I know that sounds backwards.

But you are not trying to be an influencer.

You are running a business. So any brand you build is about one thing… getting visibility and recognition in front of ideal BUYERS.

And then getting those buyers onto something you own.

Brand is CRUCIAL and makes every part of sales and marketing easier - so it is 100% a worthwhile pursuit. But it’s not the end game for business owners.

Your social platforms are not the asset.

They are your top of funnel. They are finicky, and you could lose them in a second.

You build a brand on them, then use those platforms to drive people onto the things you own; your email list and your text list.

Those are the only things some algorithm or bot can’t take away from you.

Once someone is on those lists, now you can do the real work of marketing and sales. Yes it starts on the platform - but it truly happens on your owned lists.

We’ve built massive brands through our companies and our agency online. I wish I could go back and start them all over again on Substack.

Here is what makes Substack different from every other platform we’ve built on…

It is a doorway AND an owned list at the same time.

I can get discovered by brand-new people through my notes and my articles.

Then, when they become subscribers, they are now part of my ecosystem… the part that I own.

I don’t have to get them off the platform and onto something else. They are already there, and there is very little friction for them.

So growing on Substack isn’t just another platform - it’s a full funnel system.. Discovery to purchase.

Then, with the right strategy, you can move paid subscribers into your other offers.

More impact with less effort…

We love that.

But for whatever reason, most Substack gurus don’t teach the most basic principles of list building… aka…lead magnets.

And to be fair, we didn’t implement this strategy either for a while (we were following everyone’s advice).

When we made the switch, everything changed.

BUT… before you think, “I know this”... I can assure you, most people are doing this all wrong.

So… let’s make sure you’re on the right track.

The Old Way of Building a List is Gone…

Old school list-building looked like this…

Free lead magnet →A few marketing emails → Get them to a launch, webinar, low ticket offer. Rinse and repeat.

Create anything, doesn’t matter what, just get them on the list.

Once they’re on your list, you can sell them whatever you want.

That is not true anymore.

It used to be the more you gave, the better.

The big 35-page, 50-page, 100-page comprehensive guides were all the rage.

In today’s market, it flipped.

You have to get them on your list; they have to USE your lead magnet and like it, and you have to win them over 4 or 5 times before they’re paying any attention to you for something other than a low ticket purchase (like under $100)

And a list full of the wrong people doesn’t just sit there, it’s a massive liability.

If you fill your list with people who are never going to open, click, or buy, you are hurting your domain reputation and your deliverability… which means your real people, the ones who WILL buy, stop seeing your emails at all.

They don’t even have to mark you as spam anymore. The filters are doing it for them… so those people who are on your list who are not the right fit and are ignoring you - are doing lots of damage.

So the goal has to be not just more subscribers, but the RIGHT subscribers that actually want what you have.

Which means your lead magnet HAS to be specific to what you are selling later down the road

How We Use Lead Magnets to Grow on Substack…

This is the part I want you to steal… because I don’t see a lot of people teaching this which is weird.

Don’t just rely on a few well placed subscription buttons in an article, or a Note meant to get subscribers - give them a reason to subscribe NOW.

Here’s what this looks like.

Level 1: something free the second they subscribe for free.

When someone becomes a free subscriber, they immediately get something they can use that day. For example, free subscribers to Worth The Follow get a free Substack growth checklist when they sign up.

That’s what turns a one-click free subscriber into somebody who opened your thing, used your thing, and remembers your name when your next article lands.

Level 2: a low-ticket product they get free when they upgrade to paid.

When someone becomes a paid subscriber, they get something more valuable that they would normally pay for. It can be a low ticket item (under the cost of the Subscription if you want), but still specific to the brand and what you sell.

For me, that’s my Substack Strategist tool.

It’s 7 questions.

You fill in info about your audience, your offers, and your positioning, and it builds you a Substack strategy, completely customized for your business.

It names your publication.

It prices your tiers.

It tells you what to put in your paid tiers.

And it gives you content angles.

People normally pay $7 for it. Every paid subscriber gets it free… upgrade if you want to grab it!

So there’s a free thing for everyone who signs up free… and a better, low-ticket thing for everyone who upgrades to paid.

That right there is how we grow our Substack subscriber base in between our campaigns.

BUT… there’s more of course.

A couple things you have to remember, or none of it works.

• Promote the free lead magnet as part of the subscription. Not just once, but it has to be built into your strategy…you can do this in your Notes, your articles, and of course, listed out in your paid tiers.

• The wrong lead magnet will attract the wrong people. So it’s SUPER important that you have a legit lead magnet strategy in place, to bring in the right types of buyers.

That’s what I’m walking you through below:

• How to create a lead magnet that fits your offers, and attracts the right level of buyer

• The formats that consistently bring BUYERS, and the ones I’d skip

• The criteria I run every single lead magnet through before I build it

• Examples of real lead magnets in the wild

Read more

But here’s the thing…

We are launching to our waitlist ONLY tomorrow with a SUPER special $1000 bonus.

Everyone who is on the waitlist will get the sign up tomorrow.

The first 100 registrants will get access to the BONUS.

The bonus completely disappears tomorrow at 11:59 pm (or if we hit 100 registrants before then).

Moral of the story - get on the waitlist.

Watch your inbox and phone tomorrow for a message/email from Kelly Roach.

Register for the challenge…

That’s all. Your in and you get the bonus (as long as you join tomorrow as one of the first 100 people).

