Regarding building personal brand (I’m very new to it): putting myself out there feels draining.
I struggle to separate the professional self from the personal self. It often feels to me: when I use my professional voice, I put part of my personal self out there too.
If I have a choice, don’t like to share my personal self too much. I can’t figure out where the resistance comes from. Maybe this is something I need to get used to?
I totally hear you in terms of struggling to put yourself out there, it's tough at the beginning but in my experience it gets a lot easier over time. Can you share an example of the types of personal things you don't want to share? Are you hesitant to share your stories, experiences, ideas or learnings?
Thanks for asking, Anna! For personal brand, I’m hesitant to share ideas and learnings to the full extent because I earned these through personal experiences and committing to work. I struggle with giving them away for free, especially those I want to monetize in the future. I’ve had experience of my work being taken credit, so maybe there are unresolved feelings there. I wonder if I should take the leap of faith and just trust.
I hear you, and I understand the mental leap it takes to start sharing your value for free, particularly if you want to monetise it down the track. But I think of it like this - free work (whether that’s taking on an initial client for free in exchange for testimonials, free discovery calls, or sharing content online for free) is basically a marketing cost. It’s an investment in your future business. The ROI on free work is high, particularly if it’s content. Without sharing your ideas online, it will be a lot harder to get paid clients because you won’t have demonstrated your value yet. I’d suggest giving it a go ❤️
Totally hear you. I want to be personable but professional. I want to build trust, but don't want to share too much. I want to maintain some feeling of privacy. And Jenn, thanks for that perspective, revisting those overarching elements frequently is a good way to stay on track with what I feel comfortable with and why. And, I guess as I get used to sharing, they may shift.
I hear you. For me, I finally realized that it’s possible to share some details without giving everyone full access. Like you, I don’t want to put my whole world on display, and I’ve often wondered if this is partly because of how I was raised (I’m right on the edge between Gen X + Millennial).
What worked for me was getting clear on the elements of my brand (values, vision, message, audience, etc), and then evaluating which aspects I wanted to share that helped grow a connection between me and my audience. Hint: It’s NOT even close to being “everything”! 😉
Ugh every one of your posts almost brings me to tears because I finally feel seen and excited about the path forward. I appreciate your posts so much! They have been a huge catalyst for me. Definitely all in ❤️🔥
I've only seen 2 people build a "personal brand" on Linkedin who didn't make me throw up in my mouth. It's really hard to land. But when you do, I'm sure it's 100% accurate that it's THE THING that makes this portfolio career idea viable for the long haul
Thanks for sharing these links, I follow Stephanie on IG but haven’t checked out here LinkedIn content. I follow lots of great people and haven’t really connected with anyone who makes me want to throw up. I get that feeling more so about Twitter/X than LinkedIn 😂
gawd, Anna your work just speaks to my soul. Like someone finally can put words to what I've been struggling with for a decade! I don't know how I came into your world but I am so grateful that I did. I've been as an independent for 12 years and have silently struggled with the fact that I do SO MANY things. Since finding your newsletter I've felt this massive sigh of relief- finally understanding that I don't have to choose one area or call myself one thing. AND I can pursue even more!
The comment about people needing role models has inspired me to share my own personal journey through leaving a lucrative corporate career and how I got myself to a point of earning more money than I ever thought possible!
What a beautiful comment, thanks Sylvia ❤️, this makes all the slogging away at the keyboard each week worth it. I’m so grateful you came into my world too!
Thank you for sharing the findings of your research Anna. Much if this chimes with my own experience of transitioning from a full time salaried leadership position in the arts to a portfolio career.
One insight I’d share five years down the line that I think either puts a lot of people off or pushes people back into salaried roles is sustainability.
Unless you can get to a tipping point of followers/reach, you’re constantly and often simultaneously working ON the business (selling, marketing, networking), UNDER the business (automating, systemising, looking for efficiencies) and IN the business (delivering the service, product). It takes a lot of energy to sustain that year after year.
There is also the question of scalability (which I think goes hand in hand with sustainability).
Did your research yield anything useful in either of these areas of thinking?
