How To Start Building Your Personal Brand On Social Media (10-Day Instagram Challenge)

I recently spoke with Dain Walker, the Founder of Rivyl, the fastest-growing branding agency in Australia…

And he said something that made me seriously question everything I do on my own social media…

He said, “PEOPLE TRUST PEOPLE more than they trust businesses.”

And no matter WHAT kind of business you’re in… or how “new” or “small” you are…

Whether you’re a freelancer, coach, course creator, agency owner or you sell other products or services online…

If you’re not building a personal brand, you’re likely missing out on some serious sales.

And one of the BEST ways to start building your personal brand is on social media of course!

BUT I’m not talking about cranking out elaborate educational graphics, sharing tons of juicy tips, recreating viral Reels, or writing epic inspirational captions every single day.

I’m talking about something a whole lot more simple than that.

Something that you can do in less than 5 minutes a day. It will:

• Keep you front and center in the minds of your audience
• Boost your engagement
• Drive more sales…
• And most importantly, it will build SERIOUS trust with your potential clients and customers. 

Want to know what it is? Keep reading!

Hey Posse, what’s up? It’s Alex. 

Coming at ya this week with a FUN and EASY way for you to build your personal brand and connect with your ideal customers and clients on social media…

Before we dive into it – you know what to do… 

Join my newsletter for more copywriting and marketing tips every week!

A few weeks ago, I invited Dain Walker, founder of Australia’s fastest-growing branding agency to come speak to my Reignmakers inside my REIGN mastermind.

And I’m not joking when he made me seriously question what I do on my own social media.

But no, I’m not talking about my @CopyPosse Instagram account…

I’m talking about my PERSONAL Instagram account @alexcattoni.

What he made me realize is that when I started the Copy Posse, I sort of forgot about my personal brand completely, because to me they were one and the same… 

I mean sure I have my YouTube channel under my name and personal brand…

But I virtually STOPPED posting on my personal Instagram except for the occasional life update, like my wedding photos or my hubby’s birthday.

To be honest, I was solely focused on building my BRAND, that I kind of forgot about my personal brand. Like WHO IS ALEX? OUTSIDE of the Copy Posse.

I guess I just assumed if people wanted to see what I was up to, they’d watch my content over on Copy Posse.

But I realize now that was a big mistake.

Because I was undervaluing the importance of sharing with the world not only WHAT I DO, but WHO I AM when I’m not running my business.

And the truth is – no matter how “new” you are in business…

Or what assumptions you have about what it takes or really means to build a personal brand…

Even if you only work with a few “select” clients…

Even if you feel like you’re not “ready”…

Even if you feel like “no one cares”…

I’m here to tell you there is NOTHING more powerful than building a personal brand right now.

Now I know when you hear the word “brand” it’s easy to immediately think of BIG brands like Starbucks or Coca-Cola…

But EVERY business and business OWNER on the planet has a “brand” whether you know it or not…

Your business is how you operate, your offers, metrics, and revenue. It’s what you SEE in your day-to-day transactions and how you make money.

Your brand is how you are PERCEIVED in the marketplace, and it’s how you create VALUE. While it’s harder to measure brand value, one might argue that it’s EVERYTHING.

ESPECIALLY in the age of AI when anyone and everyone can create content online.

And regardless of how much time or energy you spend working on your personal brand, your customers have a perception of it – and it could be good or bad – so you might as well try to do something about it, right?

In fact, after Dain’s session in my mastermind, I got this message from one of my Reignmakers…

She said, “Only halfway through the call with Dain and freaking loving it and also feeling so called out about a lot of the assumptions I had about what building a brand would mean.”

To which I said: “Right?! Holy cow he really opened my eyes to the power of a personal brand and how much I’ve been neglecting my own.”

So now I’m here… sharing this revelation with you and what I’ve been doing it…

And the biggest AHA I had about it all, is that it doesn’t have to take a lot of work to get results…

In fact, in the last 14 days, I’ve massively increased my reach and engagement on my personal social media…

And it literally required NO PREP time, no planning, no fancy graphics or captions… 

And after you watch this video you can implement what you learn in less than 5 minutes. 

You ready for it?? But before I share what I did, I’m officially challenging YOU to try it for 10 days in a row. 

Just 10 days! You can do anything for 10 days, right?! And then report back and let me know how it goes!!

Alright, so here’s the challenge: Every day for the next 10 days…

You’re going to post to your IG stories. 

YEP.

That’s it. That’s how simple this thing is going to be.

And that is the ONLY change I’ve made to my personal Instagram in the last couple of weeks…

I’ve been posting to my stories at least once a day.

Now before you totally freak out and say “NO WAY AM I DOING THAT! WHAT DO I EVEN POST ABOUT?!”

Hang with me for a second because I already came up with 10 days’ worth of ideas for you so you….

But before I give you the 10-day plan, let me give you 4 reasons WHY posting to your stories is such a good idea…

And HOW it’s going to help you build your personal brand and massively BOOST your social media marketing efforts… 

#1 – Higher Click Through Rate

We all know that the biggest downside to posting on the Instagram feed is that you can’t share clickable links in your posts. 

You have to direct people to the link in your bio which is super clunky or use a tool like ManyChat to deliver the link to the people who comment that they want it. 

But in your stories, you can share your link right there and people can tap it immediately. 

And it can make a huge difference in your marketing efforts…

In fact, Gap saw a 73% higher CTR in their ads when they added the link to their stories.

So simple. 

But CTR isn’t the only perk of using stories, they also have an awesome retention rate. 

#2 – Awesome Retention Rate 

On average, 81% of people stick around for up to four-story frames…

After the 7th story frame, retention rates start to dip below 75% – but even that is pretty impressive. 

