Brandmerry Blog Archives
Where and When to Share Your Brand Story
How often should you share your Brand Story? This is one of the top questions I receive as a Branding Mentor, followed by, “but won’t my audience get annoyed?” In today’s blog, I’m excited to bust this myth + provide you with a bonus audio recording where I’m addressing the underlying issue and fear of annoying your audience.
Where and When to Share Your Brand Story
June 27, 2019
How often should you share your Brand Story?
This is one of the top questions I receive as a Branding Mentor, followed by, “but won’t my audience get annoyed?”
In today’s blog, I’m excited to bust this myth + provide you with a bonus audio recording where I’m addressing the underlying issue and fear of annoying your audience.
Before we dive into today’s post it’s important that you’ve done some work around your Brand Story. You can take my free quiz below where you’ll identify your brand story + how to market it to attract your tribe.
You can also check out this post on How to Identify Your Brand Story and 3 Things You Can’t Miss.
AND, just because I love giving away free gifts - I also have a must-see masterclass where I’m sharing my 3 Steps to Build a Better Brand.
Alright, let’s get into it, starting with some stats!
Did you know that it takes your audience 7 touch points before they are ready to invest in your product or service?
It’s called the Rule of 7 in marketing and it’s one of the most important “rules” you need as an online entrepreneur.
What does this tell us? Just talking about a product or sharing a story one time isn’t enough.
The good news? With the power of social media and the freaking explosion in online marketing, we have like a million avenues to share these stories so they don’t become boring.
And while I could close this blog post right here, because I’m hoping you’re sold on the effectiveness in repetition in marketing, I made a brand new recording just for you so you can finally overcome this fear.
After listening to the audio, be sure to scroll down for a break down on exactly where I would share my Brand Story to get started (hint: it includes 10 different placements)!
The recording you’re about to listen to is part of my brand new show, The Authentic Brand Builders Show. It’s an exclusive weekly show for my private community Authentic Female Entrepreneurs.
EP 01: Getting Over the Fear of Repetitive Storytelling will give you a more thorough explanation of the Rule of 7 and the mindset shifts necessary to show up for your community fully.
Be sure to join Authentic Female Entrepreneurs to catch all the weekly episodes!
10 WAYS TO SHARE YOUR BRAND STORY
Now, you’re ready! You know the power of sharing your story with the world, you’ve identified your story and now it’s time to share it.
Below, I’ve included 10 DIFFERENT places to share your Brand Story as a way to build brand awareness and community. I’ve marked the ones that can be repeated ever 30 days with an *.
On the homepage of your blog (include a small excerpt similar to a social post)
On your About Me/ My Story page (want my tips on this? Click here)
The sidebar or footer of your blog
Social Media post (includes Facebook and Instagram) *
IGTV video
Insta Stories *
As a highlight on your Instagram
Introduction in a Facebook Group *
Youtube video (tied in with your favorite tip within your niche)
Live video (Facebook) *
That’s one freaking story, imagine what you could do if you repeated this over and over again for your most important stories - the ones that share your expertise, relate to your audience and build trust.
Pretty cool stuff, right?
Go forth and share your story and don’t forget to my new masterclass where I’m sharing How to Build a Better Brand!
Please share your biggest takeaways from this blog post and how you’re going to implement this information in your own business!
P.S. Are we connected on Instagram? No? Well lady what’s happening here we’ve got to fix that. Come hang out with me on my favorite social media platform. Follow for inspiration and send me a DM to know we’re connected.
My 2019 Summer Reads for Life and Business
As an entrepreneur, it’s so important that we focus on our personal development and nothing is easier to consume than a book (or audio) in my opinion. In today’s blog, I’m sharing my must-reads for Summer 2019 and why I’m so excited to implement the tools and inspiration into my life and business.
My 2019 Summer Reads for Life and Business
June 21, 2019
Last year I shared a blog on The Top 7 Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read and you loved it. I followed it up with Must-Read Personal and Professional Books for 2019.
I know that books (and audio) are some of the best ways to advance your personal and professional development.
And, as I’ve admitted before, reading is not something that just comes “natural” to me. In fact, I have to create a habit around taking the time to silence my mind and dive into a great read.
What I’ve found over the past three years of running my business is that I gain so much clarity around my next steps and content and resources to share with you when I immerse myself in a book written for personal development.
So, today I’m sharing four of my favorite reads for Summer 2019 (some of which I’ve already read and a few I’m diving into soon) so you can run to your favorite book store and grab a copy.
P.S. If you’re looking for inspiration in your biz and feeling a little lost or uninspired, reading is my secret weapon and always gets my energy and thoughts in alignment to share content.
