Do you have to work for free to build a personal brand?

[Knowledgefactry]

I’ve heard from multiple influencer gurus in multiple industries saying the value of working for free until you no longer have to. Meaning, if you are just starting out with a business or skilled job/service, offer to do it for free until you are giving so much value that you can’t keep up with the demand, meaning you now are able to charge what the market is willing to pay.

all of this comes after you have proven your concept/value.

my personal tie to this question is that of being in the fitness industry. I have been a certified trainer for about a year, and have been in the fitness space for about 3 years. Meaning I have personally branded myself on Instagram as a “gym bro”.

I get people hitting me up every so often I have t seen or heard from in years, asking for fitness advice, and some even saying they will pay for a workout plan or meal plan.

I can count on one hand how many times I’ve taken money from people to provide these plans, although I’ve done it for free countless other times, I guess because I haven’t built up the confidence to charge more for it.

Anyone who has experience building a personal brand and how to know when to charge/what to charge I would love to hear your input

also have been contemplating learning Facebook marketing skills and using the same “work for free until too much value is provided that you don’t want to see me leave” approach to start an agency, I live in a more urban area of Midwest so it’s not saturated with shitty agencies yet

 

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[Black_Dragon43]

I've worked with influencers and have helped people scale personal brands. The core of it is putting content out there, on as many platforms as you can, as frequently as you can. Along with that valuable content, feel free to promote your products.

So I disagree with the work for free, and then start charging. Charge from the beginning, but always keep on providing free content and getting eyeballs. Over time, you will be building a brand. And a brand is nothing other than owning a certain category in a person's mind.

So maybe I know some famous fitness guy, say the p90x dude. But I start interacting with you, and getting value from you, and I apply some of the knowledge, and it's getting me results, so I end up buying your stuff, etc. Who do you think I'll think of first after that point? The famous p90x dude, or my pal here Knowledgefactry who helped me sculpt my body like a Greek god?

Start providing value to people. Put out opportunities there for them to give you their money as well. Do both.

 

[Stargazer]

I can count on one hand how many times I’ve taken money from people to provide these plans, although I’ve done it for free countless other times, I guess because I haven’t built up the confidence to charge more for it.

This is the real reason you work for free.

Dan

 

[Knowledgefactry]

This is the real reason you work for free.

Dan

This is the real reason you work for free.

Dan

My rebuttal for this is I’ve overcharged I think and had people who hit me up for cheap advice and ended up feeling like I was trying to take more of their money than I had I mind. Still finding the balance, and like @Black_Dragon43 said I need to focus on content. My content is definitely lacking

 

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[Andy Black]

I help people with free content.

I help people in PMs for free.

I do free calls still.

I don’t do the actual client work for free though. Not after the first couple of clients.

 

[Kid]

Most youtubers had to bust their asses for a year without any meaningful profits. They still have to bust their asses now but many of them get 7 figures a year.

Maybe you could turn your free advice into asset - post it on your website and build more credibility.

Have "Free advice Mondays" and make rest of a week paid.

Turn those freebies into videos also and post it wherever you can.

 

[Crawls2]

I think it has a lot to do with the confidence thing.

I'm just getting started with video marketing myself and trying to go fastlane, but I have been making videos for literal years now. My first client I asked for $500/month. He referred someone to me recently, and I asked for double from them...and what do you know? They agreed. On the other hand, I just got my YouTube channel monetized after making content for almost a year straight with $0 in revenue.

 

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