The 7 best podcasts for developing your personal brand

Have you ever looked around and wondered how it is that some people seem to get ahead with relative ease while others struggle to tread water?

In a job economy that is still shifting from the 50-year career, gold watch, and a pension to one where loyalty isn’t expected or at all rewarded the answer to who gets ahead comes down to who has the most well defined personal brand.

What used to be a concept for small business owners and entrepreneurs now applies to almost everyone. In a meaningful way, everyone is now self-employed. Everyone is a de-facto entrepreneur. And to get ahead, you must be a zealous advocate for your personal brand.

The term “personal brand” only dates back to 1997. It grew up right alongside the internet and the aptly named Generation Me.

Now, while having a well-honed personal brand is not a sufficient condition to success, it is without a doubt a necessary condition. A killer personal brand is to the new economy worker as a well-rosined bow is to a violinist.

It makes sense, then, that you can get some excellent personal brand advice from podcasts. They are another product of the internet’s transformational nature. Here are some of our favorite podcasts to learn from both explicitly and to emulate when creating your own personal brand.

Cash In on Camera with Sheryl Plouffe

Sherly’s podcast is such a revelatory exercise in personal branding that it’s hard to understate.

A while back her podcast used to be called “Personal Brand Breakthrough.” And that worked well enough, but over time Sheryl did what every good personal brand should do… niche down. She played to her strengths, pivoted only slightly, added more focus, and voila, Cash in on Camera.

All the visual brand elements stayed the same, but she was able to tweak her brand in a subtle way to extract even more return on investment. A masterclass in brand awareness from not such a household name.

Listen: Apple Podcast | Podchaser | Anchor.fm

Nancy Marshall’s PR Maven

If you’re looking for nuts and bolts advice on personal branding, look no further than the PR Maven. What Nancy Marshall has done with her personal brand is remarkable. Definingare about is notoriously difficult because it means answering some really hard questions. If you didn’t need therapy before embarking on defining your personal brand, you will afterward.

Nancy’s larger than life approach has meant her personal brand has expanded well beyond her life to form a company that lives by her values. This is a woman who walks the walk and you’d do well to take a lesson or two from the path she’s walking.

Listen: Apple Podcast | Stitcher | Spotify

The Personal Branding Podcast with Bernard Kelvin Clive

If you’re looking for a podcast on developing your personal brand, one hosted by a man named one of the “Apostles of the New Economy” isn’t a bad place to start. Bernard’s been in this game for over 10 years, so you can take his advice seriously. If there’s a piece of new media he hasn’t touched we’re not aware of it. In fact, he’s the personal branding authority for the entire continent of Africa.

So, yeah, his podcast show title is on point.

Pro tip: He does a daily show as well with very small bite-sized actionable items. So, think of this daily show as your branding meditation.

Listen: Apple Podcast | Stitcher | Spotify (Daily Show Only)

Youpreneuer with Chris Ducker

Chris Ducker understands that each personal brand is just that… personal. What works for me isn’t going to be what works for you. But at the same time, there needs to be enough commonality, enough critical mass, to help your brand stand out in a market. This is where Chris’ show shines.

His podcast is structured around his three philosophical pillars. Build your personal brand. Market your personal brand. And finally, monetize your personal brand. In Chris’s view, you need all three legs to make the stool stand up. We tend to agree.

Some episode highlights include avoiding burn out, and what it takes to build a brand that resonates. So much of what makes a personal brand is the fact that it is as unique as you are.

Chris spends a lot of time reminding his listeners to cultivate an intimate relationship between brand and audience.

Listen: Apple Podcast | Stitcher | Spotify

Brand You with Mike Kim

Mike is another podcast host who hammers home his personal brand philosophy with an unmatched level of interconnectedness. For Mike, marketing isn’t so much about closing a sale, it’s about opening a relationship. After all, the best business experiences aren’t transactional in nature, they’re relational.

Who wants to burn bridge after bridge having to start all over each time you want to get something accomplished? Not Mike, that’s clear. And lucky for the rest of us, he’s willing to share that wisdom.

Brand You is closing in on 250 episodes, many of which are gold. There’s quite a back catalog to keep those brand juices flowing. 

Listen: Apple Podcast | Stitcher | Spotify

Game Changers with Erin May Henry

The Game Changers podcast has a personal branding mission centered around getting you paid to be yourself. As host, Erin May Henry delves through what it takes to be authentic online.

Can you be too honest? How do you deal with rejection? Burnout? Too much competition? A saturated market? These are all real fears that can paralyze anyone trying to craft their brand message.

Putting yourself out there in any context can be frightening. Public speaking for any reason is the most common social phobia human beings have. Now imagine taking that fear out of a small room and into the entirety of the internet. 

Pay particular attention to Erin’s episodes on mindset. Master your mindset and the rest should fall into place.

Listen: Apple Podcast | ACast | Spotify

The Stacking Benjamins Show

The Stacking Benjamins shows isn’t, strictly speaking, a show on personal branding. But, if you’re diligent, take the lessons they espouse to heart, and emulate the infectious energy they’re putting out, you’ll be well on your way to a successful personal brand.

This show is another splendid example of taking a wealth of expertise from a traditional work environment, dissolving the wall between the professional and the personal to create a home run personal brand.

The show is filmed in the half finished basement at Joe’s Mom’s house. Come on… that’s adorable!

If that doesn’t endear you enough to want to “join the basement” then you were not meant to be in the tribe to begin with.

And that’s perfectly okay.

Listen: Apple Podcast | Stitcher | Spotify

Conclusion

It’s perfectly okay because you’re developing a personal brand. That is obviously an intensely personal endeavor. It should be. It has to be.

And so while many of these podcasts touch on the same themes, they all do so in a way that is unique to that host. When looking for a podcast to help you develop your personal brand, cast a wide net.

Experiment. Dip your toe in many bodies of water.

Find what resonates with you and then run with it. Practice taking chances and being deeply authentic. Only then will you find the personal brand you want to live.