If they don´t see you, they will move on.

Period.

Note that this is a study from 2015.

I´m writing these lines 10 years later, and I don´t think I have to make a point that this number hasn´t declined since then.

To make this clear:

If you don´t have a presence at all, how do you think investors will make a judgement?

They can´t.

Thus, move on to the next company.

Let´s assume you´ve achieved this.

The real game starts:

Building some level of "fame".

Just think about the power that names of majors or people like Eric Sprott carry.

It opens many doors, makes life easier.

A lot.

It´s unlikely that all of us will have such a big name.

But - luckily - it´s not black or white.

A little colouring of our personality can already bring huge benefits.

For creating our little version of "fame", we need to build our personal "brand".

5 Phases of Building a Brand

Here´s a breakdown of the 5 phases you go through when establishing your brand:

Phase 1: Prove that you actually exist.

Have ONE post that shows you´re a real human being.

Your goal with this is simple:

When an investor checks out your profile, you pass the “does this person exist and are they serious?” test.

Don´t know where to start?

Here´s what worked very well for others from all sectors:

You have a unique story with problems and how you overcame them, resulting where you are now - share it.

Two Junior Mining examples that do this partly:

Note that these posts were also some of the best performing posts of their profiles.

Phase 2: Consistently show some signs of life

Post regularly on (at least) one platform.

Investors and media check your online activity before meetings.

You miss out if you don´t actively contribute in shaping their image of yourself.

Build subconscious trust over time by showing up.

Consistently.

They think

• Is he here for the long term?

• Is he dedicated to making this work?

• Can he solve problems? (we all know that this is the main job of a CEO … )

Peel off trust issues that investors might have, post by post.

• Show your skin in the game.

• Show how you move on-site.

• Show how you´ve overcame difficult situations in the past and what you´ve learned.

If you implemented until here, your situation is the following:

By now, your conversion from potential investors to investors is optimized.

This means your third-party outreach is more effective:

People see you e.g. in an interview and are convinced you exist, are knowledgeable, and in there for the long-term.

This is where most people stop.

But this is where the biggest leverage just starts building up:

Organic reach

Organic reach means people discover you through your own channels — not through third parties.

Phase 3: Become visible. Across channels.

Post reliably (WEEKLY) on all platforms.

This is where the fun part starts:

You start being your own news channel.

Independent from other distribution channels.

You don´t have to stop using them.

But you´re getting in the position where you could slowly replace them.

Phase 4: Become a voice.

Max out content volume per platform.

To get the most attention, you have to increase volume.

In this step, you want to take the volume on all platforms to their limits.

But there is platform specific barriers.

As I´m writing this, LinkedIn will limit your reach if you post more 1x a day, while X (formerly Twitter) won´t punish you even if you put out 7 pieces.

If you´re here, you are maxed out with the current process.

And the only way to do more is the following:

Phase 5: Capture + create content with high leverage

Document operational activities of your business.

You don’t create content.

You document and amplify what’s already happening (strategic discussions, behind the scenes field-work, … ).

And you need leverage.

What does this mean?

You have a system and partners that operate it, minimizing your personal involvement.

This is a philosophical shift.

At this point:

• You’re not hustling for attention

• You’re not guessing what to post

• You’ve built a system that surfaces value from your life and business

• Your content becomes a byproduct of doing excellent work in public

The difference in results of phases 1-5

Those 5 phases differ in term of their goals.

They achieve 2 totally different results.

One targets marketing, the other sales.

Phase 1 + 2 = Sales.

You nurture leads that already know you.

It helps you to increase your conversion (for our case: potential investors to investors) by increasing awareness and credibility.

Example of Sales: An investor already knows you and wants reassurance you’re real and competent.

Phase 3 to 5 = Sales + Marketing.

They also do Sales, same as Phases 1 + 2.

But it also becomes an acquisition machine.

It brings you new potential investors (“leads”).

Example of Marketing: A stranger scrolls LinkedIn, sees your video, and clicks through.

Brand Building is a Long-Term Game

How do I know it works?

You won´t feel the immediate action that you get from ad spends and third-party campaigns.

Those only work, because they have spent the reps on it and built a brand.

It´s like everything in this world:

In the beginning, brand building is slow, but the payoff grows exponential.

Little initial payoff compared to the other methods, but - if done right and consistently - a game changer for everything after.

How do I get started?

In the different phases I lined out the result that I´ve seen work out well for others.

But like anything else, it requires specific knowledge.

Hundreds of small pieces that you learn on the way.#

How to get started:

• You can do it all alone by following the steps (and reading articles like this).

• You can get help from people who have solved this (or part of the process) already. With this you can speed it up.

• You can decide to not build a brand at all.

I personally enjoy the process of building my brand as it sharpens my thinking and brings clarity (an example of this is this article. I´m bringing my knowledge into writing and give it to you for free, hoping you receive value from it and associate this with my company and me as a person).

Independent off which phase you´re in, you should build leverage over time.

Use the specific knowledge of experts in their fields to bring yours out.

You probably shouldn´t become a designer or video-editor.

You have to know what you want to learn and what not.

I personally decided to learn how to copywrite and provide proper editing instructions, but I won´t become an editor myself.

The guideline that has worked for many

One important guideline I´ve seen every succesfull brand follow independent of the phase they´re in:

• The bottom line is the only thing that matters.

• Thus, don´t get stuck with vanity metrics such as clicks.

• Focus on reach + alignment with audience values.

The 2 step process of succesful branding:

1. Do great things.

2. Share your learnings.

→ Build your brand.