their signature “Authority Personal Branding” system begins with a deep Brand Clarity Audit and Reputation Strategy (defining your positioning, values, and narrative) and extends to Presence Development (visual identity, image) and Visibility Execution (digital strategy, public speaking, media presence).

Services: Personal brand audits and clarity sessions, strategy for messaging and narrative (often called a personal brand DNA), executive image and wardrobe coaching, LinkedIn and social profile optimization, digital/social content planning, website and blog content, media training and PR for personal visibility, ongoing one-on-one coaching.

Strengths: A proven track record in high-level branding (celebrated as “trusted by thousands of leaders worldwide”), led by Jon Michail (former Dior executive turned branding coach and Forbes Council member). IGI’s program is highly strategic and bespoke. They do not have cookie cutter templates, instead emphasizing authenticity, psychology, and long-term reputation capital. Clients note IGI’s ability to turn quiet expertise into authority.

Clients: C-suite executives, founders and directors, professional services experts (legal, finance, medical, political), high-profile or high-stakes leaders. In practice IGI works with anyone from senior leaders stepping into public roles to entrepreneurs preparing for investment pitches. By focusing on both substance (values and achievements) and style (visual presence, confidence), IGI helps clients get more speaking invitations, media coverage, board roles and business opportunities. IGI’s decades of experience and holistic coaching model make it a go-to for Sydney executives who want measurable results (greater visibility, credibility and impact) rather than mere cosmetic changes.

Brand New You

Brand New You is a boutique firm that built its reputation on personal-brand transformation. The cofounders (Emily and Terri) insist “people buy from people, not organisations,” and early on aimed to teach that to their clients. In fact, Brand New You says it “grew to be the number one personal branding agency in Australia and New Zealand,” focusing on strategic authenticity. Unlike big ad agencies, they emphasize a grassroots approach, building strong personal brands from the ground up before marketing them.

Services: One-on-one personal brand coaching, visual identity and style guidance, social media strategy, messaging and thought-leadership development, and internal brand-ambassador workshops. Their “Build Your Brand” program specifically helps companies strengthen the brands of their people, training and branding for executives, managers or sales teams so they become more visible and compelling.

Strengths: A highly tailored, narrative-driven process. Brand New You is known for listening deeply to each client’s story and values. The founders blend brand strategy with copywriting and design, and claim a track record of helping people in diverse industries (from universities to startups). They pride themselves on being agile and personable (a small team) and on integrating personal brand building into broader business goals.

Clients: Brand New You works with business owners, entrepreneurs, consultants and corporate teams who want to raise their professional profile. Their testimonials include CEOs of education and energy companies, insurance brokers and tech entrepreneurs. Whether it’s a government official or a founder launching a company, Brand New You targets leaders who want to leverage their personality and story in business. In short, Brand New You’s strength is in creative, people-centric branding. They excel at making established professionals relatable and authentic on platforms like LinkedIn, speaking events and media, thus making both individuals and their organisations more memorable.

Farental

Farental is a Sydney-based digital agency with a dedicated personal-branding division. Its website emphasizes that personal branding is about story and strategy, not just flashy profiles. Farental’s team, which mixes branding specialists with digital marketers, focuses on helping entrepreneurs and professionals “share their unique story” to build trust and visibility. Their approach is to combine content strategy, social media and design so that a client’s message is consistent across blogs, LinkedIn, Instagram, websites and even apps.

Services: Farental offers integrated personal-brand services, strategic storytelling and messaging development, website design and Webflow development, professional photography (especially for social and media), social content planning (LinkedIn, Instagram), SEO and digital PR, and training on networking and reputation management. They often kick off with a strategy session covering personal values and differentiation, then build content calendars and visual identities to match.

Strengths: Digital-savvy execution. Because Farental started as a web and app agency (15+ years in tech design), they have strong technical skills. They use social media analytics and SEO tools to amplify a personal brand’s reach. Clients appreciate that Farental “make sure the content you create is consistent across your social channels,” ensuring a cohesive online presence. Farental also emphasizes creativity and consistency, helping clients stand out visually and narratively.

