Branding: Why Sharing Your Dream Matters
By guest contributor Mariah Danielsen. Photography by Hello Naomi.
"People don’t buy what you do, they buy WHY you do it" - Simon Sinek
Essentially we’re all out there doing the same thing: we’re writing blog posts, trying to sell our services, and trying to be different than every other brand. You’re most likely not the only person who makes or does what you do. So what sets you apart? It’s your dreams and the passion behind why you started your business.
Sharing the reason why you started your business or blog with your readers will help them form a connection with you. The people that connect most with your story will be the people who have the same types of dreams and goals that you do.
Instead of telling your readers what you do, and showing them a bunch of shots of your products, share with them why your business exists. Do you exist to change the way people think about party planning? Do you exist to help small businesses grow through beautifully designed logos and websites? Make sure you are sharing your reason!
BHLDN does an amazing job of sharing the reason why they started: "We want, more than anything, to help a woman create an event that reflects her own unique perspective… to a tee." They paint such a beautiful image of how they came to be, and what their dreams are. Read the rest of it here.
It’s hard not to connect with a brand that shares your same desires, and that’s why sharing them is so important to growing your brand.
How to Figure Out Why You Started Your Business
You may know the top level reasons why you started your blog or business - perhaps you wanted to work from home, or you wanted to have a place to document your projects. Regardless, there is a deep down passion that caused you to start your own brand. To find it, you just have to take a little bit of time to write it out.
Take 30 to 45 minutes to sit down and write the story of how you got started. Explain where your passion for your craft began, why you do it every day, what you’ve overcome to get you to where you are now, and what excitements and fears you had about starting your own business.
Once you get started writing it out, you’ll be able to remember the passion that helped you begin. You’ll be able to pull phrases out of your story that explain why you started your business.
After you’ve figured out why you started, share your story on your about page. Talk about it in your blog posts, and make sure that your readers know why you get up and write, design, or craft for them every day. Once they know where you've come from, and where you want to go, it will be hard for them not to form a strong connection with you and your brand.
Nov 27, 2012
Reader Comments (2)
LOVE that quote. So true! ".. they buy WHY you do it". The best is when you can see someone's passion in their work.
I love this post. I try to revise all of the "about" sections on my blog, Etsy, facebook, twitter, pinterest, etc every 6 months to reflect how my business has changed, what I'm into these days, and what my current elevator pitch is. I notice that it does change over time, and I don't want what is online getting stale and no longer being current with how I am feeling. And I do them all at once, so that there is consistency across the brand. Not that I'm a big successful blogger *yet*, but I think it's important to have good habits from the start!