Industry Insights

The $5.9 billion lesson Airbnb can teach us about personal branding

May 21, 2023

min read

By Sam Winsbury

Quick confession before I start:

‍

This applies to so much more than just personal branding.

‍

You can apply it to a company or a product too.

‍

I’m going to show you how to:

‍

- Carve out your unique Market of One.

- Become the go-to in your industry.

- Land bigger clients at higher prices.

‍

Anyway…

‍

Personal branding can be a powerful tool for CEOs looking to stand out in saturated markets.

‍

It's all about carving out your unique Market of One, becoming the go-to in your industry, and landing bigger clients at higher prices.

‍

One company that has mastered this is Airbnb.

‍

When you think about finding a holiday rental, chances are the first place you think of is Airbnb.

‍

That's because they are so differentiated from their competitors that they don't even compete in the same category. Instead, they have created a new category altogether.

‍

‍

Google and Uber are also great examples of companies that have created a Market of One.

‍

They have become so dominant in their respective industries that their names have become verbs - we "Google it" and "Uber it" without even thinking about it.

‍

Here’s the problem though…

‍

Most people struggle to create a market of one because they don’t know how to create true differentiation.

‍

The big problem with most personal brands is NOT that they can’t answer the, “what makes you different?” question very well...

‍

So how can you, as a CEO, create a Market of One for yourself?

‍

The key is to have a strong positioning strategy that makes it clear to your audience what makes you different before they even reach out to you.

‍

This means using framing, messaging, and content to clearly communicate your unique value proposition.

‍

Some personal brands that do this particularly well include Lea Turner, Dan Koe, Jack Butcher, Alex Hormozi, and Jennifer Welsh.

‍

These people make it obvious at first glance what makes them interesting, unique, and worth listening to.

‍

So, take a page out of Airbnb's book and think about how you can create a Market of One for yourself.

‍

By standing out from the competition and clearly communicating your unique value proposition, you can become the go-to in your industry and land bigger clients at higher prices.

What Others Say

"I had such an incredible experience with Sam working on my personal brand on LinkedIn that I asked him to be on my podcast and build a course together. There are a lot of people TALKING about personal branding, but very few people DOING it."

Dennis Yu

CTO, Blitzmetrics

“Sam is a breath of fresh air in his industry - after being in the branding and marketing space for over 10 years, I’ve seen a lot of material on the personal brand subject, but Sam has something genuinely unique to offer.”

Caroline Canty

Founder, Craft Coaching

“Sam is one of the best I know when it comes to personal branding and I have a lot to thank him for.”

Gary Searl

Founder, Customerse

“Sam is truly an expert when it comes to growing agencies, and personal brands.”

Matthew Attalah

Director, Step Labs

Blog

My Writing

I frequently write about the lessons I learn as an entrepreneur here.

The Content System I Use To Generate 250,000+ Views in 4-8 Hours Per Month

Personal Branding

min read

The Content System I Use To Generate 250,000+ Views in 4-8 Hours Per Month

The Content System I Use To Generate 250,000+ Views in 4-8 Hours Per Month. Every month I spend 4-8 hours creating a core group of content. That content is seen...

10 Lessons from £0-50K MRR in 24 months‍

Personal Branding

min read

10 Lessons from £0-50K MRR in 24 months‍

10 Lessons from £0-50K MRR in 24 months‍. In September 2020 I started building personal brands for founders and CEOs as a freelancer. In February 2021 I...

What I learnt from signing my biggest ever client and hitting $70K MRR aged 23

Personal Branding

min read

What I learnt from signing my biggest ever client and hitting $70K MRR aged 23

Last week I signed my biggest ever retainer - It was over £6K/month and may rise to above 7 or 8 in the next few months. My first one was £...