You make a great point and I have a lot of thoughts on this, largely because I've been self employed for over 5 years (albeit only diversifying into the portfolio career structure for 18 months) and so fully understand the relentless nature of it all.
Here's my current thinking on the skills that people need to generate to be successful in a portfolio career:
1. Acquisition: finding customers and generating income (on the business)
2. Delivery: delivering a high quality product or service (in the business)
3. Operations: setting up systems and workflows to enable #1 and #2 (under the business)
4. Mindset: cultivating a positive frame of mind to enable #1, #2 and #3
It's a lot amount of work to run a one person business by yourself but I've used a few strategies to provide financial security and stability so I'm not always hustling. For example, I maintain a cornerstone income stream (retainer or long term engagements), I don't take on short term, one off projects, for my startup consulting I only target funded businesses who have money to spend etc.
In terms of scalability, I've diversified my income streams into advisory and mentorship where I charge a higher rate than consulting or contracting, and where I'm not responsible for execution, and am in the process of developing a product to distribute my knowledge at scale. I also have an assistant that I can delegate some of the 'under the business' work to, which has been hugely helpful.
That being said, I agree that it's not for the faint hearted and that you have to have a really entrepreneurial drive to sustain and build a one person business, just like you would for any business. There are also differences by industry, and it can be harder to generate ongoing work in ones where consultants, freelancers and contractors aren't used as much. What's your experience been?
Feeling seen! Especially on the love/hate relationship with building a personal brand, as well as needing to craft the perfect offer before releasing it into the world. Both of which are my current two focuses!
I'm so in! I've started down this path (a few published books, a couple of digital products), but I also relate to so much of what your survey uncovered. (Thanks for doing that and asking around, very helpful!) I know what I do as a freelancer is valuable, now I need to find better ways to package it up in ways that leverage my time/energy. I do lots of experiments and I'm getting closer, but ya, definitely still and work in progress. I like the idea of being more active on LinkedIn, for instance, but my 2 current major clients are also active there and I'm not ready to 'run into' them on that platform. At some point, I'll need to make the leap.
Thanks Ardas. You should check out @Jules Fedele. She also talks about building portfolio careers and uses Human Design as the foundation for all of her work ☺️
I actually love building a personal brand; so far I’ve used it mostly to connect with people and make friends. What I love about it so much is that it allows the relationship to start at a much deeper level because we already know so much about each other from our content that we can skip the small talk.
Now I’m branching out to LinkedIn instead of just YouTube and Substack which I find a bit daunting because it’s full of people I know. But I know it’s where my target clients hang out and you’ve convinced me to go for it 🙌🏻
That’s awesome. I love it too, but it took a long time for me to fully put myself and my ideas out there. In the end, I had to just get over myself and give it a go 😂
I just wanted to let you know that I love the mini podcasts that you add to your newsletter. I get so much out of them!
Listening to this one, I all of a sudden realised that portfolio careerists are quite common in the Netherlands, because it is financially and tax-wise pretty lucrative here. We call them ZZP’ers or self-employed without personnel. You find them in almost every sector. I know primary school teachers, dentists, nurses, builders, PR & marketing people, and all kinds of consultants/advisors who work this way. They often work for the same 2-3 companies or organisations for years on end. It’s an interesting construct that has been part of the political debate as well. Many of these people forget or aren’t able to put money aside for their pensions or disability insurance, which are taken care of automatically when you have a fixed contract here.
Regarding building personal brand (I’m very new to it): putting myself out there feels draining.
I struggle to separate the professional self from the personal self. It often feels to me: when I use my professional voice, I put part of my personal self out there too.
If I have a choice, don’t like to share my personal self too much. I can’t figure out where the resistance comes from. Maybe this is something I need to get used to?
Anyone experienced the same? Any suggestions?
I totally hear you in terms of struggling to put yourself out there, it's tough at the beginning but in my experience it gets a lot easier over time. Can you share an example of the types of personal things you don't want to share? Are you hesitant to share your stories, experiences, ideas or learnings?
