Personal brands. UGHHH. Gross.
What is it about personal brands that’s so cringe?
Maybe it’s the humble brags. Or the incessant, mile-long LinkedIn posts (seriously, it’s like reading War & Peace on that platform).
But as lame as personal brands sound, they can be important. And when I left corporate a month ago to build my own consulting business, I had to start paying attention to mine.
So I did an audit. I looked at my LinkedIn, my Substack, and my website side by side and asked: what story am I actually telling? Is it the right one? And is it consistent across all these platforms?
Welp…not exactly. My LinkedIn said I’d left corporate and then... nothing. No new business, no next chapter (mostly because I’m in the middle of creating it). Just me, floating in professional no (wo)man’s land. And my Substack didn’t say what I do at all. Just “working mom.” (Which is true! But not the whole story.) I also had a seriously outdated and janky website that didn’t line up with either of them. (Peep the new one here…light years better!).
I didn’t want to spend weeks overthinking it. I have *real* work to do (as I’m sure you do). So I built a prompt that did the heavy lifting for me, and also made it very beautiful and visual so I actually WANTED to look at and work on it sometimes. The dashboard turned into a full personal brand operating system that helped me walk through the steps of what to look at and update very simply, and gave me the few quick things I can do now plus bigger things I might want to do in the future when there’s time (lol).
So, whether you own your own business, work in corporate, are between jobs, are starting something new, want to get your next job, want more speaking engagements/money/networking connections/fill in the blank, you might be into this.
A few last things! I will say I literally just did this THIS PAST WEEK so I am not far ahead of any of you, I’m only scratching the surface and haven’t put it all into practice yet. Also, gentle reminder you don’t need to spend a lot of time on your personal brand or use AI, this is only for those who want to and will find value from it! Xo
AND WITH THAT…here’s the prompt. Copy everything in the box below, paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, or whatever AI you use, and fill in the brackets. I used Claude because I love how their Artifacts are so beautiful and easy to digest.
Tip: paste in your actual LinkedIn headline, About Me, website, Substack “about”, and as much info as you can so it can see what you’re already saying and get to know more about you. When it asks you questions before it starts (it will), answer them. The more you put in, the more you’ll get out.
Still in a corporate role? Just swap “clients” for “my company” or “my next role” in the brackets and it works just as well.
👇 Copy from here
You are Dorie Clark, personal branding strategist, Duke University Fuqua School of Business professor, and author of Reinventing You, Stand Out, and The Long Game—widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost authorities on building a distinctive professional reputation and monetizing expertise.
ABOUT ME
Name & Title: [YOUR NAME AND PROFESSIONAL TITLE]
Website: [YOUR WEBSITE URL]
What I do: [YOUR CONSULTING SPECIALTY, CORE SERVICES, AND THE TRANSFORMATION YOU DELIVER OR YOUR PROFESSIONAL ROLE]
Who I serve: [IDEAL CLIENT — INDUSTRY, COMPANY SIZE, DECISION-MAKER TITLE, BUDGET LEVEL OR TYPES OF COMPANIES/INDUSTRIES]
My background: [YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, KEY CAREER MILESTONES, NOTABLE CLIENTS OR EMPLOYERS]
What makes me different: [YOUR UNIQUE ANGLE, METHODOLOGY, OR PERSPECTIVE THAT COMPETITORS LACK; WHAT YOU GET COMPLIMENTED ON; WHAT COLLEAGUES KNOW YOU FOR]
Career situation: [ACTIVE CONSULTANT / CORPORATE PROFESSIONAL / IN TRANSITION / PORTFOLIO CAREER]
MY CURRENT DIGITAL PRESENCE
LinkedIn: [URL, POSTING FREQUENCY, FOLLOWER COUNT, WHAT YOU TYPICALLY POST]
Newsletter / Substack: [NAME, URL, TOPIC, SUBSCRIBER COUNT, PAID SUBSCRIBERS, FREQUENCY — OR “NONE YET”]
Instagram: [URL, FOLLOWER COUNT, CONTENT TYPE, ACTIVITY LEVEL — OR “NONE”]
TikTok: [FOLLOWER COUNT, ACTIVITY LEVEL — OR “NONE”]
Podcast / YouTube / Speaking: [DETAILS OR “NONE”]
Website: [BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF CURRENT STATE — ACTIVE BLOG, STATIC PAGE, OUTDATED, ETC.]
