5 reasons why brand story failed in your coaching business
You’ve probably heard about the hero’s journey.
(…Umm…or perhaps in your case…A Shero’s journey?)
This is how this story starts….a mentor directs the character to do something, and steers away from the villain on a quest to find something meaningful in solving a problem the hero has.
Every story lives or dies based on the question: “Will the Hero fail or will they succeed?”
In almost all cases, you as a business owner would want your client to succeed.
The problem that many women coaches and entrepreneurs struggle with is not having a brand story, a business positioning, and a business journey that allow you to stand out from the crowd and set you apart from the rest.
Empathy helps to understand your soulmate client’s perspective and needs so you can more effectively address by answering the objectives of your soulmate clients.
-Michelle Kuei
Why Storytelling For Your Coaching Business?
Humans are hardwired in storytelling.
Storytelling connects your coaching business to the heart of your audience. Remember the stories your grandmother used to tell about princes and princesses, the kingdom and the dragons, witches and the wizards - businesses that incorporate stories at 22 times more memorable than those who don’t according to Forbes on A Good Presentation Is About Data and Story article from 2015.
Coaching is personal.
Clients who seek coaching want to develop a real connection with the coach they work with. They are seeking a channel to form valuable understandings and loyalty with the coach, they want to form bonds and build trust with the coach they interact with. But sadly, most of the coaches aren’t fulfilling and closing the gap.
Failure to share your values, ideals, and perspectives with your audience will make it challenging to form real genuine connections with your prospect. Without these bonds, you won’t be able to win the heart of your Soulmate clients, let alone their wallets.
What is Brand Storytelling?
Brand storytelling is how a brand or a business expresses the narratives (or stories) to establish their values, personality, and humanity to share with their clients and prospects.
Storytelling involves two parties and typically it’s a two-way interaction between the storyteller and the listener.
In a Brand Story framework, this should include all of the elements in your story:
A character
A conflict
A call for action
A climax
A resolution
As you craft your brand story, it is also important to keep in mind that your story should focus on expressing the following focus:
Your why - why does your coaching business exists in the first place?
Your values - the unique characteristics traits that define your business
Your what - what motivates you and your team to do what you do
Your voice - the who behind your coaching business
An effective brand story will use all of these elements mentioned above to elicit an emotional connection with your soulmate clients. Step into their shoes, and give your soulmate client a glimpse into your business and how you will be able to support them on this transformational journey.
Why Brand Story Failed In Your Coaching Business and how to fix it?
Does your brand story identify who you are in your business?
Many coaching businesses spend a lot of time focusing on identifying their ideal clients and narrowing down their niche. The emphasis on scaling the business to 6-figure coaching business masks important aspects of what makes a coaching business unique. Every prospect's clients are different and but the only constant in attracting the right clients to your coaching business remains the same - YOU.
A Hero on the journey who is actively seeking a guide is also looking for one that walks the talk rather than talks the talk. And some brands like to say those values matter to them...but the actual behavior and tactic used in marketing don’t reflect it.
The lesson? Brand storytelling works the best only when you walk the talk and practice what you preach. Clients can always tell the difference between an authentic business model rather than lip service.
Everything starts with the Who.
Who you are and what you believe in determining why you are doing this.
Fail to empathize with your audience
Empathy is your superpower. Empathy is a superpower because it keeps your audience inspired, motivated, and eager to learn from you. Empathy helps to understand your soulmate client’s perspective and needs to you can more effectively address by answering the objectives of your soulmate clients.
Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes allows you to connect with the stories your soulmate clients are telling to themselves. This allows you to
Increase sales,
Build loyalty and trust
Increase the number of referrals
Accelerate the growth of your business
Greater competitive advantage and your business market values.
Position yourself as ONLY the guide and NEVER the hero.
Who is at the center of your story? You or your soulmate clients? Most coaches think they are the guide in the hero’s journey. From the story brand framework, you are familiar with the story structure and there’s a reason why this framework will work.
But sometimes, depending on the story, you may need to position yourself as the Hero by understanding how your soulmate clients see themselves and what they are going through. Do they see themselves as the princess stuck in a dungeon? Are they waiting for the fairy godmother to wave the magic wand and come save them from the misery?
OK! Ladies, want to learn different ways of telling your brand story? Learn more about the story you tell in your coaching business. Take a QUIZ here.
Understanding the true desire behind your soulmate client’s need and how you might need to position yourself as the Hero in the story is the reason why the brand story might have failed in your coaching business.
Hey Woman! ready to Get Off The Hamster Wheel and Install Your Sanity Back Into Your Coaching Life!
A blueprint to storytelling for your coaching business that gets rid of the cobwebs and crickets on your social media so you can connect with your Soulmate clients!
Fail to express the transformation
A brand story helps us to connect with our soulmate clients at a more emotional level. Stories become viral and prospects become your loyal super fan who pass around your business with their network with great testimonials.
The problem that many coaches experience, especially those who struggle to get the message out to grow their business, is they have to choose too many things and failed to meet the objectives of their Soulmate clients. A successful coaching business that continues to grow takes its time to listen to the market needs, creating content that meets the goal and expresses in a clear narrative how this transformation is possible for clients to become a better version of themselves.
Many coaching businesses focus on going straight to the deliverable rather than describing the experiential aspect of the transformation which often comes across as a hard sell to prospects.
And let’s face it, in a world of infomercial abundance, no one likes to be sold to.
Not knowing what makes your story Younique
In 1969, Carl Jung published his archetypes which encompass key human roles and motifs in his work. His highly detailed and abstract ideas are used in film development, marketing, storytelling, and advertisement. There are 12 archetypes that provide a general explanation for our various ways of feeling and reasoning.
The power of storytelling lies within the use of these archetypes to allow your audience to quickly understand what your coaching business represents while creating a deep and meaningful connection with your business.
Strong brands align themselves with primary archetypes that help to guide their behavior, what they stand for and how they communicate through storytelling.
Human beings are hardwired in storytelling. Using the archetypes in your coaching business can help elicit the hidden desires of your soulmate clients, making your coaching business much more relatable. Using archetypes in creating content in your marketing strategy helps you to decide the tone of your messages, the color of your graphic and fonts, as well as the values you are expressing to your soulmate clients to create an ever-lasting impression on them.
To learn more about the brand archetypes, check out this article.
Tell a better story
Storytelling doesn’t come naturally to everyone. A good story needs a good storyteller but remembers coaching is personal and vulnerable for you and your clients. Your story needs to be authentic, honest, real and expressed with empathy and understanding.
When I work with my woman coach clients, we start by understanding your soulmate client’s Buyer’s journey. How does she see herself in the stories she lives in and how can your transformational story relate to her through empathy mapping. By using the BRAVE methods we then create content that supports your client’s journey every step along the way.
Empathy when combined with authentic marketing will help you attract and keep the attention of your soulmate clients and most importantly creating content that aligns with the values of who you are, what you stand for, and why you exist are important storytelling marketing strategies in order to have a scalable and profitable coaching business.
Walk the Talk and tell a better story.
What’s your story? Love to hear from you! Drop in a comment and let me know if you’ve had a story for your coaching business you’d like to tell.