This challenge is DAILY activities, 4 live trainings, curated pods, co-working sessions….

ALL action, no fluff…

So you can add paid subs.

You can’t find this strategy ANYWHERE else, because this is our own system…

If you’ve done some of our other trainings - those are all SUPER valuable, but this is the action… where the rubber meats the road.

So - get on the list today, and be on the lookout tomorrow (Wednesday August 19th).

See you then!

Get on the waitlist!

P.S. We will have the upgrade to the challenge RIGHT here in Substack, so you will be able to apply your paid membership to the challenge (aka… paid members get a discount). If you want to upgrade before then to make it easier, here’s the link!

So we see the trends.

“My leads aren’t qualified”

“I don’t have enough leads”

“My sales team sucks”

Most of these are smoke screens for the real problem…

There is no distinction between marketing’s job and sales’ job.

So let’s dive into why.

Before we talk marketing and sales…

We can’t overlook the MOST important piece of the puzzle, your offer.

A bad offer can’t be out marketed or outsold for long.

You have to have an offer that your avatar is willing to pay for.

It has to be priced effectively.

It has to be a problem they believe is worth solving.

NOT EVERY PRODUCT is a good market fit.

In fact, there’s been a major shift over the last couple of years in what is selling, to who, and in what volume.

You simply can’t skip over this.

Your product creation has to come from your constant feedback loop with the market.

Okay, now we can talk marketing…

In our world, effective marketing generates leads qualified to buy. Period.

Brand building makes marketing more effective.

Sales fluency makes it easy to sell from your content, with the right offer at the right price.

But MARKETING, attracts the RIGHT people into your world, and gets them to raise their hand in some way.

It could be a freebie to an email list.

A low ticket front end purchase.

A registration for a workshop or webinar.

A follow, subscribe, or friend request.

Marketing starts the conversation.

It can be organic content, paid ads, other people’s audiences, events, sponsorships…

The goal = generating qualified leads.

Your personal brand is a brand. The work you do to bring leads in through your personal brand is marketing.

One is about building recognition, and getting attention. The other is about getting people into action.

Should you be making sales from your marketing? Sort of.

I would say that we use our CONTENT to make sales (that’s not marketing), leveraging sales strategies.

So - we do make HUNDREDS OF low ticket sales per month from our CONTENT, but I would put the content behind those sales in the sales category-since they are intentionally designed for the sale, not the lead generation.

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What about sales?

Sales don’t come from one specific format. They can come from an email, a post, a DM, a call, or livestream.

But like marketing is intentionally focused on lead generation - sales happen because you are intentionally making an offer.

Where most people REALLY bomb this is in a few different areas:

• They don’t make an offer often enough to get traction.

• They don’t have a follow up process for those who express interest in an offer, but don’t buy right away.

• They don’t think about the buying process so skip important components like objection handling, and future casting.

• They don’t actually have a strategy for selling, so they are creating content, but not intentionally leveraging that content for sales.

Sales is making the ask. It’s dealing with all the reasons someone doesn’t want to buy. It’s qualifying. It’s following up.

It’s a whole process that starts AFTER the lead is generated.

Sales can be done through 1 to many strategies (like launches, emails, or social content), but they are built with the intention of selling.

Getting a bunch people to comment a key word on a post for a lead magnet is NOT sales.

Sales would be taking those conversations in the DMs from lead to making a clear direct offer.

These two things work together.

Most people are good at one or the other.

A few of you have systems in place for both, but there isn’t a ton of cohesion.

Our goal? Help you crush BOTH.

That’s why Worth the Follow, and The Sacred Art of Selling exist.

And this weekend, we are running a special!

Win a Subtack Strategy Custom Audit…

If you become an annual subscriber to BOTH publications - you are automatically entered for a Substack Strategy Audit. These are worth $497, but 15 paid subscribers will get these for free.

Here’s how this works:

We choose our 15.

They fill out a form.

We assess their profile, Notes, paid tiers, and content strategy and send over a PDF with recommendations for EACH area, with specifics to YOUR goals, content, and audience, This will include a 30 day plan to keep things moving!

Here’s how to be entered for the audit:

1-Upgrade to annual subscriber on Worth the Follow

2-Upgrade to annual subscriber on Sacred art of Selling

That’s it! You are entered to win!!

Subscribe now

Talk soon,

Danielle and Kelly

For YEARS, we’e been told to pick our content pillars and stay in our lanes.

To write for our imaginary avatar, about all parts of our life, so they can watch our content forever and then eventually buy.

And there is validity to this strategy.

We know that on average, your perfect buyers watch or engage with your content for 7 hours, over 11 touch points, in at least 4 locations (a Google study cited this).

But WHAT they engage and how you structure your content planning is still up for debate.

So today, we are diving into whether or not to build content pillars into your strategy as an expert personal brand, how to do that, and of course… I’ve got a killer resource.

You ready?

Your pillars aren’t bad, they are incomplete.

Content pillars as they are traditionally taught, are all about what categories to post in, but they don’t take into consideration the PURPOSE for each post.

AND, most people teach pillars (especially in personal branding) as these random categories you like talking about that are both business related and personal.

The goal is to get people to like you, so you give them a few different places to connect.

This is a fine place to start, but I think there is a more strategic way to build your content strategy.

It starts with, “what do you want to be known for”…

The most important starting point is understanding what you want to be known for.

