How to Use Your Personal Story to Help Your Brand Stand Out

In order to turn your career around or take your business to the next level, you need to stand out against the crowd. However, with the ever-growing number of social media channels and online communities that professionals frequent, this can be a bit tricky! Adding to all of this, is that ones’ ability to copy the personal brand of someone else these days is rather easy (goodness knows I’ve had this happen to me several times over in my career!) There is one thing that no competitor can entirely replicate though, and that is your PERSONAL STORY! There is indeed only one YOU in the world!

The first task to consider is performing a personal brand audit as it is an effective way to see how far you’ve come and make changes that will set you apart from the rest.

It’s also admittedly not easy to try and adapt your personal brand to a multitude of different social media platforms, but it IS possible.

I believe that it all starts with owning and telling your personal story.

When you have a personal brand, everything you do should be built around your unique story. It’s what will help your bios and about me pages stand out from other professionals in your sector.

In fact, your brand is only as strong as your personal story because it shapes who you are and why you do what you do. It’s what’s going to draw in your target audience and help them relate to you on a personal level.

Building Your Personal Story the Right Way

Telling a powerful personal story is what will make your brand shine. It will also help you step outside of your comfort zone, which is critical in the business world.

To start building your story, start by collecting personal snippets from all the online platforms your brand is present on. What are your likes and dislikes, what does your online CV say about you and how has it changed? Collecting your narratives will help you declutter and build a more cohesive online presence.

To declutter your narrative, ask yourself what’s still relevant about your likes, dislikes, experience, and values. If you read something about yourself, does it still resonate with you? Are there parts about your story that make you feel uncomfortable that deserve to be told?

Once you settle on a story you feel proud of, adapt it to the different platforms you’re present on. What works on Instagram, won’t necessarily work on LinkedIn. The idea is to still tell the same story but in a way that works across each platform and in front of specific target audiences.

Another detail that you want to focus on while rebuilding your personal brand story is the visuals you are using online. These images need to be professional, fit in with your revised brand story, and be consistent across all platforms. It’s best to also perform a visual audit before you go live with your new profiles.

This in-depth exercise is one of the easiest ways to make sure you don’t get lost in the crowd, which is critical when the competition is fierce.

If you’re looking to do a personal branding audit, or update your visual branding strategy, please reach out and let me know how I can be of service to you. Jamie Love Photography works synergistically with a handful of other trained professionals who specialize in personal branding audits and I myself am available for visual branding strategy updates. Telling your unique story is what I”m here to do!

Jamie Salima Love is a FingerLakes based Headshot and Personal Branding Photographer extraordinaire. She has helped thousands of small businesses, brands, and entrepreneurs over her 20 yr career by creating updated photo libraries with stellar imagery. She is available for a multitude of services, whether you’re looking to work with her to simply update your Headshots, or to create an extensive Personal Branding Photography strategy and library with all the bells and whistles she’s got you covered.

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