Narrate Creative

Representing yourself on social media and controlling your narrative has never been more important. AI is everywhere, but it’s no match for the real you. 

A Founder’s network and influence are proven to be the biggest levers for growth available to companies of all sizes, especially to early-stage startups. 

But posting thought-provoking social media content every day is hard, and you have a lot of other areas of your business to worry about. 

That’s why we have a process to collect your thought leadership, in your words, to help you show up consistently on social media with content that will resonate with your specific ideal audience. 

Our systemized approach will help you start more sales conversations and earn more revenue. 
Want to use LinkedIn content to create more sales opportunities? I will create you a week’s worth of content — in your own words — FREE. No commitment required and no hard sell. 

Here’s how it works: We’ll meet for a call, and I’ll interview you to create a week’s worth of video and text posts and help you schedule them on LinkedIn.

Sound good? Message me on LinkedIn to chat about it.

The Lean Marketing for SaaS Podcast

Host of the Lean Marketing for SaaS Podcasts, featuring guests that include SaaS founders, marketers, creators and more. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJhJq-ikqELM84mS3_2CXWf0ostuPAPFG

Host

Tell Ten Friends Marketing

Tell Ten Friends is a new media marketing company, specializing in using web-based tools to grow your customer base, and building your website to be a complete sales tool.

Owner

Hootsuite

Manager of blog and social team. Senior Editor of HootSuite blog, strategist and lead social media manager for marketing on all of the major social networks: Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook and Instagram.

Lead Storyteller/Content Manager

Work at Play

Accounts and Strategy professional with an emphasis on social media and professional sports.

Account Executive

Strutta

Strutta is a software platform for online photo and video contests, that has worked with some of the world's largest brands and ad agencies. 

In the capacity of Director of Community Relations and later Director of Marketing, I have led Strutta's marketing from pre-launch to cash-flow positive status. Site content, sales materials, staffing, training, CRM management, agency and client relations, project management, assistance with "productizing" our software and many other business operations fall under my stewardship. 

Strutta continues to be a leading technology provider for multimedia contest campaigns on Facebook, and self-hosted. Contact me if you are interested in the power of contests with social media.

Director of Marketing

Fulcrum Agency

Public Relations and Marketing Manager for a firm specializing in Sales Training and Business Coaching. Specializing in online marketing initiatives, email campaigns and business blogging.

Manager of Marketing and Public Relations

CHUM Television

Producer, copywriter and editor of local advertising and promos for Victoria television station. Also managed several annual marketing events throughout Vancouver Island to promote the station.

Commercial Producer

Island Publishers, The Business Examiner

Advertising Consultant

Peak Publishing

Managing a large client base as a Display Advertising Rep for a semi-weekly newspaper and special sections.

Marketing Consultant

We do thought leadership social media content for Founder-led sales. In just two 30-minute interviews a month, we create one post per weekday for you, and help you start more sales conversations.

Founders, social sellers and thought leaders: I can help you book more meetings from your social media content.

I’ll help you build a simple, time-effective workflow that will help you build your influence on LinkedIn with content (in your own words) and fill your inbox with sales leads automatically.  

We’ve helped dozens of tech startup founders with founder-led sales. Our systems help them grow their qualified leads and revenue. I use the same system to book 5-10 qualified leads a week. 

Happy to walk you through the systems on a quick call. Click the link below my name above; my calendar loads on that page.

Jordan Behan

STOP saying these words and phrases in your content. 

Here are three examples of things that I try to edit OUT of my client's content (recorded in their own words), to make them sound smarter: 

1. "So." I don't know when it happened, but so has become an overused filler word. Sometimes it adds useful context, but most of the time, a sentence is stronger without it. So stop it (see what I mean?). 

2. "At the end of the day." This one has just become too popular an idiom. See also: "ultimately." It's a useful phrasing ("after [x], [y] happens"), but it's overused. Instead of suggesting a substitute, I challenge you to be more specific. Tell us what [x] is, specifically. This approach might NOT be as succinct, but it will help you sound more like yourself and less like everyone else. 

3. "I think." You are, therefore you think (hat tip to Descartes). You don't have to tell us every time. The problem with this one, especially starting a sentence with it, is that you sound unsure of yourself. I think you'll sound more confident without it (see?). 

What other examples can you think of that we can do without in our writing, especially as it applies to LinkedIn content?

Give me two 30-minute meetings a month and I’ll make your personal social content kick ass. Done-with-you content production for CXOs, in your OWN words.

