What’s Working Wednesday: Sharing More Personal Stories

A lot of business gurus will tell you not to share personal stories with your audience, or at least to be very careful about what you share. I can understand that point, and agree with it to a certain degree, but I’ll be honest… what’s working for me right now is sharing personal stories.

Of course, I am a website and blog designer, and one of the main aspects of my job is to help other women (and the occasional man) tell their stories! So, it makes sense that when I open up with my stories, that practice tends to attract potential clients.

But I think it could work for you too. One of my business coaches is doing a lot with AI right now, helping women business owners grow their businesses with AI tools. While doing this, she regularly reminds us that even though these tools are a help, they aren’t likely to replace us within our industries. Why is that? Because when people look to us for help or a product, they are usually looking for a person and authenticity. They want the human behind the logo and the marketing language. That’s obviously true in the creative/crafty world, and in the writing world too!

Does that mean we should use our website, blogs, or social media as a tell-all, sharing nitty gritty details about all the trials and tribulations of our lives? No, of course not. That is, unless you are a blogger who is building your brand on sharing the nitty gritty details, but most of us are not doing that. There is a difference between being authentic and sharing every detail of your life. Some stories and experiences are still being lived and processed. Sometimes parts of our stories belong to other people and aren’t ours to tell. The goal isn’t to share everything. The goal is to share enough that people can see the heart behind what you do.

Here’s the deal – personal stories build trust, and they build trust faster than generic (or AI generated) content. As a business owner or blogger, you can talk about things you’ve learned, or struggles you’ve faced, or behind-the-scenes moments that were scary.. or funny! These things help your potential clients and customers and reader to get a better feel of who you are.

I’ve seen this firsthand. When I’ve shared about closing my brick-and-mortar shop, navigating health challenges, starting over from home, or simply figuring out what this season of business looks like, I’ve had more connection. People connect with people. They may come for the information or the beautiful product, but they stay because they feel like they know the person sharing it, writing it, or making it.

And specifically for the bloggers/writers in the crowd, I have a special word for you. I’ve noticed something important: the posts I’m most hesitant to share are often the ones readers comment on, email me about, and remember. I’ve spent almost 30 years feeling like a “bad blogger” because I’ve talked myself out of publishing things that felt too ordinary, too personal… or too vulnerable. It’s easy to assume that nobody cares about the small stories or the quiet moments. But those are often the stories that stick with people.

So, what’s working isn’t necessarily better branding, better graphics, or better marketing. What’s working is letting people see the person behind the business.

How could you do this with your business? Could you write about a success recently, or even a failure? Could you share a behind the scenes of a special product and the inspiration behind it? Could you write about something you learned the hard way? And hear me when I say, your stories don’t have to be deeply profound or dramatic. Sometimes the stories that feel ordinary to us, are exactly what someone else needs to hear.