Want to Stand Out Post-AI? Building a Personal Brand Is the Way to Go.

There was a time when having a nice portfolio was enough.

Then a time when sharing a few blogs did the trick.

Then a time when posting on Instagram consistently made you look like you had it together.

Those days are loooong gone.

AI came along, and said: “Don’t worry, I can do all that for you.”

And suddenly:

1. There are more web designers, developers, and “full-service digital studios” than ever before. 
2. Clients are scrolling through lookalike portfolios, templated taglines, and “we help businesses grow online” homepages thinking: “These all feel the same. Who do I actually trust with my website and my money?”

But here’s the part a lot of web designers and devs underestimate:

Your most unfair advantage in all of this is…you.

• Your lived experience
• Your opinions about the work
• Your hot takes on industry trends
• Your story
• Your face
• Your “this is how we do things around here.”

If you want clients to confidently choose you (not just any designer with a Squarespace login), leaning into your personal brand is the way to do it.

Now let’s get into why that is and how to go about building a proper personal brand of your own.

Is personal branding important for web designers/devs?
Now that we’ve got AI, yes, yes it is.

I know. You’re sick of hearing “In the age of AI…” 

Same. I vomited in my mouth writing it.

But look:

• AI can crank out “good enough” websites scarily fast
• DIY website builders are getting better
• Clients are more price-conscious and sceptical

So if your brand sounds like everyone else’s (or worse, like the default “conversational” tone of your AI tool), you’re automatically competing on:

• Price
• Speed
• Who can shout the loudest

S t r e s s f u l.

Now, people don’t just want a “website solution.” They want to work with a person (or a small team of humans) they like, trust, and feel safe handing their website baby (and ultimately, their company’s online success) to. 

Human connection is the filter your dream clients are using to make decisions when every designer’s services page looks the same.

They’re sniffing out the difference between:

“We build strategic, data-driven, high-converting websites for service-based businesses shaped by 20+ years of industry expertise.”

And:

“We’re the folks who actually call you back, do what we say we will, and hold our hands up if something goes wrong.”

I mean, come on. Who would you go for out of those two options?

Personal brand vs company brand: there’s a difference?

Yep, there is. And this is actually where a lot of people get stuck, so let me clear it up:

What is a personal brand?

This is you. In your own voice. Real, authentic, lovely you.

Your decisions, your working style, your stories, your standards, your irritations, your humor, your worldview.

When people hire based on your personal brand, they’re saying, “I want to work with you. I like the way you think.”

What is a company brand?

This is your personal brand’s grown-up cousin.

Structure, visuals, services, promises, processes, pricing, positioning: all shaped by the person leading the way (you).

When people hire based on your company brand, they’re saying, “I like this agency’s approach. I trust the system and the experience.”

And in small businesses? The lines blur. A lot.

If you’re:

• A solo web designer/developer
• The founder/face of a small team
• Managing contractors

…then your personal and company brand are usually intertwined.

Your company brand is heavily flavored by:

• What you care about
• How you speak
• How you lead projects
• What you refuse to do

That doesn’t mean you have to choose one or the other forever. For most small agencies, it’s more like a sliding scale:

Stage 1: Personal brand with a business name
Stage 2: Personal brand + agency brand in harmony
Stage 3: Strong studio brand that still carries traces of your DNA

You can move along that scale intentionally over time.

How to know if you should lean into a personal brand (or not)

A personal-brand-led business is probably right for you if:

• Clients already say “I really want to work with you specifically”
• Your DMs are full of “I loved what you said about…”
• You want to do speaking, teaching, podcasts, professional networking, or build authority
• You’re okay with being in the public eye (even if it feels a bit scary)
• Your opinions and approach truly are a big part of your unique value proposition

A more company-led brand might make more sense if:

• You want to scale quickly with other lead designers/devs running projects
• You’d like to sell the business one day
• You want clients to feel confident working with anyone on the team
• You’re deeply uncomfortable with visibility and have zero desire to change that

And what’s most common for The Admin Bar folks:

You want to build a web design or development agency, but your personal brand is the engine that gets you there.

