🦸🏽♀️ Your Core Story - the one you REALLY want to tell on Substack
+ upcoming workshop to weave you some brand story magic into your day!!
💎Diamond Membership is closing for GOOD. If you are looking at transforming your experience here and getting support to meet your goals, get in before the doors close at the end of November. We have two classes coming up and you’ll get instant access to me as a mentor in your dms to talk Substack strategy, organisation and joyful growth. (Current members not affected by the changes)
Hi all,
I hope you are having a nice day.
I wanted to write today on my fascination with personal brand as an introvert. I’ve found that creating a brand as a version of myself to be incredibly helpful (and comforting) in managing an online persona.
When you show up as ‘yourself’ and someone’s mentor on zoom calls multiple times a month it’s helpful to step into the frame as your ‘professional self’.
Your professional self is boundaried and qualified. Your personal self is softer and runs a range of emotions each day (just me?).
The blend of the two is what connects us here on Substack - you have to be willing to share personality and think about connection. Working out what you are willing to write/ share/ speak about online can be incredibly steadying if you do want to reach larger audiences too. Readers will learn to trust what they are about to receive from you, there’ll be no nasty surprises or polarisation.1
It also helps with the darker side of showing up online - it forms a bit of a superhero cape - I learnt this the hard way. 🦸🏼♂️ ✨
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My FREE audience development class Audience Alchemy is here for you if you are grappling with how to share more of your authentic self online (across platforms) and meet your dream readers.
The 7 Story Arcs
When we are telling our story for example in a post, in our about page or in a hero post, it’s helpful to consider if we want to pull on any of the 7 types of story arc.
The Hero’s Journey (Think Moana setting sail spurred on by her ancestors story - if you haven’t seen it you must!)
The Fall and Rise (Redemption Arc)
The Rise Only (Rags to Riches)
The Fall (Tragedy Arc)
The Transformation Arc (I was here and now I’m there and this is the bit in between)
The Quest (I’ll take you with me as I figure this out)
The Rebirth (often following a dark night of the soul but not always)
Once you understand the ‘story arcs’, you’ll probably spot a fair few in viral notes. Humans are wired for story and connection. We love the escapism and self recognition in it.
You don’t have to figure this out alone…
Last week
and I got together to chat about ‘personal brand’ and story arc ahead of a class she is hosting for my members here on 3rd November. I’d love you to come along live (Sparkle on Substack is just £20 a month and you can cancel anytime).The class will guide us through the power of brand story and story arcs inside personal brands for your Substack. Inside I give some practical examples of how I’ve cultivated the understanding of this for myself. Members click here to register.
- Using Your Authentic Voice online whilst protecting yourself
- Personal brand discovery (story + values)
- Creative self-care and boundaries
- Connection, excitement and next steps to fuel your work here on Substack.
See you then!
Claire (and Amy)
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P.S - If you missed my live with Amy it’s here…
We also podcasted together back in July where we chatted more about cultivating community offline and Amy’s London writer meet ups. You can tune in here…
P.P.S - I found this a fascinating read by
(and also a lot to process). I also love ’s books on personal brand and enjoyed chatting with on yesterday’s live about personal story. If you are looking to brand up your Substack there’s a wonderfully deep exploratory class in the archive with and from there or can help you bring your design visions here to life and implement them inside your publication. ✨Polarisation makes for really interesting and often popular articles but it’s also high risk when you’ve cultivated an audience that expect you to ‘perform’ in a specific way.
 | A guest post by
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So interested to know what people's questions and experiences are in this??
I am looking forward to this sooo much. Such an interesting and important topic ✨