Starting a personal brand without doing the thinking first is like setting off on a road trip without knowing your destination. You'll move. You just won't get anywhere useful.
Caz and Toby have helped a lot of people through this process, and the ones who struggle are almost always the ones who skipped the foundations. Not because they weren't talented or didn't have something to say — but because they never took the time to get clear on what that was.
Start With Who You Are
Before you think about platforms, content pillars, or aesthetic — spend time on this question: what makes you, you? It sounds simple. It isn't. Most of us have never properly sat down and articulated the experiences, values, and perspectives that actually shape how we show up.
What's your story? What shaped the way you think about what you do? What do you believe that other people in your field don't? These aren't just nice-to-haves — they're the raw material your personal brand is built from. Without them, your content will feel generic because it is generic. There's nothing distinctly yours underneath it.
This doesn't need to be a polished brand statement. It can be bullet points in a notes app. The goal is just to get it out of your head and onto something you can look at.
Get Clear on Your Messaging
What do you want people to think and feel when they come across you online? What do you want to be known for? If someone who'd never met you spent ten minutes looking at your profile and posts, what would they conclude about who you are and what you do?
The messaging piece is where a lot of people get vague. They'll say things like "I want to inspire people" or "I want to share my journey." That's fine as a starting point. But the more specific you can get — the clearer your value, your perspective, your point of difference — the more your content will actually connect with the people you're trying to reach.
"Don't worry if you've already started and think you've got it wrong. You can revisit this at any level, at any stage of your personal brand."
Know Your Target Audience
This one gets skipped more than any other. People start posting and hope the right people find them. But if you don't know who you're talking to, your content ends up aimed at everyone — which means it resonates with nobody.
Think about the specifics. Who are they? What do they care about? What problems are they trying to solve? Where do they spend time online? Even a rough picture is better than none. And if you're genuinely stuck, plug it into ChatGPT. Describe your background, your offering, and what you want to achieve, then ask it to describe your ideal audience in detail. You'll get more back than you expect — and it gives you something concrete to test against.
Knowing your audience also tells you which platforms to focus on. Different demographics, different behaviours, different content types. You don't need to be everywhere. You need to be where they are.
Think About How You Want to Look
Yes, this is the fun part. But it works best when you do it last — once you know what you stand for and who you're speaking to.
The colours you choose carry meaning. The yellow at the heart of the Built To Be Seen brand was chosen deliberately — confidence, energy, optimism. Your visual identity should reflect the same thinking. What does your brand feel like? What do you want people to feel when they land on your page?
Toby's seen both sides of this as a photographer. When a client arrives already knowing their brief — their message, their audience, the feeling they want to convey — the shoot is a completely different experience. Everything is more intentional. The photos land harder. Compare that to someone who just wants "some good photos" and has no idea what they're for. Good images are still achievable. But it takes twice as long to get there.
"Get it all down in a personal brand document — who you are, your messaging, your audience, your aesthetic. Then everything you create comes from that."
Revisit It Regularly
This isn't a one-time exercise. You change. Your business changes. Your audience might shift. What you want to be known for in year one is rarely exactly what you want to be known for in year three.
Build in a check-in every six months or so. Go back through the same questions. Who are you now? Who's your audience now? Does your online presence still reflect where you actually are? Some things will still be true. Others will have moved on — and that's fine. The goal is to notice when your brand has drifted from reality, and bring it back into alignment before it gets too far out of step.
The personal brands that stay strong over time aren't the ones that never change. They're the ones that evolve on purpose.