Hi CCs,

I try to keep these intros short, but I have a little story I’d like to share with you.

About a year ago, I made the decision to start building a personal brand.

After 10+ years of running content strategy and campaigns for brands at Posture Media, I knew I had the expertise to share. And as a millennial queer who has worked in marketing while living in Bushwick since 2012 frankly I’ve seen some shit.

…but like many marketers, I was stalled by time, imposter syndrome, and fear of judgement.

Eventually, I told myself: enough books, cohorts, and comparison. More pReSsY publish.

So last May 2024, I decided to start a video podcast where I interview entrepreneurs and marketers on YouTube. I thought this would be the ticket, but honestly, it’s a larger production lift which has made it tough to stay consistent and YouTube is a slow burn.

I still feel like it’s VERY worth it for long-term brand-building though, so we have no plans of stopping, but I realized after a number of interviews that I needed a dedicated solo strategy to augment the pod.

So fast forward to November 2024.

My plan was to focus on Instagram and LinkedIn, with Instagram being my most comfortable platform. I would cross-post videos to LinkedIn and write optimized posts for the platform. Not ideal, but this has been my main strategy so far based on my personal capacity.

The truth is I haven’t been able to publish consistently at all as running my agency takes the majority of my time, and I haven’t loved everything I have put out. But what has been driving me is the incredible wins that have come even from what I consider, by any standard, to be very subpar content delivery.

Hear me when I say this: even the bare minimum is worth it. Worth. It.

Here’s the gist:

• I kicked off my creator journey with a BTS vlog of filming a podcast shoot day on November 13, 2024.

• I have since published 22 more videos. That’s it. ☹️ That number should be closer to 200-250, but I really like the mentality that whatever you can do, it’s enough for now. Just show up and do your best. Off we go.

🤳 So here’s how my life has been impacted by publishing 14 interviews on YouTube and only 23 videos on IG/LI so far over a 6 month period:

• 1,000 — 7,840 followers on Instagram

• 400 - 7,350 followers on LinkedIn

• 0 - 1,400 subscribers on YouTube

• 3–5 qualified intro calls booked per month (mostly via IG)

• Landed gifts from Tori Chan Matcha, 10:AM, Wild, and more.

• Got added to influencer lists for major brands like Cerave.

• GaryVee has commented on one of my posts. 🙂 

• Followed by people I look up to: PrettyLittleMarketer (hi!), Tatum Brandt, and Eugene Healey.

• deepfeed Podcast has fueled connections with the high impact guests we’ve had on the show, and when they comment on my posts it boosts reach.

My top 3 performing IG posts include:

• Shitgate (180,607 views): Specific TikTok trend coverage

• Nightclub social strategy (127,933 views): a case study about a club in BK

• Social Media strategy (85,919 views): our approach to social at Posture Media

What works:

• With the exception of Shitgate, when I discuss strategy tips / breakdowns or my personal opinions (especially with how we’d approach social for brands), it seems to perform best. Original thought wins over “this is happening” or “did you know” kind of content. If people get something out of it, they will share.

The takeaway:

I have a long road ahead to build a meaningful personal brand, but that doesn’t mean it has to be perfect today.

Don’t wait to feel ready. Just turn on the camera and talk. You’ll see small wins immediately. Content is always, 100% of the time, worth the effort.

Your future self will thank you. Let me know how it goes / is going!

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ Winter

🔥 Featured Content

The Unlikely Rise of Corridor Crew by Colin and Samir. [WATCH]

The marketing expert: this simple ad will print you money (by Omar El-Takrori). [WATCH]

Instagram’s biggest campaign yet urges creators to ditch self-doubt. [LINK]

ICYMI: Kesha wants to ‘smash’ the music industry with a new LinkedIn-style app. [LINK]

📡 On Our Radar

Sharpie, Rubbermaid marketer partners with Adobe around generative AI. [LINK]

Lowe’s launches creator network to build bonds with millennials, Gen Z. [LINK]

Walmart challenges consumer perceptions with ‘Who Knew?’ campaign. [LINK]

Lipton Hard Iced Tea unites millennials, boomers over party culture. [LINK]

🎶 TikTok

Trump indicates he will grant TikTok another extension. [LINK]

Advertisers can measure the carbon emissions of campaigns. [LINK]

TikTok rolls out new badges to highlight seller performance. [LINK]

Meet the marketers powering cultural discovery. [LINK]

📸 Meta / Instagram

Instagram’s editing app, Edits, added a new Teleprompter tool. [LINK]

Instagram says trial reels have helped creators significantly increase reach. [LINK]

Instagram adds new prompts to showcase performance stats. [LINK]

Meta launches opportunity score to all advertisers. [LINK]

Meta launches AI video restyling tools in Edits and AI app. [LINK]

🧵Threads

Threads is testing a DM feature which has been a top request since their launch.

🤳 YouTube

2024 U.S. YouTube impact report. [LINK]

YouTube CEO says revenue from its TikTok-like Shorts videos is at parity with core YouTube in U.S., other countries. [LINK]

☠️ 𝕏 

X announces partnership with Polymarket to forecast market trends. [LINK]

X highlights back-to-school marketing opportunities. [LINK]

🦋 Bluesky

Bluesky backlash misses the point. [LINK]

🟦 Linkedin

LinkedIn shares insights into how to build a B2B brand. [LINK]

LinkedIn launches video creation integration for Adobe Express. [LINK]

LinkedIn shares video posting best practices. [LINK]

🍥 Pinterest

The 2025 Pinterest Summer Trend Report. [LINK]

Pinterest partners with LTK to Expand its product listings. [LINK]

Pinterest outlines relevance improvements to its pin recommendations. [LINK]

Pinterest tests an AI feature that lets advertisers turn their catalogs into shoppable collages. [LINK]

👻 Snapchat

Snap announces 2026 launch date for its AR-enabled spectacles. [LINK]

Snapchat partners with McDonald’s to promote snapchat+ membership. [LINK]

Snapchat shares new trend insights and how brands can tap into them. [LINK]

Snap launches Lens+ paid subscription offering for advanced AR features. [LINK]

Snapchat adds new creator tools, updated analytics elements. [LINK]

🤖 AI Boom

Google's AI search era is here—but its ad business hangs in the balance. [LINK]

Can Scale AI and Alexandr Wang reignite Meta’s AI efforts? [LINK]

Here are Apple’s top AI announcements from WWDC 2025. [LINK]

Disney and Universal sue Midjourney for AI-related copyright infringement. [LINK]

ChatGPT will avoid being shut down in some life-threatening scenarios, former OpenAI researcher claims. [LINK]

The Meta AI app is a privacy disaster. [LINK]

OpenAI and Barbie-maker Mattel team up to bring generative AI to toymaking, other products. [LINK]

AI’s mass-produced magic: is your brand losing its soul? [LINK]

If you enjoyed this issue, spread the love: forward it to a friend or share on LinkedIn. It really helps us grow!

Winter Mendelson
Co-Founder and Creative Director: Posture Media
Host: deepfeed Podcast

🦇 Let’s connect on Instagram and LinkedIn

P.S. I will probably have typos in the event that my dad is unavailable to proofread. Sorry in advance.

​Need hands-on social media help? Creative Commerce is created by Posture Media, a Brooklyn-based social-first creative studio that helps companies build winning social strategies. Let’s chat if you’re looking for creative support.

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