The #1 Myth Entrepreneurs, Coaches, Consultants and Small Business Owners Believe Around Brand Storytelling in Business

The #1 Myth Entrepreneurs, Coaches, Consultants and Small Business Owners Believe Around Brand Storytelling in Business

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

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As a personal branding consultant and a marketing strategist, I focus a great deal on not only who you are as an entrepreneur and the brand experience that you're creating, but also how you are attracting quality leads. 

One of the methods, and my favorite method by far, that I have become very known for is all around brand storytelling. 

Incorporating the art of storytelling in your content, on your sales pages, in your email marketing, in your videos, every single thing that you do, as a way to build that connection and trust. 

But when it comes to brand storytelling there is one major myth floating around the internet and it’s hurting a lot of entrepreneurs, content creators, coaches, consultants and more.

It pains me so much when I see it, when it’s truly a simple fix. I watch as business owners write social media posts, write emails, promote their offers and their services and experience low conversions, despite the fact that storytelling is incredibly powerful. 

So, let’s set the record straight and dive into the #1 myth around brand storytelling in business.

Brand Storytelling Myth

It is important that you understand that there is a difference between just telling stories and building a business. 

At the end of the day, you're asking people to invest their money into a product or a service that you sell. 

We're not just telling stories to tell stories. 

I often call this the friend zone, right? You don't want to fall into the friend zone where someone's like, "Cool story, bro. That's amazing."

You want to position yourself as the guide or the authority. So understanding that there is a difference plays a role in correcting the myth or belief.

The truth is many people believe that brand storytelling is about them, their brand, but it's not. 

It's really about your audience. 

I know some of you are like, "But it's my story, Michelle. But this is what I'm telling and this is my journey." 

And I'm over here like, "Yes, amazing. I love that for you. I love this story for you. I am excited that you have this story. I am so excited that you want to share it with the world. Please freaking do that."

But every story that you share has got to connect with your audience or you're going to miss the mark. 

You're going to have people saying, "Wow, I love your story. That's amazing." 

Rather than taking action on your offer.

You’ll have people not following through and clicking through to the product or the service that you're promoting. 

And ultimately just being interested in what you have to say rather than seeing the value in investing in your products and your services.

How to Tell Better Brand Stories in Business

The myth that I see happening manifests itself in business owners writing their stories for themselves, but it’s not for you, it’s for your audience and it needs to be about them! 

So what do we do? 

How do we avoid buying into this myth and making this very, very big mistake? 

I've shared in some previous blogs that one of the first things that you need to do in your branding and marketing work is understand your ideal customer.

You've got to know who they are, because how can you know what stories to share with them if you don't actually understand who they are? 

Understanding who they are at their core and essentially their story makes you a better marketer.

You want to understand your ideal customer's journey. 
Where have they been? 
Where are they now and what are they struggling with? 
Where do they ultimately want to be and what needs to happen for them to get there? 

Then you position your product, your service, and your stories to help them and connect with them along the way.

Brand Storytelling Example

We all know about the importance of the ‘About Me’ page, right? It’s often the first thing entrepreneurs write for their website and spend hours and hours on.

And while, many educators will tell you that you shouldn’t talk about yourself in your ‘About Me’ page, I go against the grain and say, “Yes, you should talk about yourself!” But, as we’ve been mentioning it can’t be all about you.

The reality is that people are clicking on that page because they want to connect with you and they want to get to know you. 

So even on this miraculous page which is all about you and your journey, you want to make sure that you're highlighting those pieces that connect with your ideal customer.

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES:

You want to highlight the things your ideal customer is looking for in a brand. This is a great opportunity to share your brand values. 

Highlight a part of your story that can connect with your ideal customer. Highlight parts of your story that connect with where your ideal customer is now and where they want to be.

You also have an opportunity to invite your audience in. Whether or not your stories mirror each other, you can draw up similarities by simply asking a question. For example, you can say, “Have you ever felt like this?”

And, then a golden opportunity near the end of the page is to turn it around back to them. 

You want to say things like, "And this is where I am today and I help blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, to create their amazing brand. How would it feel for you to go from struggling to understand your brand, to feeling confident in your brand and sharing it with the world? How would it feel for you to..." 

You're making it about them, not just about you!

WHY BRAND STORYTELLING IS IMPORTANT

Storytelling is important and sharing those very authentic stories about your life are key because they allow you to be a human being to your audience. 

They build trust and they build connection, but you'll miss the mark every single time if you just make it about you.

If you just come at it from the angle of let me share this cool thing that happened to me today rather than saying let me share this thing and how it ultimately is valuable to you, you’ll miss the connection. 

So aside from understanding your ideal customer and their story, you’ve got to find those connection pieces. 

You also want to make sure before every single story that you share, you understand and you identify the value that it provides your ideal customer. If you do that, I promise you will avoid this mishap that so many brands make.

Make a commitment right now when it comes to brand storytelling.

