2011 was the year I got the most valuable piece of branding advice I’ve ever received.

I was watching a video from a guy named Frank Kern, an internet marketing legend.

Frank and I were a lot younger and skinner back then but what he said had a profound impact on my understanding of branding.

He said, “Everything you say and do matters.”

When and how you show up, how you’re dressed, the way you cut your hair, the words you use, your body language, your surroundings…it all matters.

What he meant was - be deliberate about what you show (and don’t show) to your audience.

That’s the exact opposite of the “be authentic” advice you hear peddled by today’s ‘experts’.

Here’s a sample of what I’m talking about:

Entrepreneur Magazine ranked authenticity as the number one factor in your personal brand’s success.

Harvard Business Review suggests you “share your uniqueness and values”.

Even Hubspot who usually offer great marketing advice fails miserably.

They tell you to (and I’m not even joking here) “…have a complete LinkedIn profile and positioning statement.”

What does that even mean?

Here’s what you need to know about all of that bad advice.

It’s written by people who’ve never built a brand, much less an Authority Brand that can attract the best clients to you.

They’re journalists and fake experts who are trying to reverse-engineer the successful brands they see.

Over the last 15 years I’ve built 3, million dollar Authority Brands. All in separate industries.

And I’ve helped countless entrepreneurs build Authority Brands of their own.

Here’s why authenticity doesn’t work.

Because it’s a meaningless term.