I could sell just about anything. 

And no, I'm not talking about "sell me this pen" sales skills, though I'm surprisingly good at that, too. Try me some time. 

What I mean is, my agency services could be very diverse. We could "do it all" and "sell to everyone." 

But we don't. We sell and deliver one service, to one specific type of buyer persona. That's it. 

Why so specific? Because that's all I can afford to do. If I try to appeal to everyone and promise to do anything, I'll appeal to no one and sell nothing. 

By focusing on one business problem, with one solution, and one price, my messaging resonates. Because it's consistent and strikes a chord with its intended audience. 

I know exactly what lists to build. What topics to write about. What pain points my prospects are experiencing. 

And best of all, that consistency comes with proof. A growing list of testimonials from C-Suite clients (ask about these). 

Momentum in the sales process. Every day I get better at communicating my offer, because I'm only sharpening one saw. 

Here's a lesson here for you, dear reader. How clear are you being about what you do? Are you still making the mistake of thinking that taking a "mile-wide, inch-deep" approach to marketing actually works? 

Try going an inch wide and a mile deep. Specialize. Focus. It works, trust me. It's counterintuitive and scary, but it works. 

If you've "tried marketing" and "nothing worked," have you thought about why? What have you ACTUALLY tried? 

Also PS: Yes, I tried one of those AI headshot tools. I would never use the suit pic as an actual headshot, so I'm using it as a throwaway here. It's giving me "Harvey Specter from Suits, but much older and ordered from Ali Express," with a side order of uncanny valley. Do you agree?

An AI-assisted head-shot of Jordan wearing a suit, which he very rarely does. 

LinkedIn content reach is way down, and here's my hot take: So what?  

Posts that used to get 1000s of impressions are now lucky to get a few hundred at best. Panic time? No. 

My advice for how to beat the algorithm in an era of AI slop, false promises and manufactured controversy?

Don't even try. Instead of trying to "go viral," go NICHE (pronounced "neesh," and I will die on that hill). 

The goal with LinkedIn content is to get attention or start discourse around an idea, I'll grant you that. 

But there's not much benefit to doing that with a large group of random strangers. It's good for the ego, but likely not good for the actual business outcome you were hoping for. 

Instead of creating content that you hope will appeal to the masses, create something of value for your specific ideal audience, and create it YOURSELF. 

Need an AI assist? That's fine, but the more humanity, vulnerability, and "handmade" creativity you put into it, the better. Your goal should be to make someone think or change their mind about something. 

Someone. Even just one person. Creating your LinkedIn content for an audience of one will have better long-term results than chasing likes and impressions. 

Caveat: You still have to be interesting. You can't change minds without something unique to say and by grabbing attention. But think about whose attention you want and create for them. 

If you've read this far, I invite you to roast me on the irony of using an AI-assisted headshot in this post to stop the scroll. I go to the gym 3x per week, but it's been a little generous with the shape of my biceps, I mean, really. 

Maybe a good time to remind people that an algorithm is not our enemy. We aren't trying to crack a code; we are trying to capture the attention and curiosity of a specific type of person. In that sense, using an AI-filtered selfie is not ironic at all. After all, if my hook didn't grab your attention and get you to read, you didn't even make it this far.

Jordan in front of a harbour, a headshot that was sent through an AI filter. 

In the past 24 hours I've seen no fewer than three CEOs post food pics with funny captions on their LinkedIn feed. 

You know what this means, right? That LinkedIn is becoming...

A more human networking site. Keep up the good work, everybody. 

*My first ever Shake Shack chicken burger (and yes, I said chicken burger! 🇨🇦) for attention*

My clients' content almost never goes viral on LinkedIn and neither does mine. Is it because I suck at this? 

By now you know me better than that. I'm keenly aware that I am very fucking good at this. 

And my clients are good at what they do. 

Distributed marketing (huh?). Food commercialization. EV charging network monitoring. Trust and estates automation. Cybersecurity. 

Not exactly fodder for LinkedIn virality. But the reeshes are in the niches, if you catch my meaning though my Canadian accent. 

All of those topics need a champion. And every one of those champions has a different goal. 

Yes, most of my clients are doing founder-led sales. But some have no lead generation motives whatsoever. Like the CTO who's "walking the walk" as a way to attract talent. Or the supply chain expert who needs more partners (literally looking for vendors to buy from). 

When their content gets 500 impressions and a few dozen engagements, it's not unheard of. It's the norm. And we consider it a win.