Say, “I am not going to just tell stories to tell stories. I'm going to tell stories to move my business along, to guide people through the branding process, to connect with them, and ultimately lead them to the sale because it's very, very important." 

And you’ll be golden.

Watch the full video below!

P.S. Have you tuned in to The Beautiful Climb podcast? I release new episodes every other Friday on topics around productivity, motherhood, habits, goals and going after the life of your dreams! Check out past episodes and be sure to subscribe at thebeautifulclimb.com

---

- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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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.

5 Must-Read Books for 2021

5 Must-Read Books for 2021

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

I feel like every year I make it a goal to read a little bit more.

Truth be told, slowing down is not easy for me, so picking up a book nightly sometimes feels like a chore. However, years ago I discovered that educational books and motivating books are my jam (who’s surprised truly?)! 

I can easily lose myself in a book that helps me live a more aligned and intentional life.

So you’ll see a trend here in my top reads for 2021 and I hope they motivate you if you find that reading romance novels, murder mystery and fantasy just aren’t your jam. BTW no shame there sometimes I wish I could dive into them, but alas after more than 33 years on this earth I know what I like.

Are you similar? Then this list is for you!

5 MUST-READ BOOKS FOR 2021

These are some of my favorite books I’ve read over the past few years, but one I’m looking forward to most in 2021 (more on that later). Happy Reading!

1. ATOMIC HABITS BY JAMES CLEAR

I’m a BIG fan of James Clear and his work and teaching on habits. In fact, this book changed my life and I’m not exaggerating. I shared more about my journey with habits and how this book shaped my 2020 and beyond on this podcast episode of The Beautiful Climb Podcast.

James has an amazing way of presenting the data and stories around building habits and how the work of habits sets you up for success. I’ve pretty much recommended this book to everyone I know and my clients, it’s that good! 

If you haven’t read it and you’re a human, it’s time to order it!

2. RICH AS F*CK: MORE MONEY THAN YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH BY AMANDA FRANCIS

As an entrepreneur, I’ve been following Amanda Francis’ work for quite some time. Although, I understand there are a lot of mentors and leaders around money mindset, I’ve found her work and way of teaching just resonates most with me. I’ve invested in her programs and found this book to provide the same exceptional value (although not a substitute for her courses).

I read this book in just 14 days, which might be a record for me. It shares her story and her teachings around money mindset in a non-bull shit way while being super motivating.

It’s a must-read for anyone in 2021 if this is the year you get your money story focused on abundance rather than lack.

I’ve had quite the journey with money as a woman, and talk about it in detail on this podcast episode.

3. I’M STILL HERE: BLACK DIGNITY IN A WORLD MADE FOR WHITENESS BY AUSTIN CHANNING BROWN

Like many of you, the events of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 brought a lot of my upbringing and pre-programmed beliefs to the surface. While I’ve always tried to be an advocate for black lives and persons of color, I recognized that I was also lacking so much education on what it really meant to be an ally.

I found Austin Channing Brown’s work as I researched more ways to try and understand more about the Black Lives Matter movement and what it’s like as a black person in America and while I’ll never truly understand as a white woman, I found this book to be beautiful, heartbreaking and eye opening all at the same time.

I truly believe we don’t know what we don’t know, but when we know we have to do better. This book is an excellent example of great storytelling in general, but through Brown’s stories, you also develop a deeper understanding of what’s truly happening in our country.

Once again I recommend this book to everyone and love all the information Brown provides on social media and beyond.

4. UNTAMED BY GLENNON DOYLE

If there’s ever been a book that made me gasp, cry, shake my head vigorously and stop every 5 minutes to read a line to my husband it is Untamed by Glennon Doyle.

Seriously, THIS BOOK! It might be one of my favorite non-fiction books to date because of the impact it has had on me as a woman and mother. It’s a beautiful and honest reminder of what living a life of alignment and freedom really means and how it’s different for each of us.

This book almost gave me a level of permission I had been seeking. To strip away old generation stories around what makes a woman a woman and how to be a “good” person. If you’re a womxn it’s time for you to get your hands on this book.

5. WE SHOULD ALL BE MILLIONAIRES BY RACHEL RODGERS

Ok, so technically at the time of writing this blog post this book hasn’t been released yet, but that won’t stop me! 

I’m most looking forward to the first book by Rachel Rodgers in 2021 for so many reasons. Not only is Rachel a mentor of mine through her membership community, but one of my favorite discoveries to come out of 2020. Her book, mission and work is so inspiring and needed because like her I also believe we should all be millionaires.

There is no doubt in my mind that this book will be one of those life-changing reads that we come back to time and time again. If you’re looking to feel empowered around making more money in business, this book is going to be a must for you as it is for me.

P.S. Have you tuned in to The Beautiful Climb podcast? I release new episodes every other Friday on topics around productivity, motherhood, habits, goals and going after the life of your dreams! Check out past episodes and be sure to subscribe at thebeautifulclimb.com

---

- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

---

- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

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 Uncover the Brand Stories Your Ideal Clients Need to Hear

How to Uncover the Brand Stories Your Ideal Clients Need to Hear

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

Today we’re going to talk about uncovering the stories that are going to be the perfect fit and exactly what your ideal customer needs to hear. 

