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One of the crucial parts of good copy is a good story.
People love stories. We're raised on fairy tales as well as stories from our parents and family. Yes, even our boring old aunt's stories that she tells over and over again. Secretly, we love them.
We build relationships with stories. They're how we get to know each other and become friends, comrades, partners, and lovers.
When we watch television, we look for stories – even if it's the news. We want to know: What happened here? Who's involved? Why did this happen? How did it happen? What now?
The answers inevitably tell a story.
To attract more customers, you also have to tell your story. Your story will resonate with your Ideal Customer. Your story will make you unique from your competitors. Your story will help prospects make up their minds about you (either way, whether they buy from you or not, we trust that they'll make the right decision for them)
The problem is, most entrepreneurs don't think they have a story to tell. Or they think their story is boring.
Let me reassure you. It's only boring to you.
If the thought of writing your story sounds scary, here are three guide questions for you. These are the same questions I ask my clients so we can craft a compelling and magnetic story for their marketing material:
Sit down in a quiet corner with a big mug of tea (or coffee, if that's your style), a big notebook and pen. And just start writing down the answer to each of these questions. Don't worry about being too wordy, using correct grammar or perfecting your style. We just want to get your story out of your heart and onto paper for now. Just write and don't edit yourself. You'll do that later.
Done? Now go and do something else.
Then come back and finish reading this post.
If you answered all three questions above, you have enough material for three different stories.
Go back now with an editor's eye, because now is the time to refine your story. Strive for brevity, clarity and honesty.
Strike out unnecessary details, but don't leave out too much.
And don't worry about your stories not being perfect. You can always make them better later.
When you have more refined versions of your stories, then you can add them to your marketing materials:
Keep your stories in a safe place, because you'll be using them often.
Have you written your story? What was it like? How do you use your story in marketing?
photo credit: NickPiggott
Lexi Rodrigo is a communication and marketing professional for multimillion-dollar businesses, co-author of Blog Post Ideas: 21 Proven Ways to Create Compelling Content and Kiss Writer's Block Goodbye, and host of "Marketing Insights LIVE!." Connect with Lexi on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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I like this post and did the homework of writing my story. I posted it in my About page on my sales site:
https://www.akashicrecordreading.com/about/
My concern is
1) it may be too long (esp for press kit)
2) the part about how I started my business and my current relationship with my former teacher. I have to mention my teacher if I am to write about how I got started, but I’m not sure if the story about our consequent relationship is perceived positively.
My plan this year is to get more publicity. I am writing a book now for this. If you could provide some feedback about my “story”, I really appreciate it. Thank you.
Good work, Akemi! Congratulations on taking action!
I find your story to be authentic and heartfelt. However, it’s a little bit on the long side. You may want to condense it for easier reading. Which parts are essential for your readers?
Hope this helps!
I’m the only person who did the homework?
I thought about this quite a bit. My landing page has a story of my service. Do people really care about MY story?
With your input that it’s too long, and my idea that it’s more important to focus on my service, I cut out the part about how I got started with my service. Now it looks more like a statement of intention rather than a story.
What do you think ?