Thanks for asking, Anna! For personal brand, I’m hesitant to share ideas and learnings to the full extent because I earned these through personal experiences and committing to work. I struggle with giving them away for free, especially those I want to monetize in the future. I’ve had experience of my work being taken credit, so maybe there are unresolved feelings there. I wonder if I should take the leap of faith and just trust.
I hear you, and I understand the mental leap it takes to start sharing your value for free, particularly if you want to monetise it down the track. But I think of it like this - free work (whether that’s taking on an initial client for free in exchange for testimonials, free discovery calls, or sharing content online for free) is basically a marketing cost. It’s an investment in your future business. The ROI on free work is high, particularly if it’s content. Without sharing your ideas online, it will be a lot harder to get paid clients because you won’t have demonstrated your value yet. I’d suggest giving it a go ❤️
Totally hear you. I want to be personable but professional. I want to build trust, but don't want to share too much. I want to maintain some feeling of privacy. And Jenn, thanks for that perspective, revisting those overarching elements frequently is a good way to stay on track with what I feel comfortable with and why. And, I guess as I get used to sharing, they may shift.
I hear you. For me, I finally realized that it’s possible to share some details without giving everyone full access. Like you, I don’t want to put my whole world on display, and I’ve often wondered if this is partly because of how I was raised (I’m right on the edge between Gen X + Millennial).
What worked for me was getting clear on the elements of my brand (values, vision, message, audience, etc), and then evaluating which aspects I wanted to share that helped grow a connection between me and my audience. Hint: It’s NOT even close to being “everything”! 😉
Great advice Jenn!
Thank you. 😊
Thanks for sharing and offering your insights, Jenn! 💛
PS… I’d be happy to chat if you want to dig into this deeper!
Ugh every one of your posts almost brings me to tears because I finally feel seen and excited about the path forward. I appreciate your posts so much! They have been a huge catalyst for me. Definitely all in ❤️🔥
Same, Morgan! Every week I am blown away by how relevant the newsletter is to my work. I've felt like I was on an island for a really long time.
Guys, you’re going to make me cry
🥹 THIS almost brought me to tears! I’m so happy my words are connecting with you. It makes it all worthwhile.
Informative
I’m so totally all in! 🔥🙌🏻💯
Yeahhhhh!!
Every quote feels like me 🫣😂👏🙏🫶🏻
We are all the same, this is my major research finding 😬
💯💯💯
I've only seen 2 people build a "personal brand" on Linkedin who didn't make me throw up in my mouth. It's really hard to land. But when you do, I'm sure it's 100% accurate that it's THE THING that makes this portfolio career idea viable for the long haul
These are the 2 people
Stephanie Sword Williams
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanieswordwilliams
Josh Lowman
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshlowman
Thanks for sharing these links, I follow Stephanie on IG but haven’t checked out here LinkedIn content. I follow lots of great people and haven’t really connected with anyone who makes me want to throw up. I get that feeling more so about Twitter/X than LinkedIn 😂
gawd, Anna your work just speaks to my soul. Like someone finally can put words to what I've been struggling with for a decade! I don't know how I came into your world but I am so grateful that I did. I've been as an independent for 12 years and have silently struggled with the fact that I do SO MANY things. Since finding your newsletter I've felt this massive sigh of relief- finally understanding that I don't have to choose one area or call myself one thing. AND I can pursue even more!
The comment about people needing role models has inspired me to share my own personal journey through leaving a lucrative corporate career and how I got myself to a point of earning more money than I ever thought possible!
What a beautiful comment, thanks Sylvia ❤️, this makes all the slogging away at the keyboard each week worth it. I’m so grateful you came into my world too!
Thank you for sharing the findings of your research Anna. Much if this chimes with my own experience of transitioning from a full time salaried leadership position in the arts to a portfolio career.
One insight I’d share five years down the line that I think either puts a lot of people off or pushes people back into salaried roles is sustainability.
Unless you can get to a tipping point of followers/reach, you’re constantly and often simultaneously working ON the business (selling, marketing, networking), UNDER the business (automating, systemising, looking for efficiencies) and IN the business (delivering the service, product). It takes a lot of energy to sustain that year after year.
There is also the question of scalability (which I think goes hand in hand with sustainability).
Did your research yield anything useful in either of these areas of thinking?
