Podcast Summary: Grow The Show

Episode 257 | Stop Building a Personal Brand. Build a Client Magnet
Host: Kev Michael
Date: February 10, 2026

Overview

In this episode, Kev Michael challenges the conventional wisdom of "personal branding" for coaches, consultants, and podcasters. He argues that focusing on building a brand around yourself is actually a trap that leads to slow growth and few clients. Instead, Kev reveals a paradigm shift: make your content about the promise and the value your ideal client is searching for, not about you personally. Through concrete examples and current platform insights, Kev shows how this approach attracts high-quality leads, activates algorithms, and ultimately turns followers into clients.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Personal Branding Often Fails to Attract Clients

• Kev shares a recent coaching story: Anonymized client “Sarah” had a successful podcast, but her personal-branded YouTube wasn’t converting (02:50–07:25).

  • Her podcast: Branded around the topic of self love (the transformation she offers), not around her name.
  • Her YouTube channel: Centered on her (name, face, achievements), covering a wide range of topics.
  • Result: Podcast brought clients; YouTube didn’t.

• Crucial distinction:

  • Listeners/readers don’t care about you (especially if you’re a stranger).
  • Audiences care about content that solves their specific problem.

2. Packaging: The Promise vs. The Person

• “Sarah’s” Spotify: Clear promise in name and description—focused entirely on self love (11:30–13:50).
• YouTube: Banner and channel art are all about Sarah, with only a passing mention of self love.
• Confusion kills conversion: If a channel looks like it’s “about everything,” new visitors quickly decide it’s not for them.

3. The Evolution of Content Platforms: Interest Graph vs. Social Graph

• Pre-2020s: Social media platforms ran on the “social graph”—you saw content from people you followed (18:45–21:15).

• Now (the TikTok era): Content is distributed via the “interest graph”—algorithms show users content based on topics they’re interested in, regardless of creator.

  • “Nowadays, what builds brands and what grows your content really fast is when you ruthlessly focus on one topic per channel. This is the key.” (22:15, Kev Michael)

• Takeaway: Algorithms reward crystal-clear focus on one transformation, one promise, one audience per channel.

4. How to Fix It: The One Promise Content Model

• Step 1: Start with your offer—what transformation or promise are you selling? (27:00)

• Step 2: Build all your content, channels, and messaging exclusively around delivering on that promise.

  • “When you do this, two things happen: 1) the algorithm of that channel gets really good at understanding who to show the content to; and 2) there’s a straight line between why am I listening to this podcast and why might I pay this person.” (28:40, Kev Michael)

• Multiple interests? Have separate channels for each topic if you must. Don’t dilute one channel with multi-topic content.

• Venn diagram fallacy: Most creators vastly overestimate the overlap of audiences for different topics.

5. Memorable Quotes & Counterintuitive Truths

• On why people don’t follow “everything” content:

  "Who on this planet is interested in all of those things? I can name two people. Me and my girlfriend. That’s it."
  (32:50, Kev Michael — on how even he wouldn't follow an 'everything-Kev' channel)

• The episode’s thesis in one line:

  "Stop making your personal brand about you. Make it about them. What’s funny about that is when you make your personal brand about them, they make it about you."
  (36:25, Kev Michael)

• On the mistake most make:

  "The more you make your personal brand about you, the more nobody’s going to care about it. The more you make your personal brand about what you can do for them, the more they will make everything about you."
  (36:45, Kev Michael)

Memorable Moments & Timestamps

• Personal branding as a trap:
  “Your personal brand is a trap.” (00:01)

• Realization with “Sarah’s” content:
  “Her YouTube was centered around her personal brand. Her podcast on Spotify…was not.” (05:10)

• Interest graph explained:
  “TikTok changed all of this and turned everything on its head…” (20:25)

• Kev’s diagnostic question to creators:
  “Is it branded around you…or is it branded around a promise?” (34:00)

• Counterintuitive finale:
  “Stop making your personal brand about you, make it about them…when you make your personal brand about them, they make it about you.” (36:25)

Actionable Takeaways for Coaches & Podcasters

• Brand every channel around a single promise your ideal client desires.
• Keep your content “about them”—the transformation, not you, is the hero.
• If you want to cover multiple topics, start separate channels (or podcasts/social feeds) for each.
• Let the transformation you offer be front and center—in your show name, description, and every piece of content.
• Consistency supercharges algorithm discovery—more reach, more right-fit clients.

For more resources on this approach, including step-by-step materials and group coaching, check out the Grow The Show Academy (link in show notes).