SHS #227: The 4 stages of building your personal brand

Side Hustle Saturdays

September 5, 2026

SHS #226: The 4 stages of building your personal brand

Reading time: 4 minutes

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The FINAL cohort of Authentic Influence for 2026 starts on 15th September.

Hi friend,

In today's issue, I'll decode the four stages of building your personal brand.

They're the four stages I created out of my experience, so nothing out of a textbook or something hehe.

Stage four and doing what I say after that is the hardest :x


Stage 1: Write about what you know.

This is for those of you who think:

"What should I write about? I have too many/ too little topics!"

Start with your expertise.

What have you learned through your work, experiences, and mistakes?

Life experience and hobbies count too.

As a living human, you're a universe full of stories. Leverage them!

Stage 2: Write about what you enjoy.

The thing is - too many people worry about their niche. In a way that they never start 🤦🏻‍♀️

I want to tell you that stage 1, which is simply writing and getting the ball rolling, is the most important.

Everything else comes later. Until you write, you won't know what you'll actually enjoy writing about. How do you know you will enjoy writing 100 posts about something unless you do it?

I wrote about health and fitness for 5 years before I started writing online seriously and realised I don't want to talk about it anymore 😳

With writing online, a lot of answers come to you by writing online.

Once you’ve started publishing, notice what you actually enjoy talking about.

Double down on that.

Stage 3: Build authority

This is where your content builds your authority and presence.

You’re combining your expertise with the subjects you genuinely enjoy, while paying attention to what your audience responds to.

This stage comes when you've posted long enough for people to start commenting. Do that by...

Stage 4: Engage (!!!)

This is what most people miss out on because it feels like too much work with no return. That's not true!

Don’t just publish and leave.

  • Reply to the comments on your posts
  • Engage with other people’s content
  • Start conversations
  • Build relationships

Your personal brand is being built in those interactions too.

I personally think that writing without engaging is like speaking in an empty room.

Personal branding compounds. The more consistently you publish and engage, the more people recognise you, trust you, and think of you when an opportunity comes up.

Speaking about opportunities...


Finally - opportunities

Trust me - life is so much easier when you attract opportunities instead of applying for them. I used to apply for 10 jobs a day on Upwork once upon a time, and sometimes more than that!

It was an exhausting process.

But most people don't:

  • show up for long enough
  • take the time to engage
  • refine their content
  • show up consistently

You need to do all of this to get opportunities.

Get a head start by joining Authentic Influence, where many clients who are absolute beginners get opportunities within months! This is where you skip years of 'figuring things out'.

All the best!

Love,
N

PS: Apologies for any errors; I edited this after a long medical emergency that has got me a bit off mentally and physically.

Before you go:

  1. FREE Side Hustler Checklist: to help you kickstart your side hustle. 11,000+ superstars love it.
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  3. Build your personal brand that prints $$$$: fill out this form if you want me to help you build your brand.

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Niharikaa Kaur Sodhi

I write tips around side hustling, writing, and monetisation to 15,000+ superstars every Saturday.