Blogging 101: Creating a Brand Story

Humans respond well to a crafted narrative, and an emotional story often helps people connect with one another by capturing their attention. This is why having a ‘Blog Brand Story’ in your about me page can be vital for connecting to readers but also brands and sponsors who want to work with you. 

What is a Brand Story?

A brand story tells the series of events that sparked the creation of your blog, and explains how that drives your current values and mission when writing content. Whilst at first focused on the past, your brand story expands to the present and your future too. 

A brand story is a great way to explain who you and your blog are – whilst creating a connection with the reader through storytelling, narrative and emotion. Kind of like a really good book – you want them to remember the key parts instead of immediately forgetting the plot. 

How to Write a Brand Story?

What is the catalyst? 

First up is to know why you started your blog. What was it that finally pushed you to start writing on the internet? Grab a notepad and jot down why you started blogging and what led you to it. Don’t worry if it’s not a thrilling story yet though, just write as authentically as possible what made you want to blog and the key steps you took to create your brand.   

Try and write down your thoughts and feelings as you go along. An emotional connection is key so you should share your own in order to get others to feel the same way when reading. Were you nervous? Scared? Excited? Hopeful? How did these feelings affect your decisions at this time?

Go into as much depth as possible as you’ll be cutting and editing the story later anyway. 

What is the current position of your blog and how did you get there?

Now write about your blog right now. Where are you in the blogosphere? Are you a big fish in a small niche? A small fish in a large niche? Be completely honest with yourself as you write this down. 

Talk about your niche and communities. Talk about what you’ve achieved so far. If you’ve worked with a particular brand that you want to shout about – do it! Don’t be modest with your successes, but also if you have failures note them down too. Remember you don’t have to include these in your final story – but it’s good to remind yourself of everything you’ve done so far.

What is the long-term?

Remember your blog brand story is constantly evolving as you and your blog grow and adapt. So, if your brand story is looking a little bland, create some goals for the long-term and write them down. In your brand story, talk about what you’d love to achieve and manifest this into the world and to your readers and possible brands who could sponsor you. 

Similar to your past – think about your feelings towards the future. If you’re nervous or scared try and ask yourself why? But if you’re hopeful – try to put it into words for what you’re hopeful for. Remember this story needs to express emotions and feelings and you’re the narrator. 

Now edit, edit and edit

Now it’s time to put your writing skill to the test (you’re a blogger after all…). Look through everything you’ve written down and pick out the parts you want to include. With these, quickly brainstorm how you want to show them off – and in the right tone of voice to your brand. Create a timeline of events and start to rewrite the story. 

When you’re rewriting remember to keep the tone similar to your blog posts. But remember this is a story, and a story needs a beginning, middle and a future ending as well as a character that is full of personality and emotion. Try to keep being authentic, you don’t want to create a false brand story – but make your blog feel like it’s something. Even if it’s just something to you and five readers, it’s still important. 

Improve your writing by rewriting too. Every few months come back and see how you can improve your brand story or if you can add elements to it. Simple grammar and spelling is also vital at this stage too. 

Show and tell

It’s all good writing paragraph upon paragraph of how you got here, but you can also show the reader. For example, if you say  you’re an award winning blogger – link out to the award page which lists you as a winner or show a photo of you collecting, or just anything which gives a little bit of evidence. Showing can also break up longer pieces of text.