Prior to starting my own business, I often found myself feeling frustrated.  I felt stuck and stagnant, as though I would never improve, and never do enough to really make a positive impact on others’ lives.  After learning from two great mentors, I finally built up the courage to let go of the steady paycheck, the incredibly awesome bosses I was working for, the benefits, and the safety and security of my job.  I then found myself venturing out into the complete unknown.  I started my business to impact and help as many people as possible live better lives through better lives at work.  I have seen first-hand what my previous company has done for people: helped them take more time off from work, lowered their stress levels, increased their positive impact on their clients, reduced the amount of unfulfilling busy-work, and much more.  I do digital marketing for businesses like my former employer so I can help them bring these benefits to as many people as possible.  I get them more clients through my digital marketing services because I understand them and share their vision and goals for improving the lives of working people.

Are you still reading this post?  If so, it may have quite a bit to do with our tendency to engage with stories.  Not that my story above is particularly interesting or even well told, it’s just that before the written word, stories were all we had.  They were the way we connected with one another.

To an extent, we’re all selling something.  Whether it’s a product, a service, or just ourselves, storytelling is one of the best ways to get people involved and interested in whatever it is we have to sell.  If you believe in the product and/or service you provide, storytelling is one of the best ways to market it. Think of what you usually engage with on social media, or even commercials these days; great, engaging posts and content are often just great stories.  Try to concentrate on marketing campaigns based on one or multiple of these stories:

• The story of the customer
• The story of the person who started the business or product
• The story of the product itself

Also, in your stories, remember NOT to talk about what you’re doing, but instead why you’re doing it: Why you started the company, why you’re selling the product, why your customer should buy it.

If you’re having troubles with your storytelling, think of things in terms of the hero’s journey.  There are multiple versions of the hero’s journey; here’s just one for a quick reference:

The picture at the beginning of this post is from one my my favorite movies of all time, Willow (1988).  I may have a particular affinity for the film because it was one of the few VHS tapes we had growing up, but I also just love the story.  Now let’s all get out there and tell a story of our own; we may find ourselves shocked at the results.

Stay humble.  Grow stronger.

-Steven