#010 Content & Personal Branding in 2026: What Actually Converts (And What to Stop Posting)

In this episode, Stef breaks down the personal brand and content strategy that's actually converting in 2026 and what you need to stop doing immediately if you want to grow your business this year.

WHAT TO STOP DOING:

• Stop posting like you're teaching a class (people aren't on social media for a lecture)
• Stop using hard sales CTAs and engagement bait ("comment READY," "drop a 🔥")
• Stop hiding behind the "professional" version of yourself
• Stop using AI to write your captions (people can tell, and it kills your credibility)

WHAT'S WORKING IN 2026:

• Build YOU as the brand, not your product or service
• Focus on formatting: create a recognizable container for your content
• Change your location, use props, switch your wardrobe, change your casting
• Show different sides of yourself (be multi-dimensional)
• Create content that's actually interesting (would YOU stop scrolling?)
• Make it about them, not you (your content should be a mirror)

THE IDENTITY WORK:

Building a personal brand requires you to expand your capacity to be seen. You have to be willing to take up space, polarize people, and show up unapologetically as yourself.

ACTION STEPS:

1. Review your last 10 posts...are they all the same?
2. Ask yourself: if someone binged my content for an hour, would they feel like they know me?
3. Create one piece of content this week that's different than anything you've done before

CONNECT WITH STEF:

DM her on Instagram and let her know what shifted for you after this episode.

Transcript

0:00

Okay. Welcome back to Call Her Coach, you guys. I have been in bed for the past seven days. Today is the first day that I have felt like a normal human being again. So if my voice is a little, uh, mainly today, that is a lie. Uh, but I wanna talk to you guys today about a couple of things that are very close to my heart. Social media and personal branding, and if you're building a business online, your personal brain really is a non-negotiable. This week, I was actually on a call with Aley, who's the CEO of Viralish. She's absolutely incredible. If you don't follow her on social media, go give her a follow. She has billions of views that she gets, She works with the biggest brands in the industries, and I'm talking about. Influencers. I'm talking about thought leaders. You know everybody. I'm talking about brick and mortar businesses, and on this call, it really got me thinking about everything that I've been talking about with my team and I've been seeing with you guys in the content game for 2026. For those of you that don't know my background, I actually am a certified social media manager and strategist. I used to be so bad at content. And marketing that

Speaker 1:26

Welcome to the Call Her Coach podcast. I'm your host, Steph Willis, neuro operational coach and creator of becoming her the neuro identity calibration system behind high-end Regulation for female entrepreneurs. This. Podcast is for high functioning type A women who are done with surface level mindset hacks and ready to understand the science behind success and wealth. Here we blend nervous system science, wealth psychology and tactical, no bullshit business strategy so that you can rewire your identity, expand your capacity, scale your business, and increase your income if you are ready to regulate, recalibrate, and become the most wealthy version of yourself. Let's dive in.

2:15

I ended up getting really good at it. And at the core of everything that I did with content was personal branding. That was the key that unlocked conversions. So today I wanna break down what's actually working right now. What you need to stop doing, how to build a personal brand through your content that is gonna convert into sales. Because I mean, to be honest with you, you can have all the followers in the world. You can have all the views in the world, but if you are not building you as the brand at the epicenter, people will scroll past you. So let's get into it.

Speaker 2:59

Welcome to the Call Her Coach podcast. I'm your host, Steph Willis, neuro operational coach and creator of becoming her the neuro identity calibration system behind high-end Regulation for female entrepreneurs. This. Podcast is for high functioning type A women who are done with surface level mindset hacks and ready to understand the science behind success and wealth. Here we blend nervous system science, wealth psychology and tactical, no bullshit business strategy so that you can rewire your identity, expand your capacity, scale your business, and increase your income if you are ready to regulate, recalibrate, and become the most wealthy version of yourself. Let's dive in.

