Wanna know why I'm NOT obsessing over my personal brand right now?
Because I've posted on Twitter/X for 595 days in a row...
(With the perfect bio, the color scheme, the positioning statement...)
...and I have 193 followers and zero clients to show for it.
So this time, I'm doing it backwards.
I'm still in my 9-5.
Still commuting. Still making far less than I'd like. And still stuck in a schedule I don't decide.
So today, I'm sharing the 3 reasons I'm building skill before building a personal brand, and why this might be the smarter play if you're still working a 9-5.
Let's get to it.
Reason #1: Skills pay the bills
I used to think if I just had the right positioning, the right vibe, clients would find me.
I'd rewrite my Twitter bio 10 times trying to sound credible.
I'd agonize over whether I should niche down (which felt like limiting myself) or if I should "be the niche" like Dan Koe talks about.
Meanwhile I wasn't doing the one thing that most reliably creates clients:
Outreach.
There's this widespread belief on social media that to make money online, you start by collecting followers.
(and that sounds super attractive to someone who dislikes outreach).
But unless you have thousands of them—and most of them have the exact problem you solve—all they're likely to get you are a few likes.
So my first reason is simple: skills generate cash while brands generate likes.
The latter gives you a short boost of dopamine, while the former gives you the freedom to design your life.
(And the ability to say F U to anyone who has a problem with that).
I know which one I'd choose.
Now... I already have skills in this area.
Email Marketing is a core part of my 9-5 as a CRM Manager.
I get the occasional invitation to interviews for similar positions at other companies.
But that would just be trading one straight-jacket for another.
And I'm after true freedom.
The ability to live where I want, earn more than I need, and do it all within a schedule of my choosing.
And to get that, it's about taking those email marketing skills and packaging them into an attractive offer for the right type of client—then reaching out with that offer enough times to get the ball rolling.
Your first $10k likely won't come from branding. It'll come from having a skill people need and asking them to pay for it.
And that's why you're better off focusing on getting good at solving a problem for the right type of person before you worry about followers.
The bottom line:
I'd rather be the guy who can reliably make email print money than the guy with 10,000 followers and no clients.
Reason #2: 595 days of "building a brand" didn't pay my bills—but one client would have
Here's the math that keeps me up at night:
595 days of consistent posting. 193 followers. Zero clients.
Now imagine if I'd spent just 30 minutes of each of those 595 days doing outreach instead.
Finding the right person. Researching their business. Writing a customized message. At a realistic pace, that's maybe 2 quality outreach messages per day.
That's roughly 1,200 messages over that time.
Using my mentor Nicolas Cole's numbers—100 quality messages to land 1 client—I could have landed 12 clients by now.
Even if I was half as effective as that, that's still 6 clients. Real projects. Real revenue. Real proof I could point to.
(And that's not counting on a single referral)
I could have quit my 9-5. Moved to my dream country. Lived my dream life.
Instead, I have 193 followers and a Twitter archive no one will ever read.
I'm still setting my alarm for 6 AM. Still sitting in traffic. Still asking permission to take a day off.
That's the real cost.
I'm not saying building a personal brand is useless. I'm saying I got the order wrong.
I built the brand before I had regular proof coming in that I could deliver results. Projects that lead to testimonials. Projects that are good for case studies.
So when people did find me (all 193 of them), there was nothing compelling to convert them.
Just a guy posting about his many interests (which for an onlooker probably felt pretty random at times).
The painful lesson: posting daily feels productive, but it's not the same as doing the work that creates clients.
I remember the exact moment it hit me. I was scrolling through my analytics, seeing those pathetic engagement numbers, and my wife asked me how the "business" was going.
I didn't have an answer. Because I didn't have a business. I had a hobby that looked like work.
This time, I'm flipping it.
I'm doing outreach first. I'm landing clients. I'm building proof.
And then I'll amplify it with content and personal branding.
Because if it's one thing I've realized it's this:
If you want people to follow you, you gotta be the first to take the steps.
Reason #3: I'm still building a brand—but this time it's grounded in real work
Now, I know the irony.
I'm literally writing this letter right now, which is building a personal brand.
And honestly?
Part of me worries I'm making the same mistake again: spending time writing instead of doing outreach.
But here's the key difference: I'm not preaching from the tower.
I'm documenting what I'm learning as I do the work—the outreach that gets ignored, the follow-ups that land calls, the clients I'm trying to close, the lessons I'm learning in real-time.
The brand is gradually formed around real attempts and lessons, not manufactured authority and posturing.
Future me won't be "the guy who escaped his 9-5 with ugly emails" because it's a clever positioning statement. I'll be that guy because it's true—because I actually did it, and I documented the messy process along the way.
That's the brand worth building: one that's earned through doing the work, not faked through clever marketing.
And the best part? You don't have to wait until you're successful to start. You can document the journey from day one. The failures, the pivots, the small wins.
People don't follow perfect success stories. They follow real people doing real work.
So I'm building skill and brand at the same time... BUT skill comes first, and the brand is just the byproduct of showing up and doing the work publicly.
Here's what I wish someone had told me 595 days ago:
You don't need a polished personal brand to start making money as a freelancer. You need a skill that solves a problem people will pay for—and the guts to reach out and sell it before you feel "ready."
The 3 reasons I shared today are why I'm betting on ugly emails first and letting the brand form around proven results.
So if you're building something on the side right now...
(and you're tired of posting into the void like I was)
...here's what I'm committing to (and you're welcome to join me):
- 30 minutes outreach per day (or 3.5+ hours on weekends)
- Quality messages showing how I can help (not templated spam)
- Loom videos to build trust and explain my thinking
- Following up until they reply or threaten to call the police
I'll still write content for social media—one letter like this repurposed across X and Substack throughout the week—but here's the shift:
Content documents the work. Outreach IS the work.
So here's my lesson learned:
Don't wait for the perfect brand.
Build the skill. Do the outreach. Land the clients. Document what you're learning along the way.
The personal brand will come, and it'll actually mean something because it's built on proof, not just positioning.
595 days ago, I chose comfort over courage. I chose posting over prospecting.
I'm not making that mistake again.
