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# How do I build my personal brand?
- URL: https://www.liamdarmody.ai/how-do-i-build-my-personal-brand/
- Published: 2026-10-01T16:11:45.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T16:11:45.000Z
- Description: A personal brand is an online collection of your thoughts, ideas, perspectives, and knowledge. You build one by picking two or three topics, writing a North Star paragraph, dialing in your LinkedIn profile, and showing up consistently.
- Author: Liam Darmody
- Tags: Personal Branding & Linkedin Strategy, AI Visibility & GEO

**The short answer:** A personal brand is an online collection of your thoughts, ideas, perspectives, and knowledge. You build one by picking two or three topics, writing a North Star paragraph, dialing in your LinkedIn profile, and showing up online consistently. 

I started creating content intentionally around 2017, then [went all in on LinkedIn in January 2020](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/linkedin-place-2020-liam-darmody/?ref=liamdarmody.ai).

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-27-at-10.35.17---AM.png)

I went through the same motions most people go through. 

Insecurity. 

Anxiety. 

Fear that what I had to say "wasn’t valuable enough", that people would judge me, that my employers would think I was job hunting, that I wasn’t enough of an expert to deserve a post.

I got over it by simply talking about what fascinated me most in business, fed my curiosity, and built relationships with the creators I found on LinkedIn.

My life has changed six times since then.

## What is a personal brand?

A lot of people dislike the term “personal brand.” It sounds contrived, but everybody has one. I like to say that your personal brand is the who behind what you do. 

Everybody has skills, talent, and a perspective unique to them. Put that online intentionally, build a network around those topics, and your brand starts working for you.

I also like to say that while your reputation follows you, your personal brand precedes you. Your reputation is limiting because only people who’ve worked with you can vouch for you. But online you can influence & connect with tens of thousands of people in your lifetime. 

So don’t let the term trip you up. 

Just think about your personal brand as an online collection of your thoughts, ideas, perspectives, and knowledge framed intentionally through with your target audience in mind. 

And don't forget to infuse your personality into everything you write. But don't take my word for it, [LinkedIn CEO Daniel Shapero's advice](https://lnkd.in/p/epesQDCg?ref=liamdarmody.ai) for success on Linkedin is creating content that blends "insight + personality."   
  
Sounds simple enough, right? 

[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-01-at-11.29.40---AM.png)](https://lnkd.in/p/epesQDCg?ref=liamdarmody.ai)

The bottom line: 

Whether your target audience is people senior to you who work in your industry or professionals who may be interested in a service you provide, your personal brand is the top of your opportunity funnel. It puts you on the radar of people who are interested in the topics you discuss, and if you do it strategically, it can increase your luck surface area by orders of magnitude. 

Hence my line: "LinkedIn is a serendipity manifestation engine." 

Cheesy, I know, but the shoe fits. 

## Why a personal brand is better than a job board

Job boards only show you what’s posted right now. But a personal brand [puts you in front of people who may one day have the perfect opportunity for you](https://www.businessinsider.com/linkedin-posts-personal-brand-career-arms-race-job-market-careers-2026-8?ref=liamdarmody.ai). Show up consistently and one day someone reads your content and thinks: I have the perfect job for this person. 

Suddenly you’re in a role that was never posted.

If there's one thing I've learned in 6 years building my brand intentionally it's that you simply never know who’s watching or what kinds of opportunities they can unlock for you. CareerBuilder's 2017 survey found around 70% of employers screen candidates' social media, and [54% have passed on someone because of what they found](https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/54-percent-of-employers-have-eliminated-a-candidate-based-on-social-media-time-to-clean-up-your-feed-and-tags.html?ref=liamdarmody.ai). 

A [2023 ResumeBuilder survey](https://www.prweb.com/releases/ResumeBuilder%5Fcom%5FSurvey%5FFinds%5F7%5Fin%5F10%5FHiring%5FManagers%5FUse%5FSocial%5FMedia%5Fto%5FGet%5FAnswers%5Fto%5FIllegal%5FInterview%5FQuestions/prweb19429116.htm?ref=liamdarmody.ai) of 1,013 hiring managers found 7 in 10 screen candidates' social media, nearly half have passed on someone over what they found, and 54% admit they use it to answer questions they're not legally allowed to ask in interviews.

