I recently attended a session on advertising, presented as part of Small Business Week. In it, Brian Hagel, Sales Manager at Mix 107.9 / FortSaskOnline.com, chatted about many things, including what he’d learned from The Wizard of Ads® matriarch Roy H. Williams. While I’d heard many of William’s “wisdoms” before, I perked up when Hagel said, if you can substitute someone else’s name in your story – and no one notices – you need to tell a different story.
YAHOO! That’s what I’ve been saying!
I’m like anyone else. I find it excruciating to write my own story. For me, it’s a combination of not wanting to face some of my own pain points and the incessant fear of failing publicly. That’s my very short story.
The story behind who you are and the business you have built (or helped build) is as important as what you’re selling. It’s also a glaring gap in much of the marketing I see people using – from websites, to social posts, to the email newsletters that hit my inbox on a daily basis.
Humanizing your business story is the way to share your brand message, engage your audience, and drive action based on the emotional response it inspires.
Case Study
Earlier this, week I was talking to a potential client for the first time. I could hear the agony in her voice as she described her struggle to develop content for her website on her own for nearly a year. She is stalled on doing any social media marketing because that story hasn’t been told.
As we talked through the challenges she’s been facing, I naturally started interviewing her, asking her about her passion for what she’s doing for clients, why anyone should care, and as Hagel emphasized, what’s in it for them. The veil began to lift. We barely scratched the surface but I could hear the panic subsiding as she began to see that she has a story that matters.
Bottom line: If no one ever hears your story, how do you expect to build ongoing, lasting relationships based on that narrative?
Rob Hatch of Owner Media Group put it this way: “The reality is, your stories reveal part of who you are and what you’re capable of even as you have yet to accomplish your greatest achievements.”
It’s time to tell your story, and I’d love to help.
