What is Branding and How To Build A Personal Brand

What is Branding and How To Build A Personal Brand

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

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If you didn’t already know, at Brandmerry, we focus on two key elements for building a business, both branding and marketing. And today I want to share with you a snippet from my free on-demand training called the Build a Better Brand Method. 

Inside of this free video training, I share with you the signature framework that I have used to support hundreds of entrepreneurs in building a scalable brand that just feels really f*cking good. 

It feels like them. 
It's a strong personal brand. 
They get to show up and do their thing online in a way that feels amazing.

This free on-demand training is available for you to watch if you go to betterbrandmethod.com, but I thought it would be really fun to give you a little teaser. 

I'm going to share with you what personal branding is. 

I'm also going to break down my signature branding framework. This is the six-part framework that I teach inside of my program You Branded. Inside of the training, you are getting the entire framework step-by-step, plus what happens at each level and how each level builds to the next. 

After you dive into this blog (or listen to the audio above), I encourage you to go to betterbrandmethod.com to sign up for this on-demand training because in addition to what you're hearing today, you are also going to get some amazing content on the training around storytelling, writing your brand messages, doing ideal client work and more. 

WHAT IS A BRAND

I want you to start thinking about the brand as the ultimate experience that you are creating for your potential customers. 

It's made up of the feeling and the connection that someone has about the experience that you've given them online. 

It's made up of the stories, the emotional connection, and different experiences as a whole. 

If they watch a video from you, if they see an Instagram post from you, if you have a business, then personal branding allows you to create a deeper, personal connection with your audience that will build trust. 

It ultimately goes deeper than just a product or service. Yet, so many people make the mistake of branding around a product or service when they start. 

I don't want you to do that because things are going to change within your business over time and you don’t want to have to shift your branding as a result.

Your product or service is not a brand. 

A brand needs to be about the business as a whole, the company as a whole, you as a whole showing up as your true self because as we'll learn, purchase decisions are made based on human connection. 

They're not made because of that product that you're selling, because I bet you, someone else has the exact same thing. 

We all know it's true. 
We know what our industry looks like. 

But you can stand out and you can become profitable when you focus on building your personal brand. 

Think about your brand as the beating heart of your business. 
Without it, you won't have anything. 

In fact, Richard Branson said, “The way a company brands itself is everything. It will ultimately decide whether or not your business survives.” 

So, remember it's essential.

WHY YOUR PERSONAL BRAND IS IMPORTANT

So why is your personal brand important? 

We've talked a little bit about it, but let's break down some of the key pieces. 

REASON #1 TO CREATE A PERSONAL BRAND FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Your ideal customer is shopping around, right? We all know that. Let's not pretend it's not happening. 

It is part of the client buying process. 

So why would they choose your product or service over someone else that offers the same thing? 

Your brand. 

There was a study done by Harvard University that found that we make purchase decisions based on an emotional connection that we feel. So, although we think it is because we list out how many modules are in something, or how many videos they get, or how many calls, someone's made a decision by that point. 

That logistical information might help them to commit today, but they've already decided based on a connection. 

That's why creating a personal brand is so essential. It allows you to share more story, it allows you to build connections, and they ultimately will move through the buying process faster.

REASON #2 TO CREATE A PERSONAL BRAND FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Branding also impacts every single element of your business. 

You cannot have a website without a solid brand. 
You cannot show up on social media without a solid brand. You won't know what to say. 
You won't know what aesthetics to choose. 
You won't know what you're ultimately leading people to. 

You can't have a solid marketing strategy without a solid brand, because so much of your marketing strategy relies on your ideal customer and your messaging. 

You can't advertise without a solid brand because you won’t know who to target or how best to communicate with them. 

Your copy will suck if you don't have a solid brand because your messaging will be less than mediocre and you will not stand out and will not convert. Your content creation will fall flat.

In fact, many entrepreneurs who have had their business for a while come to me because they're having trouble staying consistent with their content. 

When we fill the holes in their brand, suddenly it all works and makes sense again. Your brand impacts every element of your business.

WHY DO YOU NEED BRAND STORYTELLING?

So what role does storytelling play in branding? 

I've talked about storytelling a lot on the Brandmerry Blog. 

When you integrate story into your content, it is 22 times more likely to be remembered. This includes copy on your homepage, email, advertisement copy, social media, all of it. 

That is because storytelling has major effects on the brain. Inside of your audience’s brain, there's dopamine firing, there's neuro coupling happening. 

I think just this stat in and of itself as an entrepreneur always spoke to me because if I'm going to take the time and the energy to create content, which we all are because it's important when you're building an online business, I want to make sure that people actually remember it.

In addition to the power of storytelling, 86% of consumers say that authenticity is a key factor when deciding what brands they like and support. 

Now, this comes down to being your true self online and building a brand around that rather than something you think people might want. 

81% of consumers said that they need to be able to trust a brand in order to buy from them. 

This again is where storytelling and personal branding comes into play. Storytelling is such a great way to build connections so that people feel like they know you and they can trust you. And as we mentioned before, it's oftentimes the reason someone will make a decision between two very similar products.

If you Google photographers near you, you're going to have a lot of options. 
Why are your ideal customers ultimately going to choose one over the other?

It's going to come down to trust and an emotional connection. 

And to close out my statistical rant, 64% of consumers around the world said that they would buy from a brand or boycott it solely because of its position on a social or political issue. 

Your story, your values, and your mission are the foundation of your brand and will help you communicate these things with your audience, stand your ground, and speak up on the things that your audience cares about most.

BRANDMERRY 6-PART BRAND FRAMEWORK (STEP-BY-STEP)

All right. Let's dive into this six-part framework, that we call the Build a Better Brand Method. 

