How to build an authentic author identity like Gino Wickman or Anne Beiler
This article was originally published on Substack on July 9, 2024. Enjoy.
What is authenticity?
Authenticity is non-striving.
It’s pure.
It’s relief.
It’s those pair of jeans that fit just right.
That drink of cold water after walking the dog.
Your favorite pair of underwear that you gravitate to, happy they were just washed.
Relief. Sigh. Exhale.
The feeling of fluidity.
Of non-strain.
Of flow.
It’s authenticity that sells.
Why?
Authenticity is refreshing.
It’s honest.
It’s raw.
It’s embarrassing, transparent, and vulnerable.
It’s the bloody lip and the hairy armpits.
It teeters on the knife-edge of oversharing.
Keep Them Listening
I won’t ever forget the first time I heard Anne Beiler’s story on the Abundant Ever After podcast; it was the first time that a podcast episode from an entrepreneur made me cover my mouth and sob.
Oh, and she just so happens to be the exited founder of Auntie Anne’s pretzels.
Anne grew up in an Amish, hyper-religious community, where the only understood method of processing problems was through prayer. One day, Anne was told to visit the office of one of her congregation’s pastors, a highly-respected man. He sexually used Anne, but because of this community’s stigma around sex and the pastor’s station in the community, she didn’t tell a single soul. This pattern, unfortunately, continued for years.
It was only after nearly a decade, when she finally had the courage to tell her husband, did she finally break the chains that her shame had on her. Her husband luckily became one of her biggest advocates, and together, they decided to go to couple’s counseling. Their marriage saved through the process of counseling, they wanted to bring counseling to other couples in the Amish community, but had little money.
Their first idea to fund their idea was to purchase a failing pretzel stand. Anne used her baking skills to re-formulate the pretzel recipe, and because it was so delicious, word caught on, launching her new pretzel business into a pretzel empire, helping fund couple’s counseling for many, many families along the way.
When I first heard Anne’s story, I was astonished by her vulnerability. Her heart was ripped open for all to see and hear, including the unnamed pastor and anyone who was an advocate for him. Someone could have easily said she was, “Crude,” or “Throwing her community under the bus,” or “Distasteful for airing out her dirty laundry.” But, she did it anyway.
You are the Product
She could have sold me anything at that point.
You see, in the exercise of personal branding, you are the product.
The best way to tell your authentic story in a way that resonates with readers and listeners is through the structure illustrated in the graphic below.
This storytelling framework is attributed to Steve Harrison, who teaches this framework to his clients giving TEDx talks.
If you don’t do this, you risk losing your audience entirely, as your story will be hard to follow, and the impact will not be obvious to either you or your audience. Hearing your story feel like a waste of time.
But, if you tell your story in an impactful way, such as following this storytelling framework, you will build connection from authenticity, impact, and authority in your expertise from experience. Sales will be natural.
This storytelling framework is how we instruct all clients at Smokin’ Hot Books to introduce themselves on a podcast so that it naturally leads to a teaching moment that is authentically authoritative.
So that people want more from you (and join your email list).
A great personal brand is built upon a series of events that happened in your life that helped you grow stronger.
Screenshot from Anne Beiler’s website, along with her blue cookbook. Copyright Anne Beiler.
How to Tell Your Story
Start with who you were and how you lived as you were cruising along before the “bad” thing happened. The “bad” thing is the rock bottom moment, like when Anne experienced abuse.
You describe the inflection point, or the “bad” thing that happened, that caused you to enter your low(est) point.
You then take your time to explain how you didn’t understand how to solve this problem, and the journey you had to undergo to piece together your unique solution to this problem. Then, you describe your new, improved life having applied this solution. For example, this is Anne figuring out how to sell pretzels to fund couple’s counseling for her community.
Now that your life is better than before, you’re fired up, and you’re ready to share your new solution with people just like you. This is Anne sharing her unique flavor of business & empowerment.
These stories take the audience’s armor off. They hang on to every word, hoping the hero slays their dragon.
And when you do, the clarity of your message will be so obvious that it will cut right through the noise. This is true leadership.
Be courageous enough to embody a hard truth. Be courageous enough to stick “addict” or “survivor” on your personal brand and wear it with pride. This is the candlelight that will light a million more.
Your Author Identity
Your personal branding story, or author identity, is what will help you sell more books (and more high-ticket offers).
What is your story? What have you experienced in your life that breaks your heart? Melts it just as fast?
When they ask you on your first podcast interview after your book goes live, “So, who is [your name], and what is [your book’s title] all about?” what do you think you’ll say? These questions are the basis of your authentic thought leadership.
As you begin to question yourself and your values, you begin to realize that you, author, are a distilled, balanced mix of beliefs, unique insights, experiences, and values. Once you clarify what these are, you will start to see how these can be expressed through colors, fonts, and other knick-knacks (but the essence always rings true.)
Click here for journal prompts to distill your story into an authentic, ROI-generating personal brand.
Anne Beiler is now an author and a speaker, and she uses her Amish heritage, history of trauma, Christian faith, and her unusual business savvy as the 4 pillars of her distilled author identity. When I look at and listen to her, I feel stillness, stability, and virtue.
Gino Wickman, author of world-famous Traction and Rocket Fuel, and founder of EOS®️ Worldwide, is famous for using his books as a way to generate interest in his entrepreneurial systems.
Author and entrepreneur Gino Wickman. Copyright Gino Wickman.
gino wickman’s author story is about how he:
Inherited the operations for his family’s business,
Experienced the business’ near-failure, due to lack of knowledge of systems,
Developed his Entrepreneur Operating System®️ to turn the business around successfully,
And how now turned thousands of businesses around by sharing his system through his company EOS®️ Worldwide.
In his books, Gino distills his author identity into a few pillars, such as entrepreneurial systems, entrepreneurial identity, and entrepreneurial vision. When I see his orange books, I see optimism and assertiveness.
Screenshot from Gino Wickman’s website, showing off his orange Traction series. Copyright Gino Wickman.
Stories help use relate to one another.
Stories sell.
If you wish to bring your story to life and authentically share your solution with the world, it’s time to build your author identity and distill your personal brand.
If you are fuzzy on you story, who you are, and who you will serve, click here for journal prompts to clarify who you are in relation to the person who needs you right now.
Alternatively, clarifying author brands & author stories is what we do here at Smokin’ Hot Books.
It helps you clarify who you are and how your audience perceives you in a sea of many others doing something similar to you.
Charli xcx, Zara Larsson, and Sabrina Carpenter slaved away for a decade in pop purgatory before they differentiated themselves amongst the others.
Now, Charli xcx is the queen of club pop. Zara Larsson is the queen of summer. Sabrina Carpenter is the queen of schtick & sex.
How will you stand out?
And how will you use it to write your book, frame your TEDx talk, and raise your speaking fee to 5-figures?
See this masterclass for more.
Rooting for you.
Renee