As an author, I am branding a variation of my name, Leon!

Personal Branding all the way - for any niche!

It is not obliged to use your name or to brand your name you can use a company name and be prominent with your image. When a reader can see a real person is behind the site it creates trust, personalises your brand and site and aids in conversions.

in the new millennia or digital era we have 3rd business model in addition to B2C and B2B it's P2P - Person To Person.

Affiliate marketing is ideal for P2P as people are buying based on your reccomendations and more often then not before a purchase is made they will research the product and come across some review, buyers guide or a tutorial on how to best use the product.

It is this P2P business model, and then informed consumer buying habits that has given rise to the phenomena of Social Media Influencers.

I tried it... didn't work for me, but could be I didn't do it right?
It's worth a try.
Joe

That is a great question and a good topic Leon.

Of course, opinions will vary as they always do on all topics - but in my opinion, the importance of personal branding depends on your own specific goals and what methods and tactics you are going to use to attract and drive traffic so you can make sales.

If you are now - or are thinking of becoming an author, a YouTube content creator, an online instructor/course creator, consultant, recruiter, coach, mentor, etc. - then yes building a brand using your name (or a version of it such as your initials and your last name ; ) can be very beneficial and will gain more and more traction over time.

This can help you find, attract, and recruit more and more readers, listeners, viewers, followers, clients, students, and customers - and all together they are massively important to your business and your income production capabilities.

Another consideration is that when you build your primary brand around your name - as opposed to any niche alone or some other thing, then you can continue to grow, and expand almost seamlessly into other areas over time as you wish.

But if you lock yourself into something that either dies out - or you just tire of it - then you will lose ground when you change course and go off in a different direction.

That's my 2 cents anyway - have a great day!

Best regards,

L.D. Sewell