SUMMER READ #1
OWN YOUR EVERYDAY BY JORDAN LEE DOOLEY
I gave this book a shout out on Instagram Stories while reading it on the beach in Florida and had to include it in this list. If you’re not already a fan of Jordan, I fully believe you need to follow her. I was inspired by her story while attending the Kajabi Summit in March and started following her on social.
I had no idea she was releasing a book at the time, but when I learned more about her work I wanted to dive in. Her ability to merge personal story with life lessons is amazing and one of my favorite parts about her book.
The tagline for Own Your Everyday is Overcome the Pressure to Prove and Show Up for What You Were Made to Do and it’s such an amazing book for the everyday woman (that’s you and I btw). She talks about our need to be perfect, to have it all figured out and bring such light and grace to the personal development space. Check it out here.
SUMMER READ #2
GIRL STOP APOLOGIZING BY RACHEL HOLLIS
I’ve talked about Rachel’s books before and if you don’t know who she is, I’m afraid you might be living under a rock at this point. Rachel has taken the personal development world by storm and is such an amazing brand to watch and study (hello, I’m a branding nerd).
This is the second book, following Girl, Wash Your Face, and I was so fortunate to receive an advance copy. I highly recommend checking out this book as a summer read, especially if you carry shame in asking for and reaching for your goals. Buy it here.
SUMMER READ #3
JUDGEMENT DETOX BY GABRIELLE BERNSTEIN
I’m a little late to the party here, but I’m such a fan of Gabby’s and the way her book The Universe Has Your Back transformed my belief around money and releasing the HOW.
I think one of the best things we can do as business women is to release the past stories we carry that affect where we want to go. If you’ve got big, audacious goals (and I know you do) then it’s time to go the past story work. I’m excited to read Gabby’s book and dive into the 6-step process she presents in the book. Buy it here.
SUMMER READ #4
HIGH-PERFORMING HABITS BY BRENDON BURCHARD
If you’re a friend of mine you know my obsession with Brendon Burchard and the work he is doing in the world. Another amazing speaker I met at the Kajabi Summit and was brought to church by his words.
When I finally dove into High-Performing Habits I felt like he was speaking directly to me. I’ve only felt this way one other time and that was reading Daring Greatly by Brene Brown! This book made me laugh and cry and understand my high-performance habits better than before.
I love Brendon’s work because it’s so deeply rooted in research, so if you’re a nerd like me I highly suggest grabbing this book this Summer. Buy it here.
Do you have a favorite book you’ve read or are excited to dive into this Summer? Let me know in the comments below!
P.S. Are we connected on Instagram? No? Well lady what’s happening here we’ve got to fix that. Come hang out with me on my favorite social media platform. Follow for inspiration and send me a DM to know we’re connected.
How to Build an Online Community through Emotional Branding
Social media is fierce! Everyone is basically fighting for attention, so how do you the entrepreneur authentically show up and stand out online? If you want to know the secret to a bold, captivating and money-making brand - one that has you audience wanting more and eager to invest in what you are offering then you need to know all about Emotional Branding and how to use it to build an online community and sign dream clients.
How to Build an Online Community through Emotional Branding
June 19, 2019
PREFER TO WATCH, INSTEAD OF READ? I’VE GOT YOU BOO.
SCROLL DOWN TO WATCH A QUICK VIDEO!
Want to know the secret to a bold, captivating and money-making brand?
One that makes it easier to build an online community of fans who are invested in your brand and has your audience wanting more and eager to invest in what you are offering?
It’s all about Emotional Branding and it’s my secret weapon that has allowed me to create a community of thousands and a 6-figure cash business completely online.
Today I’m sharing:
What emotional branding is and why it’s so powerful
What you need to know in order for it to work effectively online
What the emotions of your brand impact (hint: it’s centered around your marketing and ability to stand out online).
How to go even deeper with my favorite tool and resource that you ALREADY possess.
THE POWER OF EMOTIONAL BRANDING
People buy based on emotion. In fact, a Harvard study reported that, “Emotion is what really drives the purchasing behaviors, and also, decision making in general.”
Emotion is the #1 decision-maker when it comes to making a purchase decision, so if you’re solely focused on the logistics of your offer and aren’t going a level deeper to connect with your audience you’ll miss out every single time.
If your social media posts are falling flat, look at emotion.
If your offers aren’t selling, look at emotion.
If your sales calls aren’t ending in a sale, look at emotion.
It plays a role in everything you create so the first thing you need to do is identify which emotions you want to portray through your brand.
Because by having a strong emotional component to your marketing and selling efforts (i.e. your brand overall) you’ll be able to attract the right people and repel the wrong ones - leading to better conversions and brand loyalty overall.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR IT TO WORK
It might seem easy to just pick 5 words that you want your audience to feel, but there is actually more to it. It’s not just about how YOU want your audience to feel, but also what your audience WANTS to feel.