When was the last time you were in a room with 500 people? That's like three or four large weddings worth of people. That's four full breakout rooms at a conference. It's a full house at a minor league hockey game. It's nearly a sold-out show at Cirque du Soleil. 

This post is long on purpose. And hand-typed. The only use of AI was in creating that terrible image that's made me look 10 years older and is not at all like the reference image.

500 of you might see this, and I'm giving it a 50/50 shot that it's fewer than that. And I can live with that. It was made just for you, if you're one of the faithful few who made it this far. 

Keep going. This stuff works, and sometimes all you need is a bit perspective about what 'working' looks like. 

Oh and if you're looking for an AI for HR framework, or a way to automate your processes at your trust and estates firm, I know a guy.

An AI-generated, animated style image of Jordan, podcasting, that makes him look a full 10 years older than he is. 

Every year I post a version of the same joke on American Thanksgiving.

Something like: Hey Canadians, happy “get a lot of work done with fewer meetings” day to all who celebrate. 

But the joke won’t seem as clever when LinkedIn shows you this post three weeks from now 🤷🏻‍♂️

No alternative text description for this image

I replaced my entire AI workflow with 100 SDRs and now we’re generating eleventy-billion in top line revenue without a single prompt. 

If you want get a copy of the exact sequence and workflow we’re using, comment “SICK” below and I’ll DM you the playbook, and as a bonus, a real estate listing for an amazing bridge that just came on the market. 

#sickofthisshit

I yelped quite loudly, complete with an F-bomb, and my teenage kid came running downstairs to see if I was ok. 

The funny thing is, I just sharpened my chef's knife the day before, and here it was, sinking into the flesh of my thumb while I was cutting a bagel. 

I was a bit embarrassed and also a bit glad to have one of my kids show genuine, immediate concern. 

'Twas but a scratch, and I'll live. And here's what it taught me about B2B sales: 

Ok, ok, I joke. But the preceding story is true, and I share it to illustrate a point. The point is that this is a story about something that happened to ME. 

MY flesh, being incised by my own knife. My struggle to get to the Band-Aids and patch myself up. 

As good as my custom GPT is, it could not have told you this story. 

At least, not without being prompted by me, and that prompt would have had to contain details of my story. In other words, I would still have had to tell a story. 

This is what AI can't yet replace. My anecdote. My feelings in the moment. They are genuine, and my hope is that they've captured your attention, even if only for a fleeting moment while you scroll. 

As I write this, a grammar checker highlights my spelling and usage errors. I could also run this text through my various prompts to clean it up further (I won't, but I could). But the original tale was mine to tell, and I hope you agree that a machine could not have told it this well. 

Even if it could, that's not my point. My point is that there's value in sharing my first-hand experience. Even if I have an assist from AI to do so. 

My mistakes, my lessons, my insights and my questions(Holy shit that sounds like an AI wrote it but it was me, I swear). 

This is the drum that I've been beating for several years now. Telling our authentic stories, sharing our unique insights, inviting feedback and conversing as humans... this still has value, and I'm wagering my entire business on the idea that that value won't diminish. 

The bots will get better at sounding like us. They will save us plenty of time (I've been writing this for 24 minutes already). But it will be a while before they're asked to join us around the campfire. 

Consider this my invitation to you to share more of your own stories. Embrace your humanity and the everyday experiences that make you uniquely YOU. 

People will appreciate and connect with your message much more than they would with some AI slop or a message prepared by a marketing team. 

Let's agree to stay in touch with what makes us human, and use the tools for what they are: tools. 

Normally I would tie this back to my work and what I do, but my call to action for you today is much simpler: Tell more stories.

How the heck did I end up in marketing? First, I had to fail as a sportscaster. 

When I was in high school, that was the dream. 

My guidance counsellor told me I'd better get some work experience, which is how, at the tender age of 16, I was hired into a weekends-and-evenings job as a sports reporter/photographer for my local newspaper.

After two years of community college, the reality of working in broadcasting seemed daunting and competitive. 

I still ended up putting in a few years at a TV station, but just like my hockey career, there came a time when I had to accept that I wasn't gonna go pro. 

In my short-lived TV career, I transitioned from news to creative services. 

Writing and editing advertisements. I spent a year in Toronto as a production assistant for film commercials before coming to Vancouver (my "Goldilocks" city), with a goal of working in marketing. 

As a fledgling marketer, I became fascinated with "Web 2.0." The democracy of it. The fact that I could break all of the "rules" I was taught in news and be my own publisher. I knew that meant that everyone could, and I knew damn well that everyone WOULD. 

