Hey Reader,

Happy to see you here!

Last week, we covered the 5 key benefits founders get from LinkedIn. Today, we’re taking it a step further.

I’ll walk you through the founder’s personal brand playbook—a simple, actionable guide to help you build a LinkedIn presence that grows your business.

Here’s what you’ll learn today:

1. Why your personal brand as a founder matters
2. How to build it step by step

So grab a cup of coffee (or tea), and let’s get started.

1. Why your personal brand as a founder matters

I’m still surprised that, in 2025, so many founders prioritize their company page over their personal one. Some don’t post at all, while others limit themselves to reposting company updates—which does nothing for growing your business.

But here’s the reality:

Whenever a potential partner, client, or investor decides to meet with you, they look you up on LinkedIn. Your profile is your first impression. If it’s inactive, empty, or lacking personality, you’re missing opportunities.

Let me explain why company pages don’t work the way they used to.

People prefer following people over faceless brands

It’s easier to resonate with a personal page than a company page.

Think about it—when you scroll through LinkedIn, do you follow companies or individuals? Exactly.

Higher engagement and reach

The LinkedIn algorithm favours personal pages over company pages. Personal content simply gets more visibility, making it easier to grow your audience.

Full control over your network

On your personal page, you can send connection requests to ideal clients, peers, etc. and start conversations and build relationships under your own or other posts.

On a company page, you can invite people to follow the page—but that’s about it. No personal connection or engagement.

So if you want to generate leads, partnerships or funding, focus on building your personal brand first.

2. How to build your personal brand (step by step guide)

1️⃣ Get clear on your positioning

Whenever I consult clients 1:1, we always start with positioning.

This step is critical because it defines your target audience, offer, the problem you solve, and how you solve it. Before posting anything, ask yourself:

• Who do I want to reach?
• What problem do I solve for my audience?
• How do I solve it?

2️⃣ Optimize your LinkedIn profile

Your LinkedIn profile should work for you 24/7—even when you’re not posting.

Once you’ve worked on your positioning, use that clarity to optimize these key sections:

• Banner photo – A simple image that explains what you do and what your profile visitors should do on your page (avoid any design distractions).
• Headline – State what you do and who you help. You can also use your value statement, like the one in example.
• About section – Tell your story. Use either PAS framework or founder origin story.
• Featured section – Make people take action. Show your offer, portfolio or website. Stick to max. 3 links.
• Recommendations – Social proof builds trust. Get testimonials from clients, investors, peers or even colleagues.

3️⃣ Create your content strategy

Once your positioning and profile are solid, it’s time to create your content strategy. It doesn’t need to be complicated—a simple one-pager works.

Here’s what to include:

• Your positioning – Who you are and what you stand for
• Your target audience & ICP profile – Who you’re speaking to
• Your content pillars – The 3-5 content topics you’ll post about
• Posting frequency & KPIs – How often will you post and how will you measure success

4️⃣ Post content to drive traffic to your profile

Your profile alone won’t bring you leads, investors, or opportunities—you need traffic. This means that you've to create content and publish it:

• TOFU content to attract attention
• MOFU content to build authority
• BOFU content to get inbound leads

(we'll talk about each of these content stages later 👀)

Content is a good stable source of growth. Especially, if you do it on a weekly basis.

But to accelerate it, you need to be proactive.

5️⃣ Grow an audience

This means that you can’t just post content and wait for the results. For some industries, it can take anywhere from 3 to 12 months. Imagine, how much time that wastes.

So, take matters into your own hands and actively grow an audience that's genuinely interested in what you do.

Use the 50/30/20 rule to grow your network:

• 50% ideal clients
• 30% peers & competitors
• 20% similar people in your niche

Also, start conversations:

• Under your own posts & other people’s posts
• In DMs (where real relationships are built)

6️⃣ Create an internal CRM & track intent signals

Posting content and building a network is great, but if you’re not tracking leads, you’re leaving money on the table.

Set up a simple internal CRM (even a spreadsheet on Google Drive works) to:

• Track who’s engaging with your content
• Identify warm leads showing interest
• Follow up with them (avoid sales pitches)

This way you won't miss out on any potential business deals.

Takeaway:

Your personal brand is a long-term investment that drives business growth.

The founders who start building their personal brand today will be the ones leading industry conversations and closing the best deals tomorrow, without needing to pitch themselves.

Don't let any shortcomings hold you back. Equip yourself with patience, long-term mindset and introduce systems to make Linkedin part of your weekly routine.

Follow these six simple steps, and the results will come.

Which of these steps do you find the most challenging right now?

Reply to this email and let me know.

Talk to you next week,
Klinta

---