Your brand strategy is the foundation of your entire personal brand—it’s rooted in your purpose, guided by your vision, and impacts everything that you do from the words you use when drafting your content to the values your business stands for. 

I wanted to share some journaling exercises that guide you through the process of getting clear on your purpose and inspiration. These exercises will not only help you unearth core parts of your brand identity so you can begin crafting your brand strategy but will also connect you with yourself and the vision you hold for your life at large.

Feel free to come back and revisit these exercises time and time again, as you and your business continue to evolve. 

What is a personal brand? 

A personal brand is a brand that centers around you. In other words, your brand personality represents your personality. When you create a personal brand identity, you focus on the way you want people to perceive you and your business which is different than a business brand, like Costco or Trader Joe’s, where the brand revolves around the company and not one person. 

Examples of personal brands: Bill Nye, Gary Vaynerchuck, and Beyonce (my personal favorite)

What does brand strategy include?

Honestly, what doesn’t brand strategy include?! 

Brand strategy is meant to touch on the foundational aspects of why your brand exists, how you want other people to perceive it, and what it does for others. It includes:

• Mission, vision, and values

These are the statements and guiding principles that define what your brand stands for and are rooted in your deeper “why.” 

• Target audience 

This is the part of your brand strategy that digs into the people you want to attract so you can understand how their minds work, what they’re dreaming of, and what they crave to hear from you. 

• Brand positioning

By focusing on your unique selling proposition (USP), this part of your brand strategy defines the unique value your brand offers and that sets you apart from others offering something similar.

• Brand messaging 

Brand personality is often grouped into brand messaging because this part of your brand strategy is all about your brand tone, the words you’ll use, and your overall communication style. 

• Visual identity 

Your visual identity, what most people think of when they think of branding, touches on colors, logos, fonts, and any other parts of your visual brand style like brand photography. 

• Content pillars 

This part of your brand strategy encompasses your marketing strategy so the content you share across different platforms is consistent with your brand identity. 

Why is brand strategy important?

Brand strategy is the framework around which you create your brand identity and your brand identity impacts what people think your brand stands for and how they remember you. That’s why it’s so incredibly important to focus on creating your brand identity with intention, so you start with a solid foundation on which you can build everything else!

Your brand strategy also guides you through everything your brand does. From the colors you use to the tone of voice in your copywriting, your brand strategy helps you make decisions that keep your brand presence consistent, building trust with your audience and making it easier on you to know how to show up.

Lastly, your brand strategy directly impacts the people you attract your way because it’s created to attract certain people (the people you’d LOVE to work with) and repel the other types of people (the people you don’t click with). 

Brand strategy is important because it’s the foundation for everything in your business. 

Brand strategy exercises and warm-ups

Before we dive into the brand strategy exercises, you’ll want to spend some time connecting with yourself and getting in touch with your deep desires.

And I have a few journal prompts that should help. 

Warm-up journaling

Journaling is a great way to loosen up, tap into your inner self, and see what is revealed in the process. With these journal prompts, try not to overthink as you’re writing. Just let it flow and see where you arrive in the end. 

• #1 – Connect with your inner child 

Ask yourself what you loved to see, do, create, and play with as a child. What could you spend hours doing, without noticing how much time had passed? What worlds and games did you like to fall into? How did you feel when you were doing things that lit you up? What dreams did little you have for growing up? Are you living up to those dreams?

Write whatever comes to mind as you focus on and connect with your younger self.

• #2 – Life story

This is a longer journaling activity, so give yourself enough time to really work your way through writing out your life story. Yes. Journal about your life story. How did you become who you are today? What experiences feel core to your story? What things have happened to you that you feel compelled to write about when documenting your life?

As you look back on what you’ve written, what moments stand out to you? What truths feel essential to who are you? What values (like honesty, trust, and confidence) seem to come up again and again? What has continuously been important to you?

• #3 – Everything you’d love to create 

Set a timer for 10-15 minutes and write down everything you would love to create in a world where there are no money or time limits. Give yourself permission to dream like little you would. Don’t shy away from magic. Journal about anything you’d love to bring into existence or experience. 

Once you’ve finished, look back and see if you can notice patterns between each of the things you wrote. What stands out?

These activities are meant to help you get in touch with your core self—the little you, the dreamer, the person who has experienced so much life, so that you can see what’s important to you and from that place of inner connection, you can create a brand strategy that’s aligned with who you really are. 

4 brand strategy journaling exercises

• #1 – Purpose and Vision

Defining your purpose and vision is foundational to everything else that you create within your business—it is the soul of what you do that guides your work. To start sifting through what that essence is, ask yourself the big-picture questions. Why are you here? What is your “why” for starting your business that goes beyond money and time? What emotions come up for you when you think about the work you want to do? 

Extra exercise: write a letter to yourself a year from now as if everything you’ve been working toward came true. Address where you are, what you did, and how you felt as everything was unfolding. 

• #2 – Your Mission

Your mission is the heart of your business which will forever serve and support your vision. It’s more grounded than your purpose and vision but still touches on big-picture ideas centered around your business, specifically. What do you want to create in the world? What changes do you dream of making? How do you want to serve others? What are the important values you want your business to always uphold? 

Extra exercise: write a mission statement that touches on your business’s values. 

(To see examples, check out this blog post.) 

• #3 – Your Uniqueness

Exactly as it sounds, your uniqueness is what makes you stand out from others, not only in business but also in your personal life. What comes naturally to you? What unique qualities set you apart from everyone else? What things do you value that may not be important to others? What do you love doing, big or little things, that others may not enjoy? 

Extra exercise: Ask friends/family what stands out about you to them and what they think makes you unique. 

• #4 – Your Meaningful Message

Your meaningful message is the message and truths you feel others need to hear from you. Think about your mission and those you’re seeking to support—what message do they need to hear? What do you want them to understand about the heart behind what you do? What do you want them to understand about themselves? Is there a “truth” behind what you do that if they understood it, would allow them to finally breakthrough?

Extra exercise: Write a letter to your ideal client as if she were a friend. Ask her about her life and business. Pay attention to all of the things you talk about with each other. 

As you get in touch with what’s important to you as a person and begin working your way through these exercises to help understand the deeper why behind what you do, you’ll be unearthing an important connection with your brand and your audience. 

You can take these answers, polish them (if you’d like), and put them somewhere to remind yourself daily of what you’re striving to create, in your business and in your life. 

If you’re seeking support while on your journey of building a brand that’s aligned with your deeper values, I can absolutely help (it’s actually my specialty). By guiding you to reconnect with your imagination and self, I’m here to help you get clear on what you want and uncover the strategy that will support you in actually building your dreams.