What this means for YOU is that you’re getting people to engage with your content longer than they would if they were simply scrolling their feed…

And the more they engage with your stories, the more likely they are to BUY from you at some point in the future.

In fact, 58% of people become MORE interested in a brand or product after seeing its stories. 

So even if they don’t click or convert immediately, that story view is a super valuable touchpoint in your marketing initiatives…

Next, stories have…

#3 – Higher Engagement

Thanks to all the features you can use in your stories – things like polls, question boxes, countdown timers, stickers, reshares ,links and more… 

There are A LOT of ways for people to engage with your stories. 

This makes the process of “going through stories” a lot more interactive for the user than simply scrolling the feed and liking a post every now and then. 

But according to HubSpot, you don’t even have to use all that fancy stuff in your stories if you don’t want to.

Because it turns out people’s favorite type of story to interact with are short narrative stories, either videos or photos with captions. 

This is GREAT NEWS because it means you can literally hop on your stories to share something random like your garden haul and people will still LOVE it. 

You can show up as you in all your behind-the-scenes glory and there’s nothing more authentic than that.

And, as it turns out, THAT is what people are craving the most from the people, brands, and businesses they follow. Yup, 58% of consumers watch stories because they want AUTHENTIC content. 

People get tired of the “perfectly curated” photos & posts all the time…

They want what is REAL. 

And this is how you…

#4 – Create Connection & Community

When you post regularly on your stories, something really cool happens…

The people who watch consistently start to feel like they KNOW you. 

Even if they aren’t engaging in your stories or DM-ing you, they watch you every day and get a little glimpse into who you really are, what you stand for, and what you’re all about… 

And because no one else can see if you’re getting any likes, shares, or comments your EGO is totally taken out of the equation. 

NO ONE KNOWS who is engaging with your stories. 

So you’re free to let any and everything flow. 

• Welcome people into your world…
• Share what’s on your mind…
• What you’re up to today…
• That weird and funny thing that just happened…
• The line from that book you’re reading that really hit you… 

WHATEVER IT IS. 

It doesn’t have to be related to your business, it just has to be authentic to YOU.

And this is what it means to build a PERSONAL BRAND.

So while this 10-day personal brand challenge might not DIRECTLY result in immediate sales…

You WILL be planting seeds…

Building trust…

And creating connection – which is ultimately what makes sales so EASY. 

Remember: the easiest people to sell to are people who know, like and trust you. 

And once you get into the habit of sharing, you’ll get over your fear of showing up pretty fast and just have fun with it!

Now with all this said…

Don’t Ditch The Feed 

Instagram POSTS are still very important too. 

So while showing up every day on your stories is great…

You don’t want to never post to your Instagram feed again – because “Alex said so!”

No!! I’m not saying that!! Lol

It’s still great to maintain a regular social posting schedule…

Because stories and posts engage your followers in two VERY different ways. 

And should be treated as two separate TOOLS with separate purposes. 

Your posts have a higher reach rate than your stories do – so you really need to be posting to your feed consistently if you’re looking for the maximum amount of visibility possible. 

But your STORIES have very impressive retention rates and are one of the best tools out there for engaging with your existing audience…

So now the only question is…

WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO SHARE TO YOUR STORIES EVERY SINGLE DAY?!

Don’t worry, I got you! 

Here’s a 10-day plan for you to follow – IF YOU WANT TO. 

You can – and I highly recommend you do – just show up and go totally off the script with this challenge…

It’s not so much about WHAT you’re saying or doing…

It’s just about committing to showing up every day. 

BUT if you want to follow a plan, or ideas to get your gears turning, here it is, your… 

10-Day Story Challenge

Day 1 – Share a little about WHY you do what you do. 

It can be as simple as sharing a client or customer win… or sharing your slow morning with home… whatever resonates! 

Day 2 –  Talk about a problem. 

Any problem! This can be related to something your audience usually struggles with or it can be personal to you. 

Day 3 – Share a personal philosophy.

This is such a fun way to let your audience get to know the real you. Do you go for walks every morning? Share about that! Do you read the bible every morning? Share it! 

Day 4 – Share a piece of content you love. 

You’re already out there scrolling through your feed. Next time you see something you love or something you’re looking forward to, share it to your story and share WHY you love it.

Day 5 – Show off something you’re working on.

Maybe it’s a big upcoming project or a program you’re taking.

Day 6 – Teach or show them something useful. 

Give some practical tips on something related to your business or brand, share a tool you’ve been using and explain what it does. 

Day 7 – Share a new hobby or activity. 

Are you trying to stick to a new workout routine? Trying to wake up at 5am? Journaling every day? Gardening? Painting? What is something you’re working on personally?

Day 8 – Share a little about the process of your day or work. 

Everyone loves a little behind-the-scenes action!

Day 9 – Shout out a person, brand, product, or book you’re loving.

And make sure you tag them in your story! This is a great way to get your story reshared to another audience 🙂 

Day 10 – WILD CARD 

By day 10 you should be into a good habit of showing up…

SO use this day to share about whatever you want. 

Maybe that you just finished up a 10-day story challenge and you’re super proud of yourself – post about that!!

I am SOOOO looking forward to seeing your posts. 

Make sure to tag me in your stories on Instagram so I can see them!!! 

And after the 10 days are over, come on back to this video and share your results and experience in the comments below. 

And if you need help with figuring out what to POST TO YOUR FEED…

Make sure you grab a copy of my free social media guide…

• Where I break down the 4 content pillars…
• Get real-life examples straight from the Copy Posse vault…
• Tons of juicy & high-converting CTAs you can swipe.
• And lots more!

You can find the link to that here: Social Media Guide.

Until next time, I’m Alex. Ciao for now.

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