Last week, I shared with you three categories to group your stories into to then work into your marketing strategy so you make sure that you're constantly sharing stories through your content creation.

And it occurred to me that you might need a little bit more of a deep dive on how you choose some of those stories. So I want to dive into that today and share with you some of the steps that I walk my clients through so that you can feel really good about the stories that you're sharing with your audience.

Today, we are going to talk about how to uncover those brand stories that your ideal customer needs to hear. Now, before I jump into my little process, we've got to talk about one very important piece of the storytelling process, it's actually not about you. 

I know, it can feel like, "It's my story, Michelle. I'm the one creating the content. This is my brand." 

But at the end of the day, you are running a business, and your business story needs to contribute to the revenue of your business, i.e. the people who hear and see your stories. We want to ultimately lead them to actually purchasing from you.

So your stories can't just be you sharing cool things that happened in your life and talking at your ideal customer. They need to be very, very specific for your ideal customer, as well as give value to them. 

That's why I like to say your stories aren't actually about you or for you, they are for your ideal customer. 

So you're going to notice that, as I'm sharing this process with you, that we've really got to know who your ideal customer is. Otherwise, brand storytelling and, honestly, marketing and content creation overall is going to fall flat.

If you find that you don't get a lot of engagement or you post about an offer and nobody seems to care about it, or you're not getting those consistent leads coming in, it's probably because you don't know your ideal customer enough.

STEP ONE: YOU HAVE TO KNOW YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER

So that leads me to the very first step that I recommend all of my clients go through when trying to think of stories that are going to be perfect for their ideal customer, and that is you have to know your ideal customer.

I don't just mean knowing the demographics.
I don't just mean know if they're a mom or not a mom, or any of those things. 

Those are cool, they're definitely part of my ideal client process, but they're not the realness of it. They're not the meat of it. 

What we really need to understand first and foremost, at the bare minimum, is what your ideal customer is currently experiencing. Your business needs to solve a problem that your audience is experiencing, that’s how you create a brand and business people consistently buy from.

To have a problem solved is why we invest in things, and it doesn't matter what you sell, at the end of the day, whatever you sell needs to solve a problem.

So your ideal customer is currently experiencing something that is a problem for them. You need to understand what that is. We often refer to that as the struggle or the pain that our ideal customer is going through or experiencing. Knowing specifically what that is is going to help you connect with them on a deeper level. 

Then, at the bare minimum, you also need to understand what they want. 

When they solve this problem, what will happen for them? What will their life be like? What pleasure and desires will they experience? What are some of their goals? 

That's going to help you really communicate to your ideal customer not only the fact that your product, your service, your brand, will help them solve that problem and get closer to those desires, but you can also craft and share stories and messaging that connects with what they ultimately want. 

This is the bare minimum process, and if you're not crystal clear on what those are for your ideal customer, you have to start there. This is where all amazing copy and content and messaging lives.

And if you find that you're struggling with those pieces, it's pretty obvious that you have an ideal client problem, meaning you don't actually understand who they are. So make sure you take the time to identify those pieces. I truly cannot stress that enough. 

After you've followed this first step of getting to know your ideal customer at the bare minimum, you'll have some ideas for stories to share. There might be stories that you have from your own life that you can connect with the pain or the pleasure. That happens for a lot of my customers. 

Maybe you can use something that I like to call future casting, where you can paint a picture of what is possible for your ideal customer when they invest in your product or your service. 

So this is already going to give you a lot of ideas for stories that you can share as well as ways to create emotionally charged copy that makes your audience feel something because that's the key.

STEP TWO: GO DEEPER

Remember, you need to understand who your ideal customer is at the bare minimum: struggle and desire. 

Then great storytelling, great marketing, and great messaging go deeper than that. 

This is really about understanding what is standing in their way. 
What are those obstacles? 
If your audience knows where they're at and what they're struggling with, and they also are pretty clear on what they ultimately want, then why haven't they gotten it yet? 
What is standing in their way?

Being able to address those obstacles in your content and specifically your storytelling is really, really important. Then it's also key to understand the objections that your audience is facing. What are their mindset beliefs? 
What are the things that are happening in their day to day that they might object to actually investing in solving that problem?

These are those next layer pieces of ideal client work that are going to help you actually sell your product or your service. Now, I'm not going to lie, this step gets easier as you grow your business because you have more data, more clients, more customers, a bigger audience. 

You can survey them and ask them these questions and sometimes they'll just tell you, which is really nice. 

So you'll have a little bit more of that. If you're just starting out, this is going to take a little bit of work. You're going to have to take some time to really think, what are the internal stressors? What are those internal problems that my audience is facing? And how can I highlight those?

