A simple exercise to help define your personal brand
I've built a very successful business telling the stories of other people and honestly, I thought that was enough. Tell my clients’ stories, help them raise billions of dollars, call it a day.
But eventually I realized that I can help more people if I share my own experiences because human connection takes root through relatable stories. If I want to help people tell their own stories, I need to be brave enough to share my own with authenticity. We've all been underdogs and had challenges we've had to overcome. If we're willing to be vulnerable and share those experiences, we get the opportunity to grow human connections.
“Through connection, we can help people, and when we help people, our business grows.”
So how do we connect with the people we want to help? How do we find them or how do we help them find us? By developing a personal brand. By letting them see us as an actual human. An authentic and whole person. Building a personal brand gives your business a face, a heart, and a soul.
Your brand can be thought of as how other people perceive you. If someone looked over your website or socials and was asked, “Who is she,” what would they say? That’s your brand. Branding, however, is the set of actions you take to build your brand. To create or enhance your personal brand, it’s crucial that you define signature content pillars - categories of content - and learn how to use them.
Why you need signature content for your personal brand
Signature content? Whaaa? Let me explain. Just as your handwritten signature is your “mark,” you want your content to have a unique mark too. Your signature content is created by establishing pillars (yes, plural). You might be saying, “Stacy, why do I need several pillars? I’m a soccer coach. Soccer is my pillar and soccer is my brand.” So here’s why. You aren’t soccer. You are a person. There are many, many things that make you, you. And while many people may connect with you through soccer, you’re more likely to grow a trusted audience if people have other ways to connect with you … beyond soccer, or whatever primary thing that you sell or do.
Define your signature content pillars
It’s important to establish at least five signature pillars that will give you a recognizable brand. First, let’s brainstorm a whole bunch of topics. What makes you, you, and how you can authentically connect with your audience…
Do you have a product or a service?
What are your hobbies?
What is your mission?
What is your expertise?
What is your passion?
What do people tell you you’re really good at?
What do people ask you for advice on?
Do you want to share relationships in your life?
Is your geographic location important to you?
Don’t be afraid to share your authentic self. Once I was writing a LinkedIn post and in my head, I was thinking, ohh wow, this would be a great place to drop a quote from a rap song. But of course we’ve been trained to think our personal lives and passions aren’t professional. So I was nervous, but I went for it. You wouldn’t believe how many people vibed on that rap quote. Why? Because it’s real. It’s human. I’m allowed to be a professional and still listen to rap. Or go on vacation. Or drink my tequila straight. People relate to these things that we so often try to keep separate from our professional lives. Hobbies and passions don’t make you unprofessional; they make you a person.
Digital marketing guru, Jenna Kutcher, says to think about your topics this way… If you had a magazine all about you, what sort of articles would it include?
Once you answer the above questions, begin grouping a few of these topics where there is overlap or a recurring theme. The grouped topics become your pillars.
My signature pillars, for example, include:
Raising capital
Entrepreneur life
Personal branding
Rebel spirit
Personal passions, including hip hop, cocktails, soccer
What to do with your signature pillars
Once you define your signature pillars, your content creation can begin. Or if you’ve already been creating content, you can improve it by focusing on these topics to represent your brand. An easy way to get started is by writing each of your signature pillars down and adding a few ideas for content below each one. Rotating through your signature pillars will allow more people to connect with you.
Revisit your signature pillars
Don’t forget you’re allowed to grow as a person. I began my adult life studying to be a literature professor and ended up in the investment industry. (Long story. More on that another time.) But I’m just saying my personal brand at 20 would’ve had different pillars than my personal brand at 40. The point is, we are ever evolving humans. What we do and what we love changes. It’s more important to pivot and be authentic than it is to stick with a personal brand that isn’t truly you.
This is your opportunity
There’s a Japanese term called Ikigai, which roughly translates to “reason for being.” The idea is to strive for a lifestyle that balances the spiritual with the practical. A place where our passions intersect with our vocation, profession, and mission. Historically, we’ve been taught that these things exist as separate siloes, but the concept of Ikigai demonstrates that they are connected.
Use the concept of Ikigai to do a checkup on your branding. I asked the question earlier, “If someone looked over your online presence and was asked, ‘Who is she,’ what would they say?” If the answer doesn’t well represent your “reason for being,” this is your opportunity to define pillars that are authentically you.
Exercise: Download my free workbook to define your own topics, group them into pillars, and begin creating your signature content.
Remember, human connection takes root through relatable stories. And through connection, we can help people. The more people we help, the more our business will grow.
Serve, don’t sell. *high five*