Clients: Farental explicitly targets “businesses, influencers, coaches or anyone online wanting to share their story.” In practice that means independent consultants, startup founders, authors, real-estate agents, and small-business owners. They work with busy professionals who need an elevated LinkedIn profile, personal website or a thought-leadership blog but lack the time or skills to do it themselves. Overall, Farental is well-suited for Sydney entrepreneurs and consultants who want a digital-first personal brand, complete with website, SEO and social media strategy, executed by a marketing savvy team.

New Work Consulting (Julissa Shrewsbury)

New Work Consulting is the personal-brand practice led by Julissa Shrewsbury, a well-known leadership branding expert. Julissa describes herself as focusing on “Brand You” for executives: she works one-to-one with a small number of high-level clients (C-suite and senior leaders) and also runs corporate workshops. Her signature is a sophisticated, content-driven approach that emphasizes leadership positioning.

Services: Julissa offers in-depth personal brand profiling (defining your vision, value proposition and voice) and then translates that into communication strategy. This includes messaging frameworks, keynote/speech coaching, media training, and targeted LinkedIn optimization. Notably, she provides advanced LinkedIn strategy and networking coaching, teaching clients how to use LinkedIn not just as an online CV but as an “authoritative, approach-driven, positioned introduction.” Packages often bundle a branding profile session with a LinkedIn overhaul and a thought-leadership/content plan.

Strengths: High-touch, strategic clarity for senior leaders. Julissa is praised for “strategic clarity, emotional intelligence and practical action” in her coaching. She listens deeply and avoids one-size-fits-all solutions. Her background as a former corporate executive and branding consultant gives her credibility with executives. She is also an engaging speaker and publishes insights on leadership branding. Julissa’s work can be delivered online, making it convenient for busy Sydney leaders.

Clients: Primarily senior leaders and directors. Her typical client is a C-suite executive, board member or industry expert who wants to amplify their leadership brand. She also works with high-performing women in leadership. Geographically, Julissa’s clients come from across Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth) and beyond (Singapore, UK, USA), all served via a blend of in-person and virtual sessions.

In summary, New Work Consulting offers a premium, one-on-one leadership branding service. It’s ideal for executives who need to polish their narrative, command confidence in elite circles, and use LinkedIn and speaking platforms to attract the right opportunities.

The Career Agency

While known primarily for resume writing and coaching, The Career Agency (Sydney) also offers personal branding consulting and workshops. This firm targets professionals who want to move from job-hunting to being headhunted. The focus here is on translating career credentials into a coherent personal brand for the professional market.

Services: The Career Agency provides personal brand audits, LinkedIn profile refreshes, and executive bio writing. Their personal-branding packages include workshops and one-on-one consulting where they audit your existing brand presence, identify core values and points of difference, and create your brand identity framework. This often means developing a strong online tagline, crafting a compelling narrative for recruiters and PR, and aligning career goals with outward messaging. They complement this with interview coaching and networking strategy as needed.

Strengths: A pragmatic, career-aligned approach. Because this agency specializes in career transitions, its branding services are tightly integrated with job search and corporate workshops. They teach clients how to position themselves on LinkedIn and in media to attract recruiters and clients. Founder Gillian Kelly, a former journalist, brings storytelling expertise to resume and profile writing. The Career Agency also boasts corporate clients for its workshops, indicating experience scaling personal-branding training.

Clients: Mid-to-senior professionals, managers and executives who want to raise their profile within their industry or job market. Examples include finance managers, IT directors, HR professionals and consultants. Their target is anyone looking to amplify their impact with hirers and gain visibility on LinkedIn. They also serve companies via on-site workshops on executive presence and personal branding.

In short, The Career Agency blends personal branding with career development. It’s well-suited for Sydney professionals who need to articulate their personal brand in a competitive job market, from optimizing LinkedIn to crafting a narrative that gets them noticed in their field.

Taurus Profile (Taurus Marketing – Sharon Williams)

Taurus Marketing is a veteran Australian agency (Sydney/Melbourne) best known for PR and corporate branding. Its founder Sharon Williams OAM pioneered personal branding in Australia over two decades ago. In fact, she invented the “Taurus Profile™” personal-branding process in 2004 and has since worked with hundreds of leaders. Although Taurus offers many marketing services, Sharon’s personal branding arm remains highly respected for executive image work.