ICQ. Blogger. Twitter. MySpace. I carved out little corners of the web and met some amazing people with similar interests. I got jobs at startups, including Hootsuite, which was in hypergrowth. By that point, I was already one of the "grown-ups" in the room; my internet hobby had given me valuable work experience. 

Eventually, the siren's song of entrepreneurship lured me. I'm leaving tons of detail out of this story for brevity, but that's more or less how I became a "social media" guy who turns 50 this year. 

I've even struggled with calling myself a social media guy. I'm not a famous influencer or tv personality, but I've been in this game a long time. I've never been the leading scorer, but I make a heck of a player/coach. 

One of my superpowers is predicting how people (the vox populari) will react to an idea, a campaign, or even a single piece of content. Which is how I know this post will flop 😆 

But it makes me good at writing subject lines, or asking questions in interviews, and writing hooks for my clients (a skill I can't seem to master for myself, alas).

I write this from the cozy confines of my home office. No broadcast make-up or fancy suit required. Decades of experience in my rearview and no signs of stopping anytime soon. And I know I'm in the right spot. 

The path to get here meandered, but it was all meant to be. Professionally, nothing pleases me more than sharing my knowledge with my clients, hyping them up and seeing them thrive. 

If you want to come on this journey with me, drop me a follow or send me a DM. I'll share my knowledge and make YOU a social media powerhouse. 

If you've read this far, tell me: What was your high school dream, and did you achieve it, or pivot? 

*Pic: Me in 2013; a keynote at Hootsuite. Photo by Bob Garlick

START using these words and phrases in your content: 

*(My most popular post from the past six months is one with words I said to STOP using, so this is the antidote)

1. Rad. I don't know when it happened, but the word "rad" seems to have fallen out of fashion. Take it from a Gen-Xer, this one is underrated, and it WILL make a comeback. Be the first to start the trend. 

2. Antediluvian. The word rad is thought to be antediluvian, and I think it's anything but. Let's bring it back. (Means "old-fashioned," by the way) 

3. Cattywampus. I had to look up the spelling of this one, but it's a perfect example of a word that bots aren't likely to use, so sneak it in when you can. Plus, it's fun as hell to say. 

4. Ineffable. It's tempting to think that this one means "Not to be f*d with," but it actually means "too great to be described in words." What's a better word to use than that? 🤣 

5. Civil disobedience. I should probably write something political here, but instead I'll use it in a sentence: The engagement on my post about what words to STOP using was a form of civil disobedience. 

What am I missing? What popular words or phrases should we be using more often? (Welcome all ye copywriters and wordsmiths)

New intro video for my landing page just dropped 📽️

Thought I'd share it here too. I'll add a link to the landing page in the first comment.

I'm long on human-generated content with an AI assist. 

Need proof that human authenticity is still a differentiator? 

The biggest GenAI companies (OpenAI, Anthropic et al) are paying human content creators salaries of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Case closed.

Do you believe in manifestation?

I read Mind Magic recently, and I figure there's no harm in saying this out loud: 

Before the end of year, I want to start TWO more engagements with companies that have several executives looking for social media coaching and content production. 

(But is it even "manifesting" if I write about this publicly and then start doing human-powered outbound to find those clients? Tag a company in the comments and I'll give you the credit, not my mind or the Universe)

I bought a 3D printer, and I love it. 

Not since the Nintendo Entertainment System have I been this giddy about a piece of tech. 

My friend John Biehler was an early adopter of 3D printing, and I had SO MANY questions that, rather than keep blowing up his phone, we sat down to record a podcast so I could ask them all. 

My biggest concern: Will the novelty wear off? "I don't think so," says John.

If I was in a crisis that required a carefully planned response and communications plan, I'd call Carla S. Shore.

If you're in a jam, not only can you call Carla, but you can sign up for her crisis communications bootcamp and be ready BEFORE the unthinkable happens. 

Details in Carla's post below.

Senior communications specialist; Post-secondary instructor

Is your organization ready to communicate when a crisis hits? Because it will, and you should plan ahead. I'm giving a workshop this Thursday in Vancouver: Crisis Communication Bootcamp: Build Your Response Plan. It's by donation so incredibly affordable. 

https://lnkd.in/gdU25YKW

Method and Metric SEO Agency #crisiscommunications #publicrelations #vancouver

Open article: Crisis Communication Bootcamp: Build Your Response Plan by eventbrite.com

Crisis Communication Bootcamp: Build Your Response Plan

No one will see this post, but in case you do, a quick poll to get your opinion:

Should I rebrand to Social CXO? (I own the domain) Or is Narrate Creative still the best option? 