This dictates where 75% of your content will live.

You can have 1-3 things you want to be known for as long as they are relevant to the same avatar, and related to what you do.

Once you are clear on what you want to be known for, then you look at WHO you are, which makes up the last 25%.

So, in our case, Kelly Roach, our founder, is known for business growth strategy, and sales. The 25% for her comes from her approach and her why…

She wants business owners to grow, because it gives them back their freedom, and time… so they can spend it with their family, putting their faith first.

Her approach is a more disciplined approach - so we talk about that.

It’s doing hard things, not constantly chasing the easy path that actually ends up making everything harder.

This lays out her content pillars…

Business growth strategy: team, business models, trends in the market, what’s working

Sales: sales systems, selling 1 to many, live selling, DM sales, closing

Faith/Family: why this matters, how she is doing it in her life

Discipline: mindset, focus, physical discipline that leads to success

No rigidity here, but there are some clear lanes to run on.

But this alone, is INCREDIBLY incomplete.

In fact, if this is all you are doing, you are going to kill yourself creating content constantly that never converts.

It will bring in lots of attention, but not BUYERS.

It will become a hamster wheel that you feel like you can never get off.

So behind the paywall, I am walking you through all three, with actual sample copy for each one - from two completely different businesses, so you can see how this translates no matter what you sell.

• The validate-then-diagnose move for Layer 1, and why correcting your buyer costs you the sale.

• The reasoning and the requirement for Layer 2… including the part that feels like it should scare people off and does the exact opposite.

• The three things that go in a decision post, which is the one that actually closes.

• Plus the specificity test that decides whether ANY of it lands, how to make your 25% load bearing instead of fluff, how the ratio shifts when you’re launching…

• And of course a prompt where you fill in the brackets, paste this article in, and it builds your week for you.

We are diving into a BETTER way to think about your content, and how to set up your own plan.

So, if you haven’t upgraded, now’s the time!

Read more

How to decide what’s yours to share, what isn’t, and why the timing matters more than the topic.

Last week I told you that relatability was killing your sales.

That being liked and being trusted are two completely different currencies, and most experts are optimizing for the wrong one.

Here’s the part I didn’t get into.

Because there’s a version of that advice that goes sideways FAST.

“Be more than likable” gets translated into “get more vulnerable.”

Go deeper. Get rawer. Show the mess, because your message lives in the mess.

Which I think is some of the worst advice for expert personal brands on the planet.

Because being more vulnerable doesn’t = being more trusted, and in some cases, it can do the exact opposite.

There are people making millions who you know nothing about

Think about the experts you respect most in your industry.

I’d bet there are several where you have no idea what their family life looks like.

You don’t know their politics.

You couldn’t tell me one thing about what’s going on behind the scenes in their house.

You may know they are married, and have kids…

The basics…

But, you don’t know their struggles, the hard things they’ve worked through (or are going through), or the battles they’ve fought.

And you’d still hand them money tomorrow!

Multiple millions of dollars, built entirely on expertise and how they show up - without ever narrating their hardest seasons in real time.

That’s an option available to you and nobody tells you that…

Instead, they tell you to get MORE raw, and more “real” online… no matter how comfortable you feel.

If you are someone who LOVES baring it all, cool . Keep going.

Some people build brands where their whole life is part of the offer, and it works, and they love it.

But you don’t have to, and you should know what you are getting into, and how to make the decision for yourself.

So, I am walking you through some questions that help you do exactly that.

But first, what a personal brand is actually built on…

Your expertise.

Your convictions.

How you show up and how you solve problems for your people.

That’s it…. that’s the whole foundation, and not ONE piece of it requires access to your private life!

Your buyer isn’t auditioning you for a friendship.

She’s trying to figure out whether you can get her a result.

She’s looking for judgment.

Can this person assess a situation and tell me the right move?

She’s looking for recognition.

Does this person see MY problem, or are they talking about a topic?

And she’s looking for shared values.

Would this person tell me the truth when the truth is expensive? Do I like their way of thinking? Can I get behind HOW they get the result, not just what the result is?

None of those three require your trauma, your politics, or your jaded past (or present).

You can establish every one of them with the way you think out loud about your work.

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The three questions

Here are a few questions to ask yourself when it comes to creating content…

1. Is this mine to tell?

Or is it someone else’s story that I happen to be standing next to?

Your marriage involves another adult.

Your kids didn’t consent to being content.

Your sister’s hard year is her hard year.

Would that person be comfortable with this being on the internet? What about in 10 years? What about months after the season is over and everyone’s moved on? Would they be cool with the messy, hard parts being out there>

Not “would they forgive me” - but would they be COMFORTABLE?

I would consider this seriously before sharing online.

2. Are you too close things?

Sometimes, while you are in the middle of something, it’s hard to maintain perspective.

Do you want your messy middle thoughts to be immortalized on the interwebs forever?

Or… would you rather wait until you are on the other side of things to share some perspective, after things have been processed?

3. Is this necessary for someone to trust me and get a result?

This is the big one.

Does knowing this make somebody MORE confident I can help them?

Or does it just make me more relatable, in a way that quietly costs me authority?

And be honest about the follow-up: am I posting this because it’s core to my work…. or am I capitalizing on something I think will get good engagement?

Am I just trying to get more views or is sharing this really important to the workmI do?