In that case, you don’t need to pick a side. You need a clear relationship between the two. Think:

“I’m the founder and face of X Web Design Studio. This is how I think, and this is how that thinking shows up in our work.”

Your superpower is you (yes, even if you think you’re “not that interesting”)

“I’m just a regular web designer. Why would anyone care about my personal brand?”

Please.

Every designer thinks this until they start talking, and suddenly there’s a 10-minute rant about a client using 7 different fonts on one page.

You’re interesting. You’re just used to yourself.

Think about it – your superpower might be:

• Calm, no-drama project leadership
• Deep obsession with accessibility and user experience
• Being able to translate big tech language and ideas into “normal human” language
• Strong opinions on using AI ethically
• Speciality in a very particular niche (e.g., clinics, trades, nonprofits, hospitality)

Don’t think of personal branding as cartoon-ifying yourself. The goal is make it easier for the right people to recognize:

“Oh, you’re the person who gets us. That’s who we want.”

Clarifying your personal brand foundations (the not-gross way)

In my brand voice blog, we dug into what your business stands for.

This time, we’re zooming in on you (hi).

Grab a doc or notebook and work through these:

#1 Who are you in your business?

• What kind of decisions do you make easily?
• Where do you agonize over details (and why)?
• How do you naturally talk to clients on calls?
• What phrases do you say over and over again?

Think of this as your default setting. We basically want to bottle that, rather than invent a new character.

#2 What do you actually care about?

Outside of “doing good work” and “paying the bills”:

• What frustrates you about your industry?
• What standards do you refuse to drop?
• What do you wish more clients understood about web projects?
• What’s a hill you’d happily die on when it comes to design/dev?

There’s your personality. Right there.

#3 Who do you really want to help?

Not “anyone who needs a website.”

We all have “that” client type: the one who makes you feel like an absolute wizard because they trust you, collaborate well, and don’t email you a PowerPoint titled “My Thoughts.”

Do some market research, think of the clients you love, look at the pain points that keep coming up, and ask:

• Who do you enjoy solving problems for?
• Whose emails make you smile instead of sigh?
• Which clients tell stories that give you the warm fuzzies?
• Who actually implements your recommendations and sees results?

Got your answers? Great, now your personal brand has someone to talk to.

#4 What’s the story behind your work?

You don’t need a dramatic “I built my first website at 8 years old” origin story (but if you do have one – this part should be easy).

Work out:

• The reason you started
• A turning point moment or two
• A mistake you’ll never make again
• A lesson you wish someone had taught you earlier

Your personal brand story is what’ll connect the dots between your past experiences and the way you run projects now.

#5 Distill it down into 4 personal brand anchors

Let’s adapt the framework from the brand voice piece and make it more personal to you:

1. I stand for: (The principle you want your work to represent.)
   
2. I refuse to: (The approach/behavior you won’t participate in.)
   
3. The lie I’m here to clear up: (The unhelpful narrative you’re willing to challenge.)
   
4. The message I’ll repeat until people are sick of hearing it: (The core idea you want to be known for.)

These become your north stars. Your content, offers, and messaging should all “sound like” these ideas in action.

“Do I really have to show my face on social media platforms?” (Short answer: yes.)

The face thing. Yes, we’re going there, and I can sense your internal screaming from here.

Am I saying you need to become a full-time influencer across all your social media accounts? No.

But if you want your target audience to trust you, especially online, they need to:

• See your face
• Hear your voice
• Get a feel for how you think

Some ways to ease into your online persona:

• Start with 1 decent headshot on your website (no cropped vacation photo, please)
• Add a short, real video introducing yourself on your About page or LinkedIn
• Share a behind-the-scenes story once a week: a client win, a process tweak, a lesson learned
• Show up on camera in Stories/Reels/shorts occasionally, even if it’s just 30 seconds

Remember, your people aren’t looking for the next Neil Patel, they just want someone real who can help them solve their most annoying problems. 

