Back in July 2018 I finished my Maths degree.

3 full years of algebra, calculus and weird fucking “vector normed spaces”.

Honestly, uni was a damn good time and all.

But, to be honest, the mathematical concepts I learned there (over 5 years ago now - WTF) barely even cross my mind these days.

Which is why it was pretty weird when, during my morning walk today (on a rare day it wasn’t pissing down in the UK), a relic from the good ol’ maths days randomly popped into my head.

Now, if that had happened 6-12 months back, I would’ve swiftly batted that thing into submission and been done with it.

I’d have had absolutely no desire to spend even a moment reminiscing about the years I spent cramming complex formulas and mathematical proofs into my head like a dad crams clothes into the family suitcase because he doesn’t want to pay for the additional luggage on the flight.

But ever since getting into this “personal brand” game over the past few months, I’ve learned never to dismiss ideas.

No matter how idiotic.
No matter how unappealing.
No matter how useless they might appear.

Because it’s never the idea that’s the issue.

Instead, it’s all about the lens which you view that idea through.

And as you go through life, that lens will constantly be changing.

Ideas you hated 2 years ago will suddenly become useful, gain new meaning.

And that’s exactly what happened to me this morning.

So, let’s get into it and discuss this idea that so aggressively pervaded my morning amble:

The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM).

If you don’t know what this is, it’s basically a financial model for evaluating the expected return you should get on an investment.

(I know - sounds fucking boring).

But, of course, I’m not here to talk to you about it from a finance perspective (which would make this post about as dry as cottonmouth you wake up with after sinking 10 pints at the pub with your mates the previous night).

Instead, I’m here to talk to you about what it means for you and your brand.

But first, we need a little bit more background about what the CAPM actually is.

The CAPM in a nutshell

“CAPM” sounds complicated (finance geeks love to make things sound fancy).

But it really isn’t.

All it says is this:

Pick a stock from the market.

Then look at your stock’s “Beta” - how the stock moves in relation to the market as a whole.

If the market goes up 10%, what happens to your stock?

If the market goes up 10% and your stock goes up 10%, your beta is 10%/10% = 1.

If the market goes up 10% and your stock goes up 20%, your beta is 20%/10% = 2 (your stock is highly sensitive to the market).

If the market goes up 10% and your stock only goes up 5%, your beta is 5%/10% = 0.5 (your stock is highly insensitive to the market).

Your beta is your stock’s sensitivity to changes in the market as a whole.

Now, the other thing we care about when picking this stock is its “alpha”.

What’s alpha?

It’s basically the difference between the return the CAPM model says we “should” get and what we actually get.

It’s your market premium.

Your alpha is the additional ROI you’ve managed to sniff out that no-one else in the market has spotted.

In general:

High alpha is good (high ROI). Low alpha is bad (low ROI).

Low beta is low risk (good). High beta is high risk (bad).

(I’m simplifying here but I really don’t think you want to me to dive into the pros and cons of using variance in returns as a proxy for investment risk this morning…)

And, I know what you’re thinking.

Why the fuck are you talking about stocks and financial markets, Harry.

Show me how to build my god damn personal brand.

Steady on cowboy.

I’m getting there.

A little background and preamble never hurt anyone.

We’re almost there now.

Because I’m now going to share with you how all of this “alpha” and “beta” talk relates to you and your own brand.

Your personal brand’s “Alpha” and “Beta”

If you haven’t already spotted the analogy, I want you to think about like this:

Your brand is a stock on the market.

Except instead of that market being the New York Stock Exchange, that market is Twitter (or whatever platforms you're on).

And you’re constantly fighting for the attention of investors who need your services and trying to make them see you as a more valuable pick: you’re trying to increase your brand’s “alpha”.

Simultaneously, however, you don’t want to be exposed to market fluctuations.

When the market’s screwed and no-one’s buying, you don’t want to go down with the sinking ship.

You want to be completely immune.

Not because you’re insanely valuable (although, hopefully you are).

But because you’re so fucking unique that regardless of what happens to the market itself, people still want to work with you simply because it’s YOU.

Which, if you haven’t spotted the analogy yet, is equivalent to decreasing your brand’s “beta”.

So, here’s what we want:

We want a high brand “alpha” that makes us 10x more valuable than all the other Joe Schmoe’s out there.