Phase One: Story

At this stage, the emphasis is on identifying your strengths, your transitions, things that you've gone through in your life, different paths that you've taken, and experiences to ultimately define your niche and create your profitable brand story. 

This is when you're really getting in touch with who you are as a person and the different things that you want to provide, the mission, and your values so that you can ultimately carve out your little pocket inside of your industry. 

Remember, a lot of us are offering the same exact thing. 

I'm not oblivious to the fact that there are other people offering branding work and supporting people with their branding but I found based on my story and my experiences, my little pocket, and then from that am able to create a really profitable brand story.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Profitability comes from your specific niche and by using your story from the get-go to define your expertise and your strengths, you'll easily incorporate it into your brand as a whole. Many people make the mistake of saying this is my niche, because they're like this is the product that I want to sell, and then that's their niche. 

You can niche down based on your credentials, your expertise, your experiences to give you a leg up in your industry. It's one of the things that I did when I was starting out as well. 

So this is the first stage. You need to understand and get super clear on your story before you can move on to the next piece and at the end of this phase, you're ultimately going to know your specific niche and how you're really going to use your superpowers to stand out in your industry.

Phase TWO: Your Customer

That leads us to the second phase. Phase two is all about your customer. 

Once you've identified who you are, your strengths, your story, and those experiences that you want to share, now we move into who you're talking to. 

Who do you ultimately want to attract to your brand? 

Now at this stage, the emphasis is on identifying deeper layers of your ideal customer. This is ultimately who your brand will be supporting and doing the research to better understand who they really are is essential. 

Too many people skip this step. You might be one of them. I was. I did it. I skipped the step in the beginning and guess what? I didn't make any money. 

So when you get back down to the customer market research, you are able to really know your ideal customer, which is going to play a role in everything that you are going to create moving forward. And yes, it's going to take a little bit of time, but I promise it's going to be worth it in the end. 

In fact, the knowledge that comes from deep ideal client market research will impact your overall messaging, your overall copywriting, the words that you are going to use on your website and social media and your overall marketing strategy. 

Because how do you know where to show up and market if you don't know who you're trying to attract? 

The second phase is going deeper into really understanding who your customers are. I'll give you a little hint on this one. It's not just the demographics that everybody stresses about. 
What is their age? 
Are they married? 
Do they have kids? 

No. We're going deeper than that. We're thinking about what their struggles are. 
What are their weaknesses? 
What are their strengths? 
What keeps them up at night? 
What do they ultimately want? 
Why do they want it? 
What's standing in their way?

Those are just some examples of the questions that we need to be asking ourselves when it comes to phase two of the branding framework. 

Phase Three: Your Messaging

Phase three is your messaging. How do you communicate and tie those pieces together to bring in and attract your ideal customer? 

At this stage, the emphasis is on consistency. It's one of my favorite words. 

Crafting messages that really represent your brand as a whole, not just the individual offer. 

You will notice, I haven't talked about a single product or offer yet. Because we're talking about the brand as a whole, we're talking about the experience. How are you ultimately supporting your ideal customer to go from where they are to where they want to be? 

This is important because a consistent presentation of a brand has seen to increase revenue by 33%. Look, we can all get every little bit that we can, right? 

The messaging consistency will make sure that your overall brand message never gets confusing and is super clear to your ideal customer, meaning that the brand as a whole solves the problem and then the individual products or services go into the logistics of how you do that. 

Phase three is focused on communicating your strengths, your expertise, the experience that you're providing with what you know about your ideal customer, what they want, what's standing in their way, all of those things and crafting it into messaging for your brand as a whole.

Phase Four: The Offer

That leads us to four, which is crafting your signature offer. 

Now at this stage, the emphasis is on building your core offer and signature framework. I know it's really tempting to start off with a million offers out of the gate. If you're just starting off or you're having trouble selling what you currently have, strip it back, become known for something, build a reputation around something, get results around something, and then add more offers down the line. 

So inside of You! Branded, I specifically tell my clients, we are focused on one thing right now. Let's get good at that one thing and then scale. 

At this stage, you want to determine the pillars, the phases of your offer, much like the one that you're seeing right now. And that will allow you to monetize more consistently. This is really important because part of the branding process is figuring out what you're going to monetize. 

But many people either do it too early and then they've got nothing to back it up, or they figure out their brand and then they create their offer and then their brand and the offer aren't connected. 

It only makes sense to craft a signature offer that can scale with your brand over time. Don't do it backwards or you're going to find yourself very confused with communicating your offer and your brand and all the different things. 

Phase Five: Your Voice

We cannot create a personal brand without talking about your voice, the voice of the brand, the voice of the company, how you're going to show up.

So at this stage, the emphasis is on defining the authentic voice of the brand, of the characteristics to make sure that your true personality is coming through online. Many of you are most likely starting out as solopreneurs, meaning it's you with a business idea and a plan in place and you're going forward with it. 

Showing up and sharing your story and building that trust is going to be incredibly helpful. That's how I started as well. 

Even though my company Brandmerry isn't my name Michelle Knight, I'm still able to build a personal brand because again, we're focused on personal connection. I know that someone is ultimately going to decide to work with me or maybe purchase my services because they have felt a connection to me over somebody else that may offer the same thing. 

This is the stage where you want to identify your brand values as we talked about in the beginning. How you want to be perceived and your mission.

Then you'll be able to use those to communicate with your audience, not just through your copy in your messaging, but also with your aesthetics. This is important because authenticity matters. 

81% of survey consumers said that they need to be able to trust a brand in order to buy from them. That's a pretty big number. 