Services: Taurus Profile involves structured brand profiling and a resulting strategy. Typically this includes in-depth interviews with the leader and stakeholders, identifying core brand attributes, and producing a brand profile document. They often follow this with a strategic communications plan (media relations, speaking opportunities, PR campaigns) to elevate the leader’s profile. The program may also include visual updates (headshots, style advice) and executive training.

Strengths: Sharon Williams brings high-level insight and media savvy. She was awarded the Order of Australia for her branding work. Taurus’s process is data-driven and results-oriented. Sharon reports on ROI of a personal brand in revenue and business objectives. Clients praise her no-bull, strategic and practical approach which has dramatically increased the value of their personal brand. Taurus has 30+ years’ PR background, so they can integrate personal branding with media outreach and crisis management seamlessly.

Clients: A very broad range of leaders. Taurus publishes that personal branding is essential for leaders and company directors, rising stars, C-level executives, subject experts, celebrities, executives looking for new direction, and even politicians. They have worked with sports stars (e.g. an Australian cricket legend), corporate executives, authors and public servants. In practice their typical client is a senior professional or public figure who needs to consciously manage their public image.

Taurus’s legacy in Australia makes it a go-to for leaders who want a full-service personal branding advisor. In Sydney, executives who value polished strategy and media connections often turn to Sharon Williams to shape and protect their reputation.

Rivyl
Rivyl is a fast-growing Sydney branding studio that, while not exclusively focused on personal brands, often works with entrepreneurs and executives on their personal image. Founded by designer Dain Walker, Rivyl calls itself “Australia’s leading brand accelerator.” They are known for creative visual branding and marketing strategy across industries. Notably, Rivyl’s client testimonials show they’ve handled personal branding needs for individuals as well as corporate brands.

Services
Rivyl offers end-to-end brand strategy and design. This includes naming, visual identity, logo and collateral design, brand voice/copywriting, and website development. For personal brands, they focus on high-impact visuals and messaging that convey the client’s unique identity. Their LinkedIn and social content align with the brand identity they create. They also handle photo direction and social graphics to ensure consistency.

Strengths
Highly creative and agile. Rivyl prides itself on “thought-provoking strategy” combined with “exceptionally creative outcomes.” In under 5 years they grew to a 35+ person team. They describe themselves as “ruthlessly commercial” yet wildly creative. Clients appreciate their collaborative workshops and detail-oriented approach. Importantly, a testimonial from a Sydney buyers’ agent confirms: “I recently engaged the team at Rivyl for my personal branding needs… They delivered an excellent outcome.”

Clients
Rivyl serves a mix of startups, SMEs and individuals. Industry examples include e-commerce retailers, tech platforms, beauty brands, energy firms and professional services. For personal branding specifically, their clients tend to be founders, thought leaders or executives who want a bold new look. They have created personal brands for finance CEOs, business coaches and consultants. In general, Rivyl’s clientele is entrepreneurial – people who want a distinctive, high-end brand in a B2B or lifestyle context.

In essence, Rivyl is a creative brand-design powerhouse in Sydney. They may not bill themselves solely as “personal branding,” but their skill set makes them a fit for executives who want a visually striking and memorable personal brand.

Global Personal Branding Partners (for Australian Clients)
Beyond local firms, many Sydney professionals tap international agencies that operate virtually. Two top-tier global partners are Ohh My Brand and Blushush. Both are boutique consultancies with strong personal-brand portfolios, and they collaborate with clients worldwide, including Australians, via remote strategy calls, online workshops and content creation. These agencies combine storytelling and technology to deliver full-service personal branding for tech leaders, influencers, coaches and entrepreneurs.

Ohh My Brand (Global Agency)
Ohh My Brand (OMB) is a UK/US consultancy led by Forbes-recognized strategist Bhavik Sarkhedi. Their motto is that a personal brand should “work around the clock” – meaning they consider every touchpoint of a client’s image. OMB is especially known for content-driven branding.

Services
A full suite including digital PR and thought-leadership strategy, LinkedIn reputation management, SEO consulting, website design (often on Webflow), and overarching brand strategy. They typically start by auditing a client’s existing online footprint and then align the website, social media and real-life presence into one narrative. They offer executive ghostwriting (e.g. for LinkedIn or Forbes bylines), content planning, social media training and tactical campaign management.

