Strategic Storytelling

Business owners, especially those with small businesses that offer professional services, often get advised to, "Make your mess your message." 

This is awful advice for marketing. The original "mess to message" comes from psychologists, who meant, "Your mistakes are telling you something! You need to stop and pay attention."

They didn't mean, "Make your mess your business message." 

They weren't thinking of entrepreneurs.

This episode shows how sharing your mess can backfire as well as how well-chosen personal stories can support your growth. I refer to a book, The Road Trip, that's especially effective.  

If you liked this episode, be sure to visit my kindle book on Amazon - Grow Your Business One Story At A Time. Stop by my website and say hello! 

When you're a service-based entrepreneur, your brand is YOU. You are selling yourself. And, as you know, the best way to do this is with a story.

Your best story may be an origin story - the story of how you got started. And you're often advised to present your struggles and hardships. 

But is that a good approach? What will most impress your clients and customers?  

Research studies addressed the question, "What impresses employers and investors most?" They compared stories that focused on hard work with stories that focused on natural talents.

In this episode, you'll discover 3 reasons why focusing on natural talents may bring you more clients (although many people believe the opposite is true). 

You'll get a recipe for presenting yourself using these insights - without bragging or self-promotion. 

RESOURCES:

Article Link 

Free Report on Story Archetypes

Podcast Episode Featuring Nicole Lewis-Keeber - How A Story Can Traumatize Your Audience

Strategic Intensive Consultation 

Content creation is one of the most important activities of a business owner, especially for online marketing. 

As a prolific writer myself, I've found that anyone who writes a lot will sooner or later experience a challenge: how can I find ideas for my next article? 

That article might appear as a blog post or be recorded as a podcast episode.

It's the same problem I had when I was first doing comedy. You write your own material and it's tough.

For comedy, I was advised to "get mad and get even." Something that annoys you can be transformed into knock-it-out-of-the-park material. I give a couple of examples (carefully chosen for a G-rated podcast) in this episode.

It works equally well for business owners, especially if you're an Educator archetype. Role models benefit from sharing personal stories or even personal anecdotes. Educators get clients when they create aha moments that lead to new ways of learning.

Still, all archetypes can use stories to make a point and this method works well when your well of ideas feels very, very dry.

When you read articles by others in your field, you'll usually find some that make you mad. They're sharing ideas that could best be described as "cockamanie" if you want to be polite. Sometimes they're just ridiculous and unusable. Sometimes they leave out a key point, such as promising you'll earn thousands of dollars. from a single article or ebook.

Now you can turn your annoyance into an article, providing useful and often novel information.
You've got a great article - even a memorable one. Your listeners gain from the advice. And you're back to being in agood mood. 

RESOURCES:

FREE: Archetypes for branding your small business  - click here.

My podcast featuring Cindy Bidar (a Role Model archetype) will air in September. 

Strategic Intensive consultation - available beginning September 20, 2023.

Stories, by definition, evoke emotions. Strong stories encourage your audience to see themselves in your story. 

But what does your audience experience when you share a story about your own struggles? 

Maybe you want them to get the message, “I’ve been there.”

Maybe you offer a service to clients who seek help for difficult, sensitive problems.

Maybe you’ve struggled in your own business and you want to demonstrate, “I’m human.”  

How will your story land with your audience? Will you inspire them or inadvertently create an uncomfortable response?

To answer this question, we can turn to Nicole Lewis-Keeber, The Business Therapist. 

Nicole is passionate about the impact of small “t” trauma on businesses and she's trained and certified with Brené Brown’s Dare To Lead™ methodology. She's one of the few professionals who combine therapeutic processes with business coaching, helping entrepreneurs gain emotional and well as financial sustainability.

In this podcast episode, Nicole explains how a story can inadvertently trigger strong negative emotions. She provides a framework and guidelines for sharing a difficult story when it’s appropriate to your offer and your audience. 

Tune in to discover…

…key points to consider as you incorporate storytelling in your business  

…essential questions to ask when sharing a difficult story seems appropriate - even essential - to your marketing

…what can trigger an audience’s negative emotions as they listen to your story

…why the wrong story can come across as manipulative (and change your relationship with your audience forever)

…when and how you might consider “trigger warnings” before sharing a hard story

…why you can replace a struggle story with a joyful story

It’s a subject we rarely discuss but it’s important in today’s dynamic marketing environment. Nicole is one of the few professionals who combine an understanding of psychological trauma with the realities of entrepreneurship. 

