Building Your Brand Story: the 5 questions to ask?
Professional Photography can enhance your brand and its perceived value. Read about the 5 questions to ask when building your personal brand story, if you are starting out or refreshing your brand.
What is your why?
What is your story, who is your audience, what problem are you solving and how will you help them?
You made a decision to start and from there on you have embarked on a journey to build your brand.
Whatever the motivation behind your decision: to make things work better for you, be more visible, build connections, have your voice heard, have an impact, work up the career ladder or grow your business, your why matters. Not only to you but to others and your potential clients or employers too.
You might have worked hard so far, slaving off and using up all your energy and you feel that you have reached a plateau and things are feeling a bit stuck.
Reaching a higher level takes a new approach and investing in your personal brand at this point can be beneficial.
The benefits of a personal brand are numerous, and among them are: increased visibility, building trust, and being an expert in your field.
All amazing things you’d like to have, right?
But how do you start building your brand?
Out of all the elements your brand story and what you bring as a unique solution to a group of people is the most important and one that will make a big difference between you and other people.
There are 5 questions to get started. Grab pen and pad, and a drink and lets get started.
1. Why do you want to build a personal brand?
Starting with the “why” is critical because there in lies all your intention, your passion and your desire. Why do you want to make a difference? Why do you want to have a strong brand?
Are you at a stage where you want to apply for a promotion or a better role in a different company ? How will you go about building the connection, creating an impression and securing your next role?
Do you run your own business and you feel that you want to reach a higher level but you’re not sure what to change?
All these are some example questions that might be helpful to get started. Write down the answers, and read them again in a few days. If you need to change them do so until you’re crystal clear.
Once you have the clarity, start building your brand. Look at your goals daily, and remind yourself of your “why” at the start of each day.
Simon Sinek’s famous Tedx video on “starting with your why” is of great inspiration.
2. What is your brand story?
At the core of a great brand is a strong identity, clearly articulated values, a clear mission and a personal story.
What is your story that you want to share with others? What impact do you want to make? What got you started? Do you want to live a fulfilling life and be a great example for your your children?
What tips and life lessons can you share? Are there elements of corporate culture that you have challenged and want to change?
The more you embed your life’s story into your brand the stronger your brand will be. People connect and resonate with stories.
Stories touch us, they teach us lessons and they are great examples of determination, leading change and making the world a better place.
Include snippets of your story into your brand, in your website, your communications. Use your professional profile to create a personal connection and let people see and trust you.
3. Who is your audience?
Your brand story isn’t about you; it is also and mostly about your audience. Of course it starts with you but you have to make it relevant to your audience otherwise why would they want to know about you?
It is like a conversation, imagine meeting someone for the first time. You both talk about what you do, your journey etc but without enticing the interest of the other person it makes for a boring conversation if you start talking at lengths about you.
Imagine the other person asking you questions.
Who is this for? Why did you think that was an issue and who are you going to solve the problem for? How is what you offer different?
How to determine your audience?
When thinking about your audience, ask yourself these questions:
- Who am I speaking to?
- Who do I want to connect with?
- Do I know my audience well?
How to speak to your audience?
If you want to sell to your audience you need to know them so you can speak their language, address their concerns and start a conversation from where they are.
By understanding your audience deeply, you can tailor your brand story to resonate with them on a personal level. Your life lessons will become an inspiration for them, and what you offer will become a solution to their problem.
4. What Problem Do You Solve?
Every successful brand addresses a problem or fulfills a need. Your brand story should highlight the specific problem or challenge you’re solving for your audience. This question forces you to think about the value your brand brings to the table.
Be clear and concise in explaining the benefits your audience will receive from choosing your brand. A compelling solution can be a driving force behind a memorable brand story.
5. How can you package your expertise, skills and brand story?
For other people to see what you offer you need to create a concept, a package, a product.
Are you going to sell services? How are you going to package them? Will you have different packages? Having a standard and a premium package is usually what experts such as Allan Dib in his 1 page Marketing Plan book, advise. This gives enough choice without paralyzing your customers with too much of it.
What will your customers receive when they ask for more information? A beautifully designed brochure explaining what you offer? A pdf? A link to a portfolio page? A link yo your website?
What is the look and feel of your package?
At this point you need to start putting together the different elements of your brand.
What are the elements of your brand?
- What are your colours, your images and fonts?
- What is your brand proposition, your promise, how will you make your audience’s life better?
- Where can your audience find you? Via a website, your social media?
- How will you position your offering in the market?
- What is your visual persona? As the creator of your brand and your offering, images of yourself are important as they show your audience who you are and let them into your personality.
After answering these 5 questions about your brand, you should have a clearer idea of your brand story, what problem you will solve for your audience, how you will communicate with them and the steps to start putting your brand together.
Great images are an important part of a great personal brand
Images communicate your aesthetics immediately, they create trust and connection with your audience and they put you in charge of your image. Elevating your image through personal branding will help with the most common objections and how to get past them.
If you’d like to find out more about Personal Branding Photography, how it works and how you can get top images for your brand, get in touch with me and schedule a consultation call. I would love to meet you and hear all about your brand story.
Until next time, where I will cover “How to communicate your personal brand offline and online?
Thank you for reading, I hope this was useful.
Laura Shimili Mears London’s Premier Personal Branding Photographer
If you want to find out more about working with me, to get started drop me an email and I will reply as soon as I can.