What I want you to think about is that the external things that they would say to you, they would like maybe say to an acquaintance, "Oh yeah, this is something that I'm experiencing and I would really love to have this." 

The internal is what they're writing in their journal and the thoughts that are going through their head.

This is the stuff that we tend to Google because we think no one can see our Google history so we Google this stuff. That's why one of my favorite tools is actually called Answer The Public. 

It's a free tool with a limited amount of searches every day, but I promise you it's plenty. You can use that to find forums and questions people are really asking in your industry as it relates to what your ideal customer is struggling with or what they ultimately want. 

That can tell you those very, very specific things that we would consider more internal, that people are sharing in these forums and discussions and Googling, that you can then use in your marketing. 

So this is a really great tool to use. 

I actually love using it in the ideal client and market research process. But I also love to check in with Answer The Public and my growing audience, all of the time to say, "What's really going on here?"

This is where you can start to present stories around the mindset shifts that need to happen, or different beliefs that they need to take on, or things that they need to let go of. 

For instance, I know that my ideal customer really struggles with time, and that's an external problem that they have and they will tell me, "I don't have enough time in the day." 

But the internal is that they're not using their time efficiently. And one of the things that I love to talk about is setting boundaries and having clear schedules and understanding your priorities. 

I can create stories around that, that connect with my audience and move them along the buying process so that the time management thing isn't an objection when I then present my offer, because I've already addressed that in my content. 

This is something that I can openly talk about and share my story and share the stories of my ideal customers as well.

This is that next layer, if we're really thinking about market research, going a step deeper and really focusing on those internal problems, those internal stressors that we can then carry through into our content.

STEP THREE: THINK OF YOUR STORIES

So those are the two first steps of the process really focused on your ideal customer. Once you have that piece of the puzzle then you can move into step three, which is identifying your stories. 

You are the brand so you are the one telling the stories, but at the end of the day, they have to be valuable for your audience. So once you have the information in front of you for step one and step two, then you can look at your own story and say, "This happened in my journey," or, "This is something that I experienced at the grocery store the other day." 

I'm telling you, there are stories everywhere. "This is something that I experienced. This is something that I'm seeing online." And then you can clearly say, "And this is why it's valuable to my audience."

In the beginning, you really only have your story. Maybe even before you have client testimonials. But I promise you, I was there too. I didn't have a bunch of testimonials on all my pages. I hadn't worked with anyone before. 

But I had my story and I had my own experience and I could share that as a way to build that know, like, trust factor with my audience and highlight those internal stressors and highlight those struggles and those desires, those obstacles and those objections so that my audience really knew that I understood who they are. 

That's what it's about, really communicating with your audience that you understand who they are, where they are, and what they ultimately want, and then presenting your offer as a way to help them solve that problem. So using your own stories is a great place to start. I still do it in my business five years later. 

I share a lot of client testimonials, a lot of client stories. But I always share my story as well because there are always new people finding me who don't know me, don't know the fact that I started my business with a one-month-old baby, and that entire journey. 

It's important that I share those stories to keep connecting with my audience and the different stages that they are going through in their life and their journey. 

So this three-step process, repeating this process over and over and over again, will really contribute to helping you create what I call a story bank, which is just a list of stories that you can share, and then making sure that every single story connects to the value. 

So if I'm thinking about sharing a story about that first month in business, before I even write that story, I better say, "And this is why it's valuable to my audience." 

Again, you're able to do that when you've done the ideal client research, which is why it's so freaking important.

CONCLUSION

So there you have it, it's a simple three-step process for you to come up with stories that your audience needs to hear. But I promise you, when you really focus on these core pieces, the struggle, the desire, the obstacle, and the objection, as well as that connection piece with who you are and your story, then you are moving your clients so effortlessly through the buying process.

You will find that people are just messaging you and saying, "All right, I need to buy from you. I absolutely need to work with you," so on and so forth. 

So I hope this was super valuable for you in helping you to really understand how to come up with stories that are going to be beneficial for your audience. Remember, it really comes down to the takeaway of your audience. Every story that you share has to connect to your audience in some way, whether that's education, inspiration, a mindset shift, so on and so forth. 

That truly is the key to creating stories in business.

If you haven’t already, make sure that you sign up for the Tell Better Stories Workshop. It's happening on March 3rd.

Go to brandmerry.com/stories to get signed up.

Watch the full video below!

P.S. Have you tuned in to The Beautiful Climb podcast? I release new episodes every other Friday on topics around productivity, motherhood, habits, goals and going after the life of your dreams! Check out past episodes and be sure to subscribe at thebeautifulclimb.com

---

- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

---

- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

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.

3 Must-Have Categories for Organizing Story Content in Business

When I founded my business way back in 2016, I struggled for a really long time to figure out who I was, the impact that I wanted to make, how I wanted to support my clients and ultimately created a brand that wasn't a true representation of me and my personality. 

After a lot of discovery work and a lot of ups and downs, having a website, scraping the website, trying to sign clients, not being able to sign clients, literally all the things, I got back to my story.