3:49

Okay? So first, let's talk about what you need to stop doing immediately. If you wanna grow your business this year and make more money than you ever have online in your entire life, okay, number one. Stop posting like you're teaching a class. This worked back in, you know, pre 2024. That was the era where you could put up like three tips to x, y, Z posts. The here's how to do this carousel posts. And I get it. You know, everybody out there that has built a business and a brand online says that you need to educate and you need to provide value, and you need to be the expert. And those are all true. But it is in how you do it Now, that is not gonna convert anymore online. People are not on social media to take a class from you anymore. Since the birth of ai, they are scrolling while they're waiting for their coffee. They're in bed at night, avoiding going to sleep. They're looking for reasons to feel something. Now, people want to feel something. They wanna feel understood. They want to feel seen. They don't wanna be lectured at. If they wanna go know something, they're just gonna go to chat, GPT. They don't need your content specifically to do that. Now there's a time and a place for educational type content, but it's not the same that we've seen over the past decade. Things are really, really, really shifting since the birth of AI Number two thing that I see that's not working anymore, that, We gotta give it up. We gotta give it up. I used to do this back in 20 22, 20 23, and it worked very well. It does not work at all anymore. Okay. It is the hard sales CTAs. You guys know what I'm talking about? The CTAs that are like, comment ready and I'll send you the link. Drop a fire emoji if you want. Access. Type yes below. And I'll send you a DM if you're ready to go. Right. You guys know what I'm talking about. You see'em today and when you scroll past'em, now you probably, you, you're, you probably cringe a little bit. People are so tired of this, and platforms are actually starting to reduce your reach when you do obvious engagement bait like that. So if you have been doing that and you've noticed your engagement going down, this could be why. And your audience knows exactly what's happening. Back in 20 22, 20 23, this worked very, very, very well. It got the conversation going, but now with the birth of ai, the majority of people that are doing this, they know that they're gonna probably get an automated dm. They're gonna get pitched. It's gonna be transactional and not relational. And you guys know if you follow me on social media or if you're on my team, we are in the relationship age. We are in the post trusts sales era, relationship, age, and we are moving out of the information age. Do you remember when every single person, every single coach, every single network marketer was using the exact same CTA. If you want people to engage with you, you have to ask real questions. You have to invite real conversation, and honestly, sometimes the best CTAs that I have been seeing is no CTA at all. Just create content so good that people naturally wanna reach out to you. That's it. Number three, stop hiding behind the professional version of yourself. I see this one so many times online with people who are brand new to creating content. This one is huge. So many of you are showing up as this buttoned up Wall Street perfect version of who you think you need to be, and it's flat. It's boring. People cannot connect with it. People are not online to look at perfection. They want to connect with something real. They want to connect with the messy, the multidimensional. The actual human version of you. So if you think, and you have this perception that you need to be this perfect sales professional that uses perfect grammar and never messes up, and her hair's always perfect and all of this, like chuck it out the door, it doesn't work. People see it right through that fake facade. all right. Number four, this one might trigger you a little bit. You might hate me for it. You might disagree with me. That's okay. Stop using AI to write your captions. Listen, okay. I love ai. I'm here for it. But stop using it to write your captions. I need to be super real with you. When I see a caption that's clearly written by ai, even if it's someone who has millions of followers, I immediately think A no credibility. And then B, I scroll one because I could go to chat GBT and I could have got the same information. And I know I'm not the only one out there who feels this. We are just craving real human connection Now. You cannot be that person that has the dashes in their content. In their captions. AI writes in a very specific way. I can tell when someone has used ai, even if they remove the dashes, even if they remove all the telltale signs, that something is tragic. GBT, like we have to get back to using our brain. Now with that being said, it's okay to use it for a framework. I use AI to help me with my podcast episodes, but you guys know, like, I'm not reading off of like a script here, but I get, I use AI to help me format my thoughts in a clear way because my brain has them all jumbled up. But this is me. This is my voice. These are my thoughts. We have to get back to using our brains or we're gonna, I fear that we are going to lose our brains. And here's the thing you guys, like, people can tell when your captions are ai and then you get like two likes in one comment. In the one comment's from your grandma. She's like, I'm so proud of you. Your audience is smart. They know when you're using Chad J PT to write your caption. And it makes them trust you way less. Your captions should sound like you. Your captions should be like you're talking to your best friend on FaceTime with your words and your personality. Your voice. When I read your caption, I should be able to hear you inside of my head. The people out there that are doing this the best I can hear their tonality, I can hear. Their slang language that they use. I can hear them in my head. AI can help us with a lot of things, but it cannot replace your authentic voice. And in a world where everyone has access to the same AI tools, your authentic voice in 2026 and you know beyond is actually gonna be your biggest competitive advantage if you can tap back into your own brain. So what are some things that you should be doing instead? Head. Here's some things that I have noticed over the past three