You make a great point and I have a lot of thoughts on this, largely because I've been self employed for over 5 years (albeit only diversifying into the portfolio career structure for 18 months) and so fully understand the relentless nature of it all.
Here's my current thinking on the skills that people need to generate to be successful in a portfolio career:
1. Acquisition: finding customers and generating income (on the business)
2. Delivery: delivering a high quality product or service (in the business)
3. Operations: setting up systems and workflows to enable #1 and #2 (under the business)
4. Mindset: cultivating a positive frame of mind to enable #1, #2 and #3
It's a lot amount of work to run a one person business by yourself but I've used a few strategies to provide financial security and stability so I'm not always hustling. For example, I maintain a cornerstone income stream (retainer or long term engagements), I don't take on short term, one off projects, for my startup consulting I only target funded businesses who have money to spend etc.
In terms of scalability, I've diversified my income streams into advisory and mentorship where I charge a higher rate than consulting or contracting, and where I'm not responsible for execution, and am in the process of developing a product to distribute my knowledge at scale. I also have an assistant that I can delegate some of the 'under the business' work to, which has been hugely helpful.
That being said, I agree that it's not for the faint hearted and that you have to have a really entrepreneurial drive to sustain and build a one person business, just like you would for any business. There are also differences by industry, and it can be harder to generate ongoing work in ones where consultants, freelancers and contractors aren't used as much. What's your experience been?
Feeling seen! Especially on the love/hate relationship with building a personal brand, as well as needing to craft the perfect offer before releasing it into the world. Both of which are my current two focuses!
I see you 👀❤️
I'm so in! I've started down this path (a few published books, a couple of digital products), but I also relate to so much of what your survey uncovered. (Thanks for doing that and asking around, very helpful!) I know what I do as a freelancer is valuable, now I need to find better ways to package it up in ways that leverage my time/energy. I do lots of experiments and I'm getting closer, but ya, definitely still and work in progress. I like the idea of being more active on LinkedIn, for instance, but my 2 current major clients are also active there and I'm not ready to 'run into' them on that platform. At some point, I'll need to make the leap.
What would you say the biggest challenge or blocker is right now?
I am so curious to know if you know your human design!!
A Projector!
I had a feeling!! The way you make it easier and more accessible to understand 😮💨 !!
I am a projector too.
I’m interested in seeing the link between Portfolio Careers and Human Design energy types.
It feels quite perfect for projectors… being able to guide and optimize resources in more than one way, in more than one area.
You are doing a fantastic job at guiding this community! So glad I serendipitously found your publication.
Have a great day
Thanks Ardas. You should check out @Jules Fedele. She also talks about building portfolio careers and uses Human Design as the foundation for all of her work ☺️
So excited for your next articles!
I actually love building a personal brand; so far I’ve used it mostly to connect with people and make friends. What I love about it so much is that it allows the relationship to start at a much deeper level because we already know so much about each other from our content that we can skip the small talk.
Now I’m branching out to LinkedIn instead of just YouTube and Substack which I find a bit daunting because it’s full of people I know. But I know it’s where my target clients hang out and you’ve convinced me to go for it 🙌🏻
That’s awesome. I love it too, but it took a long time for me to fully put myself and my ideas out there. In the end, I had to just get over myself and give it a go 😂
So glad you did!
As always, well articulated Anna. The struggle is real. Thanks for the conversation, and contemplation, you've opened up!
The struggle is real, but the struggle is also shared. You're not alone out here!
I just wanted to let you know that I love the mini podcasts that you add to your newsletter. I get so much out of them!
Listening to this one, I all of a sudden realised that portfolio careerists are quite common in the Netherlands, because it is financially and tax-wise pretty lucrative here. We call them ZZP’ers or self-employed without personnel. You find them in almost every sector. I know primary school teachers, dentists, nurses, builders, PR & marketing people, and all kinds of consultants/advisors who work this way. They often work for the same 2-3 companies or organisations for years on end. It’s an interesting construct that has been part of the political debate as well. Many of these people forget or aren’t able to put money aside for their pensions or disability insurance, which are taken care of automatically when you have a fixed contract here.