Multibranding for Creators (how to build sub-brands)
I love the personal brand. But I still struggled with it — I couldn’t choose my thing.
A personal brand lets you be multi-layered, but it still has its limits. I jumped around, confused my hopeful audience and couldn’t stay consistent. So I struggled to grow in any single area.
You can do anything, just not everything.
While I agree we can’t do everything, I also believe you can do more than just one thing. I’m multi-layered. So this is my guide on multibranding for solo creators.
I’m a musician and an artist, a blogger and a traveler with a passion for entrepreneurship and personal branding.
This is how I’m building multiple sub-brands. Because that’s my personal brand — a multi-niched, colorful canvas that’s layered and constantly expanding in different directions.
It’s not for everyone, but if this is resonating, it may be for you.
Now let’s do this!
What is Multibranding
Multibranding (for creators) is splitting up your main brand identity into various sub-brands. This lets you expand your reach into new or different markets and build a more holistic personal brand.
This is the perfect strategy for the multi-hobbyist, the multi-potentialite.
For example, my main brand is me — quin. But under me, I have three sub-brands:
These different personas are all related and sometimes link between each other. But like siblings, while they’ll always be family, they really just want their own home.
Why I Have a Multi-Brand
“Each of my sub-brands have their own personality. When I’m making music, I have creative values. When I’m traveling, I have different ambitions. And when I’m writing on this blog, I’m pulling it all together to share what I’m doing content-wise.”
I can’t imagine giving up any one of my brands. Because together they represent me completely. I will always spend hours a day making music and months out of the year hopping on planes.
So why not capture these parts of my life and use them to build a more holistic, authentic personal brand?
I may be slowing down my growth, but for me, it’s worth it.
This is also another reason I love personal blogging so much. It’s pretty normal (and doable) to have multiple blogs since SEO doesn’t need as much upkeep as social media.
So if you feel like you’re trying to cram all your belongings into a tiny studio apartment when you really just need a 4-bedroom home, multibranding may be for you.
Benefits of Personal Multibranding
Makes holistic branding easier
Easier to adopt different personas for different sub-brands
Expand your reach and market
Sub-brands are simpler and more specific
Clarity and consistency gets easier
You can test multiple niches
No need to quiet parts of who you are
Pursue all of your dreams
Examples of Multi-brand Creators
RØRY. RØRY is her music brand and she absolutely crushes it. But she (Rox) also has the popular channel ADHD_Love with her partner Rich.
Sorelle Amore. She has the advanced selfie university, makes travel content, does music and a lot more.
Donald Miller. A key figure in using storytelling to build your brand, he has his personal brand (@donaldmiller), StoryBrand and Business Made Simple.
Jack Conte. He’s the CEO of Patreon, has the YouTube channel Digital Spaghetti and is part of the popular band Pomplamoose.
@airplanefactswithmax. He blends airplane facts (in the name) with witty Lord of the Rings humor. But he also has a separate account for his music sub-brand.
She Knows SEO. Nina Clapperton is a successful travel blogger but also shares her top SEO tips using a separate site and account.
Matt Diggity. He’s started a number of agencies (some of which he’s sold) and has various sub-brands related to SEO and business.
Gary Vee. He has VaynerMedia, wine library, VeeFriends, does garage saling and has various sports endeavors (like wanting to buy the Jets).
Zuby. He has a big following and is a rapper, author, public speaker and host of the podcast ‘Real Talk’.
Me! Shameless plug, but I have this brand, a travel and lifestyle site and my music project.
A Multibranding Strategy for Solo Creators (6 steps)
1. Choose With Passion
Building a single brand is already hard. It takes time. So building a multi-brand? Well, it’s gonna take a minute. So here’s my solution:
Choose sub-brands you’re obsessed with. Choose your passions.
The reason you need a multi-brand is because you can’t imagine cutting away any of your niches. You’re willing to sacrifice some growth if it means you can do it all.
But what makes this strategy most successful is building around your core passions. These are things you would be doing regardless of any metrics or money.
Growing multiple brands is difficult, slower and can decrease your profit potential.
So if you’re pursuing this strategy because you’re hoping for extra profit, you may want to reassess and focus on a single niche instead.