The author can see how you vote. Learn more

The Brand Audit

A brand is the most valuable investment a company or individual can make.

Whether you’re a CEO, Founder or Executive - creating a strong brand presence on social media differentiates you in the market, attracts new opportunities and turns your potential into reality. 

The CEO that is seen is the CEO that is remembered.

Executive Social has massive untapped potential with less than 1% of LinkedIn members creating thought leadership content. 

- 71% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company if its CEO is active on social media.
- 65% of tech investors say lack of social media presence, including top executives, is a red flag when evaluating for investment.
- 65% of B2B buyers say that when evaluating partnerships or vendors, a brand with a visible executive team presence on social media will win over an otherwise equivalent brand without.

Be the in the elite 1% to build a brand so strong that people stop and pay attention. Hire a Former Head of Marketing for social strategy, social media audits, consulting, executive ghostwriting and masterclasses. 

Unleash Your Brand Potential: www.thebrandaudit.ca.

CEO & Founder

TikTok

Experienced, ROI-focused, Brand-Centric B2B Content Creator with 30k+ following on TikTok and LinkedIn in UK,US and Canada. 15% of following is CEOs & Founders and 70% is Director+. I speak about personal brand, career advice and social media strategy. 

I believe in collaborating with high integrity brands I actually use and love. Current & Previous work with Hootsuite, HubSpot, Marketing Week, Mark Ritson Mini MBA, W Hotel and various Tech & Marketing conferences. 

DM for brand collaborations and learn more about my professional audience, stats and examples of prior collaborations here: https://thebrandaudit.ca/pages/creator-partnerships

TikTok Creator

Stocksy United

Head of two departments (Marketing + Design) reporting to CEO. Part of 6 person executive team leading business with two CEOs transitions during tenure.

Created the first global marketing strategy for 10-year tech startup in a highly competitive and undifferentiated stock media industry. Spearheaded various new strategic revenue generation projects within highly volatile financial and operational state including financial issues, 2 series of layoffs, turnover of 5 CEOs, and 4 Heads of Marketing.

Brought strategic, client-focused, and data-driven perspective leading all marketing functions (brand marketing, demand generation, content marketing, digital marketing, PR, communications, partnerships, influencer strategy, social media, and design) developing strategy within larger business objectives.

Worked collaboratively with Tech, AR, Sales, Finance, Product, HR & Ops, I built a brand-to-demand engine from the ground up with a focus on long-term sustainable brand and revenue growth through client retention and acquisition. 

Launched first global marketing strategy, first brand identity, first brand strategy, agile brand campaign process, first digital strategy including SEM and paid social, revised content strategy, new Blog, new team structure, new MarTech stack, and first measurement strategy. Led digital transformation including implementation of Hootsuite for social management, GA4, and HubSpot for client journey mapping, Sales Churn Analysis. 

Results: 75,760% YOY increase in brand impressions, 5,349% increase in brand mentions, 3,504% publications speaking about Stocksy, 300% increase of share of search, 117% increase in social followers, SEO improvements including a 48 to 17 rank and 54 to 7 for industry keywords. Spearheaded HubSpot implementation for further measurement of sales churn, MQLs, SQLs, ROAS, revenue attribution etc.

Global Head of Marketing & Design

Reporting to Head of Marketing & CEO, developed EY Canada’s first brand team of 8 direct reports managing Brand, Content, Social, Digital, Sponsorships & Employee Advocacy Strategies. Led digital transformation implementing strategy, measurement and platforms/software like LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Marketo, Adobe, Sprinklr, Demandbase & Hootsuite Amplify. Responsible for both brand and digital lead generation campaigns – including all D&I and Employer Brand strategy. Drove 2,194% YOY increase in impressions, 2,777% YOY increase in website traffic from social, 271% YOY increase in social engagement, 600% YOY increase in Canadian business decision makers’ SOV, qualified leads, 1,200% increased employee advocacy and $1M+ of viral reach value.

Head of Brand, Content & Social Strategy

LinkedIn

Marketing consulting on brand, content and LinkedIn social strategy for LinkedIn’s largest Enterprise Technology partners (ex. Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, Cisco, Dell, Hootsuite). Helped clients generate increased brand awareness and generate MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads) – in some cases increasing LinkedIn-generated leads and revenue YOY 300%+. Created content and social media strategies, presented to executive C-suite leadership and developed key LinkedIn storytelling decks. Due to turnover, handled 2 roles of a Sr. Account Executive (Sales) and Marketing Client Solutions Manager (Marketing) for 7 months – achieving a 10M+ dollar annual ad revenue quota.

