Six months ago, my content team consisted of me, a dodgy laptop, and whatever time I could squeeze in between client calls.
Today, I’m reviewing posts from three writers, two VAs, and a content manager.
Growth is brilliant – it’s what we all want.
But as I read through our latest batch of social posts, something felt off.
The quality was there.
The information was solid. But that personal touch – the stories about building a business in Vietnam, the casual references to football scores, the raw honesty about entrepreneurial struggles – it was fading.
Somewhere between scaling up and systematising, we’d started losing what made our content uniquely ours.
When Growth Meets Reality
Most businesses hit this wall.
You start small, speaking directly to your audience in your own voice.
Every post, every email, every piece of content comes straight from you.
It’s raw, it’s real, and it works.
Your audience connects with your message because they’re connecting with you.
Then success kicks in.
You need to create more content.
Reach more people.
Build more relationships.
Suddenly, you’re faced with a choice: stay small and maintain that personal touch, or scale up and risk losing your voice in the process.
The Real Cost of Losing Your Voice
The problems start small.
Maybe a social post doesn’t quite sound like you.
Or a blog article feels a bit too polished, too corporate.
Your loyal followers notice first.
The engagement changes.
Instead of heartfelt responses, you get generic likes.
The genuine connections that built your business begin to fade.
I watched this happen with a client last month.
She’d built a loyal following of 5,000 subscribers by sharing honest stories about her entrepreneurial journey.
Her emails regularly saw 40% open rates.
Then she decided to scale, hiring a team to help with content.
Three months later, her open rates had dropped to 15%.
Her voice had gotten lost in the process of growing.
Why Your Voice Matters More At Scale
Here’s the thing about scaling your reach – it magnifies everything.
The good and the bad.
When your voice is consistent, scaling amplifies your impact.
When it’s inconsistent, scaling amplifies the confusion.
The Authentication Crisis
Think about your favourite small coffee shop.
The one where the owner knows your name and exactly how you like your coffee.
Now imagine that shop suddenly expands to 50 locations.
The coffee might taste the same, but something’s missing.
That personal touch, that unique atmosphere – it’s harder to maintain at scale.
The same thing happens with content.
When you’re small, authenticity comes naturally.
You write like you speak.
Share stories as they happen.
Connect with your audience one-to-one.
But as your business grows, maintaining that authenticity becomes a real challenge.
Signs Your Voice Is Getting Lost
You might be in the middle of an authentication crisis if:
Your content feels like it could’ve been written by anyone in your industry.
Gone are the unique perspectives and personal insights that used to make your audience stop scrolling.
Your team struggles to capture your tone.
They’re writing what they think you’d say, not what you actually would say.
It’s like watching someone do an impression of you – close, but not quite right.
Your engagement has shifted from genuine conversations to surface-level interactions.
Instead of comments like “This really resonated with me,” you’re getting more “Great post!” responses.
I experienced all of these when I first started scaling.
My team was creating good content, but it lacked the references to Portsmouth FC’s latest mishaps or stories about my adventures in Vietnam.
The personality had been polished right out of it.
Building Your Voice Foundation
Before we dive into scaling strategies, let’s get something straight – your voice isn’t just your writing style.
It’s not about whether you use emojis or how often you crack jokes.
Your voice is the sum of your experiences, beliefs, and the unique way you see the world.
When I left the UK for Vietnam, my content changed.
Not because I was trying to sound different, but because my perspective had shifted.
I started seeing business, life, and success through a new lens.
That authenticity resonated with my audience more than any carefully crafted message ever could.
Creating Your Voice Blueprint
The key to scaling your voice starts with documenting what makes it uniquely yours.
Here’s how I did it:
Record yourself talking about your business.
Yes, actually record it.
I did this while walking along My Khe Beach one morning.
Just me, my phone, and my thoughts about why I do what I do.
The natural patterns in your speech – that’s your real voice.
Look at your most successful content. Which posts got the most genuine engagement?
What stories did people connect with most?
For me, it was always the honest posts about my struggles with growing a business while being a dad, about moving across the world, about failing and starting again.
Ask your longest-standing followers what made them stick around.
I did this recently and was surprised – they mentioned things like my football references and my brutal honesty about business mistakes.
Things I didn’t even realise were part of my brand voice.
Making It Systematic
The trick to scaling your voice is turning these insights into something your team can actually use.
Not a rigid template that strips away personality, but a framework that captures your essence.
The Scale-Without-Sacrifice Framework
Once you’ve documented what makes your voice unique, it’s time to build a system that helps it grow with you.
Not a rigid corporate framework that sucks the life out of your content, but a flexible structure that keeps you consistent while letting your personality shine through.
Here’s the exact process I use with my team in Da Nang – and with clients who want to scale without sounding like everyone else.
Step 1: Document Your Current Voice
Start by creating what I call a “Voice Vault.”