years of building a seven figure business online, largely through organic content. I didn't start to get into the ad game until, probably about a year ago and about the last six months doing it well to, I actually was having conversions. You need to build you as the brand, not your product, not your service, not a company that you're partnered with, not a company that you affiliate for. You. People do not buy products. They buy transformations. They buy people, they buy proximity. They buy. Who they want to become. They buy the energy, they buy the belief, they buy the lifestyle, When someone decides to partner with me and buys my high ticket offer, they're not just buying a business opportunity from someone that they met online. They are quite literally buying into the version of themselves that has the time and the money to travel wherever they want, because that's part of my brand. They buy into the version of themselves that runs a business from anywhere on the planet, because guess what? That's part of my brand and I showcase that they're buying into the version of themselves that has freedom and wealth and capacity to handle it all, and someone who believes in them. That's what your content needs to sell. That needs to be the identity shift here. The lifestyle, the possibility, the belief, the transformation. 2024 was about education. 2025 was all about storytelling. 2026 is all about formatting. You need a format, something simple, repeatable, scalable, that people can instantly recognize as you. Your voice is gonna be part of that. I want you to think about the most successful content and the most successful content creators that you see online right now. Who do you follow and why? Have you ever sat down and instead of just scrolling to scroll, actually had conversations with yourself like, okay, why did I stop on this? What made me watch this entire thing? I don't care about cats and cucumbers, but I just watched a full video, wasted a minute of my life watching this cat in a cucumber. Okay, so what was the reason? It's not random. And here's a couple ways that you guys can start implementing this in your content for 2026. Number one is location. Change your location. Stop filming everything in your kitchen. If you're someone out there who does cooking videos, stop filming in your kitchen. Sometimes get out. Film at a coffee shop like. Film while you're, for me, like out snowboarding, um, film something at your Pilate studio. Just think about things that I do, right? You can talk about the same content but make it way more of an interesting delivery. That's what people are craving right now. Your first three seconds in your last three seconds, or the most important piece of your content. Okay? Um, another one is filming in your car. That's big too. So just. Taking what you're already doing and changing location. It's as simple as that. There's a guy out there that he makes a, I think it's a cucumber salad, a chicken salad or something like that. But he does it in the ocean. He's swimming in the ocean making this. And his point is it's so easy to make that you can make it anywhere. Right. I don't care about cucumber salad. What is he doing? He's gonna get eaten by a shark. Okay. And he probably lives on the ocean. Somewhere close. He just went out there and made a video. Same content, different location. Number two, use props. What could you use that make people stop scrolling? Maybe it's a sign. There's a bakery actually that created a sign and they stapled it to a light post. And I had a QR code and it said something like, Noah, we know you've been cheating. Here's the proof. And when people would scan the QR code, it would take them to the bakery. like had nothing to do with a bakery, but it got people to stop the scroll. And that had millions and millions of views. Loose. So maybe it's a sign, maybe it's a specific product. Whatever it is, make it something unexpected that's gonna create curiosity. Adley, I was actually watching a video of hers one time, and she was doing something in her kitchen and her fly was unzipped. She got thousands of comments from people saying, Hey, just wanna let you know your fly is unzipped. And later on it came out. She made a reel about it. She was like, I did that on purpose. I unzipped my fly before I did the video because I knew that it would stop people from scrolling. It's called a pattern interrupt. Okay? And you can do that using props number three. Switch your wardrobe. If you're always in the same type of outfit, in the same type of place, you're missing a huge opportunity to make people care more about what you have to say. Maybe you put a tinfoil hat on. People are gonna be like, what is this person doing? Like, make your content fun. Make your wardrobe fun. This is the easiest way to do that. People are so nose blind to monotony. How can you stand out? And then lastly, number four, change your casting. Who else could you bring into your content? Maybe it's your kids, maybe a business partner, maybe your significant other. I know for me, every time I bring Garrett into my content, my husband, for those of you that don't know who cared us, that piece of content pops off. Because he's so original, he's so just, it's, it's different than the majority of content than I do. So when I do bring him in, people are very intrigued by Garrett. He's funny. So bring in someone who makes this story more interesting, Here's an example that I saw. There's a girl who is teaching sales online she wasn't getting a lot of views or anything like that. And views are vanity metrics to a certain degree, but also the more eyes that you have on your offer and your brand, the more conversions you're gonna have. So it is important to a degree. now she was giving, objection handling advice on sales, and she wasn't really getting a ton of engagement. Now, what she did is she changed her casting. So instead of her giving the objection, she was teaching her son how to do it. So her son was doing it, and it made it way more interesting because if she could teach a 9-year-old how to do it, I mean, imagine. Her audience. They're like, oh, okay. He can learn. I can too. Right? Number five, show different sides of yourself. You are not one dimensional, so your content should not be either. Yes, I talk about business. Yes, I talk about sales, but I also show my life in Utah. I talk about Pilates, I share about my