Marketing Client Solutions Manager

•Due to team transition, I handled both my role (Client Solutions Manager) as well as a Senior Enterprise Tech Account Executive role. This included selling LinkedIn advertising, advising on content & social strategy and managing the relationship with 21 Enterprise Tech partnerships until a new Sr. Account Executive was hired.

Interim Sr. Enterprise Account Executive

Shaw Communications

Brand, Content & Social strategy for one of Canada's largest Telecommunications companies. Spearheaded Shaw Business’ digital transformation - developing brand, content marketing and social media strategy. Generated 87% increase in social followers, 2,700% increased brand impressions and 154% increase in lead generation through creation of strategy, measurement and attribution frameworks, traditional & digital channels and a website content hub with video and written thought leadership. Managed social media platforms of LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and reported key brand  content and social insights to CMO and Executive Team.

Content & Social Media Marketing Manager

WestJet

Brand & new destination marketing for Canada’s 2nd largest airline. Elevated WestJet brand and drove 135% YOY increase in flight & vacation revenue by creating international co-branded marketing campaigns utilizing traditional & digital mediums including digital, social, print, radio, content, OOH and TV. Collaborated with both internal teams and external agencies. Managed marketing relationships and multi-million-dollar media budgets with 20+ marketing partners – including travel destinations, luxury hotels and Disney & Universal Orlando.

Marketing Coordinator

FGL Sports Ltd

Brand and performance marketing for Canada’s largest Sporting Retailer. Led rebrand of SportChek winning a Bronze Cannes Lion for “Your Better Starts Here” and Marketer of the Year by Strategy Magazine. Cultivated marketing relationships and campaigns with 25+ partners: adidas, Reebok, TaylorMade, Nike, Under Armour etc. Campaigns included traditional & digital mediums including online, social, print, radio, content, PR, OOH and TV. Collaborated with internal departments and external agencies and created a new vendor partnerships program funding multi-million-dollar brand initiatives. Led SportChek’s first flagship store grand opening which generated 200% of projected sales objectives.

Brand Campaign Marketing Specialist

Oilers Entertainment Group

Hired for NHL season contract as part of 3 employee brand marketing team. Developed integrated brand to demand omnichannel Oilers campaigns - traditional and digital channels (TV, OOH, digital display, radio, print magazines, website, email and social). Led marketing, promotions & game night execution. Responsible for ticket sales revenue, marketing research, email strategy, VIP initiatives and written and video content for social media.

Marketing Assistant

Rawlco Radio

Led marketing and promotions for Western Canada’s largest radio conglomerate. Cultivated and promoted the brands for C95 (Top 40) and Rock102 (Rock) radio stations.

Marketing And Promotions Assistant

CEOs & Founders, your personal brand is your best business asset. Yet less than 1% of you are actively posting your thoughts on LinkedIn - underestimating the value of your personal brand. But the numbers don’t lie:

-71% of consumers trust brands more when their CEO is active on social media.
- 65% of tech investors see a lack of executive presence as a red flag.
- Executives reach 10X the audience of their company page.

At The Brand Audit I guide CEOs and Founders to turn their personal brands into a strategic advantage — driving relationships, revenue, and reputation. Everything I do is bespoke creating custom brands, not canned plans. 

Your brand isn’t standard — neither is my strategy.

For 4 years clients with 1000 to 1M+ followers have trusted The Brand Audit's 5-step process: 1) Brand Audit & Discovery 2) Personal Brand Strategy 3) Masterclass 4) LinkedIn Content Creation 5) 1x1 Consulting.

Unlike internet stars hopping on the personal brand craze, my recommendations are backed by a marketing degree, two decades of experience leading brand and social teams of 20+, managing budgets of $30M+ and experience working at enterprise companies like LinkedIn, EY, WestJet & Shaw creating Cannes award-winning brand campaigns.

In today’s market, visibility isn’t optional — it’s a business imperative. View our brand strategy packages to help you with ideas, influence and impact: https://thebrandaudit.ca/pages/personal-brand-packages 

And send me an email to unleash your brand potential: christinaminshull@thebrandaudit.uk.