This is where knowing your audience comes into play. You can do market research around this, in fact I always suggest it, but even just having simple conversations with your ideal client will give you a glimpse into what they desire.
It comes down to desire here - making your audience feel something they WANT. We call this aspirational branding in the industry and it’s the key to branding that attracts and converts your audience into life-long fans.
Think of how your audience wants to feel and then bottle that up into 5 key words. By identifying and connecting to where your audience wants to be, you provide hope for what’s to come, making your brand more magnetic.
This will inspire your next steps - the aesthetics.
WHAT THE EMOTIONS IMPACT
So many entrepreneurs make the mistake in the beginning by focusing on the aesthetics BEFORE they’ve done the story work and identified their brand emotions, but not you right?
But, if you did do it early on and are feeling disconnected from your brand it’s not too late to tie in these tips. Take your emotions and start to select visuals that showcase these feelings. Think the colors, fonts, elements and photos to start.
I have a lot of designer friends and each one of them will tell you that if you come to them with a clear idea of who you are, who your audience is, your key messaging AND how you want your audience to feel, then will be able to deliver a better product in the end.
Aesthetics are just the tip of the iceberg here and will get you comfortable with playing with the deeper level of emotional branding, but we don’t have to stop there.
From the aesthetics we can more into the messaging and content creation of your brand - yep all centered around emotion AND your sales pages (now that’s the fun part)!
When you go the extra step your brand will expand! You’ll stand out on social media, separate yourself from others in your industry and create a community of true fans.
HOW TO GO DEEPER
Another layer of Emotional Branding is the use of story in every single piece of your business. From your brand mission to brand aesthetics to the content you create and the programs you offer, story is the key.
Story allows you to continuously connect with your audience, making them feel seen, heard and understood - which is so important.
And to top it all off, posts with story are 22x more memorable than ones without.
If you want to learn more about identifying your brand story head to this blog here.
JOIN ME for a FREE MASTERCLASS.
The Build a Better Brand Masterclass is for female entrepreneurs ready to stand out on social media, create high-value content and build a community that leads to a revenue-generating business.
Please share your biggest takeaways from this blog post and how you’re going to implement this information in your own business!
P.S. Are we connected on Instagram? No? Well lady what’s happening here we’ve got to fix that. Come hang out with me on my favorite social media platform. Follow for inspiration and send me a DM to know we’re connected.
4 Tools to Build Your Email List From Scratch
If the thought of building a community and email list has been at the front of your mind, then you’re going to need to start with some key pieces - 4 to be exact. Building a community can get a bit overwhelming when you’re first starting out so I’m sharing 4 tools and must-haves to get started so you can stop guessing and start doing!
4 Tools to Build Your Email List From Scratch
BY MICHELLE KNIGHT
PREFER TO WATCH, INSTEAD OF READ? I’VE GOT YOU BOO. SCROLL DOWN TO WATCH A QUICK VIDEO!
If the idea of building an online community seems overwhelming this blog is for you.
The concept of a community and more importantly an email list is only getting more important.
Social media has become crowded so how do you give your true fans an opportunity to go a step further and say, “Yes, I need more of that in my life!”
It all lies in building a personal community and tribe and it’s totally possible if you’re starting from SCRATCH - ZERO. We all started there too!
1. KNOW THY AUDIENCE
You need to of had conversations (i.e. market research) to pinpoint what your audience is struggling with and what you can create to meet an immediate need. You need to know where your audience is at, the number one thing they are struggling with and what they need in this moment.
This will allow you to create a free gift in exchange for, you guessed it, their email address.
Example: Research shows my audience struggles with creating content that consistently allows them to create brand awareness.
2. FREE GIFT
This can be delivered in various forms - pdf, video, webinar, masterclass, video series, challenge, audio. The main point here is WHAT you deliver needs to provide value. Please don't half ass this - it's your opportunity to do a few things - meet a need, show your expertise and build trust.
Again if I'm playing on my audience's struggle I could create a content calendar that helps them organize their content and my #1 strategy for coming up with consistent content.
I did this by the way, grab yours at brandmerry.com/contentcalendar.
3. EMAIL PLATFORM/ LEAD COLLECTION
My go to is Convertkit because it's an all in one platform for collecting leads and emailing them. Another option although a little more expensive is Kajabi.
Try both for free with the links above and if you want to see my entire opt in process in action by signing up for my free Content Calendar.