Will sharing this actually cause people to DOUBT my ability to help them?

I think sometimes in the age of authenticity we think that being authentic means sharing EVERYTHING .

You can be honest, and fully YOU, without sharing every part of your life.

Just because it’s true doesn’t mean the world (and thousands of strangers) have to know about it.

Politics, religion…in or out?

I’m about to get controversial up in here….

Okay, not really.

I am obviously VERY open about my faith. But that was a conscious decision I made 15 years ago when I started my first blog online.

You might look at your beliefs and go, this is core to me, this shapes how I work, and I only want clients who share it, or at a minimum, I want to be clear that this is my perspective, so clients can decide whether they can live with that while working with me.

Build it in!

Say it out loud BUT… tie it to your expertise.

It’ll cost you people and it’ll bring you the right ones, and that’s TOTALLY fine.

Either way, make sure you understand WHY you are doing what you’re doing.

I always say that we all have to choose the hills we will die on… ask yourself is this the one? If yes, keep going.

If not… maybe don’t make it a key part of your brand.

You can stay entirely in your lane and your expertise and still be unmistakable as a person.

The questions are the same either way:

Am I comfortable building this into my brand, permanently?

Do I want that second layer?

Is this necessary for someone to work with me and get a result?

Is this really core to me, or is it just a thing I have an opinion about?

That last one matters more than people think.

If you’ll stand behind it ten toes down, forever, then it belongs in your message.

If it’s just an opinion you happen to hold and it isn’t a big deal to you…. skip it!

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So what CAN you share?

Plenty! This isn’t about being some bland, watered down version of yourself.

It’s not about NOT being human.

It’s about truly crafting a brand that focuses on the right thing… building TRUST for the people you help.

Letting them know why you are the BEST option for them…

There are absolutely parts of that that can be personal, and everyone has their own comfort level with what they share…

But just know you can build an 8-9 figure personal brand, and not every have to cry on camera.

Follow these principles…

Make it valuable to your MARKET, not just entertaining. You can absolutely talk about personal things. The test is whether the reader walks away with something they can use, or just something they enjoyed. Entertainment builds an audience - value builds a business.

Go small. We think the story has to be the big traumatic thing. It doesn’t! Ninety percent of the lessons any of us learn come from tiny day-to-day stuff. You were on a call and something clicked. A client said something that reframed the whole problem. Those moments are RICH, endlessly available, and they cost you nothing personal. Start writing them down as they happen.

Always carry a lesson. Think about how you’d do this with a friend at a table. You wouldn’t just say “you’ve got this!” and you wouldn’t dump your own hard story and leave it there. You’d say, I went through that exact thing and here’s how it changed me, or here’s what I wish I’d known sooner, or here’s what I learned.

Write your standard down once

Here’s the practical piece, and it takes about fifteen minutes.

Stop deciding this post by post. Open a note and answer these 4 things, in writing:

My family. In or out? If in, which people and which situations, specifically? If out, out.

My faith and my politics. In or out? If in, it’s because I TRULY believe it’s pivotal to how I work. I am prepared to lose people over it! If you decide parts of this are in, what is the role, what’s off limits, what will be a major pilar?

My hard seasons. How much distance do I need before I’ll write about something? Name an actual amount of time so it isn’t a feeling in the moment.

My hard no’s. What is always off-limits?

That’s your standard. Five answers, one note, and you stop relitigating it every time something happens in your life and you’re wondering if it’s content.

Revisit it once a year, or when your business changes. Not in the moment, right after a post did well.

Personal brands are built a million different ways. You can become a household name, and remain as private as you want to.

In many cases, that’s actually wiser than you might realize.

Whatever you decided to do, make sure it’s an actual DECISION you are making, not just some random default you are falling into.

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Want to go deeper on this with me?

On Monday, August 25th, from 1 to 3pm EST I’m running my next live training for ANNUAL subscribers.

Two full hours on writing articles that are actually optimized for conversion.

We are diving into article types, paywalls, and exactly how to structure and promote your content on Substack so you turn free subscribers into paid subscribers every time you publish.

Here are some screenshots from my last few articles for proof this works :)

Just for annual subscribers, make sure you upgrade NOW!

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Or like someone who didn’t really know you, wrote your content in some generic way.

But, most people are out here using AI or overseas VA’s to create their content with no guardrails for what good looks like.

That stops today.

Because step 1 of creating great content, that stands out in today’s grossly bot-ified world…

Is to build a brand voice guide that everyone can use as the foundation for all content that gets sent out into the world.

Why you need a brand voice guide…

In today’s AI content vortex… I’m dramatic, what can I say… you need some tracks to run on when it comes to the written content you put out into the world.

And, since we love Substack - which relies heavily on written content - and don’t mind you using AI in the process, we want to make sure you have what you need to do it well…

So you don’t lose that human touch, and remain relevant in your industry.

A brand voice guide gives your team, and AI the rules for sounding like you.

It’s the bouncer so to speak to make sure every piece of content has YOUR flavor, not just your ideas.

It’s CRITICAL for anyone using AI in any capacity for their content, but also important if you have more junior team members repurposing your content.

Unless you have a highly skilled (and highly paid) professional copywriter repurposing for you - a brand voice guide is CRITICAL.

Step 1: It all starts with you.

You can’t scale content you haven’t created, and you can’t build a voice guide with no samples.

Step 1 is you supplying the raw material.