I started doing story work around who I was and the impact that I wanted to carry out into the world. And that is what has led to the brand that you see today. 

Almost instantly from doing that work and making some small changes with my messaging and my copy and incorporating more storytelling into my actual content, I started to sign clients and have sustainably grown my business consistently over the past four, almost five years.

If you were to say there was a secret weapon to being a business owner, I truly believe that it is storytelling. 

Especially if you have a personal brand because this is how we build connections. And we build trust, which as we all know is why people buy, invest and continue coming back time after time, year after year, investing over and over in courses and programs and referring their friends and family.

SHARING STORIES IN BUSINESS

Many people create their brand story and think they're done. They don't think about storytelling anymore in their content and their videos and their blogs and their marketing. 

And if you're paying attention, I already shared a story with you! 

Storytelling in marketing is really powerful. And today, I want to share with you three categories that you can group your stories into and then recycle through as you share your content and your marketing in your business. 

Each of these three categories, as you will notice, will help not only in the client attraction process but also in moving your potential clients through the buying process.

Now storytelling really is about the effect that it has on your ideal customers' brain. The neural coupling, the dopamine, the connection that it creates.

As we know, this connection and ultimately trust is why people choose to invest. 

One of my favorite quotes from Zig Ziglar says, "If they like you, they'll listen. If they trust you, they'll do business with you," they'll ultimately buy from you. That really is the key and storytelling is one of the fastest ways to build trust with your community.

However, people tend to think that storytelling has to be this long-drawn-out process and that if you're going to share a story, then the whole entire social media post or the whole entire email has to be one great story. 

But that's not the case. One of the things that I teach my clients is called micro-stories. And I gave you an example of a micro-story at the beginning of this blog where I shared how I started my business just five years ago. And for the first eight months, I struggled to figure out who I was and what I wanted to offer.

I painted that picture for you, ultimately sharing with you that once I sat down and got back in touch with my story, I scraped my entire website, redid it, changed my messaging, started showing up, incorporating more story and then signed my very first client and continued to sign clients to create a multiple six-figure a year business over the past five years. 

That was just a tiny bit of story woven into a larger piece of content. 

So when we're thinking about storytelling and when we're starting to dive into these three categories of storytelling, I want you to remember that storytelling doesn’t have to be this long-drawn-out process. It can be presented in very, very small micro pieces that move the relationship along and build that know, like, trust factor.

BRAND AWARENESS STORIES

The first category is really focused on the brand awareness stage, attracting new people to your brand, which is key when it comes to marketing. 

In order to create a sustainable and profitable business, you’ve got to make sure new people are finding you regularly. And these brand awareness stories are a great way to not only bring in your ideal customer but then start building that trust right away, almost right out of the gate. 

This type of story is really powerful and tends to gravitate a little bit more towards educational content.

But it doesn't mean that we can't work storytelling into it. As I mentioned before, a story can be a single sentence and this post is actually a great example of a brand awareness story. 

I'm teaching you something. You probably clicked on this blog because you wanted to read about storytelling and business, and specifically, the three must-have categories. 

But of course, through this process, I've shared a story, I've connected with you and hopefully, you'll stick around for more. 

Think of cold audiences, people who aren't already aware of your brand, that might be seeing you for the first time. They're most likely searching for tips and tricks and tools, and you can support them in creating content around that. And then of course incorporating your authentic story into the process.

One example could be you sharing your top five resources and why. A great way to incorporate storytelling here is to not only share those resources that are going to benefit them but also share how you came to find those resources. And a need that might've been happening in your life or your business. A great opportunity for storytelling, and then ultimately giving them those resources as a key takeaway.

Another one that you could share is three myths about something that happens in your industry. I love this one, it's one of my favorite categories to talk about. I like to talk about the three myths that happened in branding and marketing and repurposing and content creation. 

Those are categories that I specialize in and I like to share three things that I truly believe are misconceptions or myths or beliefs that people have that aren't in alignment with my brand and my values. 

So this is a great opportunity to not only educate your audience because everyone wants to know what myths or mistakes they might be making in their business or in their life. Then you can interweave a story into that as well. 

So as you're sharing these three mistakes or myths, you could share that you've made them maybe, or when you first heard them or how avoiding making this mistake ultimately helped you in your business. Again, another opportunity for storytelling.

Finally, in this category, you could also share three lessons from your experience. This one's pretty much a no brainer, right? If you have three lessons, it's a great opportunity to share the story aspect of that. 

What happened and how you learned those lessons. People are always looking for other people's experiences and lessons learned that help them either avoid mistakes or really accelerate their growth or their progress based on what other people have experienced. 

Those are three examples that take more of an educational approach, but again are perfect for sharing a story.

BRAND AUTHORITY STORIES

Brand authority is kind of the next phase in the process of client onboarding. You think about a new client coming in, not knowing you, that's the whole brand awareness stage.

Then we're really focused on positioning you as the expert so that they know that they should invest in whatever it is that you're selling or you're offering. This is where brand authority comes into play. 