4. ADVERTISE YOUR FREE GIFT!!
You do not need to put money towards this in the beginning. I’m planning a future blog post about some of my favorite organic ways to grow your list so stay tuned, but here are a few to get you started.
Link your opt in page on Instagram and share in your feed, in Instastories and make an IGTV video that promotes your free gift.
It can be super overwhelming building your list in the beginning and it's going to take some time so the secret is in the consistency.
Want to grow your list by 100 people in a month, that's 3-4 new subscribers every day. How can you do that? Get creative? And show up every single day talking about your free gift!
Please share your biggest takeaways from this blog post and how you’re going to implement this information in your own business!
P.S. Are we connected on Instagram? No? Well lady what’s happening here we’ve got to fix that. Come hang out with me on my favorite social media platform. Follow for inspiration and send me a DM to know we’re connected.
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Meet Michelle
Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.
I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.
I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.
This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.
How to Identify Your Brand Story and 3 Things You Can’t Miss
Want to stand out on social media? Lean in cause I've got a secret for you...
...it's your story! Oh, you already knew that? Ok cool! But did you know that stories make your content 22x more memorable to your audience! Oh, now I have your attention. What if I told you there were 5 types of brand stories and the secret was identifying which one best showcases your unique story AND how to market that story in the online space in a way that has your audience needing more. YES, it can be that simple to get started. I have a fun quiz for you to take right now that will help you identify your brand story + give you the tools to market your story online.
how to Identify Your Brand Story and
3 Things You Can’t Miss
June 4, 2019
PREFER TO WATCH, INSTEAD OF READ? I’VE GOT YOU BOO. SCROLL DOWN TO WATCH A QUICK VIDEO!
Want to stand out on social media? Lean in cause I've got a secret for you...
...it's your story!
Oh, you already knew that? Ok cool! But did you know that stories make your content 22x more memorable to your audience!
Oh, now I have your attention. What if I told you there were 5 types of brand stories and the secret was identifying which one best showcases your unique story AND how to market that story in the online space in a way that has your audience needing more.
YES, it can be that simple to get started. I have a fun quiz for you to take right now that will help you identify your brand story + give you the tools to market your story online.
PLUS, I've included three of my top tips below if you want even more juicy information on YOUR BRAND STORY.
1. YOUR STORY MATTERS
The first thing we need to do is get in touch with YOUR personal story. It's super easy to think your brand story has to be centered around your business, but the key here is that YOU are your brand. If you don't know what makes you, well you then you're going to have a hard time creating a business around that.
Before I even begin to work with my clients on creating their brand, we focus on uncovering there own story and mapping out their past chapters. To start identify three transitions that have happened to you personally.
Think about what happened, how you were impacted, what changed for you and what lessons you learned. This is the first step in identifying the work you want to do in the world AND helps you reconnect with your personal story as a way to connect deeper with your audience.
2. YOUR BRAND IS NOTHING WITHOUT YOUR AUDIENCE
Ok, now I'm probably going to confuse you, but as much as your brand story is about YOU it's also nothing without your audience. If you think just sharing your story is going to lead to more clients and a bigger impact you're wrong. It relies heavily on your audience and their desire for more.
Aside from identifying your own story you must become clear on your audience as well. You need to do market research here, but to get you started here are some questions you need clarity on in order to effortlessly tie your story and the story of your audience together.
What is their struggle at the moment?
What do they desire (aka what are they working towards)?
What is standing in their way (i.e. obstacles)?
What needs to happen to get them from struggle to desire?
This will help you begin to identify what parts of your story you can share with your audience for the maximum impact.
3. ESTABLISH YOUR BRAND STORY ARC
Your brand story arc is what so many people do first to map out their brand story, but then miss so much important information. And most brands are doing this wrong.
It sounds a little something like this, "I did this and then this and my business was born!"
BORING - I don't want to read that story to do? There needs to be some powerful emotion, connection and storytelling that goes into your brand story and story arc.
I teach the entire concept of Story Arc in my signature course Roadmap to Freedom, but ultimately you want to write a clear Beginning, Middle and End. Take your audience on a journey that pulls them in and keeps them engaged.
Your Brand Story Arc is just ONE type of story you can share with your audience, but it's one of the most important.
Use your Brand Story Arc to share your story on your About Me Page, on Instagram Stories, in promotional materials, on masterclasses and more.
Remember story is necessary if you want a brand that stands out and deeply connects with your audience.
Take the quiz below to find out which part of your story you can share for maximum impact and conversions.
Please share your biggest takeaways from this blog post and how you’re going to implement this information in your own business!
P.S. Are we connected on Instagram? No? Well lady what’s happening here we’ve got to fix that. Come hang out with me on my favorite social media platform. Follow for inspiration and send me a DM to know we’re connected.