Personal branding as a Shopify developer

I've been a Shopify developer freelancer for about 3 years now, and I wouldn't be surviving without this specific thing: a personal brand.

But what exactly do I mean by that?

Problem

It's getting harder and harder to gain clients amid the rise of AI tools, more devs, and economic pressures on client budgets. And especially AI slop on platforms like LinkedIn, Fiverr, and Upwork make the whole thing much worse.

On top of that, the market becomes a race to the bottom, because general devs can only be seen by others by undercutting prices.

2026 will be the year that decides who sinks and who shines under these circumstances.

Solution

This is why I would advise everyone to build a personal brand to stand out to clients.
Let me explain by using an example. Which surgeon would you trust with your life?

• Surgeon A: Perfect grades, years of experience, 99% success rate, but you never heard of him before
• Surgeon B: All the same, but you also saw his YouTube videos explaining everything, read his blogs researching a procedure, and saw his in-depth posts on LinkedIn

Let me guess ... Surgeon B!

And this is not because one of them is better; you just feel more trust and safety with the second one.

The same goes for us Shopify developers: Store owners want to trust their contractors, and by showing your expertise on social platforms, you are building that trust.

Step-by-step guide

If you want to start setting yourself apart from others and build a personal brand, here is a step-by-step guide on how to get started:

1. Sign up on LinkedIn
2. Pick an expertise (Site optimizations, CRO, migrations, custom apps...)
3. Post 1-2 times a week on LinkedIn
4. Post topics: Hands-on guides, merchant problems/solutions, revenue increase strategies
5. Post structure: Hook -> your experience/struggle -> solution -> CTA
6. Implement images and carousels for better visualisation (Show your face)
7. Answer all comments
8. Comment on other people's posts
9. Do 99% of the work yourself without using AI (people will recognize)
10. Most important: Be consistent and do it every week!

Do this for 6 months and see how client acquisition will become much easier 😎