If I tell you that I had a colonoscopy, does it make you more likely to buy my Brand Messaging Guide?
If I explain, in excruciating detail, my holiday breakfast order preferences, will that land me more speaking gigs?
Probably not.
But knowing me better – my background, my experiences, my slightly odd sense of humour – does make you more likely to want to work with me. Somehow, the fact that I wrote my first paid piece of copy on my phone while trying to get Erica to sleep, or that I once wanted to be Prime Minister, or that I’m raising an autistic son… these snippets make me stick in your mind. They’re all a part of my personal brand.
This morning, I spent three minutes of a ten-minute business presentation talking about my family, my background, and various other personal bits and bobs. And when someone asked why, I told them straight:
“You can work out what products or services I sell from a four-minute conversation with me and a glance at my website. But good business relationships are built on getting to know the person, the passion, behind the business.”
So where’s the line? Between giving valuable context in your personal brand and oversharing? Between being authentically you and being that person on LinkedIn who somehow turns their breakfast smoothie into a lesson about venture capital funding?
Let’s figure it out together…
Why personal brands matter in business
Before we get started, if you’re competing solely on price or features, you can probably skip this article and go back to your calculator. But if you’re trying to build a brand that resonates? That creates loyal customers who actually care about your success? Then you should probably stick with me.
The last time I gave that networking presentation, a soon-to-be client leaned over and whispered to the person sitting next to her, “I HAVE to get this woman to write my website copy.” Not because I’d dazzled her with my extensive portfolio (though it is pretty dazzling), but because something in my story connected with her.
The same principle applies to your e-commerce personal brand. Sure, you could just list your product features and competitive pricing. But there are more effective tools.
Take Otbor Toys, for example.
When they came to me, they were struggling with credibility, and with getting people to pay premium prices for their products.
They made wooden heirloom toys, handmade in Bulgaria, with traditional Bulgarian techniques and local woods. And honestly, they’re gorgeous. If you saw them in a boutique, then you wouldn’t question the price. But there were trust issues from an Eastern European country, and nothing on the website made the case for the premium price tag.
The founders had thought running away from their Bulgarian roots was the answer. But instead, we dove into the story, educated the audience about Bulgaria’s history of incredible craftsmanship, and shared how the founders’ children inspired the collections.
We added in personal details, and they saw fewer abandoned carts.
(you find out more about my work with them here)
People don’t just buy products anymore – they buy stories, values, and yes, a strong personal brand.
The three circles of effective sharing
Think of your personal brand elements like a target (and no, this isn’t another one of those “start with why” lectures – I promise).
The Inner Circle: stories that sell
These are the experiences that directly relate to your business. Like how you created your sustainable fashion brand because fast fashion literally made you sick. Or how your own struggles with breastfeeding led you to develop a better pump (shoutout to my friends at Jevon Baby).
These stories aren’t just nice to have – they’re gold. They show your audience why you actually care about solving their problems.
The Middle Circle: relatable reality
This is your day-to-day stuff that makes you human. Like my Gran’s insistence on putting ages in birthday cards, or my millennial refusal to use “2” instead of “to” or “too” in texts (never happening, sorry not sorry).
For e-commerce founders, this might be sharing your morning routine with your own products, or the chaos of your latest product photoshoot. It’s the stuff that makes your customers think “Oh yeah, they get it.”
The Outer Circle: the TMI zone
This is where we building a personal brand ventures into “colonoscopy detail” territory. Or those LinkedIn posts that decide it’s appropriate to turn a breakup into a lesson about resilience in the supply chain. You know the ones.
Looking for brands that balance this well? Check out Plum Deluxe’s about page (yup, another client). They tell founder Andy’s story about his relationship with his mother and how it inspired his company. But they don’t milk it or overshare. (And they don’t make the whole page about him, there’s stuff in there about their ideal customer, too).
The real reason developing a personal brand matters
If you’ve joined my email list, you probably read this line in my welcome sequence:
“The personal/professional divide only serves to disempower those with caring responsibilities or other concerns.”
And I stand by it. (Otherwise, I’d have taken it out of my welcome sequence, obvs.)
Here’s why a strong personal brand matters for e-commerce founders:
- The ability to separate your work life and home life completely is a luxury most of us don’t have
- Your experiences and challenges often directly inform your product development
- Building genuine connections with customers creates brand loyalty that discounts just can’t buy
But there’s something even more powerful at play here.
There is magic in connection.
Finding your sweet spot
So how do you know what to share? Here’s my quick gut-check guide:
- Does it help your audience understand why you’re qualified to solve their problem? Like how my background in youth work makes me excellent at understanding and connecting with different audiences. What experiences make you the perfect person to create and sell your products?
- Does it build genuine connection without overshadowing your message? Sharing that I grew up on the poverty line helps people understand my drive to work with brands that help people. What parts of your story explain your brand’s mission?
- Does it add value to your customer’s experience of your brand? My slightly sarcastic asides (you might have noticed a few) let potential clients know what working with me will be like. How can your personality enhance your customer experience?
Putting it into practice
Here are some ways you can start weaving your personal brand into your e-commerce business authentically:
Start small:
- Share snippets of your founder journey in your email newsletters
- Let your product descriptions tell the story of why you created them
- Add personality to your packaging inserts
- Have a social strategy that’s about building connection with your audience, not just selling to them.
But avoid:
- Turning every life event into a forced business lesson
- Sharing personal stuff just because you feel pressured to be “authentic” – you should share at a level that makes you feel comfortable
- Letting your personal story overshadow your products
- Getting too caught up in what other founders are sharing
The key? Be intentionally you.
When I share about my background in youth work or my experiences as a parent, it’s because these things directly inform how I help my clients. When you share about your journey, your struggles, your wins – make sure they add value to your customer’s understanding of your brand and products.
Think of it like a first date – you want to be open enough to build connection, but not so open that you’re sharing your entire medical history before the starters have arrived.
Need some help?
No matter what the massive LinkedIn bros say, people buy people.
Are you giving them reasons to buy you?
(Ok, well not *buy* you… but you know what I mean.)
If you’re trying to define what your personal brand really is, and how much of “you” it makes sense to put in it, then talk to me about a Brand Messaging Guide.
If you’ve built a personal element into your brand and you’re worrying about maintaining that authentic connection as you scale, then talk to me about a Brand Voice Guide.
Either way, book a call here and we’ll work out the next step for your brand.