How Founders Build Personal Charisma Online

Author: Mubbu

Compiled by: Felix, PANews

How do founders develop personal charisma on the internet? This article discusses using propaganda strategies to build strong personal brands and follower bases, proposing a formula for attracting “die-hard fans.” Here is the full content:

Whether we like it or not, the most successful personal brands leverage propaganda strategies to solidify their audiences.

They create vocabularies that resonate deeply with fans—meaningful to their communities. These words/messages get repeated until audiences subconsciously adopt them.

“If a stimulus is repeated, it becomes habitual; repeated emphasis on an idea forms belief.”—Edward Bernays (the father of propaganda)

Repetition creates belief. Create vocabulary that only your followers understand, with personal meaning and shareable qualities (a meme). This is how you build a stronger audience. We’re cultivating founders not just as content creators, but as cult leaders with fanatical followers.

If you’re a founder, this is how you acquire followers, engagement, and most importantly, potential customers.

Some call it marketing, but we’ll be direct: it’s propaganda (more ethical that way).

This article explores: symbols, hypnosis, propaganda, and how they influence audience thinking.

Marketing as Propaganda

Marketing is propaganda through shorter channels. Just as you guide audiences through funnel tops, middles, and bottoms via content and ads to drive quick purchases, politicians, governments, and cults do the same—except their process takes years rather than days, weeks, or months. They achieve this through targeted messaging at each interaction point.

Understanding this allows you to reshape public opinion as desired. 95% of public opinion is influenced or determined by 5% (possibly even fewer) of people.

Online, influencers and KOLs (key opinion leaders) sweep the internet, shaping public ideology.

Influencers: YouTubers, celebrities, streamers, etc.

KOLs: Political activists, public speakers, etc.

Influencers can be KOLs, and vice versa. Together they represent 20%. They’re not mutually exclusive.

How does this manifest on social media? You’re likely in that 80%.

As a business owner, marketer, or anyone influential, your job is to reach that 5% who can actually influence people’s thinking:

Build Your Narrative

Your account’s message must differ from others in your niche—stand out.

Establish Authority

Connect with established accounts in your field and get their endorsement.

Leverage Big Accounts

Having big accounts backing you makes you appear unstoppable.

Social Media Thrives on Controversial Emotional Content

Everyone jokes about posts “seeking attention,” but every social media post serves this purpose.

When we leverage our brand image, mission, and common enemy while using our message to create controversy, we generate reactions favoring us.

Positioning

When examining products or services, “positioning” is what truly triggers emotional responses.

Positioning itself establishes a brand’s mission and common enemy.

• Do you solve long-standing pain points?
• Do you realize their dreams?
• Are you the niche expert within a niche?
• Have you introduced a new way of doing things?
• Do you possess winning secrets?

Positioning activates:

• Narrative/storytelling
• Emotional appeals
• Symbolic imagery
• Social proof
• Uniqueness

All touch people’s deeper subconscious.

Memes (Consistent Branding)

Memes are specific content, design, colors, symbols, vocabulary associated with your brand.

This consistency helps you/your brand become more recognizable.

For Twitter and LinkedIn: If someone read your content without seeing your name and avatar, would they instantly recognize it as yours?

For YouTube/TikTok/Instagram: If someone closed their eyes and only heard your video, would they instantly recognize it as your content?

The more distinctive you are, the more memorable. This is the ultimate goal.

Building fanatical followers hinges on staying top-of-mind.

When people encounter details related to your brand, if you’re their first thought, you’re an authority.

Hear “Make America Great Again”? You think Trump.

See a cross? You think Christianity or Jesus.

See a flag? You think that country.

I created a meme for my brand: “LLU” (Long Live Utopia). Since Utopia is a community that changed many lives, people support spreading this concept.

Another meme for “Utopia” was having people add “Utopian” to their X username, representing the cause.

Outsiders don’t understand, but insiders do—creating a cult-like mentality. It builds “you either get it or you don’t” atmosphere.

“Utopian” also binds identity. Humans crave belonging. That’s the entire point of giving them a flag-like meme.

People don’t say “I believe in Republican ideology”—they say “I’m a Republican.”

People don’t say “I follow Islamic teachings”—they say “I’m a Muslim.”

People don’t say “I do masculine things”—they say “I’m masculine.”

They don’t just believe these ideas; they become part of them.

We want people feeling part of a collective. Identity + Meme = Mission

Repetition Required

An MK Ultra study showed 2,500 repetitions needed to change someone’s mind. Repeat your successful memes over and over.

My catchphrase is “Become a Micro-Authority.” I repeat this so much that potential customers proactively mention wanting to become micro-authorities during sales calls.

(PANews Note: Micro-authority means building strong professional credibility and monetization in your sufficiently niche field without needing millions of followers—becoming the most trusted and most profitable person in your small circle.)

People champion ideas that change lives. Average people may not understand, but that’s okay. Once the right people do, they’ll rush to join.

Identity + Mission = Common Enemy

Every catchphrase must carry deep meaning. Test extensively, release different slogans to find the most effective.

During past campaigns, many supported while many opposed. Though you may not want enemies, they’re necessary for cultivating fanatical followers.

The “Us vs. Them” positioning is the source of conflict in politics, religion, and business.

When promoting “Micro-Authority,” influencers with massive followings became the common enemy, since micro-authorities earn 6-7 figures monthly without:

• Selling their souls
• Appeasing the masses
• Working for social media

Many weren’t willing to do this, so they stood their ground.

Identity + Mission + Common Enemy = Fanatical Followers

Related Reading: Founder’s Handbook: Stories Are Leverage; All Talk Without Product is Just Self-Satisfaction