Personal branding for people who hate it

In 2021, OpenClassrooms invited me on their podcast Le Joboscope to talk about the UX Writer profession. I was at Leroy Merlin at the time. On the show, there were three of us: a UX Researcher from Bankin, a UI Designer from Ubisoft, and me. Back then, the profession was barely starting to exist in France. Few people were actually doing it.

I said yes. It was stressful. I'm not the kind of person who likes hearing himself talk. I like the craft, not the spotlight. Sitting in front of a mic to tell my story doesn't come naturally. But I did it, it went well, I was happy.

And then I vanished.

No LinkedIn posts. No Twitter threads. No newsletter. No "5 tips to become a UX Writer." Nothing. I told myself the work would speak for itself. That I didn't need to show off on social media.

What happened in my place

While I refused to play the game, others played it. People who came after me, with less experience, who understood something I hadn't: in a profession that doesn't exist yet, the person who talks about it first BECOMES the reference.

They posted. They gave talks. They launched newsletters. They became "the" voices of UX Writing in France. Some were very good. Others, honestly, were mediocre. But they were there. And I wasn't.

The result: I got the gigs, the clients, the projects. But not the visibility. Not the network that comes with it. Not the opportunities that show up when people know you exist.

It's not about ego

You might think this is jealousy. It's not. I don't need people to know I was first. What cost me is concrete: projects I didn't get because the client didn't know I existed. Collaborations that never happened. Doors that stayed closed.

Being good isn't enough. People need to know you're good. And for someone who'd rather build than parade, that's the hardest lesson to swallow.

The same mistake, twice?

Today, I'm in the same situation. I became a freelance AI product builder. And the DMs started again.

Same script. Same movie. And this time, I refuse to make the same mistake.

This blog is what I should have done in 2019. Talk about what I do, while I'm doing it. Nothing more.

But I also refuse to become the guy who posts inspirational selfies on Monday mornings. The LinkedIn bro version of personal branding isn't me. It will never be me. Posting "Day 47 of building in public" with a rocket emoji is something I'm physically incapable of.

The blog as a solution

This blog is my answer. It's personal branding for people who hate personal branding.

The principle is simple: instead of talking about myself on social media, I write articles that show what I know. Not disposable content that disappears in a feed. Indexed, referenced content that works on its own while I sleep. Someone searches "freelance AI product builder" on Google, they land here. They read. They understand. No need for me to post three times a week.

It's SEO, not social. It's quiet, it's patient, and it matches exactly how I work.

Writing is something I know how to do. It's been my job for 7 years. Performing in front of a camera, no. But a well-written article on the right topic, optimized for the right keywords, does the job without me having to smile in a profile picture.

For other introverts

If you're like me: good at your craft, terrible at self-promotion, allergic to personal branding. If you tell yourself the work should speak for itself. I understand. I thought that for 7 years.

The work doesn't speak for itself. Ever. But you don't have to shout either.

Write. Not on LinkedIn, not viral threads, not content that exists to generate likes. Write real things, on subjects you master, in your own voice, on a platform you control. Let Google do the distribution.

Being first means nothing if nobody knows you were there. But being loud means nothing if you have nothing to say. The sweet spot is writing.

It's less spectacular than a viral thread. It's slower. But it lasts. And it doesn't require becoming someone else.