Personal branding for entrepreneurs in Spain: why an expert needs a magazine, a podcast and social media

• Bjarka Elena Kisiura – co-founder of SunClub and editor-in-chief of SunClub Network magazine
• Iuliia Medynskaia – co-founder of SunClub and publisher of SunClub Network magazine
• Yulia Dmitruk – entrepreneur, founder of the Live Spain Club media platform

When did you realise that after moving abroad you can be a strong expert and still remain “invisible”?

Bjarka: Back home I was known as an expert in marketing and content, people recommended me, my diary was booked up months ahead. Here in Spain it became clear that I would have to start from scratch.

I understand that a client will choose the person who has already “been seen”, the one whose product is already packaged and set out on the shelves of different media: print, digital and offline events.

In a new country we have no “social credit of trust”, so it has to be created. And the faster and more systematically, the better. You need to build your own strategy of being everywhere and start putting it into practice, so that you become a visible specialist people seek out.

Iuliia Medynskaia: When I saw how many seriously good professionals had arrived with enormous experience behind them and were somehow waiting for their past achievements to be recognised. In a new country it does not work like that.

You can be a genius, but if you are not in the local information space and not part of the community, then for this market you simply do not exist.

I see many people losing time while others, less experienced but more visible, take their clients. That is the most dangerous trap: thinking that expertise matters more than visibility.

After a move, status has to be confirmed here and now; otherwise you remain a brilliant specialist nobody has heard of.

Yulia Dmitruk: I was a strong expert alongside my business partner in an immigration agency. And just before lockdown came the turning point: we realised we had been on the market for a long time, four years already, yet our client base was barely growing. We worked steadily in immigration, social adaptation and training, but cold leads, meaning new people, were not finding out about us.

That was when we took a course for the first time and started running Instagram very actively and showing ourselves. From the end of 2019 that strategy became decisive, because we understood our service could be offered inside the country, not only to those who were about to move.

Why is one channel, whether Instagram, word of mouth or recommendations, not enough?

Bjarka: To create a full, clear and understandable image, you have to show every facet, every side and every advantage of working with you. A purchase is always a decision made on the level of emotion plus logic plus social proof.

• Instagram is a shop window that moves past your target audience at a speed of one post every three seconds. If they have not understood “who you are”, they will not stop to work it out.
• Word of mouth and recommendations are powerful, very warm, but uncontrollable processes. I never pin my hopes on them. Yes, it is pleasant, it is a huge bonus, but I am used to managing my business processes myself, and word of mouth does not scale.

That is why you need several promotion channels.

Iuliia Medynskaia: Because after a move, one channel is far too shaky a structure. Back home, word of mouth worked for us for years, and it stayed at home.

Instagram is great, but it is only one point of contact, and it gets lost easily in the general feed. To build a real brand you need a “layer cake”. When a client sees you in a magazine, then hears your podcast, then meets you at an event, a picture forms in their head: “Oh, this person is everywhere, they are a serious player.”

If you rely only on word of mouth or only on social media, you slow your growth down enormously and risk never reaching the people who are used to trusting proven, high-status sources.

Yulia Dmitruk: We are living in a time of Instagram noise. There is so much content that many people deliberately stop looking for an expert or following anyone on Instagram.

That is exactly why the more points of contact you have, the more multichannel you are, the easier and faster it is to build a loyal connection with your audience.

If a client is tired of Instagram, they go to Telegram or to longer content on YouTube.

If they want something they can touch, they pick up a magazine. And if there is enough information about you, they go to an offline space, to a networking event. That is how deals get done.

Why does a print magazine still work as a mark of status?

Bjarka: Because print media is an archetypal symbol of success and exclusivity. The subconscious link is very simple: if you have been printed, you have been chosen as an opinion leader in your niche.

It is not “I said this about myself”; it is “a prestigious publication is telling thousands of people about me”.

I think of our magazine as a real book. First, because I write 90% of the articles myself, and second, because we are creating a chronicle of brave entrepreneurs whose stories inspire us.

And psychologically, with a magazine the reader is in a mode of attention and trust.

Iuliia Medynskaia: Because print is a kind of verification. In digital, anyone can now call themselves anything, and it costs nothing.

A magazine is expensive and tangible, something you can hold in your hands.

