How To Nurture Your Personal Brand With Stories

In today’s digital landscape, having your personal brand is inevitable.

Yet, in many fields, personal branding remains undervalued.

I, for one, began building my personal brand as blindly as possible. I never had clear goals. And the more I tried to adjust myself at the edges, the more I drifted away.

Today, I help others build their personal brands on LinkedIn. How? With the untapped potential of great digital storytelling.

I know that the word storytelling has been thrown around little too carelessly. But that is because everyone wants to act as a gatekeeper to precious untapped skill of masterful storytelling. What many don’t get is that not everyone is a great storyteller.

That is because great storytellers, regardless of digital or traditionally published authors or our grandparents, are ruthless but stone observers of not just the world but themselves.

And the only way of building an authentic and powerful personal brand is by sharing narratives that help shape peoples perspectives about who you are what you do and why you do it.

The Secret Sauce to Storytelling for Personal Brand-Building:

Sharing your tales is not about bragging about your experiences. It is also about adding more value, and understanding of the ecosystem of our field, industry, and the lives surrounding it.

Because it is not just about getting more clients. It is also about getting yourself a space amongst the leading peers of your industry.

But here is the main secret: maybe don't just speak about yourself.

Let me give you a brilliant example :

Do you know Spider-Man? Do you know his real name’s Peter Parker? What else do you know about him?

That he works at the daily bugle, his best friend's name is Harry Osborne, he fell in love with a girl named Mary Jane Watson, and then got married to Gwen. He was also raised by his uncle Ben and aunt May. His uncle, who was tragically shot DEAD by accident also said the infamous words “with great power, comes great responsibility.”

Right now, I just gave you a complete tale about Spider-Man.

But do you notice something strange? Maybe the fact that I barely spoke about him directly.

Everything I spoke about Peter Parker in this story had to do with his surrounding characters. That is because they are a direct representation of his characteristics, emotions, reactions, and his life.

This is what the greatest storytellers of our world have done by putting together a brilliantly compelling narrative around one person who is surrounded by the world either at large or in their heads.

Now I am not saying to write a novel or an internal monologue about yourself.

But what you can do is talk about the people around you and how they affect you in a way that helps people build a perception about who you are and what you do

Another simple example is my own LinkedIn profile. If you check the first headline, it says “World’s no.1 Copywriter” — My dad.

Now this is not something extremely significant for my clients or my audience or my peers. But it does add a layer of depth to my personal brand by giving the readers a deep insight into my life.

And that is exactly what makes you who you are.

Because it doesn’t just surround your ideas or perspective. It gives your audience a different way to look at you.

And that’s what creates your personal brand.

That is why Testimonials help. Or word of mouth marketing too. Your clients are your side-characters. Their say matters because of who you are their life & what you have contributed to them.

Remember, you are the central character of your personal brand. Live it, tell it.

Be you. Be the brand.