What are your ‘personal brand stories’?
You’ve probably done a lot of work on your brand and have your overriding brand story down pat by now. You know the kind of thing I mean - how you came to be where you are, doing what you’re doing; how your business came about.
In contrast, when I talk about stories in the context of personal brand photography, I’m really talking about the ongoing stories that you share as your brand, which together represent who you are, what you do, how you do it, along with your big whys - why you do what you do.
Starting with your personal brand stories is THE way to get authentic, unique-to-you brand photos, moving beyond the clichéd shots you see everywhere.
So, what are YOUR personal brand stories?
As business owners, one of the biggest benefits of having a personal brand is to make it easy for your audience to get to ‘know, like, and trust’ you.
Your personal brand stories are a curated collection of routines, relationships, processes, interests, places, etc, that you share regularly, and which create recognition, trust and engagement with your clients and audience. Defining them will make it easy to know what to post on social media, and to know what you need photographs of.
Of course, your whole life could be seen as a collection of routines, relationships, processes, interests, places, etc!. It’s useful to clarify which of these you want to share with the world. One way to do this is to identify the overlaps between you and your audience.
Share stories that communicate values and interests that resonate with your ideal client, and you'll build a community of engaged followers.
Share stories that communicate values and interests that resonate with your ideal client, and you'll create affinity with the right people and build a community of engaged followers. Share stories that show you to be a real, non-perfect human to allow your audience to really relate to you as someone on their level. Share stories that show how you work, and you’ll develop credibility and trust in what you do.
Choose several overarching stories, and never again be short of ideas for content and photoshoots!
Not thought about your personal brand in this way before? I’ve created a story discovery worksheet to help you get started!