What Is Your Passion Story For Your Business?
Breaking.Digital Podcast Episode 33 — Listen to the iTunes full podcast episode here.
Quite bluntly, “Identify your passion story. People will say, ‘Secretly, I am not passionate about (fill in whatever they do)’. That’s ok. There is always a bigger passion that drives you and it usually all connects.”
Valerie Khoo is an award-winning feature writer who has been writing for Fairfax for the past 15 years. Her articles appear regularly in The Sydney Morning Herald. She is the author of six books, her latest being Power Stories: The 8 Stories You MUST Tell to Build an Epic Business.
“I like helping and empowering people to build their brand regardless of whether they are entrepreneurs or authors or whatever business they are in.”
She is a former accountant with PwC but switched careers when she gave in to her passion for writing. She mentors feature writers who want to carve out a freelance writing career as well as entrepreneurs and thought leaders who want to showcase their expertise in their own business book. Many of Valerie’s students successfully publish their work and carve out careers as successful writers.
Valerie has worked at the three publishing giants — ACP Magazines (now Bauer Media), Pacific Magazines and EMAP — and currently works as a freelance editor for several consumer and corporate publications. Her work has appeared in publications such as Voyeur, Silver Kris, Australian Financial Review and The Age. Before becoming a freelance writer 15 years ago, Valerie was features director for CLEO. For seven years, she was also the journalist behind the popular Enterprise blog on smh.com.au, theage.com.au, brisbanetimes.com.au, watoday.com.au, canberratimes.com.au and businessday.com.au.
Using her years of compiled research from interviewing up and coming entrepreneurs Valerie offers fresh and honest advice on what it takes to authentically build your profile with integrity without coming off as a “shameless self-promoting” wanker. “Don’t do it half-heartedly. Own it!” is her motto. Telling the world a story about your “passion” is important but more the important question is actually “what makes your story interesting and how do you identify the things that resonate with other people?” If you aren’t sure if you are telling your story in an interesting way, Valerie has some interesting advice on how to test the waters to find your “passion story” that people want to hear more about.
In this episode of Breaking Digital, I talk with Valerie Khoo, Founder and CEO of Australian Writers Centre based out of Sydney (with offices across Australia). We have a wonderful discussion about what it means to build your profile, the difference between branding, and most importantly how to find your passion. What is remarkable about Valerie is that her true passion is helping people achieve what they once thought was impossible … empowering people to achieve their dreams. Through her years of expansive journalistic experience in the small business and entrepreneurial space, she has seen the trajectory between those who tell a good story and thereby become a highly successful online presence and those who simply fade away. She explains how to produce useful and powerful content because “you can’t outsource your thought leadership”. We delve into being why being “helpful” is the key to being relevant in a cluttered online space.
If you are having trouble identifying your brands “hook” or you don’t know if your story feels authentic then you do not want to miss this fascinating discussion about leadership, branding, social media, digital profiles and personal profiles with Valerie Khoo, Founder and CEO of Australia Writers Centre.
Breaking.Digital Podcast Episode 33 — Listen to the iTunes full podcast episode here.
Great Quotes From Valerie Khoo
“I like helping and empowering people to build their brand regardless of whether they are entrepreneurs or authors or whatever business they are in.”
“I am passionate about people telling their stories and that I think comes from the fact that I have been a journalist for many years. During that time I have interviewed hundreds (if not thousands) of entrepreneurs and its always been an interesting experience to peek into someone else business.”
“It is interesting to see who could tell their story well and who could not and then to then track the trajectory of entrepreneurs who were then able to build their profile and personal brand because they were doing the right things and those who kind of faded away.”
“People started coming to me for my advice because I started making observations about what worked and what didn’t for entrepreneurs. I literally had the research in front of me after interviewing thousands of them.”
“Often entrepreneurs don’t actually want to give people the impression that they are building their online profile. They don’t want to admit that is something they want to do. People are afraid that other people are going think they are a ‘shameless self-promoter’”.
“There is a way to build your personal brand and profile without being a ‘shameless self-promoter’. You can do it with integrity and authenticity in a way that doesn’t annoy people. But you have to actually want to do it. Don’t half-heartedly do it, own it!”
“Don’t want to be a shameless self-promoting wanker? Get over it. Accept that many many people around the world build their online profile with authenticity and integrity and a lot of people don’t think they are wankers.”
“You know your story is authentic when you speak the truth and be honest about why you do what you do. Talk about your passion and what gets you out of bed everyday.”
“The more important question is, ‘What makes your story interesting and how do you identify the things that resonate with other people?’”
“People can relate to the feeling of passion, that’s infectious. When people can identify that someone is passionate about something (whatever that might be), they want to cheer them on. It’s just a natural instinct we have.”
“We watch movies like Rocky because we want to cheer on the hero, we want to cheer on the protagonist. We want to cheer on Rocky because he want’s it so bad and is so passionate about his dream.”
“Identify your passion story. People will say, ‘Secretly, I am not passionate about (fill in whatever they do)’. That’s ok. There is always a bigger passion that drives you and it usually all connects.”
“You need to be able to articulate your business story (what your offering is) which may be different to your passion. One of the key issues that entrepreneurs or writers have is that they aren’t able to articulate their offering succinctly or clearly.”
“If you aren’t clear, your messaging is going to be diluted and all over the place. Whatever you put out there online to build your profile should have a connection to your message.”
“When people are thinking of their passion story or their business story or what they want to be known for, don’t just let it sit in your brain and swirl around. You need to write it down. Force yourself to write in full sentences and not in bullet points because it forces you to articulate it in a succinct way.”
“Get yourself a cup of coffee. Spend 15 minutes writing your story down in full sentences. So much can become clear.”
“I think the most exciting thing about the digital space is that it is low cost or no cost. The opportunities that are now given to entrepreneurs and authors are fantastic you don’t need big bucks like in the past.”
“You don’t have to learn all the digital platforms, just pick the one or two that you enjoy because then you are going to use it. Or pick the ones that you know your target audience hangs out on.”
“You’ve got to be helpful. Business owners and thought leaders will have opinions about trends which is good, but then you also need to then be helpful to your customer or prospect.”
Breaking.Digital Podcast Episode 33 — Listen to the iTunes full podcast episode here.
How To Contact Valerie Khoo
https://twitter.com/valeriekhoo
https://www.linkedin.com/in/khooval...
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Breaking Digital Podcast, with your host Doyle Buehler is the digital leadership podcast for entrepreneurs who are making a difference online. It is for smart entrepreneurs looking to become smarter — without the fluff, clutter and confusion that plagues online. This is digital leadership; giving all entrepreneurs the ability to create massive success online, utilising key knowledge and understandings of the digital marketing and digital strategy space. If you are ready to #breakthrough and build your empire, online, this is your first step to getting help with all the disparate pieces. It is about the best in digital marketing and media — talking with the people who really are making it work. Whether it is social media, digital strategy, SEO, content development, entrepreneurship, advertising, websites, sales funnels, or just damn good ideas to try online, we’ll be covering all of the topics needed for remarkable success online.
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