Personal branding has become essential in today’s digital world. In fact, the concept went mainstream after Tom Peters’ 1997 Fast Company article “The Brand Called You.” Since then, Google searches for the term “personal brand” have surged (over fourfold in recent years). Nearly all executives, entrepreneurs, and job seekers now use personal branding to stand out. Research shows 98% of employers research candidates online, and 47% won’t interview someone they can’t find online. Books to Transform Your Marketing and books on Personal Branding Frameworks have therefore become invaluable resources. Reading these books delivers personal branding tips from specialists and actionable strategies that build credibility. This ultimate list blends classic works and recent releases that any professional or founder can use to Build Your Personal Brand. This list is curated by Bhavik Sarkhedi, an expert in the field and co-author of a leading book on the subject.

The Value of Personal Branding Books

Each book listed here offers unique insights from branding experts. We cover Personal Branding Frameworks, storytelling secrets, marketing tactics, and more, all aimed at helping you stand out. Whether you are a business leader, freelancer, or creative, these Personal Branding Specialists & Their Approaches have written guides packed with frameworks, case studies, and step-by-step advice. From Dale Carnegie’s time-tested influence techniques to modern guides on LinkedIn brand building, these books will help you shape and amplify your unique voice.

The Ultimate List of Personal Branding Books

1. How to Win Friends & Influence People – Dale Carnegie (1936)

How to Win Friends & Influence People is a timeless classic on relationships and influence. Dale Carnegie teaches fundamental personal branding skills: genuine networking, making people feel important, and winning support with sincerity. His advice (e.g., “make the other person feel important”) has propelled countless careers. These principles are still relevant for personal branding: connecting authentically and practising people-first communication. Carnegie’s book provides foundational personal branding tips that anyone can use, especially on platforms like LinkedIn. For example, sharing appreciation and building rapport on LinkedIn helps you grow your network organically. How to Win Friends emphasizes that trust and likability are at the core of any strong brand.

2. The Personal Branding Playbook – Amelia Sordell (2024)

This recent release is designed as a hands-on playbook for modern professionals. The Personal Branding Playbook provides a clear framework for taking control of your brand in today’s attention-driven economy. Amelia Sordell’s book is filled with practical tips, tactics, strategies, and frameworks for building an authentic reputation. It guides you in crafting your story and strategy, then sharing it widely. By following the playbook’s step-by-step approach, readers can grow their brand with confidence and clarity. Sordell emphasizes authenticity and real results, showing how to develop a brand story that matches your values. This book is a great example of how Personal Branding Specialists teach readers to turn personality into a competitive advantage, making it a must-read for anyone looking to elevate their visibility.

3. The Power of You – Hannah Power (2020)

Hannah Power’s book has become a go-to guide for personal branding clarity. The Power of You is placed second on many “top branding books” lists for its impact. It helps readers discover their unique value, niche, and purpose. Power’s approach includes identifying your strengths and values, then leveraging them to grow your online presence. She offers hands-on exercises to build confidence and productivity around your brand. The book is particularly strong on LinkedIn brand building: it shows how to craft compelling profiles and share content that resonates with your network. The author, a seasoned personal branding coach, provides many personal branding tips, like refining your “expert reel” and using consistent visuals. If you are aiming to get inspired and align your career with a clear brand strategy, this book delivers actionable ideas in an encouraging style.

4. Become Someone From No One – Sahil Gandhi & Bhavik Sarkhedi (2025)

In their new co-authored ebook, branding experts brand professor aka Sahil Gandhi and Bhavik Sarkhedi (the founder of Ohh My Brand) present what many reviewers call a personal branding “bible” for 2025. This book is the distillation of their years of consulting, speeches, and personal experience. The authors promise a framework and “roadmap” for moving from invisibility to influence, a transformation they experienced firsthand. Released in 2025, Become Someone From No One is described as a “powerhouse of insights” that can “completely change the way people think, feel, and react towards personal branding.” The book covers everything from storytelling and clarity of purpose to strategic consistency. It shows entrepreneurs how to identify their core message and then execute it with discipline. Importantly, Bhavik and Sahil explicitly support readers with services to act on these ideas, including backlink building, SEO, and more. For a woman entrepreneur looking for a modern, holistic approach, this book combines high-level frameworks with real-world, hands-on tactics, offering bestselling frameworks for personal brands. This is one of the Books to Transform Your Marketing.