What we like to do is use a mix of written content and transcripts.

Ideally 5-7 transcripts from sessions where you have taught for at least 30 minutes.

This can be client sessions, livestreams, launch sessions, podcasts…doesn’t matter.

What DOES need to be true is that it needs to be YOU talking most of the time…

It needs to be deep enough content that gets into some of your IP, and has some stories in it, and it shouldn’t be too formal. We want to build a voice guide that sounds like you - not some scripted drama.

Next, you need 5-7 writing samples - that YOU wrote.

These can be emails, lengthy social media posts, articles…the more the better.

This should be content YOU actually wrote, not something you used AI for.

We need to start with work that sounds like you.

Keep in mind…

5-7 pieces of each of these types of content is the MINIMUM. You can use 20 of each! The more you feed into it, the more accurate the brand voice guide.

What’s behind the paywall…

• The Claude Skill AND the AI prompt version - the same one we run on our accounts. You upload your transcripts, answer a few questions, and it builds your brand voice guide for you! Plus I give you the steps to install/use the skill prompt.

• The six things a REAL brand voice guide has to contain - so you can tell whether your AI output is complete, and useful for scaling your content

• How to make your final version PERFECT - including the step almost nobody does… testing your guide on a transcript you haven’t used yet, then feeding your own edits back so it gets sharper every round. This is the magic “secret” sauce that gets better results.

• How to actually use your brand voice guide - I give you two use cases…with a team member or VA, and inside your AI, so the guide does its job instead of sitting in a folder.

• By the end of the afternoon you’ll have ONE file you can hand anyone, drop into any AI tool, so your content can be repurposed INTENTIONALLY without using the flavor and angles only YOU can bring to your content!

So - if you aren’t already a paid subscriber, upgrade below!

Read more

It’s keeping you vanilla, and repelling your BEST leads.

Before you go crying in your coffee…. stay with me here for a minute, because this one is costing you money….

But all the cool kids won’t tell you that.

Here’s the truth…

Being authentic is IMPORTANT, but there is a heirarchy that needs to be in place first.

So, let’s dive into that.

Likability and trust are not the same currency

Somewhere along the way we all got handed “people buy from people they know, like, and trust”… and then the entire internet decided to optimize for the middle word.

I get it. As an Enneagram 7 - I LOVE being liked.

You know - just being you, on the internet, and having people gas you up…

It’s fun. Who wouldn’t want that.

You’ll grow your following. People will leave you all kinds of comments. And, if being an influencer is the goal - this is the path!

But if you want to be an expert who gets paid for real solutions…

Who is seen as an expert - being liked ISN’T the most important thing.

What makes someone buy is one narrow, specific belief: THIS person can get ME the result I want, for the problem I have right now.

If you don’t clear that bar - then being liked or relatable won’t cut it.

Relatable isn’t the problem.

Relatability for the sake of relatability is the problem.

The reach trap and the relatability trap are the same trap

I’ve said this about virality and I’ll say it again here, because it’s the same disease.

We’ve had agency clients go mega viral on IG.

Millions of views.

Tens of thousands of new followers.

And it did little to NOTHING for their revenue… in some cases it watered down their audience so badly that selling got HARDER.

Widely liked and widely followed are the same trap.

Neither means dollars in the bank - and while I think you probably know that already, you MIGHT not realize how easy it is to fall into this trap.

It’s an entirely different strategy.

It’s a look at me and how chill and cool I am. Focus on how much you like me…

Vs.

I’ve helped dozens of people just like you overcome this thing you really want to overcome, and here’s how, and here’s why it worked…

It’s work with me because I am fun to be around vs. work with me because I am the quickest path to the result you want.

When you live for likability - you censor yourself.

And this is the part you can’t see from inside it.

When you’re optimizing to be liked, you make a hundred tiny edits a week that you probably don’t realize.

You soften the take that would have cost you a few followers and brought you two new clients.

You give the tip instead of naming the root problem, because the tip is friendlier and nobody argues with a tip - but people might disagree with your cause assessment.

You stay broad, because specific means somebody reads it and decides you’re not for them - they don’t like your approach.

You trade certainty, specificity, and the nuance required to get people to TRUST you for relatable and likable.

It’s vanilla. And what vanilla produces is an audience full of people who think you’re great and are going to go do it themselves.

I see this constantly with people working SO hard.

Smart people, saying good, useful, correct things every single week.

And the response they get is, “that’s great, I’m gonna go do that!”

Y’all… a compliment and a sale are not the same event.

Now here’s the part that should actually scare you, because at the top of your market this doesn’t just fail to help. It actively repels the people you WANT to attract.

The founder with real money to spend is not scanning your content for whether or not she wants to be your bestie.

She’s scanning it for judgment.

She’s trying to figure out whether you’d tell her the truth when it’s expensive and inconvenient and she doesn’t want to hear it.

When everything you publish is built to be agreeable, she isn’t impressed.

In fact, it’s undermining your expertise. It makes you seem bland and basic.

So your best leads leave. Quietly.

They might like you a lot, but they don’t BELIEVE you are the answer. You are too broad. Too general. Too basic.

You spent your credibility trying to be relatable, which last time I checked wasn’t something you could spend.

The hierarchy

I’m not telling you to go cold, or be contrarian for sport, or manufacture a hot take so people fight in your comments.

That’s just likability in a different costume.

