By Imran Abul Kashem, Personal Branding Expert and Founder of Westend Photography
Which one actually builds a stronger business?
Personal branding has changed.
A few years ago, personal branding was often treated as having a good LinkedIn profile, posting motivational quotes, taking professional photographs and telling people what you do.
In 2026, that is no longer enough.
AI has made information easier to produce. Content is everywhere. Almost anyone can create a polished website, write an article, generate a video script or position themselves as an “expert.”
So the real question is no longer:
“How much do you know?”
The better question is:
“Why should people trust you?”
And this is where I see two powerful approaches to personal branding:
Personal Branding by Expertise and Personal Branding by Association.
I believe the strongest entrepreneurs in 2026 are learning to use both.
Imran Abul Kashem- Serial Entrepreneur and Personal branding Expert
Personal Branding by Expertise
Personal branding by expertise means building your reputation around what you know, what you have experienced and what you can teach others.
You become known for a particular subject.
For example:
- Gary Vaynerchuk → marketing, entrepreneurship and attention
- Simon Sinek → leadership and purpose
- Seth Godin → marketing and ideas
- Elon Musk → technology, innovation and ambitious ventures
- Richard Branson → entrepreneurship, business and disruptive thinking
Their names immediately trigger certain ideas in our minds.
That is the power of expertise-based positioning.
The advantages
1. You become memorable
Instead of saying:
“I am a business owner.”
You can become:
“I am the person who helps businesses build their personal brand.”
That distinction matters.
2. Expertise creates authority
When you consistently teach, share insights, publish opinions and demonstrate results, people begin to associate your name with a particular area of knowledge.
3. It creates inbound opportunities
People may approach you for:
- Consulting
- Speaking
- Partnerships
- Media opportunities
- Workshops
- Podcast interviews
- Business
- Investment
- Collaboration
Your content becomes part of your sales infrastructure.
4. Your knowledge compounds
Every article, podcast, video, presentation and conversation can become another digital asset that strengthens your reputation.
But there is a problem.
Expertise alone can create a very narrow personal brand.
You may become known for one thing, but people may struggle to understand what else you can do.
And for entrepreneurs building multiple businesses, this can become a limitation.
Imran Abul Kashem in Westend Photography Studio
Personal Branding by Association
This is where things get interesting.
Personal branding by association means building your reputation through the people, communities, organisations, businesses, events and ideas you are connected with.
It is not simply name-dropping.
It is about becoming visible in environments where trust already exists.
Think about it.
If you are:
- Speaking at an industry conference
- Interviewing respected entrepreneurs
- Hosting a business community
- Collaborating with established organisations
- Working with recognised brands
- Appearing on podcasts
- Building relationships with business leaders
- Supporting community initiatives
- Participating in professional networks
people begin to understand your positioning through your ecosystem.
Your network becomes part of your brand story.
The advantages
1. Association transfers trust
When respected people know you, collaborate with you or publicly support what you are doing, some of their credibility naturally strengthens your positioning.
2. It expands your audience
You don’t always need to build every audience from zero.
Collaboration allows you to enter new communities and introduce your expertise to people who may never have discovered you otherwise.
3. It creates opportunities
Some of the biggest business opportunities don’t come from a post.
They come from a conversation.
A conversation becomes a relationship.
A relationship becomes a collaboration.
And a collaboration can become a business.
4. It makes your brand bigger than your job title
This is particularly important for entrepreneurs.
If your identity is only connected to one company, your personal brand becomes limited by that company.
But if people know you as an entrepreneur, connector, educator, community builder, content creator and industry contributor, you have much more room to grow.
Imran Abul Kashem in WE Connect Event
Expertise vs Association: Which Is Better?
My answer is:
Neither. You need both.
Think about it like this:
Expertise = Why people respect you.
Association = Why more people discover and trust you.
Expertise builds authority.
Association builds social proof, access and distribution.
And when the two work together, personal branding becomes a serious business asset.
Imran Abul Kashem in WE Connect Event
The 2026 Personal Branding Trend: People Buy From People
This isn’t just a personal observation.
LinkedIn itself is increasingly investing in creators, trusted voices and video as part of B2B marketing.
LinkedIn’s 2026 B2B marketing insights specifically highlight the growing role of creators and the idea that people increasingly buy from people, not faceless companies. LinkedIn has also expanded creator partnerships and video advertising capabilities.
The 2025 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report also found that more than 40% of B2B deals stall because of internal misalignment within buying groups. Importantly, the report highlights the influence of “hidden buyers” who consume and evaluate thought leadership even when they are not the obvious decision-maker.