When a person sees you on paper, something clicks subconsciously: “If they are in here, they have passed a quality filter.” This is not a story that vanishes after a day; it is slow content that can work for years on the tables of top locations.

A magazine moves you straight from the category of “some specialist from social media” into the category of status. It is physical proof of your weight, and it cannot simply be scrolled or swiped past.

Yulia Dmitruk: I think print publications are the one format that will most likely never die. People said the same about radio when television appeared.

Whatever anyone says, there is an audience that deliberately keeps using one particular media channel and no other.

So for me, print is about status, about the wish to put your business success story on record. And for my clients who come to me for the podcast, it is one more strong instrument of influence.

When does media stop being “about recognition” and start affecting how much money you make?

Bjarka: When media starts shortening the client’s path to a purchase. Saw → heard → felt → checked → bought. If there is a gap anywhere, the decision is put off “until later”. And “later” almost always goes to a competitor. Why wait, if you can buy now from someone who is visible, understandable and everywhere you look?

When your media presence is built properly, you are compared on price less often, people trust you before the first meeting, clients arrive already “warm”, you are recommended as the best in your field, and you choose your clients rather than the other way round.

Your moment comes when you stop being “an option” and become a brand.

Iuliia Medynskaia: Media starts affecting money the moment reach turns into trust. Recognition is when people simply know your face; influence on money is when people come to you already ready to buy.

When someone has read your interview in the magazine and then seen your podcast, all their objections fall away. They no longer ask: “Why is your price so high?” They understand what status and what expertise they are paying for.

Once you have built that chain, media stops being a cost line and becomes your main profit generator, because on this market trust is the most expensive currency there is.

Yulia Dmitruk: My former business partner and I earned our first money through media within two weeks. All we did was tell people who we were and what we were selling. And at the time it was very easy; that was five years ago, of course.

In 2026, media is not only a personal brand and positioning but the multichannel presence of an expert or a business, their presence on the market, their firm opinion on one matter or another.

That is what builds the link between “I know her, and that is exactly why I will buy” and “I don’t know her, so whatever results you show me, I won’t buy”. That is what monetisation through media is.

Frequently asked questions

What is media visibility, in plain words?

It is when people know you and trust you before the first meeting. They have seen you in a magazine, heard you on a podcast, met you at an event, and an image of a specialist has formed in their mind. The money comes when recognition turns into trust.

How does an expert build a personal brand in Spain?

By being in several places at once: on social media, in a print magazine, on a podcast and at live meetings. After a move, one channel is too shaky. Old recommendations stayed back home, and a post in the feed drops out of sight quickly.

Why is Instagram alone not enough?

The feed is scrolled at a speed of one post every three seconds. If someone has not understood who you are, they will not stop to work it out. Word of mouth works, but it cannot be managed. That is why an expert needs several channels.

Why does an expert need a print magazine?

Print works as a check: if you have been written about, you have been chosen. A magazine lies on tables for months, and it cannot be swiped past like a story. People read it calmly, with trust.

When does media start bringing in money?

When it shortens the client’s path to a purchase: saw, heard, felt, checked, bought. Such clients arrive warm and argue less about price. Yulia Dmitruk recalls that her first money through media came within two weeks.

The Power Media super offer for you

A spread in SunClub Network magazine

• A two-page spread
• Professional text written by the editorial team
• An expert “unpacking” session and a content plan for 3 months
• PR on SunClub’s Instagram, Telegram, stories, reels, a live broadcast with a resident

The magazine becomes your VIP business card, and you become an opinion leader in a prestigious print publication.

Strategy session, 3 in 1

A joint brainstorm:

• Yulia Dmitruk (SMM, PR, business promotion)
• Bjarka (positioning, content plan)
• Iuliia Medynskaia (marketing, personal brand packaging, sales)

2 hours online, and you receive:

• a document, “Step-by-step promotion strategy for 3 months”
• a list of ideas for reels
• profile optimisation
• positioning
• a media plan
• ideas for collaborations
• content recommendations

Premium interview (Live Spain Club)

• Filming in the podcast studio
• Editing
• Question preparation
• Cut into 30 reels
• Publication on YouTube (44k) and Instagram (19k)
• A personal recommendation

You get remarkable reach and recognition with the local audience straight away.