Connection matters…

It’s the reason people stick around long enough to buy from you.

But it has to sit on top of something sturdier than being agreeable, and right now yours probably doesn’t.

Before someone will pay you, they have to believe three things, IN THIS ORDER:

1. You have judgment: they can tell you know what’s what in your field and that you can apply what’s best in any given scenario.

2. You see HER problem. Not the topic, their actual situation, specifically.

3. You have shared values. What drives you, your convictions…they are shared with your ideal buyer, and guide your entire process.

Of course you want your ideal buyer to like you - but most people are out here building brands like they want EVERYONE to like them, and like that’s enough to get someone to drop a few thousand dollars.

Instead, focus on how you are communicating the way you get results. If people believe you CAN get results, and like your approach - they will buy when the time is right. Whether they want to be your bestie or not!

I’ve made 3 purchases for our company in the last 3 months ($10s of thousands of dollars) based on the specific outcome we needed, and the person’s approach - not whether I would enjoy a lunch with them.

So what does this all look like in the wild?

That’s what I’m breaking down next!

Below the paywall you’ll find a breakdown of each level, and some specific questions to work through to build your brand.

A perfect exercise for this afternoon!!

As an annual Subscriber, you will ALSO get access to my monthly live trainings! This month I am doing a session on writing articles on Substack that are optimized for conversion. So, you get all the goodness in my paid articles + a live personal branding masterclass every month - to help you create content and a brand that builds your legacy work.

It’s the best $100 you’ll spend! So go on and upgrade…

I’ll wait!

Read more

And, on August 4th, I am breaking down the full strategy for you, including:

• The type of ontent that does well in long form artcles

• How to structure your article for maximum conversions

• How to leverage AI without having your content flagged by the AI detectors

• How to use your articles to solidify your thought leadership (not attract the wrong buyers

• A bank of example articles

The ONLY way to access this training is to become an annual subscriber to Worth The Follow by Tuesday, July 28th at 9pm EST!

The live training is on August 4th from 4:30-6pm EST. There will be a recording if you can’t be there live!

Subscribe now

-Danielle

P.S. Here are some screenshots from my past two articles….

We use AI in our content process.

That’s how we create so much.

But, there are a few rules that are CRITICAL to keeping the PERSON in your personal brand.

Today, I am breaking it all down for you, so you stay authentic, but leveraged!

RULE 1: It STARTS with a HUMAN and ENDS with a HUMAN.

One of the main rules I have when teaching clients and team members about AI and content (specifically for personal brands), is that everything STARTS with a human and ends with a human,

The ideas, the frameworks, the systems, the hot takes, the convictions…all start with YOU.

Not asking Claude or ChatGPT what to create.

Then, you use AI to help you create content to DISTRIBUTE those ideas.

And… before you ship anything…it goes through a full HUMAN process of editing.

Here’s an example flow….

You have a hot take, or new topic you want to talk about.

You record a podcast, live stream, training for your clients, or a simple voice note to yourself, talking through this idea and it’s implications.

The good stuff originates with YOU.

Then…. you give the transcript to Claude or Chat, and ask it to turn those ideas into (articles, notes, captions, scripts… whatever you need).

LAST…YOU edit fully. You make changes to reflect your voice, your cadence, and the ideas you want to share.

NOTHING gets published until it is reviewed by a human.

It starts with you and ends with you.

ALWAYS.

Want a simple prompt you can use to assess your content for AI detection? Try this:

RULE 2: You ALWAYS use programmed AI, not generic prompts with no context

This is AI use 101, but I know a lot of people are out here in these streets using AI all willy nilly.

So let me be clear - we NEVER use a generic AI chat to create anything. EVER.

We have Claude projects that have:

• Brand Voice Guides

• Personal Story folders

• Writing Samples

• Anti-AI writing rules (we actually have a skill that we use for this)

• Offer one sheets

• Example transcripts from DOZENS of live trainings

• Our founder’s book manuscripts

Like we have this thing STOCKED with our content, style, and ideas.

Then we still do the human first, human last rule.

Throwing things into AI without having the context to support it will without a doubt give you generic nonsense.

If you are going to use it well, you will have to set up your system first (I am doing a live training on this next week for ANNUAL PAID Subscribers - so if that’s you, be on the lookout, if not, upgrade!!)

Upgrade NOW!

RULE 3:You build CREATIVE time into your life, so you don’t become dependent on AI.

Listen, I can ALREADY see this happening.

We are getting lazy.

We aren’t thinking the way we used to.

We are running to bots for answers.

If you want to stay sharp…

Creative…

HUMAN…

…in your personal brand, you are going to have to fight for it.

You are going to have to carve out time to give yourself room for creativity.

For me, this means spending time with God daily.

Letting HIS word and WISDOM be my anchor, and praying through what HE wants me to create next.

Maybe it’s getting outside, or a slow morning with coffee on the porch.

Maybe it’s 15 minutes alone in the closet while the kids nap, to journal.

Maybe it’s spending an entire day fully present with family and friends, so you can be inspired again.

But, if you want your personal brand to connect you are going to have to make space.

Less scrolling, more LIVING.

Less copying the latest hook, more room to let the ideas flow.

This will get harder and harder, so I encourage you to build the habit TODAY!

I’ve got a SWEET article coming your way this weekend if you are a paid subscriber (monthly and annual) + that course on your AI system, and who to make sure you NEVER sound like AI! That’s ONLY for annual subscribers, so upgrade if you want in!