Defining your authenticity from the start will allow you to show up 100% as yourself online and maintain and build deeper trust with your audience. 

Phase Six: Connection

And that leads us to phase six, which is all about connection. Now in this stage, the emphasis is on building an emotional connection with your audience. Studies show that we make purchase decisions based on an emotional connection. So you want to determine this while branding so that it flows not only through your copy, not only through your aesthetics, the visuals, the photos, the colors, the fonts but also in your marketing efforts as well. 

This is a very, very, very important part of the process. 

Many branding mentors, coaches, educators, course creators do not teach the importance of emotional branding. This is something that I have become known for in my industry. And as we know, purchase decisions are based on an emotional connection so it is important. 

It's not enough to have a great product. It's not going to lead to consistent revenue. Your audience needs to feel something from you.

There are a lot of different ways to do that. Through understanding color psychology, to choosing the right fonts for your brand, to choosing photos that build better brand affinity. These are all pieces that when someone lands on your website, boom, they know what you're about and they know how they feel in that moment. 

So again, this is important because choosing colors, choosing fonts, choosing photos, and choosing elements can feel really overwhelming. In fact, many of you are probably sitting in that right now where you'll pick out a bunch of colors and then two days later, you're like, “Oh, actually I want this color instead.” And you're spinning your wheels for a really long time. 

But all of those pieces are rooted in emotion and when you start with the emotional piece first, then you can choose your branding aesthetics. 

Conclusion

So this is the six-part framework that I teach my clients called the Build a Better Brand Method. 

Think of it as building a new building. In order to add stories and increase the height of the building, you need to take the time to construct a solid foundation. If you don't, the building will not stand.

The same is true for your business. If you do not have a solid foundation, you're going to notice you can't go very high. Things start to crumble. Things start to slip. Things won’t fit and you’ll always feel like something is missing.

So now you know. This is the brand roadmap in this exact order. Now, you should be able to look at this and identify what you’re missing or where you need to start.

You know I'm all about the action so make sure you sign up for the Build a Better Brand Method. 

This might have been a small sample of that free training, but there’s more in-depth information on storytelling, ideal customer and messaging within the class. 

This is a free on-demand training teaching you how to completely elevate your brand and business. You can learn more at betterbrandmethod.com.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

Don’t Make This Mistake With Your Brand Storytelling

We are wrapping up the four-part series on Storytelling over here on the Brandmerry Blog and my weekly show Mondays With Michelle.

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve covered:

+ Sharing Imperfections in your Personal Brand Storytelling
+ Why You Should be Repeating Your Brand Story and Messages Online
+ 5 Examples of Brand Storytelling to Incorporate in Your Marketing Strategy

And today, we’re wrapping it up with the #1 mistake you might be making in your brand storytelling and how to fix it!

Because by now you know how important storytelling is for business and if you don’t here’s a recap.

So here we are talking about the mistakes so you can avoid them.

If you prefer to watch or listen to this blog post, scroll down to access the full video.

Storytelling in Business

It’s important to understand that telling a story for business is different than just telling a story to your friend.

At the end of the day, when you are telling stories in business, and as a brand, you're doing so to make money. The goal is to sign clients or to sell a product, but at the end of the day, you want to incorporate storytelling to increase your revenue.

So, your stories need to be strategic and calculated to lead to the sale.

It doesn’t mean you lose out on authenticity, it just means you take the time to do the prep work to share a story that sells.

One of those pieces, which happens to be a mistake so many brands make, comes back to their audience.

BRAND STORYTELLING SECRET WEAPON

When you are telling stories in business they are for your ideal customer, they are for your audience...they are not for you!

You're not buying your own stuff, so the story is not for you. 

The ultimate goal is to attract your ideal customer and dream audience, build trust, build brand recognition, brand affinity and ultimately tell stories that sell. 

The beautiful thing is that you can use stories at every single level of the buying process. Whether someone isn't aware of their problem.
They're aware of their problem.
They're aware of a solution to their problem.
They're aware of products but haven’t made a decision, you can incorporate stories to move them along.

So no matter where your ideal customer is in the buying process stories are an excellent marketing strategy.

You might tell a story about your situation…
You might tell a story about your transformation…
You might tell a story about your values…
But if you're not tying that to your audience, it becomes a cool-story-bro situation.
It becomes a “that's nice” situation.

WHY YOU DON’T WANT TO MAKE THIS STORYTELLING MISTAKE

The cool-story-bro situation is not a situation you want to be in.

It results in a little heart and maybe a comment, but nothing more.

It doesn’t lead to sharing your content or saving it and coming back to it as a top resource.
It doesn’t lead to DM’s and authentic conversations.
It doesn’t lead to sales.

Because when we’re talking about engagement on social media, hearts and likes don’t tell us anything. It doesn’t necessarily translate into sales and revenue for your business.

The goal, as a business owner, is to inspire your audience to take action and that’s what you want your stories to do.

You want your audience to take action, to subscribe to your email list, to visit your website, read your blog, buy your product, or sign up for your high-level program.

We want our stories to motivate our audience to take action.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR BRAND STORYTELLING ABOUT YOUR AUDIENCE

Entrepreneurs and business owners tend to write their stories about them and struggle to tie their message directly to their audience.

They don’t take into consideration if the story is relevant to their audience and if it’s valuable...this is where the mistake is made.

Anytime you’re writing a story, choosing a photo, writing a social media post, writing an email and more you must consider it from the perspective of your audience and the value it provides.

Donald Miller of StoryBrand introduced the concept of the Hero and the Guide as it pertains to marketing. 

The idea is that so many brands and businesses are positioning themselves as the Hero. You don't want to be the Hero, you want to be the Guide. Your audience is the Hero. 

