Before the likes, before the followers, before people started calling me a “professional yapper,” I was behind the curtain. I saw how influence is manufactured — not by accident, but by design. Not in one post, but over hundreds.
I knew what it took to grow online, because I had already helped others do it. I knew how to reverse engineer visibility. How to build trust. How to convert attention into action. I wanted to share my knowledge with so many people on LinkedIn but I knew I needed to build something first if I wanted anyone to listen to me.
When I decided to build my brand, it wasn’t random. It wasn’t for fun. It was intentional. I had a plan. A tone. A yapping niche. A content map of feral chaos that didn’t follow the traditional route. I had coffee chats with people back in April who I told my plans to and they can vouch for me here today, I’ve stuck by what I said I was going to build.
Consistency Is Your First Job
You don’t need to be brilliant every day. You need to be there. Consistency is going to be your biggest challenge here. It is one of my non-negotiables. And the reason is simple: no one trusts a fluke. People trust patterns. Showing up, even when your posts feel like they’re going into the void, creates those patterns.
I didn’t become known for Hamburger Helper, the lorax or even our lord and savior Nicolas Cage overnight. It was a process to show up every day and just yap about the things I loved.
SEO Matters Even If You’re Just Yapping Into the Void
SEO lovers are about to explode here. Because here’s where SEO played its role. I didn’t just call myself a “professional yapper” because it sounded quirky. I chose it because I didn’t want to put “marketer” in my bio and get lumped in with 800,000 other people. (Plus it was seemed pretty boring.) I knew SEO. I knew branding. I knew that if I wanted people to remember me, I needed a keyword and a character, just like influencers use niches.
I became the yapper. Then people started calling me that. So when I launched a newsletter, it became The Yapper Gazette. When I wrote an ebook, it was called Why I Started Yapping. The podcast? House of Yap. The website? On brand.
Branding isn’t just a logo. It’s an ecosystem. A universe that people can step into and recognize immediately. Every touchpoint of mine leads back to the same narrative.
If you’re thinking about launching a newsletter, start with LinkedIn’s internal platform. It’s free, it’s great and it gets the job done in the beginning. Plus, my favorite part, your newsletters rank on Google.
SEO is far from dead.
Monetizing Your Personal Brand (Without Becoming “Salesy”)
I monetize through multiple streams: digital products, affiliate marketing, sponsorships, 1:1 consults, advertisers, ghostwriting and more. But I didn’t start by selling. I started by showing proof that I knew what I was talking about.
If a band wouldn’t roll into an empty venue and start setting up a merch table, why are you trying to sell before you’ve built an audience?
The whole reason I dropped my first digital product, ‘Why I Started Yapping (And Why You Need to Start)‘ was because I had done over 30 coffee chats at that point. People needed help, so many people were coming to me for advice and I couldn’t be everywhere at once but I could drop a super helpful resource. It documented everything I did in the first 90 days.
That’s the balance you have to strike. Give so much value up front that when you do pitch something, people are already leaning in. I didn’t expect to make a million dollars overnight but I knew that was the start to supplementing my income.
Branding With What You Have (And Who You Know)
Spoiler, I did all of my branding in Canva. I’ve used Canva since its’ birth and I’m not afraid to say it. I didn’t hire a fancy agency or spend months mocking up mood boards. I got scrappy. Canva was accessible and flexible, and it let me build as I grew. I spend $12/month for a pro account. You don’t need a full design suite to look professional.
For my podcast, I teamed up with my good buddy Noah Charnow. He helped shape the visuals and the tone for House of Yap. We leaned into the nostalgic, the bold, the unapologetic. It fit. It felt like me. And that’s the point.
You can start small and scale later. But brand early. Claim your space. Give people something to associate with your name.
You can even download this template I used for the original outline of The Yapper Gazette.
What I Believe as a Yapper
- Building in public beats building in silence.
- Clarity scales.
- You don’t need more tools, you just need to be intentional.
- You can’t build well if you’re constantly burned out.
- Authenticity matters over everything else.
- You don’t need to spend a fortune to start.
- You weren’t meant to do this alone.
My cost breakdown in the beginning.
- Canva — $12/mo (They have a free plan.)
- WordPress — $40/mo
- Kit — $25/mo (email marketing)
- ChatGPT — $20/mo
I built a community 10 years ago, but I didn’t have a decade of experience to back it up. Now, after spending that decade deep in the work — with creators, founders, and the good and bad of online growth — I know what mistakes people make.
They don’t prioritize organic visibility. (This one goes out to all the social media managers everywhere.) They don’t prioritize their mental health. They burn out fast. They try to do it all alone.
I’m here to change that. I genuinely want to yap with everyone building something. I believe in you. I want to hype you up. I want to invest in you as much as you’re investing in me.
How This Brand Came to Life
March — Was completely delusional
April — Launched The Yapper Gazette
May — Launched my Ebook
June — Yapped A LOT
July — Writing, yapping, building. Launched my Slack community.
August — The Funniest Hour Debut
September — Dropped 3 events: The Funniest Hour Comedy Show, Where the Dogs of Society Howl, Retweets & Regret: The Rise and Fall of ___
October — The Creator Workshop Launched, House of Yap Launches, Coaching Calls Launched.
November — Announcements coming soon.
What I Wish I Knew Before I Started
There are things I know now that I didn’t know back when I was just some feral internet user yapping into the void. Things that could have saved me time, energy, and a couple of late-night spirals into Canva.
Perfection should never be your goal — momentum is your goal. You don’t need the “right” logo, the “perfect” niche, or a color palette that would make a creative director cry into their coffee that’s been heated 4 times already. You need to move. Start. Tweak later.
I wish I knew that engagement doesn’t always equal conversion. Likes feel good. Comments feel great. You can’t take those to the bank. They’re not the same as someone paying you. Learn the difference early.
Your energy matters more than your content calendar. Some days, you won’t want to post. Some days you’ll think no one’s listening. Post anyway. But also, rest when you need it. Take a day off. Let the machine breathe.
I wish I knew that I would outgrow parts of my brand — and that was okay. You’ll evolve. Your audience will evolve. Don’t grip so tightly to the first version of your brand that you forget you’re allowed to change.
Taking breaks doesn’t kill momentum. Hiding does. It’s okay to pull back. Just don’t vanish.
You Can Start Today
- Post twice a week with a mix of value, insight, and light self-promo.
- Take two coffee chats per week. Ask real questions. Build trust. Network.
- When you’re ready to monetize or scale, I offer consult calls. That’s for more advanced creators or business owners. We dig deep and build fast.
- Join me every Wednesday for The Creator Workshop from 7-8pm EST. (These are free you just have to join my Slack community to get the link on Wednesdays.) Join us on Slack here. Make sure you join the #influencers-creators channel.
I don’t gatekeep. If you’re just getting started, I’ll meet you there. If you’re scaling, I’ll match your pace.
I built this brand brick by brick, not by going viral. You can do the same. Start building. Show up. Speak like a human. Sell like a good neighbor. And don’t stop.
And lastly believe in yourself above all else.
About the Author