Listen to Episode 112 here and you’ll come away with the understanding to choose the right story for your business and manage your shares when the topic becomes sensitive.  

RESOURCES:

Business Therapist Nicole Lewis-Keeber

Consultations for storytelling - the Strategic Intensive

FREE guide to understanding your prospective client's backstory - Click here

As marketers - especially copywriters - we're taught to begin a project by asking, "What does the client need?" 

Copywriting training usually includes a list of basic needs, such as "finance" and "love."  

We get copywriting templates that encourage the question, "Are you struggling with..."

But what if you offer a service that's not about struggle? Spa services? Wardrobe consulting? Interior design? Bridal consulting?

These business owners often wonder how to promote services that involve pleasure, not pain? It may seem odd to encourage clients to buy something that isn't urgent.

I wondered that, too, when I started copywriting. 

But then I learned it was important to listen to the client's backstory. Often something that seems totally unnecessary - even silly - can fill an important role in the client's life.

That's the subject of today's podcast. 

RESOURCES:

FREE - Find the client's backstory. Click here.

Nail your client's motivation to buy (course) - Click here.

Copywriting Basics - a Udemy course - Click here.

Copywriting Review - Click here.

Strategic Intensive consultation - Click here.

It's happened to every consultant or coach. 

A client shows up, enthusiastic and ready to rock and roll.

But then they stop cold. They realize they're not Cinderella and you're not the fairy godmother. You won't just wave a wand. They have to contribute to the work. 

Even if they've paid you, you're frustrated. You succeed when your client succeeds. No ethical professional wants to deal with a roster of clients who started and then stalled partway through. 

With a service business, the relationship works in two ways. The client chooses you. You choose the client.

Compare this version to the traditional hero's journey. 

The hero gets into big trouble. There's no way the hero can do anything to improve the situation.  

The guide appears spontaneously. 

Think of Cinderella and the fairy godmother. Cinderella didn't interview fairy godmothers and choose the best one.

Nor did the godmother choose Cinderella, who was hardly the ideal client. Leave the ball by midnight? No thanks. She's taking her chances.

Unlike Cinderella's godmother, you have to screen your clients. You don't want to end up with a client who will hire you, not do the work, and then tell the world you're an incompetent consultant. 

A true selling story will help you craft your story so you'll communicate the kinds of clients you want and discourage the rest. 

This episode shows you how to design a story to clarify exactly the kinds of clients you'd like to work with. You'll understand why the process is mutual - the client hires you and you choose your clients.

RESOURCES:

FREE - Discover what motivates your clients - Click here.

Self-paced video course - Discover exactly how to discover your client's motivation. Click here.

Self-paced video course - From Story-Telling to Story-Selling. Click here.

Here's something I see often. You're trying to explain a service to your clients. They don't get it.

So...you tell them more about you. Your "why." Your origin story.

And you tell them more about your process. What are the steps. What's the intake process.

And they're still not clear on your offer.

our solutions may not have existed last year...or you may have created a solution that nobody else offers.

Sometimes I've seen clients make it even harder for clients to figure out what they do. If you create a title like, "Business Activity Specialist," or promise to "make chaos disappear," your audience has no clue.

The way to explain your services is to use 2 kinds of stories.  I go into detail - with examples - in Podcast Episode #109 of the Strategic Storytelling Podcast. It's short and direct, with lots of examples...and I'd love to know what you think.

 RESOURCES

The Strategic Intensive Program - a 2-week sprint to transform your marketing. Click here to learn more.

FREE report to find the client's backstory. Click here to download.

Self-paced video course on Learning Your Client's Backstory. Discover what's going on in the client's mind when they show up to work with you. 

It’s not a secret that potential clients get nervous before they decide to hire you. They know they’re taking a risk, especially if you’re a small business and they aren’t coming from a referral.