Link to buy: Become Someone From No One: Proven Strategies To Become A Personal Brand by Bhavik Sarkhedi, Sahil Gandhi – Books on Google Play

5. Pocket Full of Do – Chris Do (2022)

Chris Do, founder of The Futur, offers a different style in Pocket Full of Do. This book is less about step-by-step branding rules and more about daily inspiration. It is a 365-day creative prompt book, combining quotes, insights, and quick advice to spark action. While not a traditional “branding manual,” it reflects Chris Do’s philosophy on creativity, design, and authenticity. Readers who enjoy bite-sized personal branding tips will appreciate how each page motivates reflection. For example, it reminds you to “share your ideas” and “be generous with what you know.” Pocket Full of Do runs in parallel with building a brand: it encourages you to practice, iterate, and find joy in small daily actions. This book underscores that consistency, even a little every day, can build a memorable brand.

6. Show Your Work! – Austin Kleon (2014)

For those who are wary of self-promotion, Austin Kleon provides the perfect remedy. In Show Your Work!, Kleon (author of Steal Like an Artist) teaches how sharing your process and creativity builds an audience. He outlines “10 Ways to Share Your Creativity,” from “You Don’t Have to be a Genius” to “Stick Around.” Kleon encourages readers to post work-in-progress, credit others, and connect with peers. These practices translate directly into personal branding: by transparently sharing skills and progress on social media, you attract a following without pushy marketing. Kleon’s friendly, illustrated style makes complex ideas easy. Key advice includes building small consistent audiences and focusing on process over perfection. If you apply Show Your Work! strategies (for example, writing about your projects and techniques on LinkedIn or your blog), you will naturally grow a tribe of engaged followers. This book is a classic on authenticity and creative visibility.

7. Ditch the Act: Reveal the Surprising Power of the Real You for Greater Success – Leonard Kim & Ryan Foland (2019)

Kim and Foland’s Ditch the Act gives a candid blueprint for vulnerability-based branding. The book emphasizes a step-by-step approach to reveal personal stories, embrace failures, and build trust. It encourages readers to share both successes and struggles openly. According to the authors (one is a personal branding expert), telling a Personal Brand Story humanizes your brand. You can start using Ditch the Act tips immediately: for example, they suggest writing a vulnerability post on LinkedIn or engaging in live video to show the “real you.” The authors also point out that genuine storytelling drives deeper connections, which is a core principle of branding today. If you follow their advice, you’ll create an honest, long-lasting personal brand that differentiates you from polished but impersonal accounts. This book is packed with personal branding tips on using transparency for credibility and influence.

8. Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media – Brittany Hennessy (2018)

Brittany Hennessy’s book is aimed especially at creators and marketers, but its lessons are universal for anyone building a brand online. In Influencer, Hennessy draws on her experience in digital media to cover content creation, monetization, and relationship-building. She discusses how to find your niche audience, leverage Instagram and LinkedIn, and negotiate brand partnerships. This book includes specific tactics like setting pricing strategies and writing pitch emails, which are useful marketing skills for brand builders. For personal branding, she emphasizes consistency of voice and presentation across platforms. For example, she advises having a polished, complete LinkedIn profile and portfolio that aligns with your Instagram or website. Hennessy also has insider advice on media: how to get featured, how to network with PR. If you apply her guidance, you’ll learn how to transform social media into a professional branding engine. Her practical approach makes this Influencer guide a comprehensive resource on social media brand growth.

9. Reinventing You – Dorie Clark (2013)

Dorie Clark, a leading personal branding consultant, wrote Reinventing You to help professionals pivot or reinvent their careers. This book is rich with case studies and exercises to define your new identity. Clark advises readers on how to audit their online presence, develop thought leadership (e.g., writing articles on LinkedIn), and shape their narrative. A key takeaway is crafting a compelling personal story, walking readers through identifying key themes and then communicating them through blogs, social media, or public speaking. Clark’s step-by-step strategy includes tangible projects (like writing a whitepaper or making a TED talk) and mindset shifts (embracing experimentation). Her expertise shines when she shows how individuals have used LinkedIn and personal websites to highlight new directions, an excellent example of LinkedIn brand building. This book is ideal for anyone looking to chart a new course. Reinventing You delivers concrete steps to find clarity, make an online plan, and increase visibility in a new niche.