Christina Minshull

I go to tech conferences like Web Summit to study the shifts: the tension points, the emerging patterns, and the contrarian conversations that will never make it to a stage but will absolutely shape what happens next.

This week in Lisbon I cheered on CEO & Founder clients on stage, went to the 🇬🇧 & 🇨🇦 Mixers, networked with 71K+ attendees, attended an investors Soiree and explored Lisbon in the rain. 

For those that couldn't attend I captured themes from the following leaders who aren’t just predicting change, they’re architecting it:

• Tiffany Rolfe — Global CCO, R/GA
• Nick Shapiro — CEO, 10th Avenue Consulting
• Allison Braley — Partner, Bain & Company
• Andrew Smith — Head of Brand, Vinted
• Irina Novoselsky — CEO, Hootsuite
• Sir Tim Berners-Lee — Inventor of the Web
• Keily Blair — CEO, OnlyFans
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt — Actor & Activist
• Khartoon Weiss — Global Head of Business Marketing, TikTok
• Jeff Berman — CEO, Masters of Scale 
• Moritz Fuerste — Co-Founder, HYROX
• Rob Weston — CMO, Loop 
• Biz Stone — Co-Founder, Twitter
• Armin van Buuren — DJ & Producer
• Ole Obermann — Global Head of Apple Music

A lot of their ideas were philosophical in nature and challenged how we think about leadership, creativity, trust, power, and identity in a world that is continually being rewritten by tech. “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn” 

Thanks to Paddy Cosgrave for a thoughtfully curated mix of voices and perspectives. I’ve recapped the most important themes [the ones that matter if you want to lead what’s next] in the comments👇

#WebSummit #WebSummit2025 #Technology

I grew my personal brand followers 61% this year & just hit 10K on LinkedIn. 

LinkedIn has given me community as I started over in a new country, a new business, and a new chapter of life. It’s given me conversation when I needed fresh perspectives, and connection that’s grown into friendships, speaking engagements, creator partnerships, clients, and more.

My community has now grown to 10K followers across the world and that’s something I want to celebrate by giving back. 

I know not everyone can hire an experienced Head of Brand & Social for bespoke personal brand or social strategy. That’s exactly why I created my DIY Guides, to make some of the same advice and frameworks I use with enterprise leaders accessible to anyone serious about building their reputation intentionally.

So for the next 10 days, you can access 50% off ALL The Brand Audit guides using code TBALINKEDIN50 including:

→ LinkedIn Writing Guide
→ The 5-Hour Personal Brand System 
→ 500 Social Media Hooks 
→ LinkedIn Commenting Guide 
→ 20 LinkedIn Post Frameworks 
→ Create Your Personal Brand Voice
→ Career Decision Matrix 

Feedback Loops via social listening are core to my business philosophy so please re-share this post and comment which guide you're most excited about and any guides you'd like to see me create in the future. 

Here’s to the next 10K of conversations, collaborations, and connections still to come!

#LinkedIn #LinkedInAlumni #LinkedInCommunity

Excited to partner this year with B2B Marketing Live UK - find me today or tomorrow at the conference, reference this post I’ll give you a mini social [LinkedIn, TikTok, Substack, YouTube or IG] audit for free from The Brand Audit ✌🏼 

#LondonEvents #B2BMarketingLiveUK #TheBrandAudi

After nearly two decades training marketing teams at Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Dell + more on social media, one pattern keeps repeating: Executives crave certainty in a discipline built on context.

They want the clarity of a spreadsheet from a medium built on human behaviour. And that’s where social media measurement continues to collapse under its own oversimplification.

You can’t distill the psychology of attention, memory, and influence into a 200 character WhatsApp channel response, despite what you may seen in your channels and feeds. 

Marketing measurement is far more complex than people think. It’s 2025 and we're still having antiquated debates on whether social is for brand building or lead generation.

Budgets are divided.
Teams are split.
Dashboards rule the CMO’s boardroom.

And the cycle of short-term perpetuates. 

Somewhere along the way, CEOs and Founders have learned:
👉 If it doesn’t show up neatly in analytics or attribution models, it must not be working. So when inputs don’t lead to instant outputs, CEOs blame algorithms instead of their own impatience.

As a former Head of Brand & Social, I can tell you that mindset is exactly why social keeps getting misunderstood and undervalued. 

→ It’s why Fortune 500 brands have 1-person social teams.
→ It’s why leadership treats social as a tactic instead of a trust channel.
→ It’s why the concept of fastvertising gets mocked.
→ It’s why smaller brands keep outperforming category leaders.
→ And it’s why social teams are still fighting for scraps of budget — even as their content outperforms TV, OOH, and print combined.