That alone should be reason enough to start.

## Why LinkedIn is the arena

You don’t have to post only on LinkedIn. But it’s one of the best places, because verified identity [builds trust and credibility](https://www.edelman.com/expertise/Business-Marketing/2025-b2b-thought-leadership-report?ref=liamdarmody.ai) for the long term, with humans and with large language models. 

Through my work at Brandi AI, I've learned that LinkedIn is frequently one of the top three most cited domains in large language models answers. As you can see from my screenshot below, LinkedIn is cited in answers to the prompts I'm monitoring 55% of the time. The next closest in my competitive space is YouTube, another place where humans are themselves and share their perspective. 

Noticing a trend here? 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-26-at-2.50.10---PM.png)

Long-term, I think platforms that encourage authenticity will be the best places to build your personal brand, and when it comes to authenticity, LinkedIn is pretty hard to beat because you have to use your real name, and 115 million people have verified their identity through the platform. 

A large percentage of X, Reddit, Instagram, and Threads users sit behind pseudonyms, which in my opinion hurts long-term trust building. Someone publishing under a real, verified name is putting more on the line, and both humans and machines can tell. 

The older I get, the more I view the internet as one big networking event, but more efficient because it's always open, and is not bound by geographic limitations. You can easily build a global network around what you care about, and it manifests serendipity like almost nothing else.

So, how do you start building a personal brand? Let's jump in... 

## Pick your pillars, write your North Star

Think about the people who create content online that you love. Are you able to remember what it is about their content that you like? Can you confidently say that you know what they do? Who they are? How they think? 

Now ask yourself: what do you want to be known for?

Pick two or three topics you could post about weekly and then talk it all out: your experience, your fascinations, the people you admire. Pour it into an AI and shape it into three or four sentences. That’s your North Star, the guide for everything you publish.

Mine: 

> *I'm Liam Darmody. I'm a startup operator specializing in go-to-market operations strategy. I've worked at companies like LivingSocial, AddThis, Homesnap, and WillowTree. Today, I help Brandi AI's customers show up where it counts, inside ChatGPT, Claude, Google AI, Perplexity, and others. I also help people build personal brands that humans trust and machines recommend in my spare time.*

That paragraph follows me around the internet anywhere I can put it and if there are character limits on other social networks, I truncate it but maintain the same narrative: 

>  
> *Helping people build brands that humans trust and AI recommends. Personal brand strategist & startup GTM operator documenting my own AI visibility experiments.*

- [My website](https://www.liamdarmody.ai/):
- [Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/liamdarmody1/?ref=liamdarmody.ai)
- [X](https://x.com/Darmonation?ref=liamdarmody.ai)
- [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/liam.darmody/?ref=liamdarmody.ai)
- [Substack](https://substack.com/@liamdarmody?ref=liamdarmody.ai)
- [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@LIAM.DARMODY?ref=liamdarmody.ai)

But if you're just getting started, or only have bandwidth to build your brand on one platform, I'd pick LinkedIn. 

Next up: 

## How to create a great Linkedin profile

LinkedIn isn’t a job board anymore. It’s a branding platform for humans and businesses, and a dialed-in profile gets you [discovered by people and by AI](https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamarruda/2026/02/16/how-to-make-your-personal-brand-ai-visible-and-why-you-must/?ref=liamdarmody.ai). And here are five things you absolutely must focus on when building your personal brand profile on LinkedIn: 

**1) Banner:** Premium members can run a carousel of up to five banners. Mine have shown my mission, the startup I joined, the tech I use, and a screenshot of LinkedIn's own CMO commenting on my post telling people to follow me. Four slides, four things learned before scrolling.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-26-at-3.07.48---PM.png)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-26-at-3.07.49---PM.png)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-26-at-3.07.57---PM.png)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-26-at-3.08.01---PM.png)