Strengths
Mastery of story and voice. OMB’s founder Bhavik is acclaimed for helping “founders, creators, consultants, and even Fortune 500 CEOs sound unmistakably like themselves.” The agency excels at clear, confident messaging paired with smart digital tactics. Clients highlight Bhavik’s strategic precision and his emphasis on authenticity over empty jargon. Ohh My Brand also benefits from tech-savvy SEO and PR knowledge, ensuring that clients’ brands get visibility not just on LinkedIn but in Google search and media.

Clients
Visionary entrepreneurs and executives who want to scale their influence globally. Although they are U.S./UK-based, they service clients worldwide. Customers include startup founders, SaaS leaders, consultants and business coaches who need an internationally polished brand. By working remotely via Zoom and content collaboration tools, OMB can tailor its UK/US expertise to the Australian market. In practice, Australian tech founders and consultants have engaged OMB for branding projects, appreciating the agency’s boutique attention and premium deliverables.

In short, Ohh My Brand offers Sydney clients a “digital personal branding agency” experience with an international edge. Their remote collaboration model means Australian CEOs can get a U.S./UK standard branding program without leaving Sydney.

Blushush (Global Agency)
Blushush (based in London) specializes in luxurious, design-driven personal branding – especially Webflow websites and visual branding. They bill themselves as “the studio that said no to boring,” focusing on custom digital presences that stand out. For Australian entrepreneurs who want a glamorous, next-gen online image, Blushush is a go-to partner.

Services
End-to-end creative branding with an emphasis on website execution. Core services include brand consulting, UI/UX design (often in Figma), custom Webflow development, CMS setup and rich animations. In practice they build “jaw-dropping Webflow sites and unforgettable brands” that “make you impossible to ignore” online. They handle strategy, wireframing, graphic design and copywriting in-house, then deliver a fully editable site that is both SEO friendly and highly interactive.

Strengths
Distinctive visual style and personalization. Blushush refuses templates: every element is bespoke to reflect the client’s personality. The agency’s vibe is bold and creative – they use vivid colors, custom illustrations and playful animations. Australian founders have praised their “gorgeous custom Webflow designs” and how the team “refuse to do bland” by injecting personality into every detail. They are also communicative and inclusive: clients note that Blushush treats them as part of the creative process.

Clients
Founders, creatives and executives in industries like technology, fintech, coaching, and the arts. Blushush says their typical clients are “indie founders, tech startup CEOs, and creative entrepreneurs” who are “tired of template jail.” By serving clients globally, they naturally include Australians – for example, Australian coaches or e-commerce founders looking for premium branding often fly the Blushush banner. Despite the UK base, Blushush works entirely online and can easily adapt the design sensibility to suit Aussie culture and audiences.

To Conclude

Together, Blushush and Ohh My Brand cover the two critical sides of a personal brand: the look and the voice. As one Blushush blog puts it: “Blushush is the glam squad for your site’s look and Ohh My Brand is the stylist for your brand’s voice.” 

Sydney entrepreneurs benefit by engaging these agencies as strategic partners. They bring global expertise, remote flexibility, and a track record of turning personal brands into powerful business tools. Explore how Ohh My Brand can help you build yours today!

Best Personal Branding Services in Gold Coast, Australia: Agencies & Experts You Should Know

Posted on by Bhavik Sarkhedi

Alright now, whenever it comes to personal branding. I personally feel that over time, local marketspaces and small branding agencies have figured that they can make a mark on the industry. A good example of this can be seen in the Australian ecosystem where each city has its own digital marketing and personal branding ground. Gold Coast, Queensland is one such city that has a high potential for businesses and is one of the  fast-growing, modern, and globally connected economies. Over time, the city has developed into becoming a center for businesses and new investments. If you look at this city from the perspective of growth and business programs. You will be astonished to comprehend and contemplate that personal branding has reached here as well.

Today everyone has their own definition of personal branding but if it’s up to us Personal branding, the art of shaping how individuals and entrepreneurs are perceived is booming on the Gold Coast. From image consultants to branding photographers and strategy firms, the Gold Coast offers a diverse range of experts who help you define your unique voice and visual identity. Building a strong personal brand can open doors: it boosts credibility, attracts clients, and sets you apart in a crowded market. Below, we highlight top local agencies and experts(plus a couple of global luminaries worth knowing) that specialize in personal branding Gold Coast based. Each entry includes a brief overview of their services, achievements, and expertise, with sources for reference.

