Think like a brand.
Are you a writer who just wants to write? Does marketing speak make your head hurt, are your first words when I talk about personal branding ‘what the hell is that?’ and if you do know, do you question if it’s relevant and even important?
Whether you’re a first-time writer, or someone who has actively published work online or in print, you’ll want people to read your book. When trying to get an agent or a publishing deal, you will need to prove there is a market for your book, an audience who will connect to your work and more importantly, you as a person. Therefore like or not, you are going to have to think like a brand.
In my previous post Unexpected Journeys, I briefly touched on personal branding. I work in advertising, so it’s easy for me to forget that most people won’t know what things like brand strategy and personal branding really mean, so I’m going to try and breakdown it down for you, in its simplest form. To explain, why it’s really important in this loud, noisy world of ours, where everyone seems to be an influencer and where brands are having to be really clever, in how they connect and attract audiences.
Brand strategy is both the chicken and the egg.
There are so many books out there, on the subject of branding and strategy that I’m not going to overwhelm you here, with streams of information so will try and keep it simple. In layman terms, strategy is all about;
Where you are now
Where you want to be
How you are going to get there i.e. who is your audience, where can they be found, how will you reach them, what is your message and what action do you want them to take
Using myself as an example and focusing on my memoir, right now I’m a first-time writer who wants to get an agent. What I want, is for my book to be published and for readers to connect with my story. What I need to do, to get out there now and attract and build an audience, before my book even sees the light of the day. So I need to figure out who my target audience(s) are, where can I find them and what I want to communicate, in the hope of attracting and growing my audience.
If you are in the midst of writing your book proposal or have already finished it, you will already have had to position your book in the current market place. This will have been dependent on what your book/story is about, and who you think the readers are, and where they are from i.e. down to geographical location, ethnicity and more. The same applies to your brand. I’m going to assume your ambitions extend beyond just one book(s). I’m going to assume you may have dreams of hosting your own podcast, speaking at events, whatever it may be. Your brand, will cover all the spectrum of your goals and ambitions and you need to work out how you are going to position your brand in the market place. This is where personal branding comes in.
Personal branding isn’t just about looks.
In its simplest terms, a personal brand is the image you put out into the world. It sets the tone of who you are, what you represent and who will connect with you. It is through having a personal brand, that you’ll have a better chance of attracting and building an audience, which is ultimately what agents and publishers are interested in.
A personal brand is made up of the following;
your purpose, values and mission
Your tone of voice. How you sound, the language you use, how you interact with others
Where you communicate i.e social media, website, events which will be dedicated to, by where your audience is
What personal branding does, is show the world, what is unique about you. Again, just focusing on my memoir, my purpose is to share my story as a South Asian woman and my experiences of my mental health challenges, which came about partly from cultural tensions, but mostly from family trauma, recycled from one generation to the next. I want to join the growing chorus of voices, talking openly about mental health especially in my culture, with the hope that it can be of help to others, whose voices have been similarly repressed. My vision, is to provide a platform and build a community, for those who have suffered or are suffering in silence, a space to share their own stories because by doing so, others will be able to see their own reflections.
This is a very rough version of my purpose and vision, because I’m going to spend some time redefining this, to a place where I can tell someone, what I’m up to in a single sentence. While doing this, I really need to think about what my tone of voice is going to be and the language I use. The things I’m talking about can be heavy and emotional, but I’m also cheeky, like to laugh a lot and am full of hope and joy and I really want that to come across too.
While this is very much work in process for me, I hope this overview has been useful for you. Below are some useful links, if you want to learn more about branding and I’m more than happy to answer any questions, just leave a comment below.
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https://huddlecreative.com/blog/the-no-blathering-guide-to-brand-strategy
https://influencermarketinghub.com/what-is-personal-branding/
https://www.writerscookbook.com/establishing-your-personal-brand-as-an-author/
