Last week I shared the first two steps I took to help me tell my brand story.
To read/watch that, go here.
In this episode/post, I want to share an example of one of my clients > An organizational coach (who I’ll call Mary in this post) because it illustrates the process.
It will also make it easier for you to:
- identify the parts of your story that are important,
- understand which details you should share and how to position them,
- figure out how it applies to your business, your products, and your customer’s experience.
So if you are trying to figure out your own story, keep reading.
This is Mary…
Mary was an organizational coach before becoming a mom. She felt prepared, especially since she was trying (and preparing) for a baby for almost three years.
But when her baby came, she struggled to maintain her sanity and eventually decided to reposition her brand to help other entrepreneurial moms deal with the same issues.
But when she made the switch, she struggled to get their attention which is such a common problem.
When we started to work together, we discussed the four steps I outlined in last week’s post to figure out how to reposition her products.
This is some of what we came up with:
- Helping expecting moms prepare for the arrival of their new baby so that they could enjoy those early days.
- Organizing play areas that were easier to tidy up but still easily accessible for the kids – so that parents could feel like grownups, and their kids could have fun being kids.
- Creating a sacred space for moms so that they could get away from the family, reconnect with themselves, and maintain their own identity and interests. Then go back to their kids renewed and excited to have fun.
- Setting up neat work areas that are calm and lacking distractions so that mom could focus and get more done (more quickly).
- Setting up kid’s bedrooms so that they would be easy to transition as they grew older.
Let me break it down even more.
Every time I’d see one of those lists about storytelling, I would get so confused. I couldn’t figure out what parts to pull out.
To help you, let me simplify it even more.
- Woman gets pregnant (after years of trying)
- Woman thinks she is going to have it totally together (because she’s planning for so long)
- The woman has her baby.
- Life gets crazy.
- New Mom (AND former queen of organizing) doesn’t have everything together.
- Everything is a mess all the time.
- Mom is embarrassed, frustrated, scared, and mad at herself.
- Mom tries thing after thing and is frustrated because it really felt like the solutions were created by people who never had a kid.
- Mom finally figures out some solutions that DO work.
- Mom thinks, “wth! I need to fix this for others!!!”.
The six points that will help her ideal clients relate to her, trust her, and like her:
- She finds it hard to function in disorganization.
- She used to be the queen of being organized.
- She was an A-type personality.
- She couldn’t keep it together after her baby came and was embarrassed, shocked, and felt like a failure.
- She keeps trying different things that don’t work. Either the costs were ridiculous r, or she felt like childless people must have created them.
- Eventually, she figures it out and thinks, “That was crazy. Mom’s shouldn’t have to go through that all that – let me help them!
So far, you can probably see how her story supports the offer and connects with moms with certain feelings and experiences.
Here’s how that story is weaved through the other parts of her business.
To create a genuinely great Brand (with offers people don’t just need but also want), everything else she does needs to support this story:
- The story of an “a type-a organized/neat freak entrepreneurial woman who thinks she has it all together (and usually does). But when her baby comes, her world is thrown upside down, and she’s embarrassed and upset that she can’t maintain order at home.”
Here are some of the significant changes we made to connect with her ideal client more specifically:
- A website that appeals to the needs of someone who loves order. PLUS the fresh but homey feeling a new mom wants.
- We used wording, examples, and stories that reflected their struggles, fears, and desires.
- We set up a super easy payment process because they don’t need any more frustration.
- We set up an abandoned cart email series because moms are constantly getting pulled away.
- We catered coaching sessions to the length and timing that would be convenient for them. Either when kids are in school or if they needed to be involved: when they were home.
- We created Joint Ventures with designers and other businesses that specialized in helping moms.
And yes: This can work for you too!
The cool thing is that this can work for any other kind of coach, freelancer, and creator! We all have our own stories, our own styles, and our own approaches!
These are some of the other organizational coaches I’ve worked with:
- One catered to people with ADHD. Because of this, she understood their struggles, why they struggle with what they do, and what they need to manage their lives better.
- Another one worked with people downsizing after divorce or the death of a loved one. Because of this, she came up with some unique things that would make the process healing and memorable for them.
I’m sure you’re starting to see how you can do the same thing too! But no worries if you get lost a little bit. It’s normal.
Where you might get lost on this journey
As you go through this process, you are probably going to struggle with three things:
- What parts of your story are significant
- What you should share
- When and where you should share it
- And how much detail you should share.
Next week, when I talk about the characters in the story, you’ll start to see how to break it down a bit more.
But for now, think: “less is more.” (which I know is easier said than done).
Go back to Mary… There are only a few essential details in her story:
- A professional organizer who struggled with maintaining order after having a baby. (even though being organized was never hard for her before)
- It took her a long time to have a baby.
- She was an a-type personality.
- She felt embarrassed, frustrated, and angry with herself.
Try to think of 4 or 5 critical parts of your story to make people feel like you understand their story.
What Now?
First of all, mark it in your calendar to come back next week when I’ll talk about characters in a brand story.
I’ll also talk a little about story arcs and plots concerning personal branding for coaches, freelancers, and creators.
But it’s not going to be that bro-marketing stuff that makes you feel like you need to be the hero!
I’ll use Mary’s story again. But I’m also going to have fun talking about Movie characters. And I may even create a few more plant metaphors 😀
