Growing a personal brand
Copywriting for your personal brand is easy, right? You just have to be yourself!
Many people believe that being who you are is the easiest thing you can do. They’re mistaken.
In fact, it is much more difficult to be authentic than superficial. Ask any make-up artist and they will tell you that it takes much more time, effort, and precision to make someone appear ‘natural’ than to appear ‘made-up.’ The natural result requires really looking at and understanding the face - its contours, shadows, highlights, and individual beauty - then using that to inform the process and shape the outcome. Superficial is more unintentional and prescriptive. It involves looking outward for a method and applying it in a generic fashion.
Which approach works best for your copy?
Superficial is surface level. It’s not necessarily fake, but it’s a persona - an outward persona that we show to the world that may or may not be grounded in our core values, beliefs, personality, or passions. It’s something that has been developed out of necessity through other roles we’ve had in our lives, whether that be as a wife, mother, daughter, teacher, or professional.
A business veneer of professionalism and formality in a personal brand can block you from tapping into that authentic passion that you have within. That calling. That transformational spark that improves not only those who come into contact with your business but also you.
Personal brands are about growth. If you want to create a brand that resonates with your ideal client and draws them to you just as much as you are drawn to working with them, you need to go deeper than the superficial. You need to dig deep into your purpose in taking this road, where you want it to lead you, and what value this offering has for those who choose to come along with you. It’s the difference between showing them the sights and giving them a tour of the place with such insight that they feel a connection to it and the memory of your stories, however subtle, remains with them for the future.
Why is what you’re doing right now beneficial to others - from where they are standing at this point in their own journey?
What can you achieve together that you couldn’t achieve alone?
A personal brand is a two-way street. If you don’t truly understand or believe in what you provide to others, your copy will not connect with your clients. Your success is also your clients’ success and vice versa. You know each other, you grow together.
Building a personal brand is a process of personal as well as commercial growth. Always aim for authentic rather than superficial with your copy. The road is rougher and perhaps longer, but the destination for you and your clients is far more effective and transformative.
