Why build an online profile?

It took me over a decade to start posting online.

Even though I managed my business's social media accounts, I couldn’t see the point of posting personally.

It didn’t help that when I looked at my social feed it was full of losers posting about hero lifestyles, kids, pets, or generic platitudes.

It made me want to delete my social media account for good.

But then I started to see a few people sharing their business stories online.

They were putting up incredibly valuable content designed to help others on the same journey and I freaken loved the honesty and value they just casually handed out.

So in May 2022 I leaned in.

A few months later, self-doubt kicked in.

My business wasn’t performing how I wanted it to and I told myself I didn’t have the credibility to be helping others.

I almost pulled the pin and quit.

But I decided to post about the struggles instead.

And people loved that!

Turns out that people want to hear about the shit bits.

The “ah-hah’ moments, tiny transformations and how you overcame the odds on your journey.

Not years later once you’ve ‘made it’.

But the biggest question you need to ask yourself before you start is…

Why do it at all?

What’s the point of having a personal profile?

Without that, you’ll quit in no time.

For me, there are two drivers:

1) Most people learn the same mistakes the hard way in business.

But it doesn’t have to be that way if we can share tiny snippets of high-value content that nudges people in the right direction.

It’s simply about sharing our experiences.

2) Founder-led organisations are set to win in the future.

Not faceless enterprises.

It’s no longer just about buying a product, people want to be connected to the people behind brands these days.

And that second point is one of the biggest opportunities over the next decade.

(you haven’t missed the boat)

If you’re keen to start building a personal profile, here are a few things that helped me to get started:

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1. PICK A PURPOSE

You’re going to need a compelling reason for posting online or you’ll lose motivation quickly.

Mine is to give entrepreneurs and future founders real insights they can immediately put into action. The kind of things I wish I’d known earlier.

It’s like entrepreneurs are expected to know everything already…

You’ve gotta do everything without failing or losing money because going bankrupt is socially unacceptable.

It’s kinda bullshit really.

And it’s this frustration that drove me to finally start.

The next challenge was finding the time.

 2. TIME

Like you, I didn’t have much spare time outside family, life and business.

And when you’re starting something new, you’re going to be terrible at it so you need to allow plenty of time to learn it before you can streamline processes and become effective at it.

I realised I was wasting my mornings.

I liked the idea of getting up early but didn’t have a compelling reason to get out of bed at 5 am anymore.

It was the perfect time to explore my curiosity about posting online.

So I started getting up at 5.15 - 5.30 am and spending an hour writing, commenting and posting.

It was actually exhilarating and massively therapeutic.

The next hurdle was the fear of what others would say.

3. FEAR

I was shitting my pants the first time I hit send on this LinkedIn post back in May 2022.

My first post

Nothing I’ll tell you will remove your fear, but I will say two things:

1. Not a single person said anything about my posts.

Nothing. Nada. Just silence.

You think people are watching you but you quickly realise that no one cares.

They're not looking at you.

In fact, getting their attention is way harder than you think.

2. People eventually come around.

Once you do it consistently for a few months, the people you were worried about getting shit from at the start begin to engage with it.

And that feels pretty weird at first.

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It’s important to remember that:

• You’ll question the point of it regularly - Good, new things are meant to be uncomfortable.
• Your niche will change - Keep an open mind and lean into what’s working.
• You’ll feel like an idiot - I still do. But do it anyway.

It’s all about building trust.

If an audience follows you, they generally trust you.

And in this low-trust world we live in, it's a brilliant currency for entrepreneurs in the future because it’s hard for others to build it rapidly.

And money can’t buy it.

I hope this helps you join me online.