And we want a low brand “beta” as a result of building such a unique fucking brand that while everyone else is going down faster than Kate and Leo on the Titanic, you’re sitting pretty because you’ve built yourself your own personal lifeboat.

Now, I’ve gone pretty damn hard on the analogy side today.

So I think it’s time I actually gave you guys some actionable advice to start making your brand more valuable and making it less susceptible to market conditions…

How to increase your brand "Alpha"

Your brand alpha is all about ROI.

If someone gives you $1, how many can you give them back?

$1?

$5?

$100?

The bigger the ROI you can deliver for people, the more you can charge for your services (and the more money you’ll make).

And how do you start increasing this ROI of yours?

Do exactly what I preach to you guys day after day after day:

Prioritise skill acquisition over EVERYTHING else (boring answer, I know).

Here is the roadmap I would take (and have taken) to start stacking high-value skills and get myself to the point where I can realistically charge $2.5k+/month for my services:

Step #1: Learn to write

If you can’t communicate why you’re valuable, you’re screwed.

You could have the most insanely valuable offer in the world, but if you can’t convince people to listen to what it is, you’re always going to be playing the game with a handicap.

So, how do you learn to write better?

• Pick 2-3 top writers in your niche.
• Immerse yourself in their content for 30 minutes every day.
• Then write for 90 minutes writing (long form - 280 character tweets don’t count) and actively try to implement stuff you’ve picked up from their writing.

Do this every day without fail and in 3 months time you will be repulsed by the stuff you used to spew out onto the page.

Step #2: Pick ONE high value skill

Email marketing.
SEO optimisation.
Landing page design.

I don’t care.

Just pick ONE skill and commit to learning AND implementing it for your own brand for the next 3 months.

This is going to be your bread and butter.

But, as a final step, let’s now elevate your brand above everyone else - this is where the magic happens:

Step #3: Learn 2 complementary “sub-skills”

What’s more valuable than a specialist?

A specialised generalist.

Because the highest ROI offers aren’t constrained to one particular service.

They have a specialty - their bread and butter - sure.

But they’re also adept in a host of other skills.

If you’re a ghostwriter, for example, an instant high ROI activity is to add 2 more skills like email marketing and landing page copy to your repertoire.

That way, your offer suddenly goes from:

“I’ll write your tweets to help you grow on X”

and turns into:

“I’ll write tweets that push people towards a disgustingly compelling landing page (which I’ll build), funnel these people into your newsletter and then write disgustingly convincing sales emails to generate you $1,000s in revenue every month.”

That’s how you outperform the market.

Because while everyone else is only a ghostwiter, or only a copywriter, or only an email marketer, you’re doing all 3.

You’re becoming a full-stack brand.

And this, in case it isn’t clear, is valuable as fuck.

Now, onto decreasing your brand’s “beta”.

How to decrease your brand's "Beta" and become invulnerable to market conditions

“You are the niche”.

I hate this phrase - corny AF.

Plus, it’s only 50% right.

Because people interpret this as “if I just pick 2-3 interests and talk about those then I’ll become irreplaceable!”

Except here’s the problem:

Those 2-3 interests are the same as everyone else’s in your space: because you followed people with the same interests as you (duh)!

So sure, talk about your interests.

But don’t expect it to make you stand out and become truly irreplaceable.

How do you do stand out then?

How do you truly differentiate in a sea of noise?

It all comes down to your vibe.

The way you write.
The words you use.
The general energy you give off.

That is something truly unique to you that other people simply can’t replicate - and, even if they try, they’ll come across as a cheap, knock-off version of you and simply push people your way without knowing it.

Becoming irreplaceable and immune to market conditions isn’t about your content, your bio or even the message you put out.

It’s about the WAY you talk.
It’s about the WAY you write content.
It’s about the WAY you make people FEEL.

So lose the filter.

Say what you want.

And embrace being YOU.

(Oh, and btw - if people don’t like it? Screw it - you would’ve hated working with them anyway).

I know that was a long one today guys.

I hope it was insightful though (and, at the very least, you now have the ability to go and bury your head in articles on the CAPM model…)

Talk soon,

Harry

PS. I don't know everything about building a business. But I have found a way to build a $10k/month business doing what I love: writing about life and my thoughts.

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