This Is Me (Pty) Ltd

There is a simple equation for individual success. Build something genuinely good, then make sure the right people know it exists.

For professionals, the “product” is their capability and character. The “marketing” is their personal brand, the way others understand what they do, the results they deliver, and the values they stand for.

Tom Peters captured this many years ago with a rallying cry that still rings true: “You are the chief marketer for the brand called You”.

A strong personal brand is not a vanity project. It is a practical system for earning trust, creating opportunity, and compounding the value of your work over time.

Below is a field guide that explains why personal branding matters, what it looks like when it is done well, what can quietly destroy it, how to safeguard it, and how to build it with integrity.

Why A Personal Brand Matters

Trust moves markets and careers.

The latest Edelman Trust Barometer shows global trust is under pressure, yet people still look for credible individuals and employers they can believe in. In a noisy and sceptical world, trusted voices stand out and attract disproportionate attention and opportunity.

Decision-makers reward visible expertise.

Research from LinkedIn and Edelman finds that high-quality thought leadership from individuals can open doors that ads and cold outreach cannot. It shapes preference, de-risks choices, and invites you into conversations you would not otherwise enter.

Put plainly, ideas shared with clarity function like compounding interest for your reputation.

Word of mouth still outruns paid media.

Nielsen’s global studies continue to show that recommendations from people we know are the most trusted influence on decisions. Your personal brand is the story people repeat about you when you are not in the room. If that story is clear and credible, it becomes the most effective “channel” you could hope for.

What a Strong Personal Brand Looks Like

Think of a strong brand as a promise with proof:

1. Clear value proposition. People can repeat in one sentence what you do best, for whom, and what outcome you deliver. Harvard Business Review frames this as communicating your value so others can recognise it quickly and accurately.

2. Consistent evidence. Your work, references, and results align with the promise. Case studies, artefacts, or outcomes make the claim feel safe to believe.

3. Coherent voice and values. How you write, speak, and behave feels like the same person across settings. People know what to expect from you because your principles appear in your decisions, not just your posts.

4. Right-sized visibility. You show up where your audience pays attention. Frequency matters because familiarity breeds liking, a classic “mere exposure” effect documented in social psychology.

There is also a quiet prerequisite. You need something tangible to market.

Craft precedes charisma. The science of expertise calls it deliberate practice, a structured approach to getting excellent at valuable work. Cal Newport calls it building career capital.

Whichever term you prefer, skill is the engine, brand is the amplifier.

What Can Destroy a Personal Brand

Strong brands fail when the promise and the proof drift apart. Pay attention to:

1. Gaps between image and reality. Harvard Business Review has long warned that reputation risk grows when stakeholder expectations outpace actual behaviour. If you sound responsible yet cut corners, that gap eventually shows.

2. Slow or tone-deaf responses to mistakes. In crises, how you respond matters as much as what happened. Coombs’ Situational Crisis Communication Theory shows that matching the response to the type of crisis is critical to protect reputation. Silence, denial, or defensiveness can damage more than the initial error.

3. Inconsistency. Erratic quality, sudden shifts in values, and mixed messages erode trust. People will forgive honest mistakes faster than they will forgive unpredictability that feels strategic or manipulative.

4. Borrowed credibility without due diligence. Associating with questionable partners, sharing unverified claims, or chasing trends can contaminate the story you have worked to build. In a low-trust climate, your sources and alliances either reinforce or undermine you.

How to Safeguard Your Brand

1. Align promise and practice.

2. Make public claims only when you have private evidence. Keep a living “proof file” of specific outcomes, testimonials, and artefacts that support your words. It closes the promises-proof gap identified by reputation research.

3. Use a crisis playbook. Anticipate mistakes. When you err, acknowledge it, explain the fix, and show what will change. Coombs’ work suggests timely, empathetic, responsibility-appropriate responses protect reputation better than legalistic deflection.

4. Practice digital hygiene. Use secure accounts, claim your name across major platforms, and keep a simple, up-to-date website that presents your core message, proof, and contact paths. It is less about vanity than about controlling the first impression.

5. Choose your rooms. Be intentional about the communities, events, and collaborators you associate with. Your brand is the average of your associations, especially when trust is fragile.

6. Audit yourself quarterly. Review whether your recent work, posts, and meetings still reflect your positioning. Retire work that no longer represents your standards. Adjust your message when your skills materially evolve, not when a trend spikes.