The Guide is the person that helps them, that supports them, that inspires them to take action and then leads them on that journey to a solution to their problem. 

Your audience is the Hero, but so many business owners are writing stories about themselves and putting themselves in the role of the Hero, this is a mistake. 

Here’s an example I made on social media.

4 years...⠀
...4 headshots 😂⠀

When I look at these photos I see the same woman but not really.⠀

I see what really happened behind the scenes.⠀

The tears that were shed and all the emotions in 2016 while in a Target dressing room to find the right dress to hug my 8-month postpartum body and spirit.⠀

I didn't feel ready for that photoshoot, but I did it anyway.⠀

To the woman in overalls who made the bold decision to represent a different face of entrepreneurship and a brand. ⠀

A less polished and more "everyday", simple and authentic brand. I mean who wears overalls in a brand shoot...this girl 🖐️⠀

I've grown over these 4 years and what you see today is lightyears from the woman I was just 4 years ago.⠀

As some would say I'm owning it and IDGAF 😜⠀

It's just a photo, sure, but this is why I love what photos represent.⠀⠀

Growth.
Authenticity.
Moments in time to reflect on and say, "Look how far you've come!"⠀

I encourage you to do the same today. ⠀

See how far you've come and be proud of the growth ♥️⠀

Happy Sunday friends.⠀

- mk

In this post I’m sharing what happened behind the scenes, I’m sharing my story and I’m talking about how I didn’t feel confident to have my first photoshoot, but I did it anyway.

I talked about owning my voice, and stepping more into my role and showing a more everyday simple and authentic brand, something you don't typically see on the internet. 

I talked about how I've grown over the last four years, and I talk about the representation of this photo.

Now, I could have stopped there. That would have been a story. But it would have been a story about me, it wouldn't have been a story about anyone else.

It wouldn't have been a story with my ideal customer in mind. 

So instead, all I did was add a simple line to the end. I said, “I love what photos represent.

Growth.
Authenticity.
Moments in time to reflect on and say, "Look how far you've come!"⠀

I encourage you to do the same today. ⠀

See how far you've come and be proud of the growth.” And at that moment an entire story that was centered around my experience, turned around and provided value and action to my audience.

Every single word I wrote, in this story, had my ideal customer in mind.

I know my ideal customer doesn't always see themselves in the brands and big mega businesses that they see on the internet.

I know they're looking for something a little bit more real or raw. 

I know that my ideal customer is growing and has grown and wants to see this growth in the long term.

And all I had to do was say a simple sentence at the end to bring it back to them.

Do you see how I could have stopped and it would have been 100% about me, but then I was able to position myself as the guide to offer advice to my audience.

HOW DO YOU WRITE BRAND STORIES FOR YOUR AUDIENCE

How can you write a social media post and tie every single word back to your audience? 

Two words...MARKET RESEARCH.

Your ideal client research is non-negotiable, please stop skipping it.

The beautiful thing about ideal client research is that it doesn't stop. You don't do it one time. You're always learning. You're always listening. You're always having conversations. 

And yes, of course, the more clients that you have, the bigger your business gets, the easier it is because your audience is more accessible. For instance, I can message a bunch of my Academy students and be like, “Hey, guys, really quick question. What's coming up for you? What's a struggle that you have?”

Market research becomes a lot easier when you have the clientele. but there are so many ways that you can do it, in the beginning, using the internet.

You can use YouTube, Pinterest, personal conversations, reading comments on blogs, reading forums, posting in Facebook Groups, searching in Facebook Groups, there are a million ways that you can find out what you need to know about your ideal customer. 

And although we are talking about this specifically as it applies to storytelling, you probably picked up already that this applies to every aspect of your business.

You have nothing. If you have no one to buy from you.
You do not have a business, you have a product that doesn't sell because people aren't buying it, and so knowing your ideal client, knowing the language that they will use is so important as it plays a role in all of your marketing efforts. 

But when we're talking about storytelling, it will make or break it because it will either put you in in the friend zone (aka cool-story-bro situation) or the relationship zone.

The friend zone sounds like…
… “Oh, she's cool. She tells good stories. I like her, she's fun to follow.”

While the relationship zone (aka business zone) sounds like…
… “I connect with her. I want to buy from her. I want to do business with her and tell all my friends about it”

See the difference?

CHOOSING YOUR STORIES IN BUSINESS

Choosing the stories that you tell in business should be based on your audience.

It’s not just about turning it back to them with your words, including a quick little sentence at the end, it's not just about using language throughout the ties to your audience, it goes back even further with choosing the stories that will resonate most with your audience. 

The more that you understand your ideal customer, the more that you will be able to say, “Here's a bunch of stories that I have. Here's how it's valuable to my audience. Amazing. Now, when I write that post, these are the things that I want to tie in about my audience. And here's the call to action!”

It makes marketing and more specifically storytelling easy.

CONCLUSION

Everything in business comes back to your audience. 

It’s about growing your audience, nurturing your audience and converting your audience. Those are your three goals. As a business owner, if you do that you will be golden. 

And storytelling is an excellent way to do that. 

WATCH OR LISTEN TO THE CONTENT IN THIS POST BELOW.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

---

- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

Why You Should be Repeating Your Brand Story and Messages Online

Do you feel like you’re always repeating yourself in business?

Specifically, with your marketing, are you afraid that you’re going to bore your audience with the same thing over and over again? 

And that Brand Story, I mean how often should you share it, and won’t people get tired of hearing it if you’re sharing it on your blog, website, email, social media, and more?

The good news and I know this might sound crazy, but the odds of them even seeing your content the first time it’s posted is SUPER slim.

