I was scrolling through LinkedIn and Instagram this week. Not for work. Just... doom scrolling and watching.

Then something hit me.

Would these people speak to their friends like they were talking all these videos? It felt like everyone was performing. Everyone had a character. A persona they'd clearly rehearsed in the mirror before hitting record.

It got me thinking. When did we all stop being ourselves online? Our genuine selves?

I started making notes. And I realised that I had listed about seven types of people showing up on social media right now. You'll recognise every single one of them. You might even be one of them.

I looked back at my own content and I live mainly in one space, but I have put the masks on from some of the other personas from time to time too. I've given them names. And because I'm feeling generous, I've given them the benefit of the doubt too…

1 - The Redemption Hero

You know this person. Every post follows the same formula. "I used to believe X. Then I discovered Y. Now I make six figures doing Z."

There's a genuine story in there. People connect with transformation. It shows vulnerability and builds trust. But, when every single post is a before-and-after, it starts to feel scripted. Your audience isn't daft. They can spot a formula. And after the fifth redemption story in a row, they stop believing any of them.

2 - The Doom Merchant

This one thrives on fear. "Email marketing is dead." "Funnels don't work anymore." "Everyone's doing it wrong." And conveniently, they have the one thing that will save you.

Honestly? It grabs attention. Negativity stops the scroll. There's a reason news headlines lead with bad news. The thing is, it must be exhausting, and it positions them as someone who tears things down rather than builds things up. People want to follow someone heading somewhere good, not someone constantly pointing at wreckage. The best people in any industry don't need to tell you everyone else is wrong. They just show you what right looks like.

3 - The Prancing Performer

Dancing. Pointing. Jumping. Mouthing words to a trending audio clip. And somewhere in there, buried under the choreography, is one useful tip about email subject lines.

The algorithm loves it. High engagement. Lots of views. It's entertaining and it gets reach. The thing is, nobody remembers the tip. They remember the dance. And when someone's ready to invest serious money in their business, they're not hiring the person who pointed at floating text while doing a shimmy. Entertainment and authority rarely live in the same post.

4 - The Floating Head

A face. Talking at a camera. Sometimes clipped from a longer video, sometimes recorded specifically for the platform. Decent content, usually. But flat. No energy. No conversation. Just... information delivered at you.

It's efficient. You can batch-record twenty of these in an afternoon. The content itself is often solid. From what I have seen though, there is little or no engagement. No reason to stop scrolling. It's a lecture, not a conversation. And in a world where everyone's doing the same thing, a talking head blends into every other talking head on the feed.

5 - The Lifestyle Flasher

The sports car. The laptop by the pool. The first-class lounge. "This could be your life if you just follow my simple system."

Aspiration sells. Always has. Some people genuinely are inspired by seeing what's possible. Most people see straight through it. And the ones who don't? They're usually the most vulnerable. Selling a lifestyle without showing the work behind it is dishonest at best. Your audience wants proof of competence, not proof of spending.

6 - The Screenshot Collector

Every other post is a revenue dashboard. A Stripe notification. A "look what just happened" income flex. Sometimes with a humble caption like "not bad for a Tuesday."

Social proof matters. Results matter. There's nothing wrong with showing that what you teach actually works. When it's constant, it becomes performative and boastful. And here's the thing most people won't say out loud - a screenshot doesn't prove anything. It doesn't show context, expenses, refund rates or whether the business is actually sustainable. Real authority comes from teaching, not flexing.

7 - The Copy-Paste Creator

This person shares the same tips everyone else shares. "Five ways to grow your email list." "Three mistakes new coaches make." You've read it before. From ten other people. Word for word, near enough.

The basics are the basics for a reason. New audiences discover this stuff every day. There's always someone hearing it for the first time. There's no original thinking. No unique perspective. No reason to follow this person over anyone else saying the exact same thing. If your content could have anyone's name on it, it's not really your content.

So what actually works?

From what I've noticed in my own content and the people online who genuinely build audiences that buy from them, they use a mix of some of these personas to bring variety, but they also do four things consistently. Every time they show up. In every piece of content.

I call it SEED Marketing...

It's a framework I created and I teach it in my book Simplify The Funnel.

• Shape your unique expert positioning. Not recycled tips. Not borrowed frameworks. Your perspective, from your experience. The stuff only you can say because you've lived it.
• Engage your audience like a human being. Ask questions. Start conversations. Respond. Talk with people, not at them. The way you'd talk to a mate at the pub.
• Echo your real values. Let people know what you stand for. Not a manufactured brand persona. The actual things you believe. People buy from people they trust, and trust comes from consistency between what you say and who you are.
• Deliver something actionable. Every single time. Give people something they can use today. Not theory. Not motivation. A thing they can do that will make a difference in their business this week.

When you include all four of those elements in your content, something interesting happens. You stop fitting into any of the personas above. You stop performing. You start connecting.

And the people who connect? They're the ones who sell. Without selling.

Your choice to move forward…

You don't need a character. You don't need a comic routine. You don't need to dance, flex, or tear other people down to build an audience that buys from you.

You need to be genuinely useful. Genuinely you. And genuinely consistent.

That's it. That's the whole strategy.

While everyone else is perfecting their persona, you could be perfecting your ability to actually connect and help people. And that's what they'll pay for.

So here's my challenge for you this week…

Look at your last 10 posts. Would you say any of that to a friend sitting across the table from you? If not, step up and try the SEED Marketing framework for your content this week.

Keep it simple!

If you want to learn the full SEED Marketing framework and build content that connects and converts without the performance, grab a copy of Simplify The Funnel. It's the playbook for showing up as yourself and making it work.