Brand Foundations

Building on Solid Ground

In Lesson 1, we established that personal branding is intentional reputation management. But where do you start? You don’t start with a logo or a LinkedIn makeover. You start with foundations—the strategic decisions that make everything else coherent.

By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:

• Craft your personal value proposition
• Define 3-5 brand attributes that guide your content and presence
• Identify your ideal target audience

Your Personal Value Proposition

A value proposition answers three questions:

1. Who do you help? (Your target audience)
2. What do you help them do? (The problem you solve)
3. What makes your approach unique? (Your differentiator)

The Formula

“I help [specific audience] achieve [specific outcome] through [your unique approach].”

Examples

Weak: “I’m a marketing professional with 10 years of experience.” (That describes what you are, not the value you create.)

Strong: “I help B2B SaaS startups build their first predictable lead generation system using content marketing and SEO.” (Specific audience, specific outcome, specific method.)

Weak: “I’m a software engineer.”

Strong: “I help non-technical founders translate their product vision into technical architecture that attracts top engineering talent.”

✅ Quick Check: Can you identify the three components (who, what, unique approach) in the strong examples above?

How AI Helps

“I’m a [your role] with [X] years of experience. I’m known for [key strengths]. My ideal clients/employers are [description]. Help me craft 5 variations of a personal value proposition. Make each one specific and benefit-focused.”

Defining Your Brand Attributes

Brand attributes are the personality traits you want people to associate with you. Think of them as the adjectives that define your professional character.

The Brand Attribute Exercise

Choose 3-5 attributes from this list (or define your own):

Why this matters: These attributes guide every branding decision. If “bold” is an attribute, your LinkedIn posts should take clear positions—not sit on the fence. If “practical” is an attribute, your content should always include actionable takeaways.

How AI Helps

“Based on these brand attributes—[your 3-5 attributes]—describe what my LinkedIn presence should feel like. Include tone of voice, types of content I should share, and things I should avoid to stay on-brand.”

Identifying Your Target Audience

The biggest personal branding mistake is trying to appeal to everyone. A brand that resonates with “all professionals” resonates with nobody. Specificity creates magnetism.

The Audience Framework

Define your ideal audience across four dimensions:

Demographics: Job title, industry, company size, career stage. Psychographics: Values, goals, challenges, aspirations. Pain points: What frustrates them? What problems keep them up at night? Watering holes: Where do they spend time online? What do they read?

Example

Target audience: Mid-level product managers at B2B SaaS companies (50-500 employees) who struggle with stakeholder alignment and feel stuck between engineering and business priorities.

Watering holes: LinkedIn, Product Hunt, Lenny’s Newsletter, Mind the Product community.

Pain points: Can’t get buy-in for roadmap decisions, drowning in feature requests, unclear career path to Director/VP.

How AI Helps

“I want to build my personal brand targeting [rough audience description]. Help me develop a detailed audience profile covering demographics, psychographics, pain points, and where they spend time online.”

Putting It Together: Your Brand Brief

A brand brief is a one-page document that captures your foundation. Here’s the template:

PERSONAL BRAND BRIEF
====================
Name: [Your name]
Value Proposition: [One sentence]
Brand Attributes: [3-5 traits]
Target Audience: [Specific description]
Key Topics: [3-4 topics you'll be known for]
Tone of Voice: [How you communicate]
Brand Promise: [What people can always expect from you]

How AI Helps

“Based on the following information, create a complete personal brand brief for me:

• Role: [your role]
• Experience: [highlights]
• Strengths: [what you’re known for]
• Target audience: [who you want to reach]
• Brand attributes: [your chosen traits]

Format it as a clean, one-page brand brief I can reference for all future content decisions.”

Try It Yourself

Complete these three exercises before moving on:

1. Write your value proposition using the formula: “I help [who] achieve [what] through [how].” Write 3 versions and pick the strongest.

2. Choose your brand attributes. Pick 3-5 from the list above or define your own. For each, write one sentence about how this attribute should show up in your content.

3. Define your target audience. Be as specific as possible. Who exactly are you trying to reach?

Key Takeaways

• Your value proposition answers who you help, what you help them do, and what makes you unique
• Brand attributes are personality traits that guide your tone, content, and presence
• A specific target audience creates resonance—trying to reach everyone reaches no one
• Your brand brief captures all foundations on one page for consistent reference

Up Next

In Lesson 3: Building Your Online Presence, we’ll take your brand foundations and build them into a visible, consistent presence across the platforms where your audience spends time.