Vulnerability is having quite a moment right now.

From Brené Brown breaking down how there is no courage without vulnerability and no creativity without failure…

To RuPaul telling the queens that showing vulnerability helps the audience fall in love with them…

To the topic of a thousand marketing conference keynotes…

We’re really getting the message that vulnerability is relatable, vulnerability is lovable, and vulnerability makes for great storytelling.

What’s less clear is what is the right amount of vulnerability when marketing your business. What do you need to include because it’s essential to your brand and what’s just TMI?

Let’s walk through some things to consider when deciding what to share and what to keep to yourself when marketing your small business.

You Have Every Right To Privacy

No one is entitled to your story. What you share or don’t share is entirely up to you. Here are some excellent reasons to keep a part of your story private:

• It causes you great pain to speak or think about it.

• You’re still processing what happened.

• Speaking up could harm you or others.

• It has no impact on your business values, how you conduct business, or who you want to serve.

• You don’t feel ready.

• You don’t want to.

The only person who needs to decide whether your reason is good enough to keep something private is you.

But! Before you slink silently away, let’s walk through why you might want to consider sharing vulnerable parts of your story.

It’s Easier To Care About a Human Than A Brand

This is why influencer marketing is a thing. This is why celebrities have wildly successful corporate ventures and why Rihanna could literally tell me to buy anything and I would. People are very susceptible to suggestion from the people they admire.

This is also why any marketer worth their salt is going to be on you to get testimonials and other forms of social proof- because customers are inherently suspicious of marketing. They are much more likely to trust a person’s personal recommendation.

If you want customers to relate to your brand, you have to give them someone to relate to. Often, that someone has to be you, dear small business owner. Especially if you’re in coaching or consulting or another service-based business where clients will be interacting with you directly.

You Do Need To Share Enough for Ideal Customers to Recognize Themselves & Opt-In

Often, vulnerable aspects of our personal stories are what motivated us to found our own businesses in the first place.

Not sharing your why makes that origin story a lot less compelling. It also makes it harder for the people you are best suited to serve to recognize that you can help them. 

Here are some examples of how powerful founders have shared their personal experiences to build community with people going through something similar.

The Ad Girls mission to put more money in the hands of more women has all the more emotional resonance when you learn of co-founder Jennifer Spivak’s journey from domestic abuse survivor to CEO of a wildly successful, all-female ad agency. Oh, and they donate 5% of their profits to FreeFrom which “helps domestic abuse survivors achieve financial stability so that they can leave and never go back”. Spivak’s openness helps other women with similar stories feel safe working with her and eager to support her endeavors.

In another example, Victoria Albina’s openness about her own years of struggle with codependency and people-pleasing makes the advice on her Feminist Wellness podcast uniquely encouraging, relatable, and without a hint of judgment. Clients feel confident enough that she understands their struggles and will respond to them with compassion to make a substantial investment to work with her.

And one of our favorite clients, Vigor Roots Founder Nathalee DuRose’s forthrightness about her own past struggle to grow healthy hair after years of damage from chemical relaxers has earned her a dedicated community of followers. Her DMs are full of pictures of scalp conditions, thinning edges, and traction alopecia sent along with requests for advice. Even if no other hair growth treatment has worked for them before, people are willing to incorporate Vigor Roots’ Root22Serum into their daily routines because they trust the results DuRose and her scores of happy customers have shared. 

Do you think they’d feel comfortable DMing a picture of their bald spot to someone who never admitted to experiencing hair thinning themselves? Probably not.

Sometimes, oftentimes, people need to understand that you’ve been where they are now before they believe that you can help them.

Hope Is Powerful

Look, if you opened a business because you know how to alleviate the pain of something you’ve experienced yourself- you, yes, you- could be a great beacon of hope for those going through that pain right now.

You surviving, you thriving, helps your people understand that they can too. And that is a powerful motivator to work with you, to buy your product, to follow your work, to amplify your reach, and talk you up to their friends.

We Crave Community

When people are struggling with a problem that makes them feel alone, finding community that can empathize, relate to, and support them is incredibly healing.

By sharing your story, you can create that community. 

When you share your story, you inspire others to share theirs. And these stories help those struggling in silence to find you and reach out.

Your story can launch more than just a sale, but an entire movement.

Sharing Invites Caring

So, to sum up, here are some reasons you might want to consider sharing a vulnerable aspect of your personal story in your small business marketing.

• It motivated you to start your business.

• It’s the reason behind your mission and values.

• It’s why you conduct business in a certain way.

• Your ideal customers are going through a similar struggle.

• Your perspective can help others going through the same thing.

• Community is needed for those who have gone through it or are currently going through it.

• You can speak about it without your mental health suffering.

Your story is incredibly powerful. Don’t let shame be the thing that stops you from using it.

Want some help sorting out a brand story that is straight up 🔥🔥🔥? You’re gonna want this Messaging Magick Workbook.