Guides · Branding and content for capital raisers
How to Build a Personal Brand That Attracts Investors
Investors see thousands of posts, decks and videos every week. Most of them blur together. When I asked a multi-family office investor what actually gets their attention, the answer was a specific topic, not a broad one.
We at Family Office Club have run our investor club for 16 years and hosted 190 live events. I have seen brands pull investors in and I have seen brands push them away. Here are the steps I would follow today.
- 1Pick a narrow topic
- 2Choose a name that means something
- 3Write a specific one-liner
- 4Make it look institutional
- 5Show your brand where people look
- 6Match format to your audience
Step by step
Step 1. Pick a narrow topic
Start with a specific subject, not a broad one. I asked an investor who runs a multi-family office what pulls their attention when feeds are full of posts. Their answer was that the broader the topic, the less they learn from it. They would skip a basic article on partnership allocations. They would read one on a narrow partnership tax topic. So pick the one corner of your industry you know best. Write and speak about that. Busy, wealthy readers reward depth in a small area.
Step 2. Choose a name that means something
Your name should tell a stranger what you do. About six years ago we tried calling our events Richard conferences. We had added private equity and hedge funds to the mix and thought a broader name might fit. It was a big mistake. Things started to come off the rails and interest in joining our platform fell. We went back to Family Office Club and things took off again. In our experience, mostly people far up the trust curve care about a brand with your last name on it. A name like RCW Capital tells nobody anything. Choose one that explains your niche.
Step 3. Write a specific one-liner
Put one line at the top of your pitch deck and your one-pager. Make it credible and specific. We use 25 criteria when we build a one-liner. It takes little money but does take deliberate effort. Our one-liner pitch tool reads your pitch deck, webinars and long emails, then writes seven one-liners. You tell it what matters most, such as buying with no debt or having collateral in place, and it writes seven more. Keep going until the line is something a busy stranger would understand and remember. Everyone should have one.
Step 4. Make it look institutional
Your logo and brand name together should be clear, compelling and institutional quality. No one will take what you do more seriously than you do. Check your business cards and your email signature. Put your picture on them, along with your one-liner. Setting up an email signature takes a little energy, and it is worth the effort. A name like JP Morgan means nothing on its own, but it is already a very large bank. Most of us are not, so let your brand work for you.
Step 5. Show your brand where people look
Put the brand in front of people at every touchpoint. On our short-term rental platform, guests log into the Wi-Fi with investorresidences.com as both the username and the password. Guests at our properties see who owns them. Over time I expect a strategic relationship, an investor or a repeat booking to come from that. We did something similar for a client that ran equipment leases. After we rebranded them as Collateralized Income Investments, we showed pieces of their equipment in the pitch deck and one-pager. Things moved faster for them.
Step 6. Match format to your audience
Decide how long your content should be based on who you want to reach. I have a theory that my busiest clients prefer a focused 12 minute piece on a niche topic over a two hour interview. Yet many top podcasts run long interviews and still do well. The investor I asked said it depends on the audience and on the topic. So do not copy a format because it works for someone else. Pick the length that fits your subject, publish both kinds if you can, and watch what your investors respond to.
From my talks
"The broader a topic is, the less I'll learn from the particular video or piece of content."
"The only people who care about a brand that has your last name on it are people who are so far up the trust curve with you."
From the Family Office Club stage
We think about brand in four levels. At level one, your brand is so bad that it repels people and they run away from you. At level four, the most powerful level, somebody hears your brand and your one-liner and they instantly lean forward, because you hit them right between the eyes with value. Most raisers sit somewhere in the middle and never test where. Ask a few investors what they remember after hearing your name and your line. Their answer tells you which level you are really at.
"So there are four different levels of having a brand. Level one is your brand is so bad it repels people and they run away from you."
"A level 4 brand is the most powerful it can get, which is that somebody hears your brand and one-liner and they instantly lean forward, because you hit them right between the eyes with value."
Mistakes to avoid
- Putting your own last name on the business before strangers already trust you.
- Using a brand name or set of initials that means nothing to a new investor.
- Posting broad content on topics that every investor has already read about.
- Leaving the one-liner off your pitch deck, one-pager and email signature.
- Treating the logo, business card and signature as small details instead of signs of how seriously you take your work.
From the source
- Family Office Club hosts 15 live events per year, and each quarterly investor summit draws 400 to 1,400 people.
- Guests at our short-term rental properties type investorresidences.com as both the Wi-Fi username and password, and we hold equity in 84 assets.
- Our one-liner pitch tool writes seven one-liners at a time, built on 25 criteria.
Sources
From Richard C. Wilson's Centimillionaire Strategies YouTube channel: Branding & Positioning for Investors | Ep 3, Family Office Club Hot Seat Webinar Featuring Live Strategy Sessions with Investors & Founders, Inside a Modern Multi-Family Office: Global Investing, Deal Structuring & Next-Gen Insights. Quotes come from the video captions, lightly edited for readability. Figures are the speakers' own estimates and experience.
General education only. Not legal, tax or investment advice.
Talk to a securities attorney to explore options around offering documents, investor marketing language and partnership tax treatment. Do not use AI to write your own legal agreements.
Questions about this guide
Should my company carry my last name?
Usually not at the start. We tried Richard conferences and it hurt us, so we returned to Family Office Club. People who already trust you may be willing to invest whatever you call the business. Strangers need a name that explains what you do.
How do I write a good one-liner?
Be specific and credible. We score ours against 25 criteria, and our one-liner pitch tool writes seven options from your deck, webinars and emails. Many sponsors talk to a securities attorney about any line that describes an offering.
Is short or long content better for family office investors?
It depends on the audience and the topic. I lean toward focused 12 minute pieces for busy investors, but long podcasts also draw big audiences. Test both and see which one your investors actually watch.
Related questions
- How do I close a funding round?I close a funding round by focusing on investors who fit the opportunity and moving each interested prospect through clear, consistent follow-up.
- What documents do investors request during due diligence?Prepare a clear, organized package covering your operations, investments, compensation, team, and track record.
- How do I raise capital for my business?I raise capital by building a repeatable system for attracting the right investors, establishing credibility, and developing relationships before asking for money.
- How do I raise money with no track record?I would raise money without a track record by focusing on credibility, relationships, and evidence of my ability to execute.
Use the waterfall calculator alongside this guide.