My friend told me her story the other day..

I’ve known her ten years and had never heard it before (it may seem strange but it’s true). It was one of great struggle, despair, resilience and determination. She is now an incredibly successful business owner and has an amazing life but it certainly wasn’t always that way.

Everyone has a story. We all came from somewhere, grew up somewhere, have experienced challenges along the way, and have learned a great deal. When I ask my clients about their story I often get a similar response. When thinking of stories, we think of other people’s amazingly inspiring tales of extreme adversity. We compare our story to theirs and think that we aren’t special.

Agree? I want to stop right there! Your story is the making of who you are today. And I am guessing that if you are reading this, it means that you want to do something with that story. You want to make the world a better place through your services or products. You have big dreams. So you DO have a story to tell. It IS worth listening to and it WILL inspire so many people!

The first time I wrote my story down in a journal it brought up different emotions. It is such a personal thing, and you’d think that only my ideal client would resonate with it. WRONG again! I have been approached by women who have a completely different story to mine, and yet they have contacted me because my story resonated with them. Why did it resonate? Because it shows that I had something, then I lost it, then I took a journey to find it again and now feel all the better for that journey. THIS is what people relate to! You can check out my story here.

So what does knowing your story benefit? I believe it is one of the essential corner stones to having a clearly aligned and successful business.

Here are 4 reasons why:

Alignment

Knowing your story gives you alignment. With your values, passion, purpose, mission and message. Your values and the things most important to you will be in there, the things that you are most passionate about. This will then define your mission and message and help you set out the goals you want to achieve. A beautifully aligned cascade down to from your story!

Motivation

If your story is aligned to what is important to you, what you are passionate about, and therefore what your true purpose is, this will provide you the motivation to keep going when the going gets tough (and it will get tough!) Your story is your driving force, what you are doing this for and most importantly why you want to build this product or service to help others. As an entrepreneur I have found this driving force has been essential on the days when I question if I’m doing the right thing, or little miss self doubt creeps back in. It is all part of the roller coaster journey (and I blimmin love it, you do too right?!)

Clarity

One HUGE benefit is gaining clarity on ideal client. In most situations, particularly when starting out, your ideal client will reflect your main story, because you can relate to the struggles or triumphs she has faced and what she wants to do with that as a result. It may not be directly related to you, but perhaps someone you have helped or been inspired by. Your ideal client is on the path behind you, she may be a few steps, or further back, but you are guiding her from up ahead with a lovely shining light!

Message

If you are aligned, are motivated to succeed and have clarity on who it is you want to speak to, then you can also define and build your messaging. This includes your website copy, email marketing, social media marketing posts, blog posts, you name it! You can identify key milestones from your story that translate into your copy. I use a tried and tested formula to pin point key parts of my story and weave them into my story telling and messaging.

Free clarity session

Would you like to know my formula for story telling success? I’d love to share it with you on a free clarity call, and start to help you craft your story. You can pick a time to speak that suits you here.