And that’s you.

When to rein it in and when to fully embrace it

Like anything personal, there’s definitely a line. You always want to make sure your personal brand is supporting your business rather than overshadowing it.

Signs you might need to rein it in:

• Your content is 90% “personal life updates,” 10% “here’s how we can help clients.”
• Clients are confused about what you actually do
• Your team feels invisible
• You’re sharing things that make you cringe an hour later
• Decisions are driven by “What will get the most likes?” instead of “What will help the right people?”

If you feel personally victimized by any of the above, pull back and ask:

“Is this serving my business, my clients, and my future self, or is it just feeding the algorithm?”

Dial your personal content back toward:

• Stories that illustrate lessons
• Behind-the-scenes that show your process
• Honest opinions about your work and industry

Not every thought needs to be content. You’re allowed to keep parts of your life entirely offline, I know I do.

Signs you should lean in more:

• Clients say things like “I feel like I already know you from your posts” (good), but you’re only posting once every 3 months
• Prospects ask, “Do you have any blogs, podcasts, or videos I can check out?” and you don’t
• Your website’s About page could belong to 27,000 other agencies
• You’re doing great work, but nobody outside your existing referrers knows who you are
• You secretly want to share more, but you’re worried you’ll be “too much”

If this is you, it’s time to pick a couple of channels and show up consistently as the founder:

• Share your thought process, not just final designs
• Talk about how you handle tricky parts of projects
• Explain your stance on AI, accessibility, SEO, dev stacks, timelines, budgets – whatever matters to your best-fit clients

You get to set the boundaries. Within those boundaries? Go all in.

How to bring a strong personal brand into your business 

Once you’re clearer on who you are and what you stand for, it’s time to weave that into your actual business.

Some places to start:

The copy on your company or personal website

• Homepage: Let your personality show in your headline, intro, and “who we’re for” section
• About page: Tell your story honestly – not as a CV, but as a “this is why we work the way we do”
• Services pages: Create content that explains your process in your voice. Use examples and asides that sound like you on a call

Your client experience

• Discovery calls: Talk to them like you write
• Proposals: Add a short personal note. Explain choices just like you would on a sales call
• Onboarding: Infuse your values into timelines, boundaries, and expectations

Your content

• Create cornerstone long-form content: Free resources, blog posts, guides, talks that reflect your opinions
• Repurpose them into social posts, emails, or video snippets
• Stay rooted in your 4 personal brand anchors so everything feels cohesive

Your team and contractors

If you work with others:

• Share your personal brand anchors with them
• Explain the kind of clients you want and don’t want
• Encourage them to make decisions that align with your values, not just the brief
• And (for the love of God) if you’ve got a social media management person writing for you, make sure they know how to sound exactly like the real you!

Basically, make sure your personal brand doesn’t just live on Instagram, but can honestly be felt in every interaction people have with your business.

You’re allowed to do this your way BTW

You don’t need a rebrand, a photoshoot, and a content team before you can have a personal brand.

You already have one. People already have opinions and feelings about what it’s like to work with you.

The question is whether you’re shaping that intentionally or not.

So:

• Get clear on what you stand for
• Decide how visible you’re willing to be (and stretch that comfort zone a little)
• Thread your personality and principles into your website, content, and processes
• Turn up the volume on the parts of you that help your clients feel seen

And if you’d like some company while you figure it out? You know where we are.

Come hang out with us in The Admin Bar community. You’ll find a whole bunch of web pros building agencies that look and feel like them, not like whatever AI thinks a “digital agency” is supposed to sound like.

And if you want to go a little deeper with more resources and more “oh thank god someone finally explained this properly” support, Barflies is where the extra goodies live.