Social was never designed to fit inside a 30-day report.

It’s designed to shape memory, signal credibility, and build preference, the kind of compounding results that happen quietly, then all at once.

As a former Head of Social I’m setting the record straight in my latest article on how modern CEOs should actually be thinking about social media. 

It's included for my subscribers or unlock one article for free here 👇🏼

All packed and ready for Web Summit in Lisbon this week! Looking forward to meeting people who are:

→ Hosting those off-the-record, invite-only, idea-heavy dinners where the real conversations happen.
→ The locals who know where the best seafood and skyline views hide.
→ Experienced Founders, Techies, and Strategists who think deeply and talk boldly.
→ The connectors who can get me +1 into the Speakers lounge to offer help with personal brand strategy. 
→ A Fractional CTO (or two) who’s curious about helping build The Brand Audit 2.0.
→ People who build, question, read, and are allergic to small talk.
→ Event organizers who don’t book average speakers, they curate disruptive and futurist perspectives.
→ The ones who can point me to a dimly lit speakeasy that respects a dirty martini.

If that sounds like you, let’s make it happen in Lisbon.

#WebSummit #Tech #TheBrandAudit

Web Summit Day 2 🤘🏼 if you see me today and you’re a CEO, Founder or Executive reference this post and I’ll give you a on the spot free mini audit of your LinkedIn presence with some tips to improve. 

Looking forward to making some new connections! 

#WebSummit #PersonalBrand #TheBrandAudit

Something’s shifted lately and you can feel it everywhere. Across feeds, group chats, and conference stages, the performers of expertise are outnumbering the people who have actually earned it.

They deliver confidence without competence. Narratives without experience.
Polish without any proof they’ve actually done the things they’re teaching.

And the cost is real:
→ Our feeds get diluted with manufactured outrage provocateurs.
→ Communities that used to spark real thinking now drown in noise.
→ Stages meant for operators are handed to performers.

We're living in what I can the Age of Artificial Authority. 

I’ve spent a few weeks on this article unpacking the psychology and cultural mechanics behind this shift. I talk about:

→ Why our brains trust confidence over competence 
→ How the algorithm rewards performance
→ The collapse of cognitive patience 
→ The optics economy 
→ The sisterhood scam 
→ The cost to the credible 
→ Who actually profits from artificial authority
→ Why discernment is becoming a competitive advantage

If this hits a nerve, re-post it. The only way to challenge artificial authority is by elevating those who’ve actually done the work.

#Leadership #ThoughtLeadership #PersonalBrand #PersonalBrandStrategy

If you can’t find the community you want — create it yourself.

Over the past 4 years of building my business, I’ve been a part of countless communities. Each promised connection. Very few delivered it. 

I've quietly exited A LOT of WhatsApp chats this year. And loudly called out bad community behaviour. 

Here’s what I couldn’t find:
→ Curated Quality. Most chase size over standards.
→ Diverse Expertise. Too many echo chambers — marketing-only, founder-only, women-only, HR-only, UK-only — instead of reflecting how real businesses operate.
→ Reciprocity. A genuine, not performative, give-more-than-you-take mindset.
→ Depth over Dopamine. Most chats are noise disguised as networking. I want spaces that make members sharper, not busier.
→ Executive-level focus. It’s a different conversation when every member faces the same challenges. The few that serve the C-suite charge £1,000+ a year to join.
→ Experienced Moderator. Not passive admins, but leaders who spark discussion, poll members, and create connection.
→ Strict Standards. Too often, poor behaviour goes unchecked. Communities should be psychologically safe, not performative.

So six months ago, I built one. 

The Brand Audit Club - A private community only for CEOs and Director+ Executives. Built with a different intention, to create genuine connection, not gatekeep it. 

In the past six months, I’ve quietly recruited 71 of the most thoughtful leaders I know — from the UK, US, Ireland, Canada, France, China, and beyond. Some I’ve known for decades. Others, only this year. And for the next month I'm opening it up to only 29 more CEOs, Founders or Executives that are experts in their fields and want to contribute to meaningful executive conversation. 

Yesterday we had our Monthly executive roundtable with 19 members discussing the era of Cognitive Overload — how we decode trust signals, train our teams, and build systems that drive better business effectiveness.

The goal isn’t to be part of more communities. It’s to be part of better ones. 

#Community #CEO #Founder #Executive

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The Battle

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