Why ‘Personal Branding’ is a Scam (And What to Do Instead)

The Setup: Everyone’s a Brand Now

In 2025, “personal branding” is everywhere.
Designers posting selfies with motivational quotes.
Founders turning their Twitter bios into TED Talk summaries.
Everyone chasing clout, building “audiences,” and showing up like they’re one post away from being the next Steve Jobs.

Let’s be clear:
Personal branding has become performance — not positioning.

And 90% of it? Noise.
All flex. No function.

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The Problem: Fake Visibility, No Value

Here’s what “personal branding” looks like today:

• Curated carousels with zero depth

• Generic tweets recycled from Naval quotes

• AI-written LinkedIn posts dripping with fake vulnerability

• Designers prioritizing “aesthetic feeds” over results-driven work

You’re not building trust. You’re building a persona — and people can smell the difference.

Nobody hires a ‘personal brand’.
They hire expertise, clarity, and the ability to solve a real problem.
And if your brand is louder than your skills, you’ve already lost.

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Why It’s a Scam

The phrase “build a personal brand” was meant to help people stand out.
But somewhere along the way, it became a game of appearance over substance.

You end up spending more time:

• Creating content than sharpening your skill

• Optimizing aesthetics instead of optimizing results

• Performing instead of producing

It’s not personal branding.
It’s personal distraction.

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The Fix: Position Like a Pro

Don’t “brand” yourself — position yourself.
There’s a difference:

Branding = who you pretend to be online
Positioning = what you consistently deliver that people would pay for

You don’t need to post every day.
You need to be known for something that works.

Here’s what real positioning looks like:

• A specific skill (e.g. Framer sites that convert like hell)

• A clear market (e.g. UK fintech startups)

• A repeatable value proposition (e.g. “We cut bounce rates in half”)

• Results people can see (not just testimonials with first names blurred out)

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How to Build Authority Without Selling Yourself

Forget being a “personal brand.” Be a design authority.

Start here:

• Show before-and-after results of your work

• Explain why your approach works — teach the strategy behind the polish

• Share proof of outcomes, not just opinions

• Own a niche. Solve a very specific problem better than anyone else

• Let your clients talk. Screenshots of their results are better than any selfie

You don’t need 10k followers. You need 10 decision-makers who trust you.

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Final Word from The Chairman

People don’t buy you. They buy outcomes.
They don’t care how “authentic” your brand is — they care if you can make them more money, get them more users, or build something better than the last guy.

If your “personal brand” is louder than your results, you’re losing.

Burn the personal branding playbook.
Start thinking like a product.
Positioned. Clear. Valuable. Results-obsessed.

That’s how The Design Chairman built power — not popularity.
And that’s how you will too.