‘I don’t want other people to decide who I am. I want to decide that for myself.’
– Emma Watson
When you’re building a brand whether you’re an artist, writer, selling products or offering advice, there’s one thing you must be in charge of: YOUR STORY!
Like our smart, fellow bookworm, Emma Watson, said up above, you need to decide who you are and tell your audience that. Now, I don’t mean lie and make up some career or inflate your credentials, because you will get caught out and also, that’s bad karma!
Sometimes what might get a customer over the line or a partner (publisher, curator, etc) interested in your work is knowing who you are.
That time I met publishers…
I remember pitching my first manuscript to publishers and it wasn’t just my fiction work they were interested in. I also had to ‘sell’ in my writer’s brand — what experience I had, what I wanted from a writing career etc.
One publisher recognised me from the work I’d been doing on social media. When the penny dropped on hearing my name, she actually said ‘Oh you’re the writer who posts all those nice things with the pink.’ It broke the ice and made a nice opening for us to start chatting.
Another publisher, said straight up that as soon as she knew I was in public relations that she’d be interested in seeing my work.
None of this is to big note myself, they are actual examples where telling people ‘my story’ helped with starting conversations and leading to ‘business talk’.
This is also how I see your ‘About’ page working on your website or your ‘bio’ on your social platforms — a few interesting tid bits can be what takes you from just another brand to one that someone relates to. Think of it as the flint stone that could spark the magic your business has been waiting for!
The details we want to know…
Straight up, let’s get one thing out of the way — a big fat DON’T. Please don’t make your personal story a massive long re-run of your career or a ‘copy and paste’ of your CV.
Instead, think of what you would want Oprah to know if she was in an elevator with you for 30 seconds and you knew she was working on the next issue of her magazine.
Treat every potential client/partner that comes to your online platforms like THEY ARE OPRAH!
They’re important. They’re busy. They don’t have a lot of time… and you want to get them across the line!
Only you know what the best bits of information are, but here are some quick thinking points you can work on:
- Who are you? (professionally and if appropriate, personally)
- Describe your personality?
- What’s your best offering?
- Why did you make this your 9-5?
- How did this idea/business come to you?
- What problem are you solving?
- What’s your expertise? (15 years in X profession / a busy mother who needed… / a runner who got sick of… / a hobbyist-turned-professional… etc, etc)
- What’s your dream?
- What can’t you live without?
They’re all starting points but have some fun! I have no qualms putting ‘bookworm’ in my email signature and bios… it works for me and gives a sneak-peek of my personality. In my social bios I let it be known that I have finished manuscripts and I’m looking for a publisher — it could be just the line that gets the right eyes interested in my work!
Let me know below of any bios that have caught your attention. What made them stand out?
Happy writing,
J x
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