Brand You Personal Branding

This is a look back at a year of writing the Mike Kim Letter every Tuesday, for one straight year. I talk about my inner creative, buried for a decade under writing for conversions, the daydream that pushed me to commit to being a writer, and 12 things I learned along the way that may help you in your own creative pursuits.

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron: https://amzn.to/4rkHJ1L
• Blackwing pencils: https://blackwing602.com/
• Ryan Levesque: https://ryanlevesque.net/
• Jeff Goins: https://goinswriter.com/
• Dan Lievens: https://www.instagram.com/danlievens/

My Idea to IP Assessment (free):

Take the free Idea to IP Assessment: A short diagnostic that scores your expertise across 8 areas and shows you exactly where it's ready to become intellectual property you can package, sell, and scale. Find your single biggest next move in about 3 minutes: https://quiz.mikekim.com

1:1 Private Advisory:

Work with me 1:1: Private Advisory for experts and operators who want a strategic partner for their brand, message, and IP, with direct access to me. Application here: https://mikekim.com/advisory

Get my books:

You Are the Brand (Wall Street Journal bestseller): my book on personal branding and building a business around your name, your message, and your expertise: https://amzn.to/4gjyZFN

Own Your Brand, Own Your Career (with Andy Storch): personal branding for career professionals who want to take ownership of their career from the inside out: https://amzn.to/4eDQXQN

Subscribe to my newsletter:

The Mike Kim Letter, a weekly letter on personal branding, messaging, and building a meaningful business in a post-AI world. Less about what you know, more about how you think. Subscribe here: https://mikekim.com/newsletter

Social Media:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikekim
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikekimtv/

I don't remember a single bowl of the rice my mom made me growing up. That's exactly what's wrong with how most personal brands write and speak right now.

Take the free Idea to IP Assessment: A short diagnostic that scores your expertise across 8 areas and shows you exactly where it's ready to become intellectual property you can package, sell, and scale. Find your single biggest next move in about 3 minutes: https://quiz.mikekim.com

Work with me 1:1: Private Advisory for experts and operators who want a strategic partner for their brand, message, and IP — with direct access to me. Three ways in: The Intensive (7-day accelerator), The Sprint (90-day strategy sprint), and The Advisory (6-month partnership). Application here: https://mikekim.com/advisory

Get my books: You Are the Brand (Wall Street Journal bestseller) — my book on personal branding and building a business around your name, your message, and your expertise: https://amzn.to/4gjyZFN

Own Your Brand, Own Your Career (with Andy Storch) — personal branding for career professionals who want to take ownership of their career from the inside out: https://amzn.to/4uQjit6

Subscribe to my newsletter: The Mike Kim Letter, a weekly letter on personal branding, messaging, and building a meaningful business in a post-AI world. Less about what you know, more about how you think. Subscribe here: https://mikekim.com/newsletter

Social Media Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikekim LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikekimtv/

My best friend's fiancée said yes last month. Nobody at the engagement party called it a conversion. Holding an audience is a relationship. Like a real human one, it takes three completely different skills.

Take the free Idea to IP Assessment: A short diagnostic that scores your expertise across 8 areas and shows you exactly where it's ready to become intellectual property you can package, sell, and scale. Find your single biggest next move in about 3 minutes: https://quiz.mikekim.com

Work with me 1:1: Private Advisory for experts and operators who want a strategic partner for their brand, message, and IP — with direct access to me. Three ways in: The Intensive (7-day accelerator), The Sprint (90-day strategy sprint), and The Advisory (6-month partnership). Application here: https://mikekim.com/advisory

Get my books: You Are the Brand (Wall Street Journal bestseller) — my book on personal branding and building a business around your name, your message, and your expertise: https://amzn.to/4gjyZFN

Own Your Brand, Own Your Career (with Andy Storch) — personal branding for career professionals who want to take ownership of their career from the inside out: https://amzn.to/4uQjit6

Subscribe to my newsletter: The Mike Kim Letter, a weekly letter on personal branding, messaging, and building a meaningful business in a post-AI world. Less about what you know, more about how you think. Subscribe here: https://mikekim.com/newsletter

Social Media Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikekim LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikekimtv/

I was scrolling old photos of my masterminds and events on my phone when a question surfaced. Did I actually do right by the people who crossed my path? Here are three words for anyone in the business of helping people navigate these feelings: Wasted, spent, and offered. The third is the one very few of us ever name.

Take the free Idea to IP Assessment: A short diagnostic that scores your expertise across 8 areas and shows you exactly where it's ready to become intellectual property you can package, sell, and scale. Find your single biggest next move in about 3 minutes: https://quiz.mikekim.com

Work with me 1:1: Private Advisory for experts and operators who want a strategic partner for their brand, message, and IP — with direct access to me. Three ways in: The Intensive (7-day accelerator), The Sprint (90-day strategy sprint), and The Advisory (6-month partnership). Application here: https://mikekim.com/advisory

Get my books: You Are the Brand (Wall Street Journal bestseller) — my book on personal branding and building a business around your name, your message, and your expertise: https://amzn.to/4gjyZFN

Own Your Brand, Own Your Career (with Andy Storch) — personal branding for career professionals who want to take ownership of their career from the inside out: https://amzn.to/4uQjit6

Subscribe to my newsletter: The Mike Kim Letter, a weekly letter on personal branding, messaging, and building a meaningful business in a post-AI world. Less about what you know, more about how you think. Subscribe here: https://mikekim.com/newsletter

Social Media Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikekim LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikekimtv/

Join Mike Kim and Sean Osborn as they discuss the critical role of a mastermind group in fostering your personal and business growth. Sean shares his personal journey, illustrating how strategic mentorship within a mastermind setting can lead to remarkable business success. This conversation offers valuable insights for anyone looking to boost their entrepreneurship endeavors and achieve personal development.