So, that’s the silver lining I suppose...we get to repeat ourselves in order to better market our business online. 

Today, I’m sharing why repetition is important, how to modify your stories based on need and how to avoid boring the shiz out of your community.

WHAT REPETITION IN MARKETING IS NOT

It’s important to note that repetition is not saying the same thing, exactly, over and over again. I like to call this the “copy and paste” issue.

You discover something works so you copy and paste it over and over and over again, beating it into the ground rather than making small changes.

As a great marketer, you have to be obsessed with your numbers, this is why analytics are essential when running an online business. Your numbers and your analytics play a huge role in the success of your marketing. 

When it comes to repetition, especially as it applies to storytelling, you can use this analytical information to make decisions on what you should and should not repeat and your business.

Let’s say you have an amazing post where you shared your brand story, and it did really, really well. You would want to put that in your Story Bank, which is essentially a log of different stories you can share and incorporate into your content.

The same works for visual storytelling. I'm obsessed with brand photography, because of the storytelling that it provides just by looking at a photo. So when you look at your analytics and see a photo does really well, you’ll want to reuse that photo later.

When you have this information on what’s working well, you want to make small adjustments and give your content a little update. For instance, maybe you could take that brand story post that did well and add a new photo to it. You could take the photo that worked well and write a new copy.

The core is repeating itself, but you’re making small changes to keep it fresh and exciting for your audience, without having to do more work on your part.

A BRAND STORYTELLING EXAMPLE:

Part of my Brand Story or Founder Story is “the eight-month struggle.” 

You might have heard a variation of this story before because I’m always sharing it. But if you haven't, in short, it is that I spent eight months while working a nine to five and building this business with a baby, typically in a carrier on my back. 

I spent eight months working on it, focusing my energy on picking my colors, fonts, logo design, designing my website, mapping out my programs, the whole thing.

After eight months I found myself with no community and no money to show for my efforts.

This is part of my Brand Story and I use it in variations all the freaking time.

I’ve shared a variation of this to talk about time management and the importance of dividing your time between building the backend of the business and building community.

I’ve shared this story when talking about the importance of branding or my freebies and program Brandmerry Academy. I share how I wasted time worrying about my fonts, colors, and logo missing the real purpose and foundation of branding. Now I teach entrepreneurs the right way to brand their business online.

I’ve also shared this story when talking about focus and comparison, which are important pillars of my brand. I share how I lost months worrying about what other people’s brands looked like and doubted my own ability because I didn’t focus on my mission, my purpose, and my story.

IT’S THE SAME STORY, just shared in different ways based on what I’m sharing in my business.

You can do the same in your business, making sure your Brand Story does more than just sit on your “About Me” page of your website.

The art of repetition in business is sharing the same story or collection of stories in different ways.

WHY REPETITION IS IMPORTANT IN MARKETING

Now, that we’ve covered how to effectively repeat stories in business, let’s dive deep into why this is so important.

Remember, the information I’m sharing here doesn’t just apply to storytelling, it applies to marketing as a whole. Think of repeating not just your stories, but your messages, offers, freebies, etc...and why it’s essential when building an online brand.

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Unfortunately, the number of contact points needed before someone becomes a customer is growing. There is just so much information online and with the algorithm changing frequently, it’s important that we’re consistently showing up for our audience if we ever want to make money online.

While there's no clear number for contact points, the standard is:

BRAND AWARENESS: 3 points of contact before someone will pay attention to your brand

SALES: 7 points of contact before someone will take action or make a purchase decision.

As you can see repetition is necessary when it comes to marketing your business, because the odds of someone seeing your content, thanks to the algorithm, and taking action after one message is very slim.

In addition to the multiple contact points needed, there is also the concept of The Frequency Illusion (or Baader-Meinhof phenomenon). It’s the illusion that we see or hear the same thing everywhere.

The best way to describe this is when you’re thinking about buying a new car and you decide on the one you want and then you see it EVERYWHERE!

This illusion is something we as marketers need to remember and use to our advantage. It’s why you see retargeting ads when you search for something on Google or visit a website.

The reason so many marketers are using this principle in business is that the more we, as consumers, start to see or hear the same message we begin to think of it as important. It heightens our awareness and moves the brand, product or service up the importance meter; essentially you’re adding importance and urgency to your offer.

You can achieve this by consistently showing up with your content so you’re top of mind, sharing your brand story so people actually know who you are, and utilizing retargeting tools in advertising.

Repetition is key in not only making sure our audience sees our message and making sure it is of importance to our audience, but also because it builds brand credibility and trust.

The final thing I’ll share with you on repetition in marketing is the power of sharing your core stories and messages across all platforms. When we do this we’re creating brand affinity and brand messaging consistency and consistency builds trust.

If someone lands on your Facebook page and then heads to Instagram and maybe your website, is it the same? Does it feel like the same brand and message? If not, you’re breaking trust.

When we think of utilizing this for your Brand Story, I want you to think about posting the entire thing on your “About Me” page, then sharing a variation of that on your Homepage and Blog sidebar, Facebook, a one-liner on Instagram, and so on…
...this repetition and consistency in messaging will build trust with your audience quicker.

3 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR REPETITION IN STORYTELLING

1. SWITCH UP THE EMPHASIS

As I mentioned in the beginning, it’s important that even when sharing the same story, think of your Brand story, that you switch up the way you tell it and the emphasis.

Focus on pulling different parts of the story based on your central theme or goal. If you need a refresher scroll up for my brand storytelling example.

This works wonders because the art of storytelling is about showcasing a moment in time. So when I share my Brand Story, I might focus on the moment when I realized I lost myself in the branding process because of comparisonitis. Then, I might share the story later and focus on the moment when I realized branding wasn’t about the font, colors, and logo.

