How Vulnerable Do You Really Need to Be?

Figuring out your personal brand and online persona

One of my friends thought she was being a coward. She was trying to write something extremely personal and it wasn’t working out. Would her inability to be vulnerable affect her chances of gaining followers?

It’s a fair question. In our Instagram-everything culture, it’s tempting to believe that the only way we can ever get noticed is if we take it all off, literally. Expose all of ourselves, inside and out. Show the world exactly who we are, warts and all.

While baring your soul can (and does) work for some people, it’s not right for everyone.

Whenever you create a professional social media profile, design a blog, or write for Medium, you are by default creating a brand: YOU.

Are you funny or serious? Innocent or snarky? Forthcoming or mysterious?

Many people try to be something they’re not because they think that’s what others will like better.

But unless you’re Lady Gaga, you shouldn’t try so hard to be something you’re not. If you’re trying to create a stage persona that’s over the top, great, but let’s be honest. That’s not the right personal brand for most of us.

Whether you’re an author or an entrepreneur, the easiest persona is usually going to be your own persona. If you’re loud and flamboyant, build on that. But if you’re quiet and introverted, that can work too. In other words, if you're not a wild and crazy guy in real life, you don’t have to pretend to be one just to get noticed.

The trick is to find something interesting about yourself. What makes you different from everyone else doing the same thing? Do you have an unusual sense of humor? A knack for dialog? An uncanny ability to cut through other people’s bullshit?

Once you identify what’s special about you, and what you want to be ‘known for’, that’s your thing.

From there, you can define and stick to your boundaries. Will you share bits of your personal life with the public, and if so, which ones? Does doing so fit with the persona…

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