So What’s Your Story?

Have you ever wondered why the oldest profession and marketing have so much in common? Now that I have your attention let’s talk about what common elements storytelling and marketing have in common. I bet you thought I was thinking that something else is the world’s oldest profession. I’ve done significant research and discovered the only reason you know about that other profession is that someone told a story many years ago and it was passed on from generation to generation.

I have discovered there are four key elements to good storytelling and marketing. I’d like to share with you the four key elements and why they matter in today’s short-attention driven market.

The first element is the story must have a great intro, if your first sentence or two doesn’t pull your reader in you’re done. It doesn’t matter how well the rest of the story is written, it won’t get read. I think there might be a career out there for people who can write dynamic introductions.

The second element is the story must appeal to your target audience. Interestingly, I’ve discovered that it’s more important to match your message to the market than almost anything else we do. Find a way to place your reader in your story and they will share it with everyone you want to read the story. Use the wrong word or a concept that doesn’t match their world view and you lose your audience. One of my former mentors taught me that if the story is more than 10% new, most people won’t buy it. He made his living being 10% new. When he retired he was worth over $100,000,000, back when a million dollars was still a lot.

The third element of a story is it leaves you wanting more. I talk a lot, not a good or bad thing but I enjoy telling and hearing great stories. I’m always on the lookout for stories to share with my clients and friends. Most of the best stories I share come from my life experiences and the many people I come to get to know in my many careers. I discovered something interesting about the great storytellers of the past and present; they all leave you hanging on to find out how the story ends. The stories of the best storytellers survive through many generations and may change over time to reflect the current trends but they don’t move too far away from the original story.

The final element of a great story is that is gets you to take action now. The expert storyteller realizes he or she is doing a disservice if they don’t get you to take action at the end of the story. For the best marketers and storytellers they know they must get their reader to take action. They know what things might be holding you back and they have addressed it throughout their story. They have woven together many elements to make it easy for you to decide what should be done and how to make it easy for you to do it. My action step is to ask you to sign up today using the blue signup box at the top right corner of the screen. This way we can send you updates when we post new information on the blog. It will also give you a chance to win great prizes and receive free seminars as they become available. This will help me spend more time writing and less time promoting the blog through the different social options that we currently use. If you feel you get great value through this blog please pass the story along.