You can also switch it up based on what’s happening in your business or what’s timely in the world. For instance, when COVID first started I saw so many of my friends, family, and community members worried about working from home with kids. So, I started sharing more of my stories and experiences of running my business and working from home with my son for four years.

You can modify stories, emphasizing different parts, and sharing them in different ways to build brand trust and affinity.

2. EMBRACE THE ART OF REPURPOSING YOUR CONTENT

Your audience needs to hear things multiple times, this is why I love repurposing to make sure my content every week is reaching my audience!

As we’ve mentioned it requires multiple touchpoints for your audience to take action, but who the heck has time to come up with new content every single day? Not me!

That’s why I shared an entire blog post on The Art of Repurposing, which you can check out here.

I can't tell you how many times I put something on my Instagram Stories, and I'll send an email, and I'll make an Instagram post and then, after all those other posts, I'll post on Facebook and someone will respond with,  “Oh, I didn't even know you were offering this!”

The reality is our audience is busy living their lives, so if we’re not repeating our content and repurposing it we’re doing a major disservice to our marketing.

Just like your Brand Story, the concept of repurposing is taking your content and sharing it in multiple ways on multiple platforms.

You can check out my blog on Repurposing here.

3.  IDENTIFY YOUR CORE BRAND STORIES

Did you catch the plural there? The truth is there are so many types of stories we should be sharing in our business. Aside from your Brand Story or Founders Story, we also have a collection of stories that showcase your brand values, pillars or framework of your offer, and your brand mission.

The more you, as a brand, can share these stories the more you’ll attract a community of people who are in alignment with your brand and brand mission and that is important.

Once you have these stories in your Story Bank, you can add additional stories and sprinkle them into your content at any time you’re posting...and yes you need a story every time you post content!

Think of it like this, you create a content calendar of posts you want to make over the next 30 days. These are timely pieces that promote your freebie, your offers, and share value. Then you go through each of them and pair it with a story from your Story Bank.

Do you see how easy it is to incorporate storytelling into your business? And it’s so powerful.

CONCLUSION

Repetition is good for marketing. As marketers, we can't be afraid to share the things that we spend a lot of time and energy on and we know will be of value to our audience.

We can't be afraid to share these stories time and time again because the reality is our audience needs to see them time and time again. 

If you’re ready to put more weight and importance on the art of storytelling, because let’s be honest it’s so important, then I’m excited to invite you to get my Tell Better Stories Workshop.

This 2.5-hour workshop replay will teach you how to become a better storyteller online. We’ll cover your Brand Story, Storytelling on Social and Storytelling to Sell. 

Learn more at brandmerry.com/stories.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

4 Reasons You’re Not Consistent With Your Content Creation (and Online Marketing)

Yes, we’re talking about consistency again this week!

For four years I’ve surveyed my audience and do you know what the number one struggle is?

Actually showing up.
Not just once.
Not twice.
But, consistently.

But, dang it’s hard.

The reality is creating content can actually be overwhelming. Most people go through the typical cycle of, “Oh, I've got a great idea! Wait is this actually valuable? How do I know if this is valuable? Maybe I should think of another topic!"

And even when we start to figure it out, we find ourselves repeating the cycle month after month.

This is why it’s important to pinpoint and correct why we’re not consistent in the first place, so today’s post is going to share 4 of the most common reasons you might be lacking consistency in your business.

1. LACK OF COMMITMENT TO YOUR BUSINESS

Ok, I’m bringing this up with so much grace and love because I want you to know that you’re not the only one who is sitting in this in-between, but we've talked about this lack of commitment a lot with time management conversations.

For example, I always say that one of the reasons time management is a big struggle, especially when growing your business, is because your business isn’t taking top priority in your schedule.

I know it can be easy to see entrepreneurs who are “making it” and think, “Wow, they're so lucky.” But the truth is that the people who have done this and are doing it successfully have done it with intention. This success didn’t happen by accident.

This intention comes from making a commitment and in this case a commitment to your business.

Have you made this commitment? Here are three questions to help you determine if you’re downplaying your business, even if subconsciously.

QUESTION #1
Have you told anybody about your business?
Really consider if you’ve told the people that you love most about your business and if you’ve had conversations with them about what you imagine your business can be.

QUESTION #2
How do you refer to your business?
It’s time to really think about how you refer to and think about your business, yes this includes calling it a side hustle. For me, the term side hustle carried a heavyweight and made me think of my business as something less important, which absolutely wasn’t true.
This way of thinking subconsciously made my business less important and not a time priority. So when I had time, I’d work on my business as opposed to making the time to work on my business.

Really consider the way you view and openly talk about your business. Are you talking about it as a fun side project, or is this a goal that you're working towards? How bad do you want it?

Entrepreneurship requires work, yes, but most importantly it requires a commitment. One thing to consider is having a specific time on your calendar for your business, especially as it relates to content creation.

If you do not have designated time on your calendar we're running into a problem, because that means that your business is not a priority. We use our calendars to prioritize the things that we have to do all the time, think the dentist, meetings at work, soccer practice for the kids.

The beautiful part of this is there isn’t a right or wrong way or number of hours you need to work on your business, it always comes down to your goals, timeline and availability. So your scheduled time might only be two hours a week or five, but having the time carved out is part of this commitment.

#2 A LACK OF SYSTEMS = A LACK OF CONSISTENCY

One of my favorite quotes from James Clear in his book Atomic Habits is, "You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems."

I love it so much we talked about it last week, but I truly don’t think there is a more important conversation to have in regards to consistency than your systems.