They’re looking for reasons to trust you. Ideally, they’d find social proof - several warm, obviously genuine, signed testimonials from previous clients. -

But you can’t always get those testimonials. Sometimes you’re too new. Sometimes you provide a service where clients don’t want to identify themselves. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a first name and a city.

You understand. Some services are sensitive and so are some people.

How else can you communicate your knowledge, experience, and approachability?

The truth is, you can build trust and build relationships by the way you create your content. It’s not about the words. It’s in the stories you tell, the way you describe your services, and the context of your presentation. 

RESOURCES

Link to my relocation book 

FREE guide to your client's backstory

My course on credibility (with the 6 pillars of content credibility) - Use code CRED30 for your 

Nicole Lewis-Keeber

Sally Hogshead Fascinations

If you can get a testimonial - free guide for helping your clients write one

If you’re marketing online, you probably know, “The money is in the list.” 

To grow your list in today’s market, you almost always need to offer your prospective clients something of value such as an ebook, a recording, or an invitation to a webinar or workshop. This offering is known as a lead magnet (sometimes also called a “freebie” or “free giveaway”).

Your lead magnet has two purposes: to attract prospects to sign up and also to screen prospects so you get a list of qualified leads. 

On Strategic Storytelling Podcast Episode #107, you'll discover...

…how to tell if your business requires a lead magnet

…when to start writing your lead magnet

… what to do before you start writing your lead magnet

… how to avoid the most common mistakes in positioning your lead magnet

…what kinds of stories to use in a lead magnet.

RESOURCES:

My podcast on stages of awareness (essential for choosing your topic)

Lead Magnet Makeover Course - Replace your tired old lead magnet with a list building asset (course by Cindy Bidar via my affiliate link)

Copywriting Review - Get a detailed review of your lead magnet and website with steps and suggestions.

Strategic Intensive - Work with me to design a lead magnet that will support your brand and attract targeted subscribers. 

Don't forget to leave a rating and review! 

What makes a story grab your audience’s attention?

With all the stories going around, it’s hard to make a story stand out. Just opening my email today, I got a handful of stories about people who took a cruise, went gardening, took the kids to the beach, went to the dentist, went for a medical checkup (with a little TMI) and …well you get the idea. 

Each story was designed to hook my interest. Most marketers - let’s face it - get the same advice. Just tell a story. People will listen. You’ll engage with them. That’s all you have to do.

But some stories capture our attention and go viral.

We can use an analogy from the news media. The story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos has gone extremely viral. If you get hooked, you'll find all kinds of stories, videos, podcasts, and more. 

Yet other stories about medical actions don't capture our attention. Several years ago, NPR investigated the Merck company's role in popularizing bone density tests. Few people read the story. When they do, they don't get hooked.

In this podcast episode, you'll learn about specific factors that make a story go viral, in business or in the news media. 

You'll also learn to recognize stories that can only be called cringeworthy...stories that are destined to disappear, and frankly the storyteller hopes they'll be buried forever.

Finally, you'll get examples of memorable business stories, by real people that combine persuasiveness with staying power. You'll see the contrast between those strong stories and the stories that would be better left untold.

When I work with clients, we focus on finding a story that will not just be memorable, but will support their brand and build credibility. Click here to learn more about my flagship program, the Strategic Intensive.

FREE guide - 3 common storytelling mistakes (and the 1 simple way to fix them)

The Merck Company story is reported here by NPR. 

You're writing copy to target your ideal clients. But they may not be ready to hear you. They may not know they have a problem; they may not be ready to look for solutions.

You may have heard of the 5 levels of awareness identified by iconic copywriter Eugene Schwartz. You write copy differently - and share different stories - depending on the client's level of awareness.

In this episode, we do two things.

First, you'll discover the 5 levels of customer awareness and recognize them in the client's backstory.

A prospective client who's not aware she has a problem will bring one type of backstory. Her story changes when she's identified the problem and chooses from two or three possible solutions.

As you listen to clients' backstories you discover their level of awareness. You can fine-tune your targeting.

Additionally, our clients have different levels of marketing awareness - something that's not covered in the original 5 levels. Some clients are hearing pitches from half a dozen different competitors. Some are completely new to your industry and to marketing pitches from you and your competitors.