That means your personal brand is not only speaking to your customer.
It may also be speaking to:
- Their business partner
- Their CFO
- Their marketing manager
- Their advisor
- Their procurement team
- Their employees
- Their network
- Their next referral
Your content can influence the buying conversation before you even enter the room.
Video, Conversations and Communities Are Becoming More Important
Another major shift is the move from polished corporate communication toward human-led communication.
Video.
Podcasts.
Interviews.
Events.
Behind-the-scenes content.
Founder stories.
Community conversations.
These formats allow people to see not only what you know, but how you think and how you behave.
That distinction is powerful.
A website can tell me what your business does.
A LinkedIn post can tell me what you think.
A podcast can show me how you communicate.
An event can show me how you lead.
A collaboration can show me how others experience you.
Together, these create a much stronger personal brand.
Case Study: Richard Branson
Richard Branson is one of the clearest examples of expertise and association working together.
His personal brand is strongly connected with entrepreneurship, adventure, innovation and challenging traditional business thinking.
But his brand isn’t built only through articles explaining business strategy.
His association with Virgin companies, employees, entrepreneurs, celebrities, athletes, social causes and high-profile experiences continually reinforces the identity.
The result?
Richard Branson is bigger than any single Virgin company.
That is an important lesson for entrepreneurs.
Your personal brand should not necessarily be trapped inside your current business.
It should have the capacity to grow with you.
Case Study: Gary Vaynerchuk
Gary Vaynerchuk built enormous visibility through expertise in marketing, social media, entrepreneurship and content.
But look at the second layer.
His brand is constantly reinforced through association:
- Entrepreneurs
- Athletes
- Creators
- Brands
- Events
- Media
- Businesses
- Communities
His content creates authority.
His network creates distribution.
His businesses create proof.
His personality creates memorability.
That combination is difficult to replicate.
Imran is speaking in a business event
My Own Personal Branding Journey
This is where this topic becomes very personal for me.
When I started building my career and businesses, I didn’t have a large personal brand.
I had to build credibility one relationship at a time.
Over the years, I started sharing my experiences, lessons, photography, entrepreneurship journey and stories of other people.
Then something interesting happened.
People started associating my name with more than one thing.
Entrepreneurship.
Photography.
Business networking.
Community.
Podcasting.
Personal branding.
Content creation.
Business education.
And this helped me build something that became extremely valuable:
A personal brand that could support multiple businesses.
My personal brand didn’t replace my businesses.
It became the bridge between them.
Today, my entrepreneurial ecosystem includes businesses and projects across areas such as business hubs, photography, digital marketing, plants, podcasting and events.
If I had built my identity around only one company, every new venture would have required starting the trust-building process again.
Instead, the personal brand creates continuity.
People know Imran first.
Then they discover what I am building.
That is the difference.
Imran is speaking in the LeaderSHIFT event organised by WE Connect
My Take
If you are an entrepreneur in 2026, don’t choose between expertise and association.
Build expertise so people have a reason to respect you.
Build association so more people have a reason to discover you.
Build relationships so people have a reason to trust you.
Build evidence so people have a reason to believe you.
And build consistently so people have a reason to remember you.
Because ultimately:
Your personal brand is not how many people follow you.
It is what people remember, believe and say about you when you are not in the room.
What are you building?
Are you building your personal brand primarily through:
A. Expertise
B. Association
C. A combination of both
I’d love to hear your perspective.
If you are an entrepreneur, founder or professional building a personal brand in 2026, comment below with the one thing you want to be known for.
And if you found this useful, follow me and share this newsletter with someone who is building their personal brand and business at the same time.
Let’s build brands that create not just visibility, but trust, relationships and business opportunities.
Imran Abul Kashem is a personal branding expert, content writer, entrepreneur and investor based in Wyndham, in Melbourne's west. He is the founder of Westend Photography, Westend Digital, Westend Business Hub and Westend Podcast, and the co-founder of Wyndham Entrepreneur Connect, No Wukkas Agency and Ripple Australia. Over the past eleven years he has served more than 300 businesses and connected over 5,000 professionals through his work in visual branding, digital marketing, coworking and community events. He also hosts My Migrant Soul, a podcast sharing the real stories of migrants building new lives in Australia, and has published three photography books documenting the people and places of Wyndham. His work has been featured in The Australian, Herald Sun, ABC and SBS. Behind every business he builds sits one simple belief: when local entrepreneurs tell their stories and support one another, the whole community grows stronger. He is grateful to call Wyndham home and to build alongside its business community every day.