Building a strengths-based brand | How to use your unique strengths to build your perfect creative business

Your strengths are the things that you are naturally great at. They’re the things that people come to you for, the things you excel at, and the things that make you such a brilliant creative. Your unique combination of talents, skills, and behaviours is what sets you apart from every other creative, but how can you use them to your advantage when it comes to branding? What do they have to do with your brand strategy? How can you use your strengths to stand out, speak up, and shine? 

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Knowing and understanding your strengths can help you to find your purpose and build a brand around what makes you so special, makes you the best at what you do, and what sets you apart from everybody else. 

Building a brand and a business around those strengths, around what you're amazing at, what you're naturally really good at, what people come to you for, is going to help you to stand out, tell your story and share the magic that is you, with the world.

Why it’s important to know your strengths & use them in your branding

1. Sharing your strengths increases trust

Your audience needs to trust that you are good at what you’re offering them. They need to have confidence that you’re the best person for the job, whether you’re offering products or services. Knowing and sharing your strengths allows you to instill that level of trust and confidence in your audience about the things that you’re great at!

2. Sharing your strengths sets you apart

There are hundreds if not thousands or millions of branding coaches out there, but part of what sets me apart are my strengths. I have a unique combination of strengths that makes me the perfect brand coach for certain people. It makes me different from other brand coaches who have different strengths and sets me apart from them. They might be a coach who is amazing at executing things, whereas my strengths are in strategic thinking and relationship building. The same applies for you. Knowing and sharing your strengths sets you apart from other people in your industry. 

3. Sharing your strengths tells your story

Your strengths tell the story of who you are, what you’ve learnt throughout your life, what you’ve become really great at, what you were naturally good at as a young person, and more. They can inform your mission, vision, values, and so much more. They’re part of your journey and that’s a journey you can share with your audience. If your top strength is “futurist,” you can tell your story and share what that means for you as a creative. What has it meant for your business? What has it meant for your life? Why does it make you a great artist? 

4. Knowing your strengths helps you build your brand more effectively

When it comes to the practical side of building a brand, knowing your strengths can help you do this more effectively and efficiently. My strengths are NOT in executing or influence, so to make the most of the things that are my strengths, celebrate other peoples’ strengths, and give my brand the best chance it’s got, I’ve hired amazing people to do the things I’m not good at! I’ve hired a virtual assistant, a podcast editor, and other contractors who are amazing at getting shit done, so that I can focus on the things I’m good at: strategic thinking and relationship building. 

How to find your strengths

The best way to find your strengths is to take the Gallup Strengths Assessment. There are four domains of strengths which are: strategic thinking, execution, relationship building and influence. And there are 34 strengths that all fit in one of those categories. 

You can have an infinite combination of these 34 strengths which is what's so cool about it. Everybody has such a different selection or combination of these strengths that makes them super unique. 

My top 5 strengths are: intellection, focus, futuristic, learner and relator. Three of those are strategic thinking strengths. One is an executing strength, and one is a relationship building strength. That means that most of my top strengths are in strategic thinking, so it made sense for me to realise this and go all in on that. 

You get your five top strengths, and if you pay for the full assessment you can see what your top 34 strengths are. And the great thing is that these strengths are what you're good at. The ones at the bottom of the list are not ones that you're bad at, they're just not as strong as your top five. 

My number 34 is adaptation, but I could focus really really hard at improving my adaptability, at getting better at going with the flow and adapting to different situations, and I could move number 34 up my list. So it's not that they're not your strengths, they're just not your top ones. So you can work on any of these and make them your top strengths, however you like to.

But I recommend focusing on the five that are your top strengths and think about how you can make the most of the strengths that you are naturally really good at. 

If you can’t take the test, you can ask questions such as: 

• What parts of my current job/life come easily to me?
• What parts are the easiest to get in a flow state doing?
• What parts make me feel the most like me?
• What do people ask me for help or advice with?
• What classes/jobs/tasks do I really excel at?
• Ask some friends - what do you think I’m good at?

How to infuse your strengths into your brand

1. Take the StrengthsFinder test and learn about your strengths
2. Make your strengths a focal point in your brand strategy as part of your unique selling points and differentiators
3. Write about your strengths on your website, social media, and sales content
4. Use your strengths to make decisions about building your brand

I've changed everything about my business and my brand since learning about my strengths and going all in on them, and if understanding yours brings you a new perspective, I highly recommend that you do the same. Now you have an insight into what strengths look like, what they mean and how they can be used as part of your brand. I can’t wait to see what you do with it!