Building Your Brand Story: the 5 ultimate questions to ask?

So you have decided that you want to build a personal brand because you feel you need to work better, to be more visible, build more connections, get your voice out and increase your impact. 

You might be working up the career ladder or you have a business and offer services or products. You have been doing your best so far but you feel that you have reached a point, a plateau and things are not moving for you. 

The benefits of a personal brand are numerous, and among them are increased visibility, building trust, and being seen as an expert in your field. 

All amazing things you’d like to have, right?

But how do you start to build your brand? Out of all the elements of your brand, your brand story and what you bring to the table is the most important one and will make a big contribution to differentiate you from other people. 

There are 5 questions that can get you started. Grab a pad and a pen, plus a drink and start writing the foundations of your brand story. 

1. Why do you want to build your personal brand?  

What do you want it to help you achieve? 

Starting with the “why” is critical because there lies all your intention, your passion and your desire. Why do you want to make a difference? Why do you want to have a stronger brand? 

Are you at a stage in your career where you want to apply for an internal promotion or for a position in a different company that is higher than your current position? How will you go about creating the image, building the connection and securing your next role? 

Do you run your own business and you feel that your growth has plateaued and 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 you started. Write down your answers, read them again in a few days and review them until you’re certain and clear. 

Once you have the clarity, start building your brand story. 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 personal brand story?

At the core of every brand is your identity, your values, your mission and your personal story. 

What is the story that you want to share with others? What impact do you want to make? Do you want to live a fulfilling life and be a great example for your family, your children, your friends and colleagues? 

What tips and life lessons can you share? Are there elements of corporate culture that you have challenged and you want to change? 

The more you embed your life lessons and story into your personal brand the more personal your story will be. People connect and resonate with personal stories 

Stories touch us, they teach lessons or they make for great examples of determination, leading change and making the world a better place. 

Include snippets of your story into your branding, your website or your professional profile, into your messaging online and offline.

3. Who is your audience? 

Your brand story isn’t just about you; it’s also about your audience. Let me make this clearer, 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 length about you. 

Imagine the other person asking you questions. What made you do this? How was the experience? Why did you decide to take this direction? How is what you offer different? Imagine all these questions and others, being asked when you think and write about your band story. 

The ultimate question from the audience would be why should I spend my money with you? How do you make the case? When we answer these questions by talking about the benefits of our offer and incorporating elements of our personal story it is a winning combination. 

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 your services or products 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, an offering, a product. 

Are you going to sell your 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 as it gives enough choice without paralyzing your customers with too much choice. 

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 his point you need to start putting together the different elements of your brand. 

What are the elements of your brand?

1. What are your colors, your images and fonts?
2. What is your brand proposition, your promise, how will you make your audience’s life better? 
3. Where can your audience find you? Via a website, your social media?
4. How will you position your offering in the market? 
5. 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.