Oh gosh, SEO is so boring.

Well OK, not to you perhaps. But I bet your clients don’t get the same thrill hearing about canonical URLs for instance. Or authorship being gone. I guess link building doesn’t make it to the top of their lists either.

Results. Now that’s something that might get their hearts beat a bit faster. But all the technical stuff, they leave that to you.

There is nothing wrong with this of course. Clients don’t need to know or be interested in SEO to hire you. What they need however is a way to differentiate you from other consultants.

And that’s the problem, because SEO is a poor differentiator

It’s hard to stand out just on being an SEO. On one end, there is too much negativity around the term (thanks spam companies, we owe you a lot!). On the other, SEO is too ambiguous for potential clients to use as a factor in telling two consultants apart.

At the same time, prospects need a reason to choose you over your competitors.

Unfortunately your past projects or list of current clients aren’t enough to make you unique. They might help but your prospects also need something else that will get them to know you, like you, and trust you.

They need to hear your story

Did you notice how often first things you ask a person you’ve just met are ones that might help you unveil their story? Where they are from or what kind of work they do for instance.

That’s because we use stories to begin to connect with others. Stories are a starting point for any kind of relationships. Through them you learn about other people and decide whether you can connect with them or not.

Stories define you. Your story reveals your personality. Based on it, your prospects can decide if they like you. It can also tell them if you are able to understand their needs and if they should consider hiring you.

They also support your brand. A consistent story you tell through all channels and medium will build an image of your brand.

They also make people come back for more. Jeffrey Gitomer once said that only if your prospects know you, like you and trust you, they might buy from you. I would add that they will also come back for more – more advice, more content, more services.

How to develop your brand story

Your brand story comprises of everything that you are and what you do. From your history, company’s mission, goals you want to reach to whom you want to help and why. It reveals how you started and where you got the idea for the company from. It tells your prospects what makes what you do so special. It also unveils what you are passionate about, your impact on your clients and why they keep hiring you.

But for that to happen, your story must meet certain criteria:

• It must be consistent. Regardless of where you publish your content and what information you post, your story should always be at the core of what you say.
• It should also continue. Just like your company’s history is not yet completed, your story shouldn’t stall either. It should keep developing with you. Its core would always remain the same, that’s your history and reasons that made you go into business. But the rest should evolve with your business and your audience.
• It should connect with your customers. Even though it might not seem so, your story is more about your clients than you. That’s what builds a deep connection with them. That’s also why many companies test their stories until they find a format that works best for them.

Uncovering Your Story

Your story is buried deeply in your history and roots of your business. To uncover it, answer the following questions:

What’s your purpose?

Sometimes asking why reveals more than the what. And your reason for being in business is a serious differentiator (as well as indication what clients you might want to attract).

One way to discover your reason is by stating what is important in business to you. Try to remember what made you start working in SEO in the first place. Don’t worry if the answer is that you were laid off and couldn’t find work. Later in this post I’ll show you how to use what might seem like negatives to build your story.

Another way to do it is by completing this sentence: I serve my customers because….

• I serve my customers because I want to build a better web.
• I serve my customers because for me it’s an easy way to make money.
• I serve my customers because I want to show Google that they can’t control us, SEOs.

What’s your history?

What are the steps and milestones that got you where you are today? Your history may seem insignificant but can influence many aspects of your story. Or it can even become one. Just check how Screaming Frog present their brand story and values using a timeline:

Who are the main characters in your history?

Every story has a protagonist. In a case of a brand story, it isn’t necessarily just the person behind the company. It can also be anyone who has helped it to take shape. Did a chance encounter help you kick start your business? Or did you have the Eureka moment while watching a football game with friends? These can become parts of your story, too.

What did you do wrong?

We are afraid of failure. Sometimes it feels as if the world was expecting everyone to be perfect, in business and private lives alike.

Your mistakes, however, not only have shaped you and gave start to many great ideas you had later but also showed your true personality- someone who, just like everyone else, messes things up from time to time.

Embrace your mistakes in your story. Often when you look at them, you’ll notice how much effect they had on your best ideas.

Neil Patel, an entrepreneur many people admire so much doesn’t hide the fact that he has lost a fortune through a bad investment. I am sure he’s not only learnt a ton from it. He’s also used it to his advantage later on too.

What did you not do?

We’re not only afraid of mistakes but also gaps in our biographies. But that year off travelling or starting a family provides a great base for your story. Those experiences might not look great on your CV (although I disagree here) they still have affected who you are today. They might in fact be the most exciting elements of your story.

One more thing about the power of stories

Here’s what many business people omit – stories are impossible to copy. None of your competitors can have your story. By building your story, you become the only SEO consultant who’s X, Y or Z. You become uniquely different and distinguishable from others. You have the power to attract prospects who deeply connect with your story.

No other companies will be able to do that. Not with your story at least.