Upgrade

See you soon!

-Danielle

Everybody tells you to build a personal brand.

But it’s usually from 23 year old’s and their GRWMs or influencer types dancing around in next to nothing, living their entire life online, studying the algorithms, and living for the feed.

Oh wait, and let’s not forget about the bros…

They are yelling at you to post more, create better hooks, and of course, spend your life studying the algorithm and living for the feed.

It’s exhausting, disheartening, and incredibly frustrating when you are someone with YEARS of experience, transformational work, and results for days.

You don’t live on social media and don’t want to.

You know it’s necessary, but you have a REAL, rich life.

That’s where you want to be, present in the things that matter.

Well, you’re in the right place.

Because you CAN build a personal brand without living for the feed.

People like you CAN become the most known expert in their space, and monetize that brilliance.

And today, we dive into exactly HOW.

So, buckle up

I am pulling back the three layered approach to building a personal brand in 2026, if becoming a scantily clad lifestyle influencer, or screaming bro marketer isn’t high on your bucket list.

Below this paywall I give you three types of content to create (the same ones behind the 7 and 8 figure brands we’ve built), the formats, and some simple AI prompts to help you create each kind of content.

This isn’t a go figure it out kind of thing, it’s a true playbook.

So… if you aren’t a paid subscriber yet, click that upgrade button and let’s build a brand worth following.

Read more

Our founder’s, into a seven and eight-figure company. Mine, which built our agency to seven figures in two years. Our clients’, who went on to amass millions of followers and millions in sales.

So when I tell you that everything is about to change, I’m not saying it to scare you, I’m saying it because it would be negligent of me NOT to warn you.

This change is happening in real time, and I am watching a lot of smart people go over a cliff, and take their brands with them.

Here is the short version.

AI is about to break most of the rules you have been taught about personal branding.

The people who see it early and build for it will own the next decade.

The people who keep playing the old game will quietly disappear.

Let me show you what I mean.

The real problem is trust, and it is quietly killing sales...

Walk through your feed right now and count how many things you are not sure are real.

AI clones reading a script in someone else’s face.

Soulless photos with dead eyes and six fingers on each hand.

Bots leaving “This is so valuable!!” on every third post.

Whole accounts that look like a person and are not one.

People can feel it.

And even when they cannot name exactly what is off, it does something to your gut… your intuition.

It teaches them to trust NOTHING.

To assume the testimonial is fake, the photo is generated, the DM is a bot, the expert is lying.

Trust has been at an all time low for years. AI is driving it FULLY off the cliff.

So how do you counteract that?

You do things that HAVE to be human.

You build your brand around content that speaks directly from experience, carries a massive amount of nuance, and makes people feel seen at a CORE, human level.

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MORE is not the answer. Neither is LOUDER.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing inherently bad about creating a lot of content.

In theory, it gives you more points of discovery.

The problem is, most people are scaling things that don’t work.

They are creating content that doesnt land…

Doesn’t connect..

And doesn’t build…

Then scaling it.

Instead of focusing on doubling down on getting to the heart of the matter - they focus on getting more tactical, and just increasing the volume.

We need to rewrite the script, or we will go over the cliff too.

Subscribe now

Doubling down on YOU.

As everyone is out here building their clones and putting out fake pics…

You know better.

You are doubling down on…

Creating

AI is good at gathering and synthesizing ideas that exist, but humans have an ineherntly unique role in God’s creation.

Because we were formed in the image of God, and He is the first creator (of all things), we too have the ability to create.

He has given us critical thinking, creativity, and the ability to build.

AI can’t do that.

Which means your starting point for a brand that builds and grows has got to be YOUR ideas.

Your methods.

Your unique approach.

Your hot takes.

To build in any other way will turn your brand into a commodity.

Showing up Live

Sharing from Experience NOT theory

Connecting Emotionally.

Lived experience.

A person with ten years in an industry is irreplaceable, and no chatbot can replace that.

Your personal brand can’t be built on information anymore. That’s everywhere.

But your years of experience, the way you are able to spot something early, see where something is going, or troubleshoot in the real world…

That’s a point of view worth following.

I don’t need you for info…

I want to glean from your unique lived experience, because the compound effect of that is REAL.

Empathy and assurance.

AI can’t make a mom who thinks she’s feeling feel REALLY seen.

Or a business owner whose just been kicked in the gut by betrayal feel understood.

Or a person going through treatment feel confident in the treatment plan.

What will never be replaced is our ability to validate emotion, get assurance from someone experienced that we are on the right path, and enourgement to keep going when we feel like giving up.

Can you train your AI to give you a pep talk? Sure.

Is it the same as someone who has overcome what you’re going through validating your feelings and looking you in the eye saying you can do it? Nope.

A point of view that is only yours.

Your point of view matters.

It matters in the buying process.

It matters when it comes to trust building.

It matters when it comes to growing a brand people want to follow.

We love to find common ground in others and love when people challenge us to think outside of our little box.

Your ability to build a brand around your hot takes (backed up by REAL experience and results), will create a stickiness factor worth clicking that follow button for.

What this means for you…

Stop chasing AI short cuts, and go deep.

Build your brand from a place of calling, experience, and perspective.

Don’t let the AI bros talk you into 1000 pieces of content in 5 minutes that turn you into a bot yourself.