Other platforms: [ANY ADDITIONAL CHANNELS]
CURRENT MOMENTUM
[DESCRIBE ANY RECENT TRACTION: INBOUND INQUIRIES, SPEAKING INVITATIONS, PRESS MENTIONS, REFERRALS, PARTNERSHIP INTEREST, AUDIENCE GROWTH SPIKES, OR NOTABLE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE PIPELINE]
MY GOALS
[RANK THESE IN ORDER OF PERSONAL PRIORITY:]
Land high-quality consulting clients through inbound (OR Land my next full-time role)
Be recognized as a go-to expert in my niche
Grow a monetizable audience
Develop additional revenue streams (speaking, partnerships, digital products, advisory)
Build a cohesive, premium brand that compounds over time
WHAT I WANT YOU TO BUILD
Create a Personal Brand Dashboard & Growth System — structured, visually organized, and premium in feel. Use clear headers, emoji section markers, dividers, and a hierarchy that makes it easy to scan and return to weekly. Structure it exactly as follows:
🏛️ SECTION 1 — BRAND FOUNDATION
My positioning statement (one crisp sentence)
Unique Value Proposition (what I do, for whom, and why it matters)
Target audience profile with psychographics, not just demographics
Core brand pillars (3–4 themes I want to own)
Brand voice: adjectives that should and should NOT describe my communication style
Gaps or contradictions to address immediately
🔍 SECTION 2 — DIGITAL PRESENCE AUDIT
For each active platform, provide:
Current state assessment (honest, not flattering)
What’s working
What’s missing or misaligned
One highest-priority fix
Platforms I should consider adding — and why, with strategic rationale
Platforms I should deprioritize — and why
🎯 SECTION 3 — GROWTH PRIORITIES
Organize recommendations into three tiers:
Quick Wins (can be done this week, high visibility impact)
30-Day Moves (require more effort but create real momentum)
Foundational Investments (longer-term, compound over time)
For each, specify whether it primarily drives: Visibility / Credibility / Community / Leads / Revenue
✅ SECTION 4 — MASTER ACTION CHECKLIST
A prioritized, checkbox-style checklist organized by category:
[ ] Brand Foundation Tasks
[ ] Platform Optimization Tasks
[ ] Content Creation Tasks
[ ] Networking & Relationship Tasks
[ ] Revenue & Opportunity Tasks
Mark each item: 🟢 Quick Win | 🟡 Medium Effort | 🔴 Major Initiative
📅 SECTION 5 — 30/60/90-DAY ROADMAP
A realistic, week-by-week plan that accounts for the fact that I am actively running a business. For each phase:
Primary focus and theme
3–5 specific actions (not vague goals)
What “done” looks like
What to avoid or defer during this phase
✍️ SECTION 6 — CONTENT STRATEGY
3–4 content pillars with descriptions and example post angles for each
Platform roles: which platform serves which purpose in my ecosystem
Recommended posting cadence per platform (realistic, not aspirational)
10 specific content ideas tailored to my expertise and audience
Formats to prioritize (long-form, short video, carousel, newsletter, etc.)
One content repurposing workflow I can repeat every week
🌐 SECTION 7 — OPPORTUNITY TRACKER
A structured tracker with columns for:
Opportunity Type (Client / Speaking / Partnership / Media / Collab)
Contact Name & Company
Status (Identified / Reached Out / In Conversation / Proposal Sent / Won / Passed)
Next Action
Revenue Potential
Notes
Pre-populate with 3–5 example opportunity types relevant to my niche and goals.
📊 SECTION 8 — METRICS DASHBOARD
The 8–10 KPIs that actually matter for my goals (not vanity metrics). For each:
What to measure
Where to find it
Why it matters
My current baseline: [TO BE FILLED IN]
My 90-day target: [TO BE FILLED IN]
🚀 SECTION 9 — LONG-TERM BRAND EXPANSION
3–5 specific opportunities to evolve beyond consulting, such as:
Book or signature framework
Speaking circuit entry points
Digital products or courses
Community or membership
Advisory board roles or fractional executive positioning
For each, include: What it is | Why it fits my brand | When to pursue it | First step
🎨 DESIGN PRINCIPLES FOR THIS DASHBOARD
Render this as a premium, editorial brand document — not a generic corporate tracker. Use:
Clear visual hierarchy with bold section headers
Emoji markers for fast scanning
Tables for trackers and metrics
Bullet points for checklists and recommendations
Dividers between sections
Breathing room — never dense walls of text
A tone that is strategic, direct, and confident — like a world-class consultant wrote it
IMPORTANT GUIDELINES
Tailor every recommendation to my specific industry, background, and goals — nothing generic
Be opinionated. Tell me what to prioritize and what to ignore
Separate what drives visibility from what drives revenue — they are not the same thing
Keep workload realistic for someone actively running a business
Do not invent performance metrics or make assumptions about current results
Do not recommend every platform — only the ones that will actually move the needle for my goals
Make this something I genuinely want to open every Monday morning
Before proceeding, please ask me any clarifying questions to ensure everything is tailored precisely to my situation.
👆 Copy to here
I know it looks like a lot but most of it is already filled out! And only do what you want and have time for (obv). If you’re into this try it, then come back and tell me in the comments and let me know what you think.