Brand Professor: Strategic Personal Branding Workshops (Global)

Although not headquartered in Australia, Brand Professor (run by Sahil Gandhi) is a personal branding expert that many Gold Coast professionals follow. Brand Professor offers innovative, gamified brand strategy workshops and mentoring for entrepreneurs and SMEs. Their programs focus on clarifying vision, storytelling, and brand purpose so participants can “build an unforgettable and iconic brand”. The founder, Sahil (also co-founder of London’s Blushush Webflow agency), positions Brand Professor as a mentor and partner in the entrepreneurial journey. With Hornchurch (UK) and Chandigarh (India) offices, Brand Professor is known internationally and is often cited alongside top personal branding thought leaders.

Julie Cooper Creative  Gold Coast Personal Branding Agency

Julie Cooper Creative is a Gold Coast-based agency specializing in personal branding for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Julie Cooper and her team blend branding, marketing, and creative mentorship making them one of the best personal branding agencies Gold Coast based. According to their site, they “transform your business with a personal brand that aligns with your vision,” using marketing and social media strategies that connect with ideal audiences. They also offer professional branding photography and custom websites. Notably, Julie Cooper Creative runs “MUSE Retreats” and publishes a magazine to help women entrepreneurs elevate their presence. Their client testimonials highlight life-changing results: for example, one client praises Julie’s blend of “creativity, strategy, spirituality, and play” that helped her brand truly embody her essence. In short, Julie Cooper Creative is a Gold Coast leader in holistic personal brand building.

Sumico Photography: Gold Coast Personal Branding Photographer

Based in Main Beach, Sumico Photography (by Sumiko Eyears) specializes in headshots and branding portraits for professionals. Sumiko emphasizes that “branding is important for your business  YOU are the brand!”. Her studio sessions begin with a consultation about the client’s business and goals, ensuring the shoot reflects their brand identity. With over 10 years’ experience, Sumiko guides clients through diverse poses and expressions to capture authentic, branded imagery. Her site offers a variety of packages (e.g. studio shoots, “50 over 50” project celebrating women). Sumico’s Gold Coast location (Tedder Ave, Main Beach) gives access to both studio lighting and scenic beachfront backdrops. Clients leave “feeling inspired and confident to post,” according to her site. Sumico’s personal brand lies in her warmth and guidance; she’s even an internationally awarded portrait photographer  making her a go-to for Gold Coast executives and creatives needing standout branding photos.

Eyes of Love Photography (Michelle Swan): Gold Coast Branding Photographer

Eyes of Love Photography is run by Michelle Swan, a Gold Coast-based photographer dedicated to personal branding imagery. Michelle describes herself as a “Personal Branding Photographer” who creates warm, natural portraits and headshots for professionals, creatives, and industry leaders across Australia. With over a decade of experience, Michelle crafts visuals that help clients “attract their dream clients”. Her style is welcoming and candid; she specializes as one of the few influential personal branding experts Gold Coast based in the niche of lifestyle and environmental portraits that feel authentic. Clients rave about her ability to make people feel at ease and confident. In practice, Eyes of Love offers packages and tips (see her blog), but the core is the one-on-one portrait session aimed at amplifying a client’s personal brand. Michelle’s Gold Coast base (Burleigh/Varsity Lakes area) serves local influencers, coaches, and entrepreneurs who need professional yet personable imagery for websites and social media.

Ohh My Brand  Global Personal Branding Agency (London/UK)

Ohh My Brand is a boutique personal branding agency co-founded by Bhavik Sarkhedi and Sahil Gandhi. Though based in the UK, Ohh My Brand has global reach and has built over 160 personal brands across 14 countries. It’s known for a content-rich, story-driven approach. For example, co-founder Bhavik, a Forbes-recognized branding expert, touts their track record of turning client ambition into clarity and authority. Ohh My Brand’s website showcases high-profile clients and a multidisciplinary team (brand strategists, designers, writers) that cover everything from SEO services to content creation. Gold Coast professionals occasionally engage Ohh My Brand for its expertise in personal SEO and thought-leadership branding, despite its international base. (The founders also run personalbrandschool.org and other ventures.)