• Get the Mike Kim Letter every Tuesday: https://mikekim.com/newsletter
• Take the Idea-to-IP Assessment (free): https://start.mikekim.com/assessment

📙 My WSJ bestselling book, You Are the Brand

CONNECT WITH ME

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikekim
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mikekimtv
• TikTok: https://tiktok.com/mikekimtv
• X: https://twitter.com/mikekimtv
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/mikekimtv

What most people call an identity crisis is often an identity evolution. These feelings are becoming more frequent due to social media and the accelerating impact of AI. This video touches on psychology and how to find yourself in times of social change. Here are some things I've learned about how to fix myself and embrace self discovery.

• Get the Mike Kim Letter every Tuesday: https://mikekim.com/newsletter
• Take the Idea-to-IP Assessment (free): https://start.mikekim.com/assessment

📙 My WSJ bestselling book, You Are the Brand

CONNECT WITH ME

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikekim
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mikekimtv
• TikTok: https://tiktok.com/mikekimtv
• X: https://twitter.com/mikekimtv
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/mikekimtv

Last week, my friend Lauren texted me about a book online that looked exactly like mine. Same orange cover. Same font. Same little black sticker. Different name on the spine.

Turns out "Dave Stone" has been pumping out AI-generated knockoffs by the dozen. I should have been furious. I wasn't. I was tired.

In this issue of the Mike Kim Letter, I unpack what I'm calling visibility fatigue — the exhaustion of trying to be everywhere, all the time, all at once, while AI bots run circles around you on the same treadmill.

We'll get into:

• Why the volume game is unwinnable (and why even YouTube and Amazon are losing it)
• What the rise of AI knockoffs is actually telling us about trust, substance, and personal brand
• The Shohei Ohtani question: are you trying to be a five-tool player when the lineup needs you in one specific spot?
• Why I wrote this issue with pencil and paper — and why it turned out infinitely better
• The one question to ask yourself this week: Where does your voice actually come alive?

This is part 2 of a 3-part series on the forces reshaping what it means to build trust, credibility, and a body of work in the AI era.

Read part 1, The Tabloidization of the Internet.

Part 3, The Great Letting Go, drops next week.

• Get the Mike Kim Letter every Tuesday: https://mikekim.com/newsletter
• Take the Idea-to-IP Assessment (free): https://start.mikekim.com/assessment

📙 My WSJ bestseller, You Are the Brand

CONNECT WITH ME

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikekim
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mikekimtv
• TikTok: https://tiktok.com/mikekimtv
• X: https://twitter.com/mikekimtv
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/mikekimtv

Watch on YouTube »

In this episode, I discuss "The Tabloidification of the Internet"... my observations on mass media and how click-bait headlines influence public perception. This discussion encourages critical thinking and media literacy in a digital media landscape.

1:46 - Social media is the new supermarket tabloid 2:58 - How Buzzfeed and Upworthy created click-bait 5:18 - Not all views should count the same 7:15 - Click vs. Relationship 8:49 - A small action item to try this week

Subscribe to the Mike Kim Letter: http://mikekim.com/newsletter

📙 My WSJ bestseller, You Are the Brand: https://amzn.to/40Ntc2O

CONNECT WITH ME

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/mikekim
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mikekimtv
• TikTok: https://tiktok.com/mikekimtv
• X: https://twitter.com/mikekimtv
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/mikekimtv

(Watch on YouTube or read on my site »)

I've been going on something called an "Artist Date": a solo outing, once a week with your "Inner Artist," to something that feeds you creatively.

The idea comes from Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, a book that's been sitting on my shelf for a year. I finally decided to go through with it.

A few links I mentioned, all in one place:

• The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron (get the hard copy) »
• Blackwing video by The Wall St. Journal (great storytelling) »
• Blackwing's site (you can't get these on Amazon) »
• Doug's Comic, Wait it Gets Worse »
• Lauren's site, laurendaviscreative.com »
• Rich Relationships: Create a Million-Dollar Network for Your Business by Selena Soo »

Recently, I presented at SXSW called You Are Still the Brand: What AI Can't Do For You alongside author, Ryan Levesque. Preparing together gave me a rare look at how someone I respect does their work, and it made me rethink a few things about my own process.

Here's what I learned about preparation, deep work, and why there's a huge jump between $1,500 Hamilton tickets vs. $15 improv tickets.

If you're interested in hearing about an upcoming training I'm planning to offer around writing and marketing your book, get on my waitlist below.

mikekim.com/writeyourbook

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