marriage. I get real about. Psychology and wealth, and I nerd out on nervous system work because those are my passions, my interests, my skills, right? And in another episode, I'll kind of break that down for you, but when people get to see all of you and they get to see the lifestyle content, they're gonna trust you more. They're gonna feel like they know you and they're invested in your life and what you are able to give to them. And people buy from people that they trust. I know that you've heard the phrase people buy from people they know, like, and trust. It's not necessarily true. I've bought things from people I don't know. I've boughten things from people that I don't necessarily like. but at the end of the day, one thing remains. I always trust the transformation of the product or service, whatever I'm getting, That's what you need to focus on, is the trust and your personal brand. Through your content is the only way that you can do that. Number six, this one's kind of obvious, but we have to create content that's interesting. And when I say interesting, I don't mean that you need to be out there dancing on tiktoks or doing crazy stunts like that, unless that's you and your brand, then absolutely. But I, I mean. Would you stop scrolling for the piece of content that you just put out, whatever your last piece of content was? Be honest. Would it stop your scroll? If you're making content that even you would scroll past, why would anyone else stop? Think about what makes you stop. It's usually something expected, something that makes you feel something, something that shows you something that you haven't seen before. That piece of content. needs to evoke an emotion. My favorite type of content to create is edutainment. That's what I like to call it. Little educational, little entertainment where I get to bring my personality out into it. I love trending reels for that reason. Even though they're kind of phasing out. I'm all about bringing'em back for 2026'cause they're so fun. Um, and then lastly. Make your content about the viewer, not you. Your content should be a mirror. When someone watches your video, they should be able to see themselves in it, their struggles, their desires, their secret fears that they haven't told anyone about. When you do that, your message, your personal brand is what is going to convert. You're not just gonna be another person selling something online anymore. You're gonna be the person who gets them, who understands them, who's been where they are, and can show them a way out because you did it. So many of you are trying to build a personal brand while you are hiding who you are. Are, you are scared of being too much. You are scared of being too different. You're scared of saying the wrong thing. You are scared of being you, and that fear is what's keeping you here saying, I have a block. Building a personal brain is gonna require you to expand your capacity to be seen. It's gonna require you to take up more space. It's gonna require you to polarize people. When you try to appeal to everyone out there on the internet, you appeal to nobody. The women out there making six, seven figures with their content. They're not out there trying to be liked by everyone. Their comment section is full of haters. They're fully themselves. They're unapologetically themselves and the right people. Are drawn to that, their people are drawn to that. I want you to think about the people that you follow online. Chances are that they got some haters, so stop trying to be liked by everybody. So here's your homework for the week. Okay? Number one, I want you to look at your last 10 posts. Are they all the same? Are you just showing one side of yourself? Maybe they're all straight business posts. There's no lifestyle posts, nothing about you, your journey. The one thing that I tell my team all the time is your content is just documenting your journey. That's all. And if you look back at that 10 posts and they're all the same, it's time to get more dimensional. Number two, ask yourself, if someone binged my content for an hour, would they feel like they know me? Would they understand who I am, what I stand for, what my life looks like, what my mission is, what my passions are? If the answer is no, you're not building a personal brand. You are just posting content. And just posting content is not a marketing strategy. And lastly. Number three, create one piece of content this week that feels different than anything that you've done before. Show a different side of yourself. Share something more vulnerable. Get out of your usual location. Do something that makes you slightly uncomfortable. Use props. Switch your wardrobe, change your casting. Show a different side of yourself. Create content that's interesting. do something different. It's gonna be uncomfortable. That's okay. That discomfort is where your growth opportunities lie. And I wish there was a formula that I could give you to follow for building a personal brand in 2026, but there's no formula that I can give you. Building a personal brand that is gonna convert online is about being brave enough to show up exactly who you are and trust that the right people are gonna find you. You're gonna repel people who are not for you, and you're gonna attract people that are having a personal brain is about understanding that your content isn't just marketing, your content is actually the bridge between where you are now and the business and the life and the future that you're building. It's the identity work and the nervous system work to be able to handle the visibility that comes with putting yourself out there. And I promise you, you are so much closer to your breakthrough than you think, but you have to be willing to show up differently than you have been in the past. So take one thing from today. Implement it next week, not next month, but this week, today. Do it today. Okay. And if this resonated, I would love a dm, um, to let me know, you know, what shifted for you. I love hearing from you guys. I want you to keep building your empires. I want you to keep showing up as you and I want you to remember that the world needs what only you can give it. That's your superpower. And if you never give up, if you never quit, then you're guaranteed to win in this life, especially with your business and building a personal brand on life. This is call Her Coach. I'll see you next week.