10. Stand Out: How to Find Your Breakthrough Idea and Build a Following Around It – Dorie Clark (2015)

Also by Dorie Clark, Stand Out complements Reinventing You with a deeper strategy on differentiation. It focuses on creating and sharing ideas that define you as an expert. Clark outlines how to build a unique brand, get noticed by influencers, and spread your message. She emphasizes using community-building platforms (like LinkedIn groups or Twitter chats) to amplify your voice. Her personal branding tips include “contribute to discussions, offer insight, and help others.” The book shows examples of professionals who used LinkedIn publishing to grow their audience. This book is valuable for anyone trying to stand out in a crowded field; it teaches you how to become known for a specific idea or approach. 

11. Building a StoryBrand – Donald Miller (2017)

Donald Miller’s Building a StoryBrand is technically about business marketing, but its lessons apply directly to personal branding. Miller explains the StoryBrand Framework, showing how to clarify your message by positioning your audience as the hero and your brand as the guide. For personal branding, you can use his approach to structure your narrative: identify your audience’s problems and show how your expertise solves them. Miller’s emphasis on clear, customer-centered messaging helps personal brands avoid confusion. He also highlights “frameworks” (like the StoryBrand script), which can revamp an about page or resume. Entrepreneurs and job seekers alike find this useful. Building a StoryBrand teaches storytelling tactics that make any personal bio or pitch more compelling.

12. Start with Why – Simon Sinek (2009)

Simon Sinek’s Start with Why explores the power of purpose in leadership and branding. He argues that great leaders and companies communicate why they do what they do, and this inspires loyalty. Personal Branding Specialists often cite Sinek’s “Golden Circle” model: start by communicating your purpose (why), then the how and what. For personal branding, this means defining and sharing your mission or passion first. Many professionals build their online presence by highlighting their why, not just their job duties. Sinek uses examples like Apple’s cult following to show how a strong why creates trust. This aligns with statistics: 82% of people trust a company’s brands more when its leaders have strong personal brands on social media. Start with Why inspires you to craft a purpose that matters in a personal branding message that resonates at a deeper level.

13. BrandingPays: The Five-Step System to Reinvent Your Personal Brand – Karen Kang (2012)

Karen Kang’s BrandingPays outlines a clear five-step process for building a personal brand, making it highly practical. She compares the brand-building process to baking a cake: rational value is the batter, and emotional influence is the frosting. Her five-step self-assessment, vision, strategy, marketing, and execution cover the full journey of brand creation. The book offers many examples and self-assessment tools. For personal branding, readers can apply Kang’s templates to create a vision board or fill out her brand profile worksheets. BrandingPays emphasizes authenticity at each step. By leveraging her structured methodology, you can systematically map out and launch your brand.

14. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion – Robert B. Cialdini (1984)

Although not exclusively about branding, Cialdini’s Influence is a foundational text on persuasion that every personal brand builder should understand. Cialdini presents six universal principles: reciprocity, commitment, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity. These principles explain why people say “yes,” and can be applied to personal branding. For example, sharing client testimonials or media mentions is using social proof to boost your credibility, a tactic useful on LinkedIn or your website. Cialdini’s insights are especially relevant online. By ethically applying these principles (like consistent posting to stay “top of mind” or framing expertise as “authority”), you build a more persuasive personal brand. Influence rounds out this list by emphasizing that trust and persuasion go hand-in-hand with visibility.

15. Crush It! (2009) and Crushing It! (2018) – Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vaynerchuk’s books on entrepreneurship and branding deserve a mention. In Crush It!, Gary introduced the idea of using the internet and passion as a platform for building a business around your personal brand. He stressed authenticity and hard work, urging readers to document their journey across blogs, YouTube, Twitter, and more. Nearly a decade later, Crushing It! revisits these themes with real case studies of people who followed his advice. These books aren’t strictly about “branding theory,” but they are motivational manuals for personal brand builders. Vaynerchuk’s energetic style and candid tips (like focusing on native content for each platform) have inspired thousands. They show how content creation skills can complement a personal branding strategy. If you want a dose of enthusiasm and practical marketing advice, Gary’s books are transformative guides to building a brand with hustle and creativity.