If you’re already pressed for time, and only have so many hours to come up with content, ideas, and so much time to write our content and then so much time to get it out there, we have to get our systems in place. 

These systems in your business look like clear and defined workflows, thorough weekly checklists and frameworks for getting your content written and out for distribution.

One of my favorite parts of my business is taking one piece of content and repurposing the crap out of it, seriously I wrote an entire blog post on my process. The art of repurposing not only allows you to spend less time creating content, it allows you to create a weekly workflow that can be repeated week after week.

This repetition takes the guesswork out of marketing your business and gives you more time and energy on fine-tuning and improving your craft.

Every week I take one video, the one you can watch below, and I turn it into a blog post (yes, this one), 3 social media posts, an email and multiple videos for Instagram. And every single week this workflow is repeated.

This type of system and there are many to choose from, allow you to rinse and repeat, minimize the time and energy you’re spending and maximize output.

Inside The Consistency Guide, I share an 8-part framework for showing up more consistently in your business. One of these pieces is centered around your workflow. I walk you through my process of determining your core content and repurpose schedule, then you get a behind the scenes look into my business and my workflow so you can implement it in your business with ease.

Content might be Queen, but if your content isn't consistent it won't do you much good. The Consistency Guide teaches you how to release beliefs holding you back and put systems in place that allow you to succeed in business week after week after week.

Get the consistency guide now

#3 STOP TRYING TO BE ON ALL THE PLATFORMS

One of the most popular reasons for not showing up consistently in business is that you’re trying to be too much, create too much and show up too much! 

“What?! Michelle you teach marketing and you’re telling me I’m doing too much?”

YES! As with all things we need to be strategic and I’d rather you show up fully on a few platforms then stretch yourself thin with mediocre content on a bunch.

The truth is when we start our businesses, and even in that first year, shoot, even in your fourth year, it can be really easy to look and see where everybody's showing up and think to yourself, “Well, I should be there too. I definitely need to be there. Um, I'm not on Pinterest, I need to be on Pinterest. I'm not on Instagram, I need to be on Instagram. I need to be doing a weekly live stream as Michelle does.” Sound familiar?

We feel we have to do #allthethings because we’re comparing our Chapter 1 to someone’s Chapter 10. Look, I was not doing all of this four years ago, I focused on the areas that felt most comfortable and where I could show up fully and then I continued to grow from there.

In my business, it looked like Facebook Groups and my Facebook Page first, then I added Instagram, then I got serious about Blogging and Pinterest, adding podcasting, weekly live streams, etc... came next.

No one is expecting you to do it ALL right from the start, that’s just crazy!

If you’re trying to do all of the things, all of the time, and find yourself consistent for a week, and then nothing on again for two weeks and then off again because you’re stretching yourself too thin, you’re not going to be able to give your full focus and energy to the areas you absolutely need to see growth, think high-value content.

I recommend two to three platforms most when you’re first starting out and when choosing these platforms you need to consider what is required from that platform.

For instance, if you don’t have a lot of time then you might not want to focus on Instagram or Facebook to grow your community which requires daily posting. Using your blog and Pinterest might be a better option for you and better use of your time in the beginning. Then as you understand and implement repurposing you can take that blog and expand it on social media.

So that's why it's really, really important to create a strategy that works for you. This is why I love authentic marketing and what it’s truly all about. It's about really looking at your life, your schedule, your audience, where you want to show up, how much time you have and create a workflow and a content creation plan to match that.

So much of this comes from your system and workflow. I’ve mastered this with my Repurposing Plan and I’m giving you my strategies to build your own system that you can rinse and repeat inside the Consistency Guide.

#4 YOUR PURPOSE ISN’T DEFINED

Now, I don't mean your life purpose, although that could easily fit into your business if you know that go for it, but if when you hear the word purpose and instantly start to feel overwhelmed it’s not necessary.

What, I want to encourage you to think about is the purpose behind your business and how it’s deeper than your why.

Let me explain. When I started my business I remember my first coach asked me my “why”. I listed out a ton of reasons like being home with my son, bringing my husband home from his job, traveling more, paying off debt, shopping at Whole Foods.

It felt great! But then business got tough and I found myself no longer motivated by these very surface-level reasons for running my business. So I took the time to think about the true purpose behind my business, my mission, which is so much more than me and even my family.

It can’t be because of money.
It can’t be because of fame.

You can achieve those things working a 9 to 5, it has to be bigger, it has to focus on impact.

There will be months when you don't make as much as the month before, and you might have social media posts that do really, really well and then social media posts that don't.

You might have launches that do really, really well and then have launches that don't.

And when you're focused on the money, or the fame, or the, you know, influence or publicity, or whatever you want to call it likes followers, then you're going to struggle because you're going to question if you should be doing this! 

When you think about your audience and impact, the reason you’re showing up you’ll keep going, you’ll keep creating and you’ll continue to be consistent.

If you haven’t already ask yourself, 
What is the mission behind our business?
What is the purpose of you showing up every single day, even when no one is there?

Having this information at your fingertips, being deeply rooted in your purpose, allows you to pull yourself back up. As an entrepreneur, no one is going to do that for you!

Inside The Consistency Guide, there is an entire section on defining your purpose. I ask the questions needed to determine your purpose and feel deeply rooted and connected to it.

I've used my Consistency Framework to create consistent high-performing content for four years.

This has included weekly emails, weekly blog posts, at least two videos a month (now it's weekly), multiple social media posts on both Facebook and Instagram and so much more.

I've generated half a million dollars in cash from showing up consistently in my business, delivering what my audience wants and sharing my expertise in a way that is authentic to me.

This isn't another plug n play template, this is going to set the foundation you need so you STICK WITH IT.

