Neil Patel has actually made a reputation for himself. The New York Instances bestselling creator was honored on the White Home as one in every of Empact’s High 100 entrepreneurs beneath 30 and was named a High 10 on-line advertising and marketing professional to comply with by Forbes. His company, NP Digital, operates in over 20 nations and generates tens of hundreds of thousands in income yearly. Merely put, Patel’s private model is among the many strongest within the digital advertising and marketing world.
However regardless of leveraging his private model to launch this world success, Patel now presents some sudden recommendation to aspiring entrepreneurs: don’t comply with his path. Whereas this may increasingly appear contradictory to his personal expertise, it displays hard-earned classes from seven years of scaling his enterprise.
The private model plateau
“I imagine it’s higher to not construct a private model than it’s to construct one,” Patel says bluntly. “I’m not saying a private model is unhealthy. What I’m saying is a company model is best and, in a great world, you’ll have each a private and a company model, however most individuals don’t have time to do each.”
Patel says NP Digital (previously Neil Patel Digital) generated round $5 million in income in its first 12 months, largely stemming from Patel’s private model. By the second 12 months, that determine jumped to $18 million, with roughly $10 million attributed to his private model. Because the enterprise grew past $30 million, his private model constantly plateaued at that $10 million contribution.
“It’s not unhealthy,” Patel acknowledges. “Now my private model’s not as huge as Kylie Jenner or LeBron James or anybody like that, and it drives respectable income. It’s an effective way to kick-start a enterprise. However what I discovered is if you wish to make a ton of cash, individuals choose simply paying company manufacturers.”
It’s a marathon, not a dash
No matter sort of brand name you’re constructing, Patel emphasizes that persistence isn’t only a advantage—it’s a necessity.
“The primary three years of constructing my model, I used to be talking at conferences totally free,” he recollects. “I used to be creating tons of goodwill and content material on-line, running a blog like loopy, and it wasn’t driving a lot income within the first 12 months.”
Patel says income picked up within the second 12 months and obtained higher within the third 12 months, nevertheless it nonetheless wasn’t vital. Quite than giving up when issues weren’t rising as quickly as he’d hoped, Patel acknowledged that his persistence would ultimately repay.
“I discovered that, over time, issues have a compounding impact when you’re prepared to place within the time and vitality,” he says. “It doesn’t work for most individuals as a result of they give up after the primary three months or six months.”
Patel’s recommendation for sustaining persistence? “As a substitute of analyzing how nicely and the way a lot cash it’s making or what number of followers you’ve got, you need to simply give it some thought as a standard routine that’s a part of your life. It is best to work in your model identical to you sweep your enamel or attempt to keep wholesome. Simply dedicate a sure period of time each single day to it.”
Discover your focus
One important lesson Patel discovered early on was the significance of specificity. “I considered going extra mainstream as an alternative of specializing in a vertical,” he recollects. “After I did that, my income declined however my attain went up.”
This experiment taught him a beneficial precept: “What I discovered is it’s not nice to be recognized for simply something. You need to be recognized for one thing particular. It’s too laborious to monetize simply being well-known.”
For instance his level, Patel makes use of the instance of Nathan Apodaca’s viral TikTok video of him longboarding to work whereas ingesting cranberry juice and listening to Fleetwood Mac’s “Desires.”
“It was a very cool video,” he acknowledges. “However how nicely is he monetizing his private model right now? Being recognized for longboarding doesn’t do a lot. That’s not going that will help you construct a private model. You have to publish content material on one thing. You could not get probably the most followers, however you should publish content material a few particular vertical and that’s what’s going that will help you probably the most.”
The three pillars of efficient model constructing
Patel presents three core suggestions for these simply beginning their brand-building journey:
1. Create distinctive, beneficial content material
“Should you’re not including worth with one thing that’s new, contemporary, distinctive, it’s not going to do nicely.”
2. Go omnichannel
“You need to be on Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter or X or no matter you name it, Fb, YouTube, LinkedIn.”
3. Stability short- and long-form content material
“Individuals resonate extra with long-form video. Lengthy-form video is an effective way to construct a deeper connection together with your viewers. Quick-form movies are inclined to get extra views. It’s an effective way to get followers, however short-form movies are a horrible technique to construct relationships.”
Combining these three pillars creates a successful branding technique. Create distinctive short-form content material and publish it throughout a number of channels to draw followers. Then, comply with it up with long-form content material to construct relationships that result in conversions.
Bridging model and income
For entrepreneurs struggling to monetize their private model, Patel’s recommendation is characteristically direct: “Deal with the ache factors of your prospects and create content material round that. Construct your model round that. Don’t construct your model round one thing that’s cool. Construct it round fixing an issue for the lots.”
This problem-solving orientation types the bridge between model recognition and income progress—a bridge that turns into stronger when constructed on a company basis quite than a private one.
As counterintuitive because it may appear coming from one in every of digital advertising and marketing’s most recognizable private manufacturers, Patel’s expertise presents a compelling case for rethinking our strategy to model constructing. Maybe lasting affect lies not in turning into the subsequent influencer however in creating one thing larger than your self.
This text initially appeared within the September/October 2025 challenge of SUCCESS© journal. Photograph courtesy of Neil Patel.