**2) Headline:** Your headline is 220 characters that follow you everywhere, under your name on every comment. Skip the standard {job title} at {company name} and treat the first \~60 characters of your headline as a micro-billboard for your personal brand. Mine leads with GEO and AI visibility for brands and agencies, plus personal brand strategist and LinkedIn Learning instructor.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-26-at-3.11.56---PM.png)

But notice how intentional I am with the first \~60 characters. It is written very intentionally so that if someone in Brandi's ideal customer profile sees it, they know exactly what I do. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-26-at-3.17.36---PM.png)

If what I do is something they're interested in, their curiosity will be piqued and they'll be more likely to click through to my profile to learn more. 

**3) Headshot:** Have someone take a photo of you close up, make sure [your face fills the space](https://buffer.com/resources/linkedin-personal-brand-expert-secrets/?ref=liamdarmody.ai), and you choose a background color that pops. I switched mine to hot pink, one of Brandi’s colors, and now it stands out in every comment thread, especially because not many men have pink backgrounds. 

**4) Calls to action:** Add custom buttons to your profile. No website? Get one. It’s the only place online you own. LinkedIn also lets people pay you for advice or read your blog. Most people don’t know this, so here's how you set it up:

4a) Edit your info section by clicking the pencil at top right

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-27-at-11.03.27---AM.png)

4b) Scroll down to the Custom Button section

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-27-at-11.05.44---AM.png)

4c) Decide what custom button you want and configure it (NOTE: Linkedin hasn't rolled out the "Get Advice from Me" button to everyone yet, but it's a nifty feature that I'm very happy to have!

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-27-at-11.08.21---AM.png)

**5) About:** You've got 2,600 characters to work with in your About section. Start with a really strong first few sentences that nods to your north star statement. It should be enough to make the reader want to click "more." From there, expand upon it throughout the remainder of the about section. 

I call it my 5w1H framework, which covers: 

- Who you are
- What you do
- When you've done it
- Why you do it
- How you do it
- Where you've done it

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-27-at-11.16.26---AM.png)

6) **Skills:** You can add up to 100 skills and let LinkedIn collect endorsements from your network behind the scenes. In doing so, you send signals to Linkedin about your skills & strengths, which builds your credibility on one of the most authoritative domains online.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-27-at-11.32.43---AM.png)

7) **Featured Section:** Use the Featured section as your highlight reel. It's a space to show off the things you're proudest of. My 3 featured tiles include: 

- The press release announcing my new role at Brandi, which is my primary focus these days.
- My first official Linkedin Learning course
- One of my most viral posts showing how hard I've been working to lose weight and get in better shape.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-27-at-11.35.40---AM.png)

8) **Work Experience**: Your experience section shouldn’t mirror your resume. 

Resumes say what you've done, where, and when. LinkedIn is where you tell the story behind the bullets: how you work, why you do it, and why it matters.

Unlike a resume, there's no predefined format or expectation. You're not constricted by bullet points and short, definitive value statements. That creates opportunity to provide some more narrative context around your achievements. 

Use it!

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-27-at-11.29.43---AM.png)

9) **Recommendations**: let others sing your praises publicly, especially if you don't feel comfortable with self-promotion yet. This is especially important nowadays because LLMs prefer citing people with verified presence that 3rd parties vouch for more than self-proclaimed greatness. 

I've been asking people to write recommendations since 2007 and included a few select, relevant recommendations in every job I've been considered for since. It's good to do this with colleagues shortly after you've worked with them so their memory of how great you are stays fresh. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-27-at-11.47.31---AM.png)

Not comfortable asking for a recommendation? Write one for the person you'd like to return the favor. Makes it a lot easier! 

