Early signals show up within the first month: profile visits from your target market, connection requests from relevant buyers, initial DMs asking about your work. Real momentum builds over 3-6 months: inbound inquiries, speaking invitations, prospects showing up to calls already convinced. If you're currently getting zero inbound from your personal presence, expect to see first meaningful conversations by month 2-3. If you already have some presence but it's not converting, improvements show faster because we're optimizing, not starting from zero. The question isn't whether it works. It's whether you're willing to commit 3-4 hours per month for six months to see it compound.

Social Media Marketing manages your business accounts (company LinkedIn, business Instagram). It builds your brand as a company. Personal Branding builds your profile as the founder or expert. It positions you, not just your business. Here's how to know which you need first: If buyers need to trust the company (product brands, established firms, teams of 10+), start with Social Media Marketing. If buyers need to trust the founder (consulting, services, early-stage startups where you ARE the brand), start with Personal Branding. Many clients do both because they reinforce each other. Your personal brand drives attention. Your company brand converts it.

Your involvement is non-negotiable. We can't ghost-write your personal brand. It has to sound like you, reflect your expertise, and come from your accounts. Weeks 1-3: 2-3 hours for positioning interviews and profile review. Ongoing: 3-4 hours per month for content review, recording voice notes with your thinking, and engaging with high-value comments. If you're thinking "I don't have 3-4 hours per month," ask yourself: Do you have 3-4 hours per month for sales calls? Because that's what this replaces. Personal branding is prospecting that works while you're doing other things. If you genuinely don't have that time, personal branding isn't the bottleneck. Your calendar is.

No. Most founders should dominate one platform (usually LinkedIn for B2B) and only add a second if your buyers are genuinely active there. Here's how to decide: LinkedIn first if: You sell B2B, professional services, SaaS, consulting, or anything where decision-makers research before buying. Add Instagram if: You're in design, lifestyle, wellness, or consumer products where visual proof matters. Add Twitter/X if: You're in tech, finance, or crypto where real-time conversation happens. Skip everything else unless you have clear evidence your buyers spend time there. Being mediocre on five platforms is worse than being authoritative on one.

Most personal branding fails for one of three reasons. See if any sound familiar: 1. No positioning. You posted without answering: Who am I for? What am I known for? What makes my approach different? Without this, content feels random and sounds like everyone else. 2. No consistency. You posted intensely for three weeks, got discouraged by low engagement, and stopped. Authority doesn't build in three weeks. It builds over six months of showing up. 3. No connection to business. You posted content that got likes but never moved people toward a conversation. Engagement without business outcomes is just noise. We start by fixing positioning first. Then we build a sustainable system (not a burnout sprint). Then we measure what actually matters: inquiries, not impressions. If your past attempts failed because of any of these three, we'll fix it. If they failed for a different reason, book a call and walk us through what happened. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help or not.

Track these leading indicators: Month 1-2: Profile visits from people in your target market. Connection requests with messages referencing your content. DMs asking questions about your expertise. Month 3-4: Inbound inquiries that start with "I've been following your content..." Speaking or podcast invitations. Referrals from people who've never met you but know your work. Month 6+: Prospects showing up to sales calls already convinced. Shorter sales cycles because trust is pre-built. Premium positioning because you're positioned as an expert, not a commodity. If you're seeing profile visits and DMs by month 2 but no business conversations, that's a positioning or offer problem, not a personal branding problem. We'll catch that early and adjust.

You don't need to be a natural writer. We handle the writing. You provide the raw thinking through interviews, voice notes, or bullet points. As for visibility: every founder feels this at first. The discomfort fades with practice and a system. We start small. One post per week. Build confidence. Then scale. The founders who win at personal branding aren't the most extroverted or eloquent. They're the ones who show up consistently even when it feels awkward. If you're waiting to feel comfortable before you start, you'll never start. Comfort comes from repetition, not preparation.