One of the key pieces of storytelling is making sure that you are positioning yourself as the authority or as the expert. 

Otherwise, people won't see why they should invest in you or how you're ultimately going to help guide them to their desire, to their pleasure point, to the finish line, whatever that might be for your ideal customer. 

So these stories are really important and can focus more on solving a specific problem as well as what I like to call an industry disrupt. As we mentioned before about those myths in the brand awareness stage, this is another opportunity to go deeper and really share why you do what you do in your business. The framework that you follow, how you support your clients and why you're different from somebody else.

So I'll give you a couple of examples of these stories as well. 

Number one is to expose a lie or a truth about something in your industry. Maybe you're catching on here. I really like these stories because there are a lot of people talking about the same thing in every industry. It doesn't matter what you're focused on. 

So your consumer has a lot of choices but they're going to gravitate to the people that resonate most with them, share the same values as them, as we'll talk about in the next category. One of the ways to really kind of separate yourself from others is offering this industry disrupt. 

If there's something that's happening in your industry that you believe is misleading people, or isn't in alignment with your values or your core framework, you can share that. It’s also a great opportunity to share a story.

One of the things that I love to talk about is how content creation is actually a branding problem. If you struggle with content creation, the odds of you missing key pieces of your brand is incredibly high. Not knowing who you are, not knowing who you want to attract, not understanding your offer, not understanding the emotional connection. Those are all part of the branding process. 

So I love to share this industry disrupt because we often think that content creation is like a copywriting issue or an engagement issue when really it could be a branding issue. Again, it's an opportunity to share more about why I have that belief and why I believe that this is something that is misleading to my ideal customer, a great opportunity for story. 

Another opportunity here is to share your brand story and your founder’s story. Everybody writes their brand story and then puts it on their About Me page, and then they forget about it.

But this is an opportunity for you to work that into your content, to share little pieces of it, little phases of it, to highlight very specific parts of your brand story, to highlight your mission. 

As a way to again, share with your ideal customer that you know what you're talking about and you've created this business to help solve this problem that they are ultimately experiencing. That's a great way to position yourself as the guide and as the authority in their journey. 

Finally, another way to build that brand authority is by sharing client stories and testimonials. 

The stories that we share in business are not just our stories. They are also the stories of our clients and our community members. And by sharing these client stories, you clearly are showing your expertise and your authority and your knowledge on the area in which you are supporting your clients. 

So this is a great way to not only share that but also again, incorporate storytelling.

CREATE BRAND AFFINITY

Brand affinity is the shared values between a brand and a consumer. This is that deep, deep stuff. This is that deep trust connection that many brands miss out on because they aren't sharing these key stories. 

I don't want that to be the case for you. 

This is the area where client retention lives and radiates. Because when you have brand affinity, you keep coming back for more. You keep referring your friends and your family and the people who trust you. You buy courses and programs and move up to one on one coaching and so on and so on, even though the investments get higher, because of the strong brand affinity.

This is a beautiful opportunity for you to start building that deeper connection with your audience. So some of the things that I love to share in this category are your brand values. 

Brand values are so important and in 2021 they are going to be more important than ever. People have said that they will buy based on a brand's values and they will also boycott or not buy because of those same values if they aren't in alignment with theirs.

So one of the best things that you can do is openly share your brand values with your audience. 

Now, this doesn't mean I want you to just create a post and list all your brand values, that's incredibly boring.

You could share a story about each of those values. Why are those valuable to you? Why are they values for your brand? Is there something that happened in your life? Share those through the art of storytelling. 

Another thing that you can do is share your mission. We did already talk about this in the brand authority section, but this is also something that can live in this area as well. You can not only build brand authority but brand affinity with your brand mission. 

Sharing the real purpose behind why you started your business, how you want to make a difference in the world, the impact that you want to make, and who you want to serve. That is a great thing to communicate to your audience, get them on board with what is happening, and build that brand affinity. 

Finally, you can also share some life lessons. In the lesson section that I shared before, when we were talking more about brand awareness, those might be lessons within your industry. And those are absolutely amazing as you can guess, but they're more educational. 

What I'm talking about here are life lessons. This section of brand affinity is a great place to share those more personal stories and those mistakes that you've made just in your life and what that's taught you, how you've transformed or transitioned through your life. The focus here is transformation or inspiration. 

One of the things I love sharing are these life lessons, things that you've learned just in your everyday life. Maybe they're not directly connected to what you offer, but they are connected to your brand because they're connected to your mission, to your values and who you are as a person. 

And again, it's just another opportunity to form that deeper level of connection with your audience.

CONCLUSION

So there you have it, there are three categories that you can start to put your brand stories into. I love creating these categories with my clients so that they always can just go back and cycle through and say, "Hey, I haven't shared a story on brand affinity in a while, let me go grab something from that category."