This isn’t your typical brand guidelines document that gathers dust in a folder.
It’s a living collection of your best content, complete with notes about why it worked.
I keep a Notion database where I save social posts, emails, and articles that really landed with my audience.
Each entry includes:
- What made it successful
- Key phrases and language patterns
- Personal stories or references used
- The context behind the content
Step 2: Create Voice Templates
Templates sound corporate and boring, right?
They don’t have to be.
Think of them as story frameworks instead.
Here’s what I mean:
When I share client success stories, I follow a simple pattern:
- The real problem they faced (not just the business one)
- What they tried before (and why it didn’t work)
- How we approached it differently
- The actual results (including the personal impact)
This structure helps my team maintain consistency without sacrificing authenticity.
They know where to include personal observations, where to add relevant stories, and how to keep the flow natural.
Step 3: Build Content Systems
The key to scaling is having systems that make it easy to stay consistent.
But most businesses get this wrong – they create systems that prioritise efficiency over authenticity.
Step 4: Implement Quality Controls
Here’s the truth about quality control – it’s not about policing your team’s writing.
It’s about giving them the tools to capture your voice accurately.
I learned this lesson the expensive way.
Initially, I reviewed every piece of content myself, becoming a bottleneck and frustrating my team.
Now, we use a different approach:
First, we have a “Voice Check” checklist.
Before any content goes out, the team asks:
- Does this sound like something I’d actually say?
- Have we included relevant personal examples or observations?
- Are we using natural language rather than business speak?
- Would this resonate with our core audience?
Second, we do weekly content reviews as a team.
Not to criticise, but to learn.
We look at what worked, what missed the mark, and why.
These sessions help everyone understand the subtle elements that make our voice unique.
Step 5: Monitor and Adjust
The biggest mistake you can make is thinking your voice should stay static.
As your business grows, your voice should evolve naturally – just like you do.
Every quarter, I sit down with my coffee (Vietnamese, of course) and review our content performance.
But I’m not just looking at the numbers.
I’m asking:
- Which pieces felt most authentic?
- Where did we connect most deeply with our audience?
- What new elements of our voice have emerged?
- What parts of our old voice no longer serve us?
This isn’t about changing who you are.
It’s about letting your voice grow with your business.
Technology and Tools That Help
Let’s talk about the tech that makes this easier – without turning you into a robot.
Most advice about content tools focuses on automation and efficiency.
But we’re after something different: tools that help amplify your authentic voice, not replace it.
The Right Tools for the Right Job
My content manager laughed when she first saw my setup.
Instead of using the latest trending platforms, we rely on a simple stack that keeps our voice consistent:
A basic Notion workspace for the Voice Vault.
Nothing fancy – just a place to store examples of content that really sounds like us.
We tag each piece with notes about what makes it work, making it easy for the team to reference.
Google Docs with custom templates.
Yes, really. We tried fancy writing tools, but sometimes simple works best.
Our templates include prompts for personal stories and spots where team members should add relevant examples.
Grammarly, but with custom settings.
We’ve actually turned off some of its formal writing suggestions.
I’d rather sound like myself than perfectly proper.
Analytics That Actually Matter
Forget vanity metrics for a minute.
When it comes to maintaining your voice at scale, here’s what you should track:
Comment quality over quantity.
We use a simple spreadsheet to track whether people are leaving genuine responses or just generic “Great post!” comments.
Audience quotes.
We save messages where people say “This sounds just like you” or “I could hear your voice while reading this.”
They’re gold for understanding when we’re getting it right.
Content resonance scores.
Our team rates each piece on a scale of 1-5 for how authentic it feels.
Not scientific, but surprisingly effective.
The Bottom Line: Growth Without Compromise
Look, scaling your content doesn’t mean sacrificing who you are.
I’ve seen too many businesses lose their soul trying to sound “more professional” or reach “a wider audience.”
That’s backwards thinking.
Your authentic voice isn’t a limitation – it’s your superpower.
It’s what made people connect with you in the first place.
The trick isn’t changing your voice as you grow; it’s building systems that help your voice reach further.
Here’s what I want you to take away from this:
- Document what makes your voice unique before you start scaling
- Give your team the tools to maintain your authenticity
- Let your voice evolve naturally with your growth
- Keep measuring what matters – genuine connections over vanity metrics
Start small.
Pick one aspect of your voice to document this week.
Record yourself talking about your business.
Save examples of content that really sounds like you.
Build from there.
Remember why you started.
That authentic voice of yours?
It’s the reason people choose to follow you, buy from you, and stick with you.
Don’t lose it in the rush to scale.
Now, go create content that sounds like you – just more of it.

Jack AM Austin helps successful entrepreneurs break free from their content prison. After rebuilding his life and business from scratch in Vietnam, he now combines his expertise with marketing experience from P&G and L’Oreal to help others build businesses that work while they rest. His mission? Turn entrepreneurial success from a prison into freedom.