When I started this newsletter in January 2023…
It was mostly for fun.
I wanted to do something creative again.
I had stuff to talk about from 10+ years of running StoryLearning.
And I’ll be honest…
It was nice for my ego too, to see my personal brand out in the wild, spouting my sagacious takes on business.
But as the year unfolded, I started to see things very differently.
I stop thinking of my personal brand as a “nice to have”.
And started to think of it as essential.
Essential for very survival online in the years to come.
So much so, that I went all-in on my One-Person Empire, and plan to stick to it for the next 10 years of my business career.
There are a few different reasons why I consider it so important.
Some reasons are positive…
But some are reasons to be fearful.
Taken in the round, this is why I think everyone should at least consider building a One-Person Empire for themselves.
First – A.I.
I am not one to be alarmist about AI, but there’s no question that the information landscape is changing forever.
The online course industry, for example, is finished. (Not immediately. It’ll be death by a thousand cuts.)
Any gatekeeping to information will be demolished.
And trust along with it.
And in a world of generic, deep fake information, I believe we will see attention flood to individuals.
Individuals with powerful voices, unique takes, intimate content…
People will fatigue of machine-generated content, and crave authenticity from individuals with personality.
So doom and gloom, aside…
I actually think the best way for me to survive and thrive in the next 10 years is by building the strongest possible personal brand.
Second – Ambition
This one took me by surprise.
When I first started my One-Person Empire, I was worried it would distract from running my main business StoryLearning.
After all, how can spending less time in my company be good?
In fact, something very different happened…
As I watched my new little personal brand generate $175,000 in the first year, I realised something huge…
I was no longer reliant on StoryLearning for my personal income.
See, even though I have multiple income streams and investments, I always drew my lifestyle expenses from the company.
Psychologically, I think this held me back.
It means I took less risk.
If something went wrong, it was my livelihood on the line!
But since building my personal brand, I found myself mentally free to be far more ambitious and aggressive in growing StoryLearning.
I’ve been re-investing more, hiring more and learning an absolute tonne.
The lesson:
The less attached you are, the more ambitious you can be.
Third – Learning & Impact
As part of my personal brand, I write about entrepreneurship.
Every time I write about my ideas, I understand them more deeply.
As a result, I become more mature and a better entrepreneur.
This has a bunch of impact…
- My writing helps other people
- It helps my main business, StoryLearning
- And directly benefits the entrepreneurs I mentor
In other words, using my personal brand as an excuse to write and think is making me a better and more capable person all around.
I gotta admit…
I didn’t see this coming!
But now that I have, I’m going all-in on scaling my personal brand business to the moon!
Namaste,
Olly