16. KNOWN: The Handbook for Building and Unleashing Your Personal Brand in the Digital Age – Mark W. Schaefer (2017)

In KNOWN, marketing expert Mark Schaefer teaches readers how to become a recognized authority in their field. The book introduces the “KNOWN formula,” a framework for establishing leadership: knowledge (of your niche) and pioneering (innovating in that niche). Schaefer emphasizes creating great content and being willing to share it publicly. For personal branding, this means posting high-value articles, videos, or podcasts consistently. He shows how to leverage platforms like LinkedIn to publish and how to interact with audiences. KNOWN also highlights how online communities can accelerate growth, reminding that engaged networks (like commenting in LinkedIn groups) are gold for brands. This book is a hands-on guide for professionals aiming to become a leading voice in a specific arena.

17. Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success – Dan Schawbel (2009)

Dan Schawbel was one of the first to explicitly talk about building a personal brand with Web 2.0 tools. Me 2.0 walks readers through creating an online identity, optimising social profiles, and job-hunting in the digital age. Though a bit dated, many insights still hold: for example, Schawbel advises maintaining a consistent handle/username, using social media monitoring to manage your reputation, and curating professional content. He showcases strategies like using Twitter to connect with industry influencers and LinkedIn to network. Schawbel’s approach is down-to-earth: he reminds readers that your personal brand is essentially your reputation, built through daily actions online. For anyone just beginning to think about brand building, this book lays out the basics of how to Build Your Personal Brand.

Conclusion

These personal branding books, classics and new releases alike provide a wealth of strategies, storytelling frameworks, and marketing insights. From understanding the psychology of influence to crafting your own narrative, they cover every angle of personal branding. Reading these titles will give you the personal branding tips and knowledge you need to differentiate yourself in a competitive market. As Bhavik Sarkhedi often emphasizes, “talent gets you started, but branding takes you further.” With clear Personal Branding Frameworks from Bestselling Books and consistent effort (for example, applying what you learn about LinkedIn Marketing from these books), you can create a lasting, credible personal brand.

If you are serious about taking control of your story and raising your visibility, start by diving into these reads. Each author is a Personal Branding Specialist in their own right, offering practical advice that can transform how you market yourself. As you apply these lessons, remember that building your brand is a journey. Implement one strategy at a time: write that LinkedIn post, launch that passion project, or tell your story authentically. Over time, these steps compound into a powerful brand.

Finally, personal guidance can accelerate your progress. Whether you want one-on-one mentorship or tailored strategies, expert help is available. For personalized advice on implementing these insights and boosting your brand, consider connecting with a professional. Bhavik Sarkhedi, as a seasoned personal branding consultant, offers services ranging from LinkedIn coaching to SEO strategy. Learn more about how to grow your brand on his Contact Page.

Services to Accelerate Your Personal Brand

In addition to these book-based insights, Bhavik Sarkhedi provides comprehensive branding services to help you implement these strategies effectively:

• Backlink Building – Strengthen your search visibility and online authority.
• Content & Storytelling – Craft compelling narratives and content that truly connect with your audience.
• Conversion Rate Optimization – Ensure that your increased visibility actually turns into measurable business results.
• Personal Branding Consultant – Get one-on-one guidance to shape your brand strategy with clarity, ideal for CEO, CTO, Executive Branding Agencies, and Branding Companies For Founders and Entrepreneurs.
• LinkedIn Marketing – Turn the world’s largest professional network into a credibility and lead-generation engine with the help of a LinkedIn Personal Branding Specialist.
• SEO Consultant – Make your personal brand discoverable where it matters most.
• Personal Branding Presentations – Custom presentations for teams and events.
• Game-Changing LinkedIn Personal Branding Tips – Specific, high-impact advice for the platform.
• LinkedIn Branding Consultants – Expert help for professional presence.

Ready to build your personal brand from scratch?

Get your copy of “Become Someone From No One” by Bhavik Sarkhedi and Sahil Gandhi,  a step-by-step guide packed with real-world frameworks, storytelling insights, and proven strategies to take your personal brand from invisible to influential. 

By combining proven knowledge with expert execution, you’ll build a powerful personal brand that gets results. For in-depth help and guidance on applying these ideas to your goals, contact Bhavik Sarkhedi today.