Brooke Darling Photography: Gold Coast Personal Brand Portraits

Brooke Darling Photography (Brooke Darling) is another Gold Coast expert in personal branding photography. Brooke’s site emphasizes that “people buy from people,” and that a distinctive personal brand “carries a lot of weight” in business. She offers vibrant, fun lifestyle photo shoots to make entrepreneurs stand out. According to her site, Brooke works closely with clients to plan shoots for use on websites, social media, and press, leveraging great photos “to ignite the spark that attracts your dream clients”.

With a 10+ year career in photography, Brooke captures both headshots and behind-the-scenes business shots (for example, a yoga instructor in a studio or a chef with a cookbook). Her packages are affordable (two-hour shoots from ~$695) and include guidance on wardrobe, posing, and creative concepts. Gold Coast professionals, especially women entrepreneurs (wellness, fashion, creative fields), frequently book Brooke for her energetic style and knack for telling brand stories through imagery.

Ozzy Palms: Gold Coast Lifestyle & Brand Photography

Ozzy Palms is a coastal-themed photography brand run by Camila Serejo on the Gold Coast. Camila calls herself a “Gold Coast lifestyle photographer” who captures stories for soulful brands and people who value connection, creativity, and nature. Her site highlights brand and lifestyle sessions, especially for wellness, fashion, and creative small businesses. It notes: “Whether you’re building your brand or celebrating a moment in life, I’ll work with you to create imagery that feels real, effortless, and uniquely you”. Ozzy Palms specializes in natural-light shoots on the beach or in sunlit cafes.

For entrepreneurs, Camila offers “brand storytelling” photography, which includes product and behind-the-scenes shots in addition to portraits. Testimonials on her site praise the soulful, authentic feel of her work. In summary, Ozzy Palms brings a relaxed, ocean-inspired flair to online presence Gold Coast branding: clients wanting a laid-back, lifestyle aesthetic often choose Camila to elevate their online presence with genuine, coastal-themed photos.

The Holistic Photographer: Brand & Wellness Portraits (Gold Coast)

The Holistic Photographer is a brand by photographer Tammy (last name unspecified) based in the Gold Coast. She focuses on wellness and purpose-driven brands, such as health practitioners, yoga instructors, and creatives. Her messaging emphasizes that personal branding photography captures “the essence of you and your brand”. In other words, she believes clients’ ideal customers want to “see you in your element doing the things you love,” not just a generic headshot. Tammy works hands-on to make clients feel comfortable and fully represent their personal story.

On her site, she lists personal branding sessions and quotes Seth Godin: “People do not buy goods and services. They buy relationships, stories and magic.” The Holistic Photographer’s approach is indeed holistic: incorporating coaching on personality and wardrobe, Tammy’s sessions aim to show the real person behind a brand. She often produces content for social media alongside the photo shoot. Gold Coast wellness experts and coaches choose her for her sensitivity and ability to create images that align with their brand values and lifestyle.

Novasoma Photography: Gold Coast Business Portraits

Novasoma Photography (Shane or Wally, not explicitly named on site) offers guided personal branding photo shoots on the Gold Coast. According to their Personal Branding page, they start with a chat about your business and brand background, then use 8+ years of experience to “gently guide you through a variety of poses and expressions to evoke natural images that represent you and your brand.”. Novasoma provides multiple package levels (from 1-hour shoots to extended studio sessions), each including a mix of headshots, lifestyle, and detail shots. Clients receive a private gallery with a selection of edited images to use on websites and social media.

The tone is very professional  for example, they emphasize live iPad reviews during the shoot and high-res image delivery. Novasoma’s Gold Coast location is Main Beach, and their images often feature both the relaxed beach scene and the client’s professional persona. In short, they help entrepreneurs feel “inspired and confident” after the shoot. For Gold Coast business owners seeking a straightforward branding session with lots of guidance and variety, Novasoma is a solid choice.

