What Should I Know About You?

A prospective client recently asked me this question. "What should I know about you?"

We had such a refreshingly human conversation after that. And I found myself turning the question over in my mind the rest of the afternoon.

It's a question we each could easily revisit again and again. It's so akin to asking, "Who are you?" Interpreted that way, I could focus on what I do, what I love, who I share my life with. 

Let's try turning this question on our brands, our businesses, our art. 

Whatever you're marketing to the world, what if you thought about it from the perspective of the world asking you:

"What should I know about you?"

How would you answer? And are you answering it in your elevator pitch, in the descriptions you write for your paintings, in your blog or your website copy? If not, I'd start by figuring out if you truly know the answer in the first place.

What should I know about you?

There's so much wrapped up here. To answer, you have to understand who you're talking to (I'll spare you the personas speech again), and what's important to them.

You also have to understand yourself. Your work. What you're here for. Why you do what you do. Who you do it for. What holds you back. What spurs you forward. What ignites you. What thwarts you. What problems you can solve. What you need help doing. How you want the world to see you, how you can help the world.

Sure, just that. ;-)

What should your audience know about you?

Once you've done all that navel-gazing, it's time to put it all together. Figure out what your audience should know about you. How does all that stuff you've figured out about you intersect with the relationship you're forming with this person? The work you're offering them?  The things you know are important to them?

It's a question I'm going to have fun turning over and over in lots of contexts -- clients, marketing projects, friends, family...