How Should We Think About Branding? A Popular Topic, Revisited.

Storytelling! Content Marketing and Personal Branding.

Regardless of your intent in terms of Content Marketing and / or Personal Branding, one thing is important.

YOUR STORY.

Yes, that is right.

That is no sense of being when you aren’t able to articulate your story.

Especially for Personal Branding fanatics – I say this.

If people do not you, your story, how you become who you are today, then it becomes very difficult for impressions to stick.

Compare this …

“Oh that was the guy who worked 5 jobs during his university days in order to pay his bills and STILL graduated with honours because he studied in a Call Center while picking nonsensical calls”

…. To this.

“Oh Joe? Which Joe? We are ex-colleagues? Really? Hang on a second, you sat to the right of my working desk?”

When it comes to Content Marketing and Personal Branding, it is important to note that they are the vehicles for us to tell our story.

Our stories are unique.

While CVs can be copied to perfection, no one has the same life credentials.

When people remember your stories, they remember you.

Below are some of the guideposts we can use to tell our stories, where they serve as an introspective exercise just exploring who we are.

My advice is to find a quiet room and use these pointers to start scribbling.

One thing will lead to the other.

You will be amazed just how much depth you have in your life.

Here goes.

# 1 – What Roles Have You Played In Your Life?

I used to think this was a give away question until I started talking to many people who seemed to have trouble recalling who they are.

I will use myself as an illustration just to kick-start this exercise.

So I am a(an) ….

Ex-Student,
Ex-Student Leader,
College Graduate,
Ex-Consultant with Accenture,
Ex-Consultant with Capgemini,
Ex-Regional Business Analyst with JCDecaux,
Content Marketer,
Business Alliance Director,
Annoying son,
Annoying friend,
Mentor to many,
Door-to-door salesperson,
Running coach to some,
Sales Professional,
Team Leader,
Copywriter,
Call center assistant,
Teaching assistant,
Research assistant,
Oh I almost forgot! I am a Co-Founder of Bottomsup Perspective,
Ex-soldier in an elite force,
Business owner,
Marathon enthusiast,
Oh I am a Podcast speaker,
Webinar speaker,
University convocation guest speaker,
Multiple live-stream guest speaker on multiple topics,
And the list goes on and on.

Next, we move on to the achievement and failure spectrum.

# 2 – Of Achievements and Failures.

This is where the story gets more depth and packs fun with tears.

The key is to be honest with ourselves.

Just to start, this is mine: –

I won 3 Book Prizes in Ordinary Levels examinations,
I repeated my “Advanced” Levels because I flunked General Paper,
I was the constantly reminded that I was one of the fattest in the military unit (83kg) and was “humiliated” almost daily …
To become one of the leanest dudes in the block at 58kg,
I graduated college with honours and 3 majors,
I was reprimanded by a team lead (which I never respected) for not knowing my work and what I was doing,
I was awarded “Above and Beyond” twice while in Accenture,
I clinched multiple client contracts above $3 million SGD,
I was released by the company due to bad corporate performance,
I was awarded “Top Performer” for South-East Asia practice in Capgemini,
I was a 2-time Silver Medallist for non-elite National Championships in 2015,
I was blacklisted by a martial arts federation (I shall not name) for being too violent in a sparring session required for belt progression,
Oh, oh, I was ditched by one of the ex-girlfriends because she found the other guy who can play arcade games better than I am, more charming than I am …
Then of course I got backstabbed in office by people I failed to discern,
My social media posts got copied word for word (This is an achievement by the way!),
And the list continues to build.

At this junction, you should be thinking of the following.

“WHAT A STORY!”

Next, we explore the part of our lives which is dominated by actions.

# 3 – What Do I Do?

So, what do you do previously and today?

I study for exams and then forget what I learnt,
I sold magnetic mattresses,
I sold Street Fighter cards,
I extorted money from latecomers as a Student Leader,
Oh I was a Student Leader! Let me go back to update section # 1,
I produce contents daily on Linkedin, Medium, Twitter and etc,
I make investments (where I make and where I don’t),
I write copies for blogs, social media accounts, companies,
I coach for areas pertaining to Sales Objections and High-Performance mentality,
I run, swim and fight for honour in a competition,
I read a book a week (apparently an interesting thought that just popped into my mind),
Oh yes! I am writing an e-Book for Bottomsup Perspectives,
I consult clients on getting clients,
And it goes on and on and on.

At this point, you will be amazed by your life story.

Then what remains is the part where we have to connect the dots.

How we connect the dots depends on the story we want to tell.

By the way, this works for life story as well as brand stories.

Speak to me if you need help!

My Simple Takeaway.

Now that you have the story points for scripting contents and for Personal Branding purposes, it is important to consider the platform for the story to be told.

Also, the way in which the stories are to be told.

Work to customise the length of the story such that it is scalable for: –

Tweets,
Posts,
Articles,
Livestreams,
Podcasts,
YouTube videos,
Speaking engagements.

Side-note: We want to hear your stories on Bottomsup Perspective! Comment below to highlight your interest and I will get you to the show!

Once the stories become scalable, work out how stories can be fed into various platforms that has their unique personalities. For instance: –

Facebook – Business page and personal page. For personal page, treat FaceBook as your neighbourhood community. Say what you want and know that there are people from all walks of life in your neighbourhood.
Instagram – Turn your stories in images or go on live to tell your current day stories,
Linkedin – Work stories and professional endeavours,
Quora – No matter what you do, you have to be the EXPERT.
YouTube – You are there to educate, entertain or both,
Medium – Share your stories through reflections, insights, or a way to help others get better.

Have a fun time with this self-awareness exercise.

And then you will realise that you have so much more to share that you will never run out of contents.

Oh Yes, how can I forget!

I have an Aunt who believed in tough love and pushed me very hard when I was growing up …

Aldric is the Business Alliance Director for J29Creative and is responsible to grow the company’s presence in Asia-Pacific and below. Reach out to him for his insights through email “achen@j29creative.com” or his Linkedin Profile.