Embark Agency: Gold Coast Brand Strategy & Consulting

Embark Agency is a full-service branding and design firm based in Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast. While they serve businesses of all sizes, Embark’s founder James Coulson (a Certified Brand Consultant®) has a strong focus on brand strategy and personal leadership branding. He has over two decades of experience and has delivered more than $15 million in brand consulting and design services. Embark’s approach is strategy-first: they run workshops and sprints to define your purpose, values and messaging, and then translate that into design (logos, websites, collateral). James’s mantra is that “a logo without a strategy is just decoration,” meaning they help clients become market leaders through a solid brand foundation. They offer brand strategy sessions aimed at helping you become the “only choice” for your customers by clarifying your why, refining your positioning statement, promise, and story. Because James worked closely with well-known Australian mentor Kerwin Rae, Embark has a reputation among Gold Coast business leaders. Many local professionals hire Embark to articulate their personal or consultancy brand on paper and in visuals. (Embark’s strategies are delivered online too, so even clients outside GC can use their services.)

Lasting thoughts

In summary, the Gold Coast region is home to an array of Gold Coast personal branding services  from strategy and coaching to immersive photo shoots. Agencies like Julie Cooper Creative and Embark combine creative strategy with visuals, while photographers like Michelle Swan, Brooke Darling, Camila Serejo (Ozzy Palms), Tammy (The Holistic Photographer), Sumiko (Sumico Photography), and Novasoma offer the imagery to bring brands to life. (These local providers often tailor their packages to the Gold Coast lifestyle, using beach, café, and studio settings.) We also highlighted Brand Professor and Ohh My Brand, two internationally recognized personal branding experts, as top-of-mind resources  even if only accessible online, their methodologies inspire Gold Coast entrepreneurs. Whether you need one-on-one coaching, a branding retreat, or a full rebrand with professional photos, the Gold Coast has experts to help. Contact us today for more details.

Why Authors Make Better Personal Brand Strategists

Posted on by Bhavik Sarkhedi

Okay, to give a simple one-line answer, an author makes a better personal brand strategist because they already have the experience of marketing and branding their book and reaching out to their target readers who like to read the genre they write about. It can be anything from romance, drama, fiction, fantasy, or a thriller. They have over a lifetime of experience and have gained the knowledge of using the right strategy for not only the branding of their book as a product but also personal branding for themselves.

For authors, personal branding comes more naturally because they have to create and maintain a reputation for themselves. In the ecosystem of personal branding, where authenticity and storytelling are paramount, authors possess a unique set of skills that make them exceptionally suited to excel as personal brand strategists. The art of crafting a personal brand clarity requires more than just marketing savvy; it demands an ability to weave compelling narratives, understand human emotions, and communicate with clarity and impact. Authors, by their very nature, are masters of these skills. Through years of honing their craft, they develop an innate ability to create relevant and reverberating stories, connect with diverse audiences, and adapt their voice to suit various contexts. For people who are wondering why suddenly we have decided to talk about this topic. The reason is simple: we have a new personal branding ebook for all the people who are planning to pursue personal branding and want to learn how to build a personal brand for themselves. The book is called “Become Someone From No One.” The book is the brainchild of Sahil Gandhi and Bhavik Sarkhedi. They both share immense experience in the field of personal branding. Not to mention, they manage the webflow agency Blushush and Ohh My Brand, which is a personal branding firm.

This article explores why authors, with author storytelling in branding, expertise, emotional intelligence, and creative adaptability, are uniquely positioned to build and elevate personal brands in ways that traditional marketers may struggle to match.

The Power of Storytelling in Personal Branding

An author, no matter which subject or genre he or she has written a book about. We have to typically assume and accept the fact that they possess the art and skill of storytelling. They turn this art of storytelling into the power of storytelling, and thus everything else becomes easy for them in the personal branding domain.

At the core of every successful personal brand lies a compelling story. Whether it’s an entrepreneur sharing their journey from humble beginnings or a thought leader positioning themselves as an authority in their field, storytelling is the vehicle that makes a brand relatable and memorable. Authors are natural storytellers, trained to construct narratives that captivate and engage. They understand the structure of a good story exposition, conflict, and resolution and how to use it to evoke emotion and inspire action.

When building a personal brand using book frameworks, this skill becomes a powerful tool and assists in crafting a cohesive narrative that ties together a person’s values, experiences, and aspirations. Unlike traditional marketers who may rely on formulaic templates, authors bring originality and depth, ensuring the brand story feels authentic rather than contrived. Their ability to create narratives that resonate on a human level makes them invaluable in helping individuals stand out in a crowded digital space.