2. Assign Platforms
“My sub-brands all have different homes. They need their own spaces.”
On social media, I use X for my entrepreneurial stuff. But I share my travel and music sub-brands on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
My social strategy is far from perfect (I focus heavily on SEO), but choosing just one platform for each sub-brand is going to be a lot easier, especially when you’re just starting out.
Since blogging is a core part of my content strategy, I also have 3 different websites. This is for SEO reasons and better organization.
So how do you choose the right platforms?
Go to places that check at least these two of these boxes:
Your audience is there
Your content makes sense there
You can be your most authentic self
3. Build
Once you know what to do and where to go, it’s time to share your awesomeness. It’s time to create epic content.
This means sharing your story and adding experience-based value to your audience.
Depending on the platforms you’re using, each one will require a slightly different approach. You can learn more about blogging vs. vlogging vs. social media here.
But you might want to consider building just one sub-brand at a time. Or at least use similar branding aesthetics and templates to streamline your processes. This will speed up your results and make your life easier, especially if you’re new to content creation.
As you grow an audience and build relationships, you’ll get better and your content will start building you authority. This leads to trust and reputation in your niche. Eventually, this creates a strong personal brand.
But this takes time. So remember to have fun and just enjoy the whole content creation process. Because it’s something you’ll never stop doing.
Tip: Cross promote your content if it makes sense. For example, I’ve linked to my other websites a couple of times in this post because I had relevant content for further reading.
4. Create Some Dang Systems
“The growth of each of your sub-brands depends entirely on you. You only fail if you give up.”
Relying on motivation alone is the worst strategy. This is where systems come in.
A system is a repeatable process or series of steps for completing tasks and projects. And your sub-brands are nothing more than creative projects, full of many mini tasks.
So systematize as much as you can.
This also supports better habit formation, saves you time and helps you identify and avoid bottlenecks.
Here’s how I manage my multi-brand using systems:
Use a blogging workflow
Schedule admin work for when you’re least creative
Use templates, like blog outlines or Canva templates
Find a time management style that works for you
And finally, remember to just keep showing up and stay consistent — systems help, but ultimately it’s up to you.
5. Separate Offers (etcetera)
Good offers require understanding what your audience actually needs and testing content to find what resonates.
Here are my two favorite strategies for creating compelling offers:
Fix your own problems — package the solutions
Go to the source — ask your audience
When you are ready to launch an offer (which you could start testing one straight away), it’s helpful to keep your email lists and offers separate.
Since each sub-brand has its own audience with their own set of values and pain points, it wouldn’t make sense to have all of your accounts and sites lead back to a single point.
I’m sure there are caveats and it depends on your situation and goals, but in general, separating your offers and email lists will give you better organization and better sales.
6. Evolve / Mindset
Over time, you may find yourself gravitating towards one sub-brand over the others. You may even decide to pivot, delete or add more. That’s all okay.
Remember, it’s all a creative project. (that’s my philosophy at least)
However your brand evolves, just practice having the right mindset:
Stay patient
Be growth-oriented
Stay carefree and positive
Have fun
Later ✌️
Multibranding is for creators and personal brands who have multiple niches that are too different to all exist in the same place. It’s a strategy to organize your main personal brand into core sub-brands.
It’s not for everyone though. But if you’re choosing based on passion and staying organized by assigning different platforms for each of your sub-brands, it’s a rewarding and exciting project to build.
And remember, stay positive and patient, never stop learning and have fun.
FAQs
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Multibranding is when one core personal brand has multiple sub-brands in different niches. It’s a way to better organize content and growth while expanding your reach and impact.
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Of course – multibranding isn’t for everyone. This strategy is for creators who struggle to pick just one thing. This is for anyone who wants to build content for a diverse range of topics, but finds that growth is difficult because those niches are just too different.
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I recommend choosing your sub-brands based on passion. Growing a personal brand is already difficult. But trying to manage multiple requires extra care. When you’re doing this for the right reasons (you’re obsessed with each of your niches), it’s a lot easier. From there, focus on growing one at a time and don't be afraid to pivot and evolve as you grow.
