Harnessing your story to sell your business.
My mind was as blank as the page in front of me. I was sat on my bed, it was 10pm, I had an idea and I had to get it out of my head.
I was inspired, energised — for the first time in a while when it came to content. But, I had no idea HOW to say it...
We all feel that fear of blending in, not being discovered, of our content falling flat or with the wrong audience. We might all be feeling those mid year blues, staring at Instagram playing the fun game of 'guess what country in Europe that is' while you're sitting there thinking of your next content piece and coming up short.
I've been in a content rut the last few weeks, literally dragging up the last of my ideas and painfully converting them into something worth reading, let's just say it's a very gruelling process.
Scrolling whichever social platform I'm on these days (I cannot keep track!) I started realising that I'm approaching my content creation ALL WRONG! I was writing about stuff I wasn't passionate about or what I thought people wanted to know. But what I should've been doing was using my stories, my everyday lessons, my day to day stuff as the jumping off point for my content.
I had been so hell bent on finding the right words, the right tone, the right way of saying it, the right dot points blah blah blah when all I needed to do was just tell the story. Just write like I would speak — brutally honest and totally transparent.
I'm constantly second guessing my content, how and what I write and if it'll be useful, but I realised I should just be showing up and telling the story of what I learnt. Because each story is powerful in its own right.
And I realised all of this when I took on TGS as my own client and conducted my own brand strategy process and within that, I realised how powerful the story of TGS is and how this is exactly why I started. This is the piece that will connect and resonate with an audience, because they understand, I was them and they are me. One thing I know for sure is that no matter what we go through, there's always someone there that has experienced what you are and that story, that connection, is what matters most when it comes to building a brand.
Harness your story
To harness the power of storytelling in your business, in order to build your brand and sell your product/service (without being salesy), we've got four reasons why if you don't do this, you definitely should.
It's emotional
Building an emotional connection with your audience should be your number one priority when growing your brand. It's crucial, being smart consumers now, that we find new ways to engage and resonate with people on a deeper level. And we do that through stories.
Stories bridge the gap between content, sales and audience. It bridges the gap of emotional connection in a natural, effortless way. It's more personal and relatable, so of course people want to read it!
I understand you.
When you tell a story and someone can immediately connect to it, you're saying to that person, I understand you because I am you. I understand your pain, your challenges, your joy, your wins, because I feel it too. We're all human, and the sooner you treat your content like that, it'll show.
We've all sought advice from someone who's been in a similar situation or experienced a challenge. We've also been on the edge of our seat listening to someone tell a fascinating story - we're hooked, intrigued. It makes us feel seen. It makes us want to know more.
By telling a story, you're sharing wisdom, you're saying to your audience, "I know what you want and here it is".
Human behind the brand
Stories share your unique view of the world. And what's a bigger point of difference than that!? Sharing your perspective and hot take on relevant issues, learnings or experiences, shares an intimate side to your business that your dream audience might not know about. Don't be afraid to show that side of you!
You're more than your business and the best way to share this is to tell the story of you. Tell the story of how you started your business. Tell the story of your day yesterday when you had a mountain of things to do. Tell the story of your childhood that led to this moment. You are human, and that's special.
Like, know and trust factor
Telling stories won't earn you street cred, but it will earn you trust and credibility points with your ideal audience. They want to really know you, because that means they can trust you. And when your audience trusts you, well it's a chain reaction and you're bound to have more and more people enquire or purchase from you, based on their know, like and trust factor.
Similar to sharing the behind the brand, people want to know they're purchasing from a person. They want to know what happens when they purchase from you. They want to know your opinions, your perspective, your stories. So don't keep the people waiting!
While we all love a good story, it's important to always be showing up intentionally, with your audience in mind. Be conscious of the story you tell and make sure there's takeaways, a morsel of advice or just a genuinely catchy hook.
Good luck!
— Kaitlyn
