You have built a credible business. Clients trust you, you know your industry and you have plenty to say when someone asks the right question. But does that expertise reach the people you would like to work with next?
Perhaps most of your work still comes through the same referral circle. Perhaps you are ready for larger projects, but people associate you with the work you were doing three years ago. Or perhaps competitors are contributing to conversations you have the experience to lead, while your own ideas stay in your head.
Building a personal brand on LinkedIn as a founder starts with deciding what you want your reputation to help you achieve. Once that is clear, you can work out what needs to change.
Why does a founder’s personal brand matter?
Your personal brand is the impression people build of you through your work, conversations and the ideas you share. LinkedIn gives people outside your immediate network a way to understand your expertise before they speak to you.
There is evidence that useful expertise can influence buying decisions. In the 2024 Edelman–LinkedIn research, 73% of B2B buyers surveyed considered thought leadership a more trustworthy basis for assessing a company’s capabilities than traditional marketing materials.
That research covers B2B thought leadership broadly. It does not predict the return from an individual founder’s LinkedIn posts. It does give us a useful reason to take the quality of the ideas we share seriously.
Start with the reputation your business needs next
Think about the work you want more of over the next year and the people involved in choosing who gets it. What would they need to understand about you to consider you?
For example, a consultant who wants to move into larger organisational projects may need to demonstrate how they approach complex decisions, manage competing priorities and understand the commercial consequences of their advice.
If their public presence mostly describes the smaller projects they used to deliver, there is a gap to address. Their experience may have developed much further than the reputation people can see.
Choose a clear area of expertise you want to be recognised for and connect it to the needs of the people you want to reach. That gives your content a direction and helps you decide which opportunities deserve your attention.
Make your thinking visible through the work you share
Your working week already contains useful material. A question from a client, a decision you helped someone make or an industry assumption you disagree with can reveal how you think.
Take a recent piece of work and consider which part would help a prospective client understand your judgement. A description of the decision you faced, the options you considered and why you chose a particular approach gives people something concrete to assess.
Use real detail where you have permission to share it. Explain why the lesson matters to the people you want to work with. Over time, those contributions should build a recognisable picture of your expertise.
Build a way of showing up that fits your capacity
A clear strategy still needs time and a workable process. If LinkedIn repeatedly gets pushed to the end of the week, adding another content plan may leave the underlying problem untouched.
Be honest about the work you want to do yourself. You might enjoy writing but need help choosing your message and turning it into a consistent habit. Or you might explain your ideas easily in conversation and want someone to handle the writing, editing and scheduling.
Both routes need your expertise. The difference is how much of the delivery you want to own. Choosing that deliberately can help you avoid committing to a routine that falls apart whenever the business gets busy.
Connect visibility with meaningful progress
Decide what progress would look like for your business. That could include conversations with relevant decision-makers, enquiries for a particular service, introductions to new contacts or invitations to contribute your expertise.
Ask new enquiries what encouraged them to get in touch and keep a record. You can then review whether your activity is supporting the direction you intended, while recognising that a buying decision may involve several interactions.
The commercial value will depend on your business model, the opportunities you attract and what you do with them. Set realistic expectations and review the evidence as it develops.
What is holding your founder visibility back?
The free Founder Visibility Check-Up helps established founders and consultants look at the gap between their ambitions and their current activity.
It takes around four minutes and explores your goals, the expertise you are sharing, your capacity and what you would want help with. Your answers help you consider whether your next step is clearer strategic direction, support to create content yourself or handing over the delivery.
It is particularly relevant if visibility has become a business priority and you are considering investing in support. At The SideKick Co., founder mentoring starts at £700 per month and the done-for-you partnership is £1,250 per month, both with an initial three-month commitment.
Use the assessment to identify what would make the biggest difference for you and choose a practical next step.