One of the coolest places to organize all of this could be a spreadsheet, or if you're visual like me, you can use Trello to actually create these columns with brand affinity at the top, brand authority, brand awareness. And as you think of stories, you can add them in there and then schedule them in your content for the next 30, 60, or 90 days. 

Remember every story, even your own, needs to connect with your audience. So Ideal Customer work is so important and is one of the core pieces taught in all of my programs.

It’s important to think outside of the box when it comes to storytelling in business. If you’re a business owner, don't forget to get signed up for the Tell Better Stories Workshop that's happening on March 3rd.

Tickets are now on sale and you can go to brandmerry.com/stories to grab yours.

This class only happens once, maybe twice a year. So don't miss it. 

You definitely want to jump into this class if you want to learn more about how to craft a better brand story, how to tell stories on social media, how to actually use storytelling to sell. And I'm going to be sharing more of these categories with you to make your content creation that much easier.

Get your ticket at brandmerry.com/stories.

Watch the full video below!

P.S. Have you tuned in to The Beautiful Climb podcast? I release new episodes every other Friday on topics around productivity, motherhood, habits, goals and going after the life of your dreams! Check out past episodes and be sure to subscribe at thebeautifulclimb.com

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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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.

The Framework for a Morning Routine You’ll Actually Stick To

The Framework for a Morning Routine You’ll Actually Stick To

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

To be honest I had a little resistance in writing this blog because I have a whole beef about morning routines. 

Then I thought, you probably have the same beef when you hear the term morning routines. You want one, but the information is just too much. 

I know the whole concept of morning routines can be very fluffy. If you've ever worked with me in my coaching, I don't do fluffy. I like action. I like actionable, deep work. So let's do a new spin on the morning routine. Shall we?

Let's start with the beef. When I first started my business, Brandmerry.com in 2016 I was just one month postpartum. So there already wasn't much of a morning routine happening at that point because we were just surviving. 

However, at the same time of going through this postpartum period, I also started building my business and exploring this whole idea of entrepreneurship.

Shortly into doing that, I felt like I was bombarded with information on coming up with a morning routine. This isn't new, right? People have been talking about this forever, but to me, it was this new concept because I used to just, get up, brush my teeth and go to work. There was no morning routine happening. 

I was looking for stability at that time because I was in the midst of being a new mother and that incredible fog and uncertainty, so I started consuming all the content about morning routines. 

Fast forward to September of that same year and I was leaving my nine to five to pursue my business full time.

I remember saying, “Okay, I'm about to work from home. I'm about to change my whole entire schedule with my kiddo.” So I started seeking out support inside of Facebook Groups on how to juggle the work from home life.

I asked them, “What do you recommend doing as you transition from working a nine to five then switching to running a business at home with a kiddo?” Everyone was like, “You must have your morning routine!”

Everyone was giving me all of this feedback on the morning routine:

“I meditate for 45 minutes.”
“I like to go for a 30-minute walk and go to the coffee shop.” 
“I have a 20-minute skincare routine.”

And I remember thinking that this must be the secret sauce, so I dove headfirst into creating a morning routine that looked like everyone else.

And I failed miserably.

I realize now that I wasn't actually failing. I had set crazy unrealistic expectations for what was happening in my life.

I was letting someone else tell me how my morning routine should go and what I should do. And then thinking that I would just mirror that and suddenly it would be all great.

THE TRUTH ABOUT MORNING ROUTINES

Morning routines aren’t the end all be all and they won’t make or break your success, but here is the thing that I later learned: Having that morning routine sets you up for success. 

It gets you in the mindset, the focus and grounded so that you can then take on all of the things that come your way throughout the day. There's always a rollercoaster ride of things throughout the day and being prepared (aka starting off on the right foot) is essential when handling them.

But the trouble with morning routines is when we hear other people talk about their morning routines, we try to parallel them. 

Rather than asking ourselves, “What do I need?” We assume if it worked for her, it will work for me and that's doing a disservice to your life, your season and your expectations. 

So rather than looking on Pinterest or another podcast, that tells you to do these five things every single day and then setting yourself up for something that might not work with your life, it’s important to have a framework, not an end all be all rule book.

MORNING ROUTINES ARE SELF CARE

Actively choosing your morning routine is just another opportunity for you to make choices for yourself and do things that serve you and your family at the highest level. 

Doing things that serve you and the life that you are building and making choices that are aligned with your goals.

Making those decisions first and foremost is important. And then taking action and creating habits around them and doing them in the morning so that you're setting yourself up; that's the whole point of the morning routine. 

There's no secret. 

It's this trifecta of choosing the things that are going to serve you, committing to them and making them a habit, which is one of my favorite things to talk about. 

On my podcast, The Beautiful Climb, episode 14 dives into the importance of habits, not just in a morning routine, but throughout the day as well.

YOUR ROUTINE SHOULD EVOLVE

There’s absolutely no shame in having a routine that evolves.

You are a human. You are evolving every single day. You're learning new things about yourself. The outside world is changing and impacting what you can and can't do. 

Your routines, including the ones you do in the morning, should mirror that.