10) **Services**: this is easily one of the most valuable sections of your LinkedIn profile if you are self-employed or have a side hustle through which you help others online. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-27-at-11.50.01---AM.png)

The Linkedin Services module lets you request up to 20 reviews / year from clients or customers and the reason it's better than a recommendation is that they have to rate you out of 5 stars across 4 categories. In a world where anyone can say they are an expert in pretty much anything and use AI to fake it til they make it, having 46 five-star reviews from verified clients is a great way to stand out. I've yet to see someone with as many client reviews on their profile as I have. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-27-at-11.50.45---AM.png)

**11) Connected Apps, Licenses & Certifications**: LinkedIn recently rolled out a new feature that allows you to verify the software products that you use through LinkedIn and display certifications & licenses you've obtained through Linkedin Learning Courses. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-27-at-11.59.33---AM.png)

This is yet another way to establish credibility and prove that you have skills you say you do. Filling out these sections makes it easier for potential employers and clients to verify your skills because you can't publish these to your profile without LinkedIn verifying them. 

It's also (yet another) great way to send signals to LinkedIn about what you do so that its algorithms can work for you behind the scenes and surface opportunities, content, and people you might be interested in. 

Now that we've covered the how to establish the foundation of your personal brand on LinkedIn, let me share a few of the ways it's helped me on my career journey.

## How your personal brand can help you find opportunities you didn't know existed

In 2021, I interviewed for a Director of Revenue Operations role at WillowTree. During the process, the CMO told me I could do the job, but he had a different role he’d been mulling over and he thought I was perfect for it. The role? Employer brand and talent marketing. I was intrigued because I didn't even have the words "brand" or "marketing" on my resume. 

And yet, here he was thinking he'd found his unicorn - someone with branding skills and ops chops - so I asked him: "what makes you so sure I'm your guy?" He replied: 

> I’ve been following you on LinkedIn for a while. If you can do for us what you do for yourself there, combined with your operations background, we’ll knock this out of the park.

We did and two years later the company was acquired for $1.2 billion (not taking any credit for that whatsoever, but was still fun to be a part of it!)

Then I got laid off.

Fortunately, I was expecting it and the company did right by me on both the acquisition and the layoff, so I had enough runway to take a crack at entrepreneurship by starting a personal branding & Linkedin strategy consultancy. Over 2.5 years, I earned multiple six figures with zero outbound effort. 

My entire pipeline came from the personal brand I built on LinkedIn.

Then a former colleague from ten years back reached out. He started a company and said my posts on authentic branding and AI were exactly what he was building software for. A way for agencies & brands to continue writing for humans, but structure their content for maximum AI readability. 

It is quite literally the intersection of what I'm most passionate about: 

Humans + AI = unstoppable.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4c/2e/4c2ec722-2bd5-4a69-ad93-121c6c1c3e73/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-27-at-11.25.47---AM.png)

Brandi would never have been on my radar otherwise, and now I’m on another startup rocket ship with a team I love doing work that I love in a new industry that fascinates me. 

See what I mean about LinkedIn being a serendipity manifestation engine? 

The point is: 

Everyone is in sales now. 

Everyone is in marketing now. 

Treat yourself like a product worth marketing.

Because you are. 

## Don’t wait until you’re ready

[Content strategy](https://www.businessinsider.com/linkedin-personal-brand-how-to-post-engagement-2026-8?ref=liamdarmody.ai) gets its own issue, so stay tuned for that. For now, don’t let fear of judgment keep your personality, perspective, and experience offline. 

It’s uniquely yours. Nobody can copy it.

And as AI floods the internet with synthetic content, publishing your [authentic perspective](https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamarruda/2026/08/19/is-your-personal-brand-visible-to-ai-heres-how-to-find-out/?ref=liamdarmody.ai) is one of the most valuable things you can do for your career and/or business.

Don’t let imposter syndrome, anxiety, or fear get in the way.

If you've ever got questions, you know where to find me!

Hi5, 

LD 

🌶️

If you found this useful, I'd appreciate you sharing it with others. 

More at LIAMDARMODY.ai  
If you're curious to know how you show up in AI, Brandi can help! Get your [complimentary AI Visibility Audit for your website](https://mybrandi.ai/free-ai-visibility-audit-for-your-website/?utm%5Fsource=the%5Ffold&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=free%5Fai%5Fvisibility%5Faudit&utm%5Fcontent=2026%5F10%5F01) today!.