Because plug n play is just a band aid, it doesn't solve the problem.

Get the consistency guide for $60 off!

The goal here is to make deep changes in your business both with your systems and mindset (because we both know it's needed).

My clients have used my Consistency Framework to break free from their blocks and get results.

...Romy has created weekly live streams, blogs and emails (all from one piece of content) to generate $3k - $5k cash months.

...Ariel shows up for her audience every week, posting multiple times on Facebook to create a 6-figure photography business.

...Kinsey has grown a following on Instagram by releasing weekly podcasts, posting consistently on IG to successfully launch her first group program and 1:1 coaching.

I know you can follow this simple framework and do the same.

I typically sell this guide for $97, but I wanted to give my readers the opportunity to get all the goodness of the guide for less. You can grab the consistency guide by clicking right here for just $37!

CONCLUSION

Remember consistently showing up in your business is essential. You want to find a pattern and routine that works for you, but also be aware of areas, four specifically, where you might be blocking your own success.

So much of what we do as a business owner is equal parts strategy and mindset. Find the area where you’re lacking and focus on building it up so you can start showing up!

If you want to grab The Consistency Guide you can learn more about my 8-part Consistency Framework, you can do so by clicking here!

P.S. If you made it this far my guess is you’re ready to create consistent content and a sustainable business. So much of this starts with your marketing workflow which I’m giving you inside my free Repurposing Guide. You can download it here.

WATCH THE TIPS AND MORE FROM THIS POSTBELOW.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

PART TWO: 6 Marketing Trends For Your Brand in 2019

PART TWO: 6 Marketing Trends For Your Brand in 2019

January 17, 2019

Welcome back lady for Part Two of 6 Marketing Trends For Your Brand in 2019. Today we are diving right into the final three marketing trends we are seeing for brands in 2019. If you missed Part One you can check it out here.

To recap we chatted about the importance of Story, Video and Consistency in marketing your brand online. The focus in 2019 us all about building trust and making that the main focus for your brand in the New Year.

Now, we’re going a step further with an emphasis on that exact community. How can you show up in 2019, market your business and build a mission-driven brand?

Check out the final three marketing trends below.

#4 Giving Back

This one is HUGE!! A movement has been happening over the past couple of years with online businesses and now entrepreneurs adding in a community-giving component. One of my predictions for 2019 is that this is going to only be heightened, as more and more brand collaborations become popular, your audience is going to want to see how you are giving back.

Again, it all comes back to building trust with your audience and they want to see more of what you’re doing with the success of your business and the impact you’re making. With a focus on mission-driven work and businesses, you’ll only be able to engage your audience on a deeper level. We’re continuing our partnership with CJ’s Journey to raise money for childhood-cancer research.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Start finding nonprofits you want to collaborate with and build a relationship with them. Invite your audience in and share why you’ve chosen this particular organization and movement. Aside from donating profits from your business at the end of the year, consider donating a portion of sales of a particular program to the mission as well.

TIP: Don’t be shy about talking about the work and impact you are doing. Remember this is a marketing trend, after all, if you don’t share that you do this kind of work then your audience won’t know.

#5 Community

I’m most excited about this because I’ve seen how powerful creating a community has been for my own profitable brand. The focus in 2019 is all about community and building not only a community of “right-now” buyers but also potential buyers. One of the best things brands can do this year is focusing on the bigger picture and mission of their brand and how they can use that to create a community.

This exact community, through trust, nurturing and consistency, is the community that will engage and buy from you. Building community is not just about the place in which you connect, but HOW you connect, which is why story and vulnerability are important.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Focus on building community through your social media profiles and lead generation. You should always have the next step for your audience on social media (think Instagram, Facebook and Youtube) for people who are interested in being part of your inner circle. Creating Facebook Groups, consistently emailing your list and opening your DM’s are just a few of my favorite ways.

TIP: Community is about YOU showing up, just as much as it is about the size. In fact, I’m going to argue that I’d rather you have an engaged community rather than a BIG community. Focus on showing up for the people you have and building trust there without obsessing over the vanity metrics.

#6 Collaborate

For too long online entrepreneurs have been living in their own little bubble, and I’m 100% guilty of this as anyone else. So often when we get started we are afraid of the “competition,” you know those women online that do what feels like EXACTLY what you do? Well, we’ve entered an exciting time where collaborations are going to move our business forward.

It’s not just about the community you create around your brand, but also the community you create with collaborators. Focusing more on supporting one another in 2019 is where it’s at and once again, you probably see a theme here, it’s all about building trust.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Start looking for friends! Seriously, stop living in your own little bubble and start reaching out to other entrepreneurs and brands you love and look for opportunities to collaborate. If someone you admire is launching a program, think of how you can come in as a guest expert. If someone you admire is amazing at an area of business you don’t feel 100% confident in or isn’t your niche, reach out to see if they will provide a guest training. The possibilities are endless here.

TIP: We’re going a step further at Brandmerry and just simply shouting out women we love. Every Friday I’m sharing women I truly admire on Insta Stories as a way to build deeper relationships and introduce my audience to some really cool women. Think of ways you can create collaborations and community without getting anything in return.

As you can see with Part One and Part Two, there’s a clear underlying theme around building trust online. Your brand is a beautiful way for you to do just that, but it has to be focused on the brand and mission and not just the business.

What do I mean by this? Focusing on the mission and message of your brand is different than the programs and services/products you offer. When you build a brand over just a business, you get to the heart of your audience and therefore build a deeper connection.

Did you love these tips? Head over to Instagram and let me know if you loved this post and which of these tips you’re most interested in integrating.

Find me on Instagram at @brandmerrycoaching.

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