Uncover the root of your brand story, rise up through tangible strategy and bloom into your dream brand.
Brianna Spause
Storytelling is an art form as old as humanity itself… our ancient ancestors told stories to make sense of the world around them and pass down narratives to future generations. In 2020, storytelling is one of the most engaging ways of building your personal brand using social media.
When you’re an online business owner, pitching yourself in Facebook groups or putting out value-packed content, you may think you’re doing it all right. But the thing is, while you may be pitching your awesome new service and engaging in the DMs, you’re going to be drawing eyes back to your profile.
When these potential new dream clients come your way to check out your profile, what do you want them to know about you? What are you already making clear to them? What story can we tell?…
With these dream leads coming to check out your profile, consider…
+ Is your elevator pitch out there loud and proud to let people know who you are, what you do, and why working with you is exactly what their business needs to do next?
+ Can they read posts about you and say, ‘Wow, we’re aligned.’ – can they feel that spark? That connection?
Through the power of storytelling and strategy, we can really set up your profiles to welcome and convert those dream clients with ease.
In this blog post, we’re going to dig deeper to uncover the root of your brand story and rise up through a tangible strategy to bloom into your dream brand.
Building Your Personal Brand…Why?
Maybe you’re wondering… ok, Brianna, WHY is personal branding so important? The thing is, your personal brand is being developed with every single interaction you have with a lead or client, whether you’re controlling the narrative or not! In every social post, every newsletter, and every client interaction, your people learn things about you.
My goal as a brand producer and strategist is to help you get ahead of that and take back ownership of your brand narrative. It’s also about taking the time to clearly lay out who we are, what makes us special, and developing our core messaging to have a clear strategy to come back to time and again.
Your personal brand is the root of your brand story and strategy – because it’s who you are. It’s your chance to showcase what makes you so special {I know that you’re a special and shining star – so let’s make the world see that!}. At the end of the day, there are a million of you in your niche… but there’s only one you. So let’s build your personal brand around what makes you such a badass!
YOU are the ONLY thing that makes your brand different from everyone else’s, and that your story is important, valuable, and your experiences are worth sharing with the world.
Getting Started…
If there’s something you need to know about BS Productions and me, I (Brianna Spause) am the only BS around here! At its core, our approach’s heart is about crafting your brand story around a life that you already live and that you absolutely love.
There are the 3 core elements I want you to keep in mind as you get started in the journey of building your personal brand: experience, stories, and skills.
As you start to consider each of these 3 elements, begin to think about how you can visually represent these elements throughout your branding and genuinely tell these stories on your live trainings and in your copywriting.
The best way to start considering all of these elements is to do a good classic brain dump… a no-pressure, no BS, release of all the ideas already within you. Because here’s the thing – you already have everything you need! We just need to now take steps to clarify your message.
Grab your preferred notebook, laptop, typewriter – whatever! And start walking through the following prompts…
Questions To Ask Yourself To Clarify Your Messaging + Branding
1. How Do I Speak and Write?
Take a look through your existing branding to see what words, visuals, and colors keep coming up time and again? (not seeing much of a pattern or feel your message is all over the place? Not to worry! That’s why we’re doing this!) Don’t leave any stones unturned – read through your emails, newsletters, blogs, social posts, DMs.
A few things to consider here…
+ How am I talking about myself and my business? Is it the same every time? Or is it different?
+ What jokes am I throwing in there?
+ What stories am I telling about why my service is valuable?
+ What emojis do I use?
+ What is my personality?
2. What Makes My Heart Sing?
I said it once, but I’ll say it once louder for those in the back… This is about building a personal brand about a life you already love – it’s not about making extra work for you! So let’s dive deeper to get to the core of YOU.
Think about…
+ What do I do on the weekends or after work that just really sets my soul on fire?
+ What’s my favorite color?
+ How do I design my life, my clothes, my home? How can we infuse this into my branding to make content creation easier?
Here, I encourage you to look inward, not outward. This is about what makes YOUR heart happy!
3. Who Am I?
I want you to get down and dirty with this one.
Think about the following…
+ What brands do I connect with in my personal life?
+ What are my non-negotiable values/principles?
+ What could I talk about endlessly, with no preparation?
+ What are the pillars of your personal identity that you’re proud of?
By sparking conversation around the things that matter to you, you’re really going to be able to connect to people on a much deeper level.
4. What Makes Me Special
Like I said… I know that you’re a bright shining star, but we need to let your audience know that!
Think about…
+ What compliments do I get time and again? Market research with friends and family or past clients if you don’t know!
+ What do people say about me?
+ What do people love about me?
Harnessing what makes you special and infusing it into your storytelling is a fabulous approach to your sales and marketing! Try taking this free quiz to find out what kind of storyteller you are!
5. What Do I Do in My Free Time?
And this is the key to my storytelling strategy – treating your everyday life like a content creation opportunity.
Now Walk Away
The absolute best way to do this exercise is to brain dump, then walk away and take a break. Go for lunch, take a walk, dance around your apartment – do you!
As you return, later on, read over what you’ve written down with fresh eyes.
Which of these stories and experiences and skills can I start to infuse into my visual brand identity? How can I genuinely showcase these stories?
Start to also look at where in your routine and in the things you love are the gaps between who you are and the brand you want to build online.
This will be a game-changer, I promise.
Give it a go and jump in the Storytellers Club if you have any questions!
Oh, hey, I’m Brianna!
As a brand photographer and an Emmy Award-winning video producer, I’ve spent a lot of time studying, watching, listening and learning about what makes a powerful narrative. I want to bring that to you. I call myself a brand producer because I’m going to help you see the magic that’s already inside of you and flip it around right online so that your clients know who you are, who they’re dealing with, and what makes you special.