Your niche and story

Decide what you want to be known for, who it is for, and which real experiences prove it.

What: What people in your field think of when they hear your name: the topics, skills and way of working they associate with you, built from what you share and do in public.
Why: A clear reputation brings opportunities to you, such as recruiter messages, referrals, speaking invites and collaborators, instead of you chasing each one.

Watch out

Treating it as self-promotion with no substance; a brand without proof of work fades quickly.

What: The specific area you choose to be known for, narrow enough to be memorable and broad enough to post about for a year.
Why: People remember one clear thing about you. A niche makes your content easier to find, easier to recommend and easier to write.
Example: Not "tech and life", but "backend performance for Python teams" or "going from support engineer to developer".

Watch out

Picking a niche you have no experience in because it is trending.

What: The specific people you write for, such as junior frontend developers, hiring managers in fintech or engineers moving into management.
Why: Writing for one reader makes posts sharper and tells you which details to include and which to skip. It also decides who you connect with.

What: One sentence saying what you do, for whom and with what proof, which becomes the base of your headline, About section and bio everywhere.
Why: It keeps your profiles, posts and introductions consistent, so people hear the same message wherever they find you.

Code

I help [audience] [achieve outcome]
by sharing [what you know], based on
[proof: role, projects or results].

Also called origin story, narrative, career story

What: A short, true account of how you got to where you are and where you are heading, built from turning points such as a career switch, a hard project or a lesson learned.
Why: Stories make you memorable and relatable, and give readers a reason to follow your journey rather than just your tips.

Watch out

Dramatising or inventing hardship for reach, which people who know you will notice.

What: How you sound when you write, such as direct, warm or funny, and the principles you will not trade, such as honesty about failures or no engagement bait.
Why: A consistent voice makes your posts recognisable, and clear values keep you credible when trends push towards clickbait.

Also called proof of work

What: Building credibility by showing what you have built, shipped, fixed or learned, rather than by titles, follower counts or claims of expertise.
Why: Anyone can claim expertise; shipped work and honest write-ups can be checked. It also lets students and juniors build a reputation early.
Example: A post walking through how you cut a build from 12 minutes to 3, with the config diff, beats a post saying you are a DevOps expert.

Also called influencer habits, real branding

What: The difference between sharing useful work and experience, and chasing reach with engagement bait, recycled viral templates and exaggerated stories.
Why: Engineers, hiring managers and peers spot hollow content quickly. Reach built on bait rarely turns into trust or opportunities.

Watch out

Posts like "Comment YES for the PDF" or invented stories that damage credibility with the exact people you want to reach.

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