Bare Naked Branding
Where do you draw the line?
I’ve been grappling with this lately—this question of how much is too much when it comes to one’s personal brand. What does it mean to be honest, relatable, real?
And where’s the line between authenticity and oversharing? How much do people really need to know?
Being honest, relatable, and real when developing your own brand matters because, at its core, a brand is about connection. If people don’t feel like they’re connecting with something genuine, they won’t trust it—and trust is everything.
It’s all about authenticity. Forget about how overused that word has become. People don’t connect with perfection; they connect with flaws, with values, with humanity.
They want to see the person behind the persona.
When you’re honest, relatable, and real, you’re asking people to trust you. You show them that you’re not just saying what you think they want to hear—you’re standing for something that matters to you.
That kind of transparency builds loyalty because it resonates on a deeper level.
In a world where everyone’s got something to sell, being real is your most powerful differentiator. You’re not just another voice adding to the din; you’re you—and that’s something no one else can replicate.
I’m trying to find the balance in my own work, to get away from platitudes I thought would make me look competitive and smart. It’s probably the single biggest reason I moved from Mailchimp to Substack. There’s something about the platform that begs you to use your own voice, no pretense. I’d started writing newsletters that bored even me, so I knew I needed to find another way.
Substack felt like a space where I could be more genuine, where I wasn’t bound by the conventional branding playbook or the need to tick all the boxes. It’s still a struggle—figuring out how much to reveal, how much to hold back—but at least now I’m having a real conversation, both with myself and with my readers.
Here’s the question: are you revealing something because it adds to your story and sets you apart as a human being, or are you just dumping? Oversharing might feel cathartic, but in the end, it just confuses your message.
What I want to know is what’s meaningful to you, what drives you, what you stand for—and how that connects to the work you’re doing.
So where do you draw the line? You draw it where sharing stops being useful and starts being indulgent. You pull back the curtain enough to let people in but not so far that you lose sight of what you’re trying to say.
And if you’re not sure where that line is, ask yourself: is this serving the story, or is it just noise?
That’s what I’m learning in my work.
The line is always shifting, and it’s up to you to decide where it belongs.
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