How to Build It, Step by Step

The most credible personal brands emerge from structured, human marketing. A practical sequence looks like this:

1. Position with precision. Fill in a one-line value proposition: “I help [specific audience] achieve [specific outcome] by doing [specific method], proven by [evidence].” HBR’s guidance on personal branding encourages exactly this clarity. Avoid slogans. Use outcomes.

2. Do the work that earns the story. Apply deliberate practice to your craft. Define skills that would make you rare and valuable, then set up feedback loops to get there. A brand that rests on mastery wears well and compounds.

3. Codify your “pillars.” Choose three to five themes you will consistently speak about. They should map to your strengths and the problems your audience cares about. It keeps your signal tight and your content recognisably yours.

4. Publish helpful ideas. Share short, specific insights linked to your pillars. Decision-makers use thought leadership to assess who to trust and invite into deals, projects, or roles. Quality beats volume, yet frequency matters for familiarity.

5. Collect and show proof. Turn outcomes into artefacts. Before-and-after snapshots, brief case notes, speaking clips, links to deliverables, and third-party praise make your claims tangible. Tie each artefact to one pillar for coherence.

6. Make advocacy easy. Since word of mouth outruns ads, equip your network with a crisp sentence and a link they can forward. Referrals travel on the rails of clarity.

7. Be present where it counts. Choose platforms where your audience already pays attention. Engage thoughtfully in comments, publish periodically, and participate in communities. You are optimising for reputation with the right 1,000 people, not generic reach.

8. Review and refine. Every quarter, look at inbound opportunities and feedback. Which posts or talks led to the right conversations? Double down on those formats and topics. Sunset the rest.

Two Iconic Personal Brands and How They Were Built

1. Taylor Swift: Control, Community, and Consistency

Swift’s brand sits at the intersection of artistic output, business control, and fan intimacy.

When she challenged streaming economics in 2014, she reframed the conversation about the value of music and access models. That was a brand move grounded in principle and strategy.

Her later decision to re-record her early albums to regain control of her masters was a masterclass in narrative, legal savvy, and community mobilisation. Harvard Law School’s analysis notes how “Taylor’s Version” shifted industry thinking about copyright and artist leverage.

She paired that with relentless delivery, a coherent story, and direct fan engagement that turned listeners into advocates. Recent Harvard Business Review coverage calls this “strategic genius,” not because of hype but because each move aligned her promise, proof, and audience relationship.

There is a lesson in her method.

Clarity of values, ownership of key assets, and direct distribution channels create resilience. The brand holds because the underlying business decisions keep reinforcing it.

2. Nelson Mandela: A Brand of Reconciliation and Moral Courage

Mandela’s personal brand was built on consistent alignment between words and deeds. After decades in prison, he chose reconciliation over revenge.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation curates speeches and artefacts that show how deliberately he communicated unity and forgiveness, including the 1995 message on the Day of Reconciliation. His identity was not a slogan. It was a life lived at cost, then communicated with discipline to shape a shared future.

The enduring power of his brand comes from that radical consistency. People trusted his words because they matched his choices. That is reputation in its purest form.

Conclusion

Do the work that earns the story. Tell the story in a way that helps the right people find you. Protect the trust you build. It is the most straightforward path to durable success because it honours both sides of the equation.

Great product. Great marketing. One person.

Until next time, remember that a personal brand is a living contract. You promise something valuable, then you deliver it often enough and consistently enough that others come to rely on you.

Dion Le Roux

References

1. Avery, J., & Greenwald, R. (2023). A New Approach to Building Your Personal Brand. Harvard Business Review.

2. Coombs, W. T. (2007). Protecting Organisation Reputations During a Crisis: The Development and Application of Situational Crisis Communication Theory. Corporate Reputation Review.

3. Edelman. (2025). Edelman Trust Barometer Global Report.

4. Edelman & LinkedIn. (2024–2025). B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report.

5. Harvard Business Review Editors. (2025). The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift. Harvard Business Review.

6. Harvard Law School. (2024). Taylor’s Version of Copyright: How Taylor Swift Changed the Game by Remaking Her Own Music.

7. Mandela, N. (1995). Message on the Day of Reconciliation. Nelson Mandela Foundation archives.

8. Nelson Mandela Foundation. (n.d.). Archives and Legacy Resources.

9. Nielsen. (2021). Beyond Martech: Building Trust with Consumers and Engaging Where Sentiment Is High.

10. Peters, T. (1997). The Brand Called You. Fast Company.

11. Zajonc, R. B. (1968). Attitudinal Effects of Mere Exposure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.