Do you ever have a hard time turning off your business brain? This week’s episode was inspired by a moment that hit me over the weekend while camping. On the way home, we listened to Eminem’s new album—out of sheer curiosity, since I don’t usually listen to that kind of music anymore. But it got me thinking about his lyrics and just how talented he is, no matter your personal taste. Of course, that led me to think of Taylor Swift and, naturally, business and building a brand. I couldn’t help but start jotting down ideas, and I’m excited to dive into them with you today!
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Table of Contents
They are Both Vivid Storytellers
The most obvious connection between Eminem and Taylor Swift is that they’re both incredible storytellers. Their lyrics are so vivid, you feel like you’re right there in the moment. As business owners, we could all step up our storytelling game—myself included! As an introvert, it’s not second nature for me to grab my phone and start sharing stories, and I know that’s true for a lot of us. It’s something we have to practice.
What’s fascinating about Eminem is how raw and emotional his lyrics are, even when they aren’t exactly relatable to everyone. Taylor Swift, on the other hand, is known for being incredibly relatable. But the point is, they both have a way of drawing us into their narratives, whether or not we’ve lived through what they’re singing about.
They Build Trust Through Authenticity and Consistency
One of the most interesting things is how it feels like you really know them. I marked the word authentic here because so much has changed since Eminem’s music came out. His music has modernized, and I think he’s even changed as a person, but his lyrics still push boundaries.
He’s not afraid of being canceled, which feels very authentic to him. In the same vein of authenticity, I find it fascinating how both Eminem and Taylor Swift draw parallels between their current work and what they did years ago.
From a business perspective, this ups the trust factor. It shows that what they were saying and feeling back then was real, as they’re still referencing it in similar ways. For Eminem, it’s obvious with his Slim Shady persona. His Houdini song starts with “guess who’s back,” bringing you right back to his earlier work.
Taylor Swift does something similar with albums like Midnights—fans instantly start drawing parallels between her lyrics now and those from earlier albums like Lover.
Even when people speculate about her songs, whether about Jake Gyllenhaal or John Mayer, they find connections in the way she says something years later. As a business owner, I think about how we repeat things over and over in the same way, and that builds trust. It’s fascinating that both of them have been saying the same things for decades.
They Leave Room for Interpretation
My takeaway is they both leave room for interpretation when it comes to building a brand. Sometimes, when we think about being better storytellers in our business, we think about adding more details. But when people give too many details, you’re like, “I don’t care.” It’s like in sales—you need to paint the picture of the after, not just list everything included.
If you’re selling a coaching program, focus on how they’ll feel, not just what they’ll get. I think both do this well, leaving room for interpretation. As far as I know, neither confirms anything. We can speculate that a song is about a certain person or situation, but they don’t confirm it.
It’s okay for us, as business owners, to paint the picture without feeling like we need to give every detail or step-by-step play. I’m not encouraging gossip in the online space, but who hasn’t watched someone share something and been nosy, wondering if they’re talking about a specific person, then gone on a deep dive into their friendship or relationship? I feel like we’ve all done that. I’m not saying to intentionally drop gossip, but that kind of storytelling keeps people hooked.
It’s like in marketing: if we can open a loop in someone’s brain, they’ll naturally want to close it.
They Both Evoke Emotion
The last point I want to make is that they both evoke emotion, and that’s the primary thing they do beyond telling the story. They make you feel something. As business owners, we can get caught up in following all the rules or focusing on what we should do, but making people feel is the whole point, at least in my opinion. Hopefully, good things. For my brand, I want people to feel good things most of the time.
When Building a Brand, Work On Your Storytelling
I feel like I just shared all my thoughts on the parallels between the two, but I hope this was helpful and got you thinking about ways to change or enhance your storytelling, especially on social media where things don’t last as long and you can repeat yourself more.
To sum up what business owners can do with this: First, identify your brand’s core messages and repeat them over and over in different ways. Modernize them. Some of us have been in business for a while, so we can talk about how things have grown, how we thought one way but now think differently.
The marketing landscape has changed when it comes to building a brand—growing a business in 2020 is much different than growing one in 2024. How can we take our core messages, keep repeating, and updating them without changing them too much?
Second, how can we make our content more relatable? People do a good job of seeming relatable on stories, but are they relating to your brand’s stories? They might relate to you as a person, but when you are building a brand, can you share a testimonial or what’s possible for them with your offer, does that feel relatable? How can we infuse that more?
And third, how can we make sure we’re adding details in the right place? Add details to make people feel something, not just to give them more content. We’ve all heard stories that go into too much detail, and you’re left wondering when it’ll end. Sometimes, in trying to be good storytellers, we do too much, but it’s really about the emotions that drive what we do as humans.
How Taylor Swift and Eminem Have Been Successful Building a Brand
Those were my thoughts as I was heading home from camping a couple weekends ago about building a brand in 2024. I had the best summer—so busy and exhausting, but not in a bad way. For those who don’t know, I’m in Canada, and we have short summers and long winters. Usually, when winter’s around the corner, I think, “Oh no, winter again.”
But this year I feel differently. I’m ready to hibernate, hunker down, and get focused without feeling like I have to make the most of every single minute (which I’ve genuinely loved all summer). If you’re feeling that fall energy, I’m feeling it in my business too—let’s go! Let’s do all the things. Until next week!
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