The power of personal branding in business – your story is your secret sauce to scaling and growth

Hayley Comber-Berry is the Founder of Founderello, marketing and personal brand agency for Founders, helping them to amplify their presence, visibility and impact both online and offline.

Let’s face it, personal branding works. Consumers are looking to be captivated, edutained and inspired. They want to hear your insights, your experience and your stories. Your story is your secret sauce and it’s as mighty as Thor’s hammer when it comes to creating content… IF it is done right. I’m not talking about selfies here, although often they have their place, I’m talking about delving into your treasure trove of stories and sharing them to create connections.

More often than not, personal branding gets bad press. It only takes a quick mindless scroll on LinkedIn to see selfie posts, which normally attract a certain level of controversy from the corporate fun police. ‘This isn’t Facebook’, they hark in their finger shaking droves. The thing is, social media is changing and so is marketing too. If we don’t adapt, we get left behind and that’s not best practice for business. Sure, posting a quick gym selfie may not be seem on the surface like a strategic content decision but actually, when paired with a compelling caption and cleverly integrating a content pillar, it can become the perfect post. And most importantly, result in increased engagement and inbound lead generation.

Do you remember the crying CEO post? He got some stick online but he also went viral too. The result? A flurry of press activity and generous exposure for the company he worked at. They say that any press is good press but with that, and with the increased use of personal branding comes a very important factor to bear in mind: Only share what you want to share. You absolutely should ringfence the areas of your life and story that you do not wish to discuss. Personal branding doesn’t mean bare all, it means using your stories strategically and with a considered approach.

For example, I shared a vulnerable post on LinkedIn last year that performed very well. I had been accepted to do a TedX talk about neurodiversity. Having been late diagnosed with ADHD in January last year, I wanted to share my story and raise awareness of how our traits as neurodivergent people can be used as a positive. I was over the moon when I was asked to be a speaker but sadly, I didn’t receive the support that I needed from the organisers of the event, resulting in me having to pull out due to feeling completely overwhelmed. I felt shame and I was embarrassed but I knew that by being vulnerable and honest, I could help others. The result of sharing my experience was inbound enquiries, other speaking opportunities and a podcast invitation as well.

Unfortunately, generic business content is no longer cutting the mustard and customers are eager for more. They want to know the face behind the brand and they crave that connection, first and foremost. It’s that connection that builds a sense of community, trust and knowing, that builds the bedrock for more. Personal branding is storytelling in a strategic way. It’s about strategically sharing your experiences, thoughts and opinions. Visibility creates opportunities and that’s where the sweet spot is.

It can take a certain level of bravery and courage to start to share your story online. Personally, I have always found it easier to share my story in the national press and on online publications than on social media. Even though that type of press attracts such a higher number of viewers than social media, the latter just feels that little bit more exposing to me. I have spoken about many different subjects and been featured in BBC News, Forbes and in Daily Express, to name but a few. The point is, you can pick and choose where you share your stories, it doesn’t just have to be online. If not social media, pitch to the press or speak on a podcast or even, enter an award. You have many options open to you and although a great tool, social media is one tool in a sea of promotional channels that you have to hand.

You certainly do not need to act fast with it either and go all in. By taking your time and sharing breadcrumbs to begin with, it will help you to build up your confidence and be more comfortable with the idea of sharing. This could look like sharing a story on Instagram, creating a mini v-log of an event that you’ve been to for TikTok or even just responding to other people’s posts on LinkedIn with comments about your experience.

Personal branding isn’t something to fear, it’s something to embrace. However, it should be approached strategically and from a place of readiness. You certainly shouldn’t be opening a can of worms that you can’t close back up. Utilising the magic of your stories, supported by a strategic backbone and a dash of clever copy, you can absolutely use personal branding to power up your business growth.

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www.founderello.com
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