Before a client ever books a call with you, they look you up. They read your posts, scan your profile and, more and more, ask an AI tool who they should hire. What they find decides whether you make the shortlist.
On a recent episode of the Be-Picked Podcast, Andrew Colsky talked with Mohd Hashim, a personal brand strategist who works with B2B founders and C-suite leaders on LinkedIn. Here is what he shared about building a personal brand that turns visibility into trust, and trust into business.
You Already Have a Personal Brand
When most people hear the word "brand," they picture a logo. Andrew used Coca-Cola as the example: the white letters on a red background. Hashim pointed out that a company brand is about the product. A personal brand is about the person.
In his words, your personal brand is how people see you. Everyone already has one, whether they shaped it or not. The work is doing it on purpose: choosing specific topics that bring you more business and more opportunities, instead of talking about everything.
He also pointed to founder-led brands. When a founder with a strong personal brand launches something, people pay attention because they already know and follow the person behind it.
The Three Kinds of Content That Build Trust
Hashim sorts personal brand content into three categories. The goal is to use all three, not just one.
- Personal stories. Experiences only you have. Anyone can generate generic content with AI, so your own stories are what set you apart.
- Expertise. What you are good at and what you actually do. This is the content that gives readers something useful they can apply.
- What you sell. Consultations, done-for-you services or a product. Once you have an audience, you share how you help clients, including case studies and client journeys.
Post only personal stories and people eventually lose interest. Add expertise and they keep coming back because you are adding value. Then, when you talk about your service and share client results, trust follows.
Keep Your Stories Tied to Your Goal
Andrew asked whether personal stories should include things like a favorite hobby or a new puppy. Hashim's answer: start from your goal and work backward. If you want your content to build your business, your stories should connect to your expertise or your offer.
For a nutritionist, that might be how they started their career, what they learned along the way and the problems clients usually bring to them. Lighter personal posts can work later, once you have a large audience that already follows you. In the beginning, stick to stories that line up with what you want the content to do.
Pick a Niche and Mean It
Andrew shared a gap he sees often: when he asks professionals who their ideal client is, almost all of them have to stop and think. A nutritionist who can help with anything related to nutrition is broad. One who works with preteens who have weight issues has a clear ideal client.
Hashim agreed. If you sell to everyone, you sell to no one. He focuses on B2B founders and C-suite leaders, and within that group, on CFOs and CMOs. People from other industries still reach out, and he is willing to tell some of them no.
His reason is reputation. Taking on a client you cannot get results for may pay well at first, but an unhappy client talks to their network. His rule is to make promises you can keep and then over-deliver.
Let Your Profile Do the Selling
Andrew described a hard-sell approach: posting about your degrees, how great you are and why people must buy your product. Hashim's answer was "not at all."
He doesn't post "work with me." Instead, he writes about topics his ideal clients care about. When readers find value in a post, they click through to his profile, and that is where the selling happens.
He calls your LinkedIn profile your landing page. Your posts work like the ad, and the profile is where people decide. That means your headline, banner, featured section and about section should all line up with the content you plan to post: your offer in the headline, your experience in the about section, your portfolio in the featured section and your website link under the headline. If your posts and your profile say different things, people won't trust you.
As Hashim put it, when you push to sell, people pull away. Give them value first.
Build a Community, Not Just an Audience
Hashim also has a framework for community. On LinkedIn, he builds it through comments and DMs, connecting with two groups.
Your peers. People on the same journey tend to engage with your posts and support you. When they comment, their network sees your content too, which extends your reach.
Your ideal clients. They often read without liking or commenting. Seeing your content regularly keeps you top of mind, so when they need help, they think of you.
He also runs a free community of about 170 creators and holds sessions for them once or twice a month. The members keep engaging with his content, and that engagement carries his posts to more people.
Andrew connected this to how he runs Be-Picked. Advertising and marketing reach out to find clients. Credibility and community building bring clients to you. Andrew says he lives in that second world.
Patience Is Part of the Strategy
Hashim was direct about the hard part. The biggest mistake he sees is expecting to make money from a personal brand in three or four months. He calls personal branding the slowest kind of marketing and says it can take close to a year to build. He has been at it for two years and now has a good business, but the start was tough, with no testimonials and no results to show.
He also shared a story about price. A UK founder turned down his rate, hired someone else at about 700 pounds a month and, after a year, had the same profile, no added engagement and no new clients. That founder then hired Hashim. His advice when you hire help: don't look only at price. Ask how they work, what their process looks like and what they have done for other clients.
Why This Matters for AI Search
Andrew tied it all back to how people find experts now. If someone asks ChatGPT who to go to for help building a personal brand, the people who show up are the ones who have built credibility online: a solid LinkedIn profile, a consistent presence and real signals that they can do the work. Someone who put a course together last night with nothing behind it won't be the one recommended.
The trust signals that convince a person to hire you are the same signals that help you get found.
Where To Start
Start with your goal and your ideal client. Then look at your LinkedIn profile as a landing page. Do your headline, about section and featured section match what you want to be known for? From there, plan content across all three categories: personal stories, expertise and what you sell. Spend time in comments and DMs building your community.
If you want to see where you stand today, take the free 20-question AQ assessment at be-picked.com/assessment. You will get a report on your strengths and the areas to work on so the right clients can find you and choose you.
Listen to the episode
The Real Reason Clients Choose Someone Else Before They Ever Call You
With Mohd Hashim, Personal Brand Strategist. Watch, listen or read the full transcript.