Their experience with marketing changes the way they respond to your message...and may lead to downright skepticism. I've experienced this myself when I hear a tired old pitch from someone I've thought about hiring.

Resources

The notion of "levels" originally appeared in Eugene Schwartz's book, Breakthrough Advertising. It's now out of print, hard to find, and expensive.

I've discussed client backstories on various podcasts, most recently in an interview with Shawn Fink (Episode 100).

You can learn more from my free report on client motivation.

Go in-depth with the self-paced video course, The Client Advantage. Use coupon code CLIENT30 to take an additional 30% off the published price.

Take a deep dive into your marketing, find your story, and start revising your copy with the Strategic Intensive. A fast and friendly way to transform marketing for small service-based businesses.

And if you like what you hear, go ahead and leave a rating and a review on Apple (preferably) or wherever you listen to podcasts.

You know you need a change. A new direction in business...maybe a whole new business. A new career. A major move from corporate to entrepreneurship.

You might be changing because well, it's time! Or you might be facing pressures from yourself or your market. You change. Your market changes. You're facing west and they're heading east, or vice versa.

I've gone through many transitions myself, and coached others through theirs. It's rarely smooth or easy. These three stories keep coming up:

Crawling when you need to run
Flying when you need to take the bus
Going native when you signed on to be a tourist

In this episode you'll gain an understanding of each story, with lots of examples.  Most people identify with one story. Mine is, I tend to jump right into something instead of moving more slowly.

I've had quite a few clients who got hooked on their "temporary" career and couldn't go past it...they went native.

If you'd like to explore further these transitions, the Strategic Intensive is the best place to start. It's more than a consult: we get into action and help you move quickly.

 I also have an audio program where I interviewed 12 business owners on their transition from side hustle to success. They tell it like it is! Click here to learn more - and you can grab it at a special price for now. 

And if you found this episode helpful, you may know someone who's in a transition and could benefit from these ideas. I'd be especially grateful if you'd leave a rating and a review on Apple (preferably) or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Business storytelling is just one more tool in your marketing bag. But sometimes it's harder to be objective about storytelling decisions than about other business decisions, such as whether to attend a networking event or how to price your new offer.

In this episode, we explore a common challenge among business owners. You have a story you REALLY like. You're eager to share it. 

Someone advises, "Maybe that's not the best story for your business right now."

You resist. After all, you're really attached to this story. 

And that may be a sign you shouldn't tell the story. We see a similar phenomenon among writers who get attached to phrases, metaphors and, yes, stories. It can be hard to let go...and yet that's exactly when you should.

In this episode I suggest 3 questions you can ask to decide if this story is really so perfect you shouldn't resist...and when it's time to realize you're too close and too attached.

References and resources:

Natalie Goldberg's books (they've been around and are worth discovering):
Writing Down the Bones
Thunder and Lightning (she talks about the chicken story here)

Self-paced video course on Persuasive Storytelling (use code SPRING40 for a discount while this message is visible). 

Strategic Intensive to choose your story.

FREE: 3 Surprising Ways A Copywriter Can Grow Your Business - Ebook to download.

Does someone want to connect with you on LinkedIn? Do you get messages like these:

“It looks like you’re doing some pretty amazing things with storytelling.”

“I’d love to learn more about your journey to success.”

“Let’s get to know each other better.”

"I'm a huge fan of what you're doing."

Or even...

It was amazing meeting you at [event] and learning about your company. The conversation on [related topic] was pretty interesting and knowledgeable. I am looking forward to knowing more about you and your exciting role.

On the surface, these messages sound like they're interested in YOU.

But when you look more closely, they're formulaic templates. They're not about you at all. They could be sent to anyone.

The truth is, they're presenting an outline of a story...not a real story.

In this podcast episode, we explore what's wrong with these messages and some easy ways to connect by focusing on the story of your target connection.

My LinkedIn account: https://linkedin.com/in/cathygoodwin

Learn about finding the client's story with this free guide -
https://cathygoodwin.com/baggage

Business decisions and career decisions will be influenced by the way you tell a story. When you tell an old story because "everyone knows this" you make choices with less successful outcomes. 

In this episode, we review the retirement story as an example.

Many (maybe most) people make career and business decisions in the context of a retirement story. It's the story they've heard all their working lives. 