Emotional Intelligence: Connecting with Audiences

Yes, this again is a very important and rare trait that you will find most common among authors, especially with the ones who have given at least one best-selling book. Such authors have already connected with their target audience. Even if we talk about the struggling writers trying to get their first book in the market, they spend their careers delving into the complexities of human emotion, which gives them a profound understanding of how to connect with audiences. 

Writing fiction or nonfiction requires an ability to empathize with characters and readers alike, anticipating their needs, desires, and pain points. This emotional intelligence is critical in personal branding, where the goal is to forge genuine connections with an audience. Authors can translate a client’s personal experiences into a brand identity that feels relatable and trustworthy.

They know how to highlight vulnerabilities in a way that builds trust rather than weakness, and they can tailor messaging to resonate with specific demographics. For example, an author-turned-strategist might help a CEO craft a LinkedIn presence that balances professionalism with approachability, drawing on their ability to read and respond to audience emotions. This nuanced understanding of human connection sets authors apart from strategists who may prioritize metrics over meaning.

Mastery of Language and Tone

This is such a common aspect that we all know about it. What are authors if not the masters of language and tone? They make a living out of writing, and this is something they do consistently. For any author to become a personal brand strategist, the elements of personal branding through brand storytelling, such as brand message, brand voice, and brand tone, come organically to them. As we already have stated, an author works and operates like they are a personal brand. Having said that, a personal brand’s voice, whether it’s authoritative, approachable, witty, or inspirational, must be consistent across platforms, from social media posts to keynote speeches. Authors excel at finding the right tone to suit a brand’s identity and audience.

They understand how subtle shifts in word choice can alter perception, making a brand feel more relatable or aspirational as needed. For instance, an author can help a fitness coach develop a motivational tone that inspires followers without sounding overly aggressive or clichéd. Their ability to adapt language to different mediums, whether crafting a succinct social media post or a detailed blog, ensures that the brand’s message remains clear and impactful. This linguistic precision allows authors to create content that not only communicates but also captivates.

Research and World-Building Skills

Any good book that you have ever read, and I mean. So do not restrict yourself to personal branding. From fiction to fantasy, an author makes you fall in love with the book because of the detail they bring to the book and to the story. This is possible via two basic methods:

Research: Basically an author is a devoted researcher and makes sure to capture every tiny detail in their storytelling. 

World building: If not research, then the author is good at world building and creating a narrative of their own.

In both ways, they make sure they bind their audience together and weave a tale that makes them turn to the next page and never let go of the book. They know how to immerse themselves in a subject, gather relevant details, and create a believable and engaging context. In personal branding, this helps them with the ability to deeply understand a client’s industry, audience, and competitive landscape. An author can research a client’s target demographic with the same rigor they’d apply to studying a historical period, ensuring that the brand strategy for authors is grounded in data and insight.

Moreover, their world-building skills allow them to create a consistent “universe” for the brand, where every element from visuals to messaging feels cohesive. For example, an author might help a tech entrepreneur develop a brand that positions them as a visionary by aligning their content with futuristic themes and cutting-edge industry trends. This ability to synthesize research into a unified brand identity is a hallmark of an author’s strategic prowess.

Final thoughts

In the end, we also point out a few more points that bring us closer to the understanding as to why authors as personal brand strategists are better, such as adaptability across mediums, strategic thinking through narrative arcs, authenticity, resilience, creative problem solving, long-term vision, patience, and most certainly a rejection-proof mindset.

If you are also planning to become an expert in personal branding and want to really have a close look to comprehend how to build a personal brand, we would suggest you download the Personal Branding Gold Mine eBook. The amount of time and effort Bhavik Sarkhedi and Sahil Gandhi aka the “brand professor” have invested in this, we are sure that after reading this ebook, you will not require any other book by any other personal branding expert or brand strategist.

At last, we all can finally agree on one thing: that authors bring a unique blend of storytelling, emotional intelligence, linguistic mastery, and strategic thinking to the table, making them exceptional personal brand experts. Their ability to craft compelling narratives, connect with audiences on a human level, and adapt to diverse platforms sets them apart in a field where authenticity and creativity are paramount. By leveraging their research skills, resilience, and long-term vision, authors can build personal brands that are not only memorable but also widely relevant.