I have learned rather than to be rigid with exactly what I'm doing, that every time I feel like something's off, or I need something new, I go back to the framework I’m about to share with you.

I like to ask myself and encourage you to do the same...

• What do I need during this time?

• What would support me most during this season of life?

• What are the pieces that I'm committing to doing daily? 

And then implementing them.

It's all in the habits. 

It's not in the specific thing that you do. 

It's in the fact that you are making it a recurring routine that you are committing to first thing in the morning to set yourself up for success and alignment throughout the day.

My morning routine has changed so much over the years as a mother, wife, entrepreneur, woman, daughter, etc...Every season demands something new from me and I must be willing to adapt to that while still honoring my habits and boundaries.

If you want to head my entire journey with morning routines, including what I’ve done and what I do today, head over to Episode 34 of The Beautiful Climb podcast and have a listen.

THE FRAMEWORK FOR A MORNING ROUTINE YOU’LL STICK TO

What I have found through my journey, working with my clients and chatting with my friends is that people really struggle with, “but what do I do?” 

And it’s because they're not asking themselves, “What do I need?” And then creating a routine that best supports that need. 

So the framework I’m about to share with you is just that, a framework. I encourage you to explore and fill in with the things that you personally need.

Today my morning routine is so different, then when I first started. My life has changed. My son has gone from crawling to walking to being more self-sufficient. My business has grown. My husband has retired and in each of those seasons I was forced to ask myself, “What do I need right now?” 

You can absolutely make your morning routine your own and one that serves you at the highest level.

For the framework, I recommend focusing on the big three. Choosing three main areas to focus on every morning. This typically looks like Mind, Body and Soul, but can be any combination you need most.

At this stage of my life, it's a focus on my fitness with high-intensity workouts, followed by getting myself ready mentally and then nourishing my soul. This looks like a 20-30 minute workout or rides on my Peloton, getting dressed in pants that button (no yoga pants here) and then making myself a healthy breakfast to start my day. 

I used to journal for 30 minutes, I’ve meditated for 10, I used to not work out daily, and that’s the point I want to make; your routine will change, but if you focus on the big three you’ll find you’re always giving yourself a well-rounded start to the day.

What I encourage you to do is think about three things that you could do every morning that maybe take 15 minutes. 

If you’ve got more time, then great!
Maybe you need to wake up a bit earlier (no 5 a.m.’s necessary) to give yourself a full 30 minutes.
Maybe you've got even more time and can take it nice and slow. Every season will be different!

Focus on the three core things you need most in this season, fitting them into a time frame that works for you and I promise it will be so empowering. 

And that's what I want you to remember. It's about listening to yourself, identifying what you need, making a plan for that, creating a habit and then taking action.

Rinse and repeat.

A SUCCESSFUL MORNING ROUTINE IS IN THE HABIT

The last thing that I'll share about setting up a morning routine is that it's all in the habits. 

If you haven't read Atomic Habits yet, it's one of my favorite books and there is a quote in there that says, “You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.” 

And that's why having systems for how you’re going to achieve something and taking daily action is so important.

Setting the intention is amazing; it’s the first step, but then you have to look and say “Well, what am I going to do to get there?” 

And then you have to honor that. 

You deserve healthy habits in your life, and they are the secret to getting to your goals, and an excellent place to start is with your morning routine.

I know the days when I fall off track, there will be days when nothing seems to be going right. You just want to sleep in. 
And you're thinking about how your legs hurt so maybe you’ll skip moving your body and just shower.
Or, maybe I’ll just get to work and check those emails to save some time.

But, I’ve noticed on those days it’s more important than ever to honor myself and start the day on the right foot and this includes setting boundaries not only with yourself but also with others.

You need to set boundaries. If you are thinking, “I don't have time in the morning, Michelle, to have a morning routine,” I need you to create time. 

And one of the ways that you can create time without waking up at the butt crack of dawn is to have conversations with people in your life and get support. 

If you find that when you try to work out at home, everybody is in your business and won't leave you alone, then you need to get out of the house and figure out how you can do that. 

If you’ve got a kid, bring them with you. Go for a walk or just have a conversation with them and say, this is what I need to do. Invite them to join you as you workout and set the tone with them that this time is sacred.

Get them in the habit of creating morning routines as well. I love that my son Cal has his morning routine. This kid has created almost his own morning routine on accident because I have created mine and he's watched that happen. 

Talk with your spouse, your kids, your roommate and let them know what you need to make this happen! And honor your boundaries with yourself by scheduling your morning routine, honoring your commitments and taking action.

You deserve it!

Set yourself up for success.

Get your systems in place.

Honor yourself.

Check-in with yourself and rock your morning.

P.S. Have you tuned in to The Beautiful Climb podcast? I release new episodes every other Friday on topics around productivity, motherhood, habits, goals and going after the life of your dreams! Check out past episodes and be sure to subscribe at thebeautifulclimb.com

---

- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

---

- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

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.