Instead, lead with YOU.

Here are some simple questions to ask yourself…

1- What unique experience or perspective have I been holding back from sharing?

2- If I stripped your name and your face off that post/article/video would anyone know it was yours? If not, it’s time to reconsider.

3- Are you telling stories, connecting at a heart level, and bringing your lived experience into your brand? Not just pics of the fam - but like WHY would someone follow you? What makes you YOU, and is it built into your brand already?

Subscribe now

Where we go from here...

None of us can see the future perfectly.

This is shifting every single week, and anyone who tells you they have it all mapped is selling something. What I can tell you is the direction, and the direction is clear. Away from the machine, toward the human. Away from what you know, toward who you are and how you make people feel and whether they trust you enough to buy.

That is what this whole publication is built to help you do. On the paid side, I take real reader Substacks apart and rebuild them in “Substack Teardowns,” and I build brands from scratch, step by step, in “How I’d Build This.” That is where the tactical how lives.

For now, subscribe and stay close. The rules are changing. Let’s build the kind of brand that only gets stronger, and more trusted, on the other side of it.

Just a reminder - for this week only, Subscriptions are at a SUPER low rate. They increase to $12/month and $120/yesr, then $15/month and $150/year. So, get your subscription TODAY!

Subscribe now

Danielle

Subscribe now

AI is taking personal branding straight off a cliff, and I am here to do something about it.

You in??

Here’s the thing…

I’ve built lots of personal brands.

Starting with our founder’s, we built a 7 and 8-figure company off off…

Then mine, that built our agency to 7-figures in 2 years…

Then our clients in the agency, who amassed millions of followers and made just as much in sales.

But the last year has changed the landscape in scary ways.

AI clones making videos 🤮

Souless photos with dead eyes and 6 fingers on each hand.

Bots commenting ALL OVER THE PLACE.

The interwebs has always been a scary place. Today it’s 10x scarier.

But, we are changing that.

Worth the Follow is all about doubling down on YOU.

Building content, sharing ideas, and creating a legacy that is inherently HUMAN.

We will talk AI and how to use it responsibly, but make no mistake…

This is about building a personal brand that can’t be replaced by bots. About creating movements and legacies that outlast us.

Who this is for...

The established expert.

The practitioner, coach, consultant, founder, or service business owner who already has real results and a real business and is DONE being sold beginner tactics or nonsense that waters down YOUR brilliance.

If you came looking for “start your business” content or a mindset pep talk, I love that for you, but this is not the place.

This is for the person who is building a brand on principle, integrity, and a LEGIT track record.

We will get philosophical…

We will get strategic…

I will share some tactical stuff…

We will talk personal brand architecture….

Content strategy…

ETHICAL uses of AI that don’t water down your message…

And share some hot takes that get you fired up.

This is for a different type of founder though.

You aren’t chasing clout or internet fame.

You are chasing impact and you KNOW that requires visibility and reach.

You aren’t about selling out to get it though.

Your life OFFLINE matters more to you than your life ONLINE.

But you are smart enough to know that the brand online feeds and fuels the life offline.

That’s who we are here for.

Subscribe now

What you’ll get...

Every week I am breaking down one of the following pillars…

Personal brand architecture. The foundation of a brand that is unmistakably YOU. Your positioning, your point of view, the thing you get known for, built to compound over time. Irreplaceable by bots.

Content strategy. Not a “post more”, hop on the trend kind of strategy. The kind of content that carries your ideas, earns you real reach, and pulls the right people into your ecosystem without selling your soul to the algorithm.

Ethical AI, used right. AI is not the enemy, but most people are using it in ways that are DESTROYING their brand. Using it to pump out soulless, dead-eyed slop that waters down your message is not only gross, it’s doing MAJOR damage over the long haul. I’ll teach you how to use it BTS so you can focus on doubling down on what makes you unique.

Hot takes that get you fired up. The things your industry is too polite to say out loud, and the fights worth having about where all of this is headed.

Lots of ideas, plenty of strategy, and some important tactical how-to’s based on experience not internet search.

Then there are the two I am most excited about...

These live on the paid side, and they are going to be epically fun!

“Substack Teardowns.” You send me your Substack…I do a full teardown of how I would change it including profile, positioning, and content strategy. Annual subscribers get to apply to have theirs audited… all paid subs benefit from the lessons!

“How I’d Build This.” I choose an industry, person, or brand, and tell you exactly how I’d build the brand, with TONS of tactical applications you can use on your own!

Want in?

That is the free side made free, and the paid side worth every penny. Take it and build.

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How to use this…

Read the free posts. Steal the frameworks. Put them to work in your own brand this week, not “someday.”

When you are ready to have your brand rebuilt, or you want to watch me build one from nothing, upgrade.

One last thing, because it matters to me.

Being visible is not vanity.

It is a responsibility. If you are good at something and no one can find you, that does not help the people you were put here to serve.

A brand, built right, is one of the more generous things you can do, and that belief sits under everything I teach here.

If God’s given you a mission - it’s time to commmit to living it out. My hope is that I can fill your toolbox with some tools to do that.

Want in on the fun? Between NOW and July 22nd, you get a super discounted rate for monthly and annual memberships. The price increases to $12/month and $120/year, then again $15/month and $150/year.

Today, it’s $9/month and $90/year. Get access now and you’ll get ALL the goodies I release moving forward!

Subscribe now

Danielle