Why “Guru” Has Become a Dirty Word in Personal Branding

And why I prefer to be known as a "content strategist"

Aug 21, 2025

I got called a “personal branding guru” the other day and I couldn’t have been more offended! 😡

It’s a strange ol’ paradox: I’ve made serious money from personal branding. I’ve helped founders and executives do the same. By that logic, I should accept the label proudly. But the word guru has been dragged through so much mud in the online business world that it now feels more like a slur than a compliment.

The Guru Problem

At some point, “guru” became synonymous with snake oil. The people who dominate the space often sell the illusion of success instead of teaching the strategy behind it.

You know the playbook:

Build a personal brand on LinkedIn by posting platitudes.
Join engagement pods so your posts “perform.”
Celebrate visibility while revenue flatlines.

It’s not branding. It’s performance art.

Meanwhile, their clients are told to “trust the process” as the guru pockets thousands per month. There are plenty of studies which show dissatisfaction when consultants provide “cookie-cutter” or generic approaches, with clients reporting poor ROI.

The False Promises of “Expert” Advice

Most “gurus” recycle the same tired lines:

👎🏽 “Just post consistently.”
👎🏽 “The algorithm is to blame.”
👎🏽 “Likes equal credibility.”

But social media consistency alone doesn’t translate to leads. Vanity metrics - likes, follows, impressions - might feel good, but research shows they don’t translate to strategic outcomes unless they’re tied to conversion strategy.

What does matter is credibility. A 2024 study found that authenticity and informative content were the real drivers of brand credibility and purchase intention—not visibility alone. In plain English: people don’t buy because you’re everywhere. They buy because they trust you.

red and brown book — Photo by Rita Morais on Unsplash

When the Platform Itself Disagrees

Here’s the irony: many “LinkedIn experts” are teaching tactics that LinkedIn themselves have explicitly debunked.

For example, myths like:

“Posts should always have exactly three hashtags.”
“You must post every day to stay relevant.”
“Engagement pods will hack the algorithm.”

LinkedIn has addressed these directly, explaining that their algorithm is designed to reward meaningful engagement, not mechanical hacks. When the platform itself tells you a tactic doesn’t work, but someone is charging you thousands to use it… that’s not expertise. That’s exploitation.

The Strategist Difference

So what makes someone legitimate in this space? For me, it comes down to three things:

🔥 Proven credibility. I was one of only 150 creators selected and paid by LinkedIn to post. I’ve spoken at LinkedIn HQ. I’ve co-hosted a LinkedIn masterclass with their community manager.

🔥 Strategic outcomes. My clients don’t just get likes – they get leads, PR opportunities, speaking gigs, and closed deals. The metric is business growth, not vanity metrics.

🔥 Obsession with strategy. As an International Chess Master, I can’t help it. My lens is always: what’s the sequence of moves that compounds into advantage? Posting for likes isn’t strategy. Posting for positioning, authority, and conversion? That’s strategy.

The Science of Why Strategy Wins

Brand building isn’t about showing up more – it’s about showing up smarter. Research on content marketing ROI shows that firms with a documented content strategy generate 3x as many leads as those without one.

The same is true in personal branding. When your content ladder is tied to a funnel – awareness, consideration, conversion – you create compounding visibility. You’re not just known. You’re known for something that leads to revenue.

And let’s be clear: the guru model doesn’t want you to know this. If you learn strategy, you don’t need them.

Stop Blaming the Algorithm

One of the laziest excuses in this space is “the algorithm hates me.” The truth is, algorithm tweaks affect everyone equally – but the businesses with strong strategy survive.

When algorithms change, shallow tactics collapse. Businesses that rely on pods, hacks, or pure visibility almost always see performance nosedive.

But companies that focus on depth - trust, community, and brand authority - are more resilient.

For example, HubSpot’s 2025 State of Marketing report found that proving ROI is the #1 challenge for marketers and that brands building long-term credibility (not just quick engagement) see stronger returns across channels.

Similarly, Edelman’s 2025 Trust Barometer shows that customer trust is now one of the biggest drivers of brand resilience, even as digital platforms keep shifting underneath us.

The pattern is clear: visibility hacks are fragile. Trust and authority survive platform disruption.

So no, the algorithm isn’t out to get you. What’s failing you is the tactic-first, strategy-free approach peddled by gurus.

Building Something That Lasts

If you want:

More likes,
Bigger vanity metrics,
And the dopamine hit of temporary attention...

Then yes, there are plenty of “gurus” to follow.

But if you want:

Actual inbound leads,
Clients who trust you before they meet you,
And a brand that compounds into long-term opportunity…

Then you need strategy.

That’s the real work. It’s slower, less glamorous, and requires patience. But it builds a foundation that no algorithm change, no engagement pod, and no PR gimmick can take away.

ZERO TO SOMETHING

This is Zero to Something – the space where we learn something every day.

Today’s something is this: “Guru” has become shorthand for tactics without strategy. And tactics without strategy collapse.

If you’re serious about building a personal brand, don’t chase the algorithm. Don’t rent credibility from fake engagement schemes. And don’t trust someone who benefits more from your confusion than your results.

Build strategically. Measure outcomes that matter. And remember – visibility is meaningless if it doesn’t turn into trust and revenue.

Zero to Something