In this episode we review two of the most common retirement stories: "I have to wait till I retire" and, "If you retire you must be old." 

When you question these traditional stories you can choose to build your business with a new story. You find that when you replace the word "retirement" with "transition," you find many new possibilities. 

Most importantly, your business looks different. You'll hear examples of successful business owners who shifted the direction of their business as they changed their retirement story. 

1:06 - the traditional story and why it doesn’t work 

1:40 -why that story creates problems and negative experience

2:50 - creating a vision board

3:06 - 2 ways the story gets told - and what’s wrong with each one

4:55 - why saying “transition” instead of “retirement” leads to a new story

5:45 - why “I have to wait till retirement” is a story and what to do instead

8:00 - how your story affects your decisions

8:40 — what you can do if you’re not sure what to do next

9:40 - Story of Olga Kotelko who became a track-and-field star at age 77

10:25 - Recap of 2 stories 

“There’s a gap between what I know they need and what they think they need.”

As a service-based business, you probably recognize this problem. 

For instance, you know your clients mostly need to build their confidence. They need to jump in and take action. 

But when they come to you, they say, “I don’t have the right technology.” Or “I need to learn copywriting.”

That's the topic of this episode, where I interview Shawn Fink. 

Shawn has a unique positioning strategy. She focuses on coaching her clients to find the courage and clarity to make significant life changes.

Shawn's business explains exactly why we need to respond to the client's backstory. Clients rarely know just what they need or even what they want. The coaching process begins with the backstory but then morphs in surprising directions.

Clients rarely arrive with the statement, “I know what I want and how to get there. I need the courage to move forward.” 

Shawn’s marketing has to integrate her unique offer with the client’s backstory. 

We first learn a little about Shawn's coaching goals and the beliefs that underlie her work with clients. Next, we take a closer look at the client's backstory. We talk about why you need to separate the client's perspective from the offer when you plan your marketing.

Some highlights: 

6:04 – Clients face a choice when the next step seems scary: uplevel or pivot. 

11:34 – Begin a discussion of the client's backstory.

18:50 – From backstory to marketing story

21:40 – Dealing with the different backstories: each is unique but you can find a common thread that drives your marketing.

27:16 -  Generic tips on "being brave"  to leave with our listeners

29:12 – Shawn rejects the common advice to feel the fear and do it anyway. It's BS, she says...and here's what to do instead. 

34:94 - Don't miss the thoughts Shawn wants to leave with out listeners.

Resources:
http://ShawnFink.com 

http://CathyGoodwin.com/baggage - Learn more about backstories and the 3 steps we covered. 

You've got a great story for business...and you're ready to write "The End."

But it's rarely a good idea to end your business story this way. When you're writing a story to sell,  you'll get more results with a story that ends with the client's transformation.

In this podcast episode, we'll talk about how to show your client reached a transformation. You'll discover
... how to tailor the transformation to be meaningful to the clients you're trying to attract;
...why it's important to frame the story as a "to" rather than a "from;"
...some examples of selling stories from other service-based business owners.

Resources mentioned:
Self-paced video course on how to tell a story that's designed to sell
Udemy course on storytelling that explains why CInderella doesn't make a good business storyThe Ebook Grow Your Business One Story At A Time:  Click here.

When you're a solopreneur or small service-based business, the brand is YOU. The stories you tell will contribute to your brand and position, even when you're not intending to brand with them. A casual story gets remembered and follows you everywhere.

I've observed several business owners over the years. As their businesses grow, they become more established. They develop a group of loyal followers who respect them as professionals. 

 With this new position comes a certain freedom. Over and over, we see established professionals sharing details of their personal lives. 

These people are smart. If they'd shared too much too early, their audience would have been turned off quickly. They'd have been labeled as unreliable or worse. Now these stories add a new dimension to their brand. They seem more approachable and more relatable. 

In this podcast episode, you'll hear about some business owners who made the shift in their storytelling as they became more established. One business owner, Connie Ragen Green, is particularly easy to follow because she's written so many books. We can see how she goes from being "strictly business" to combining business with personal stories, and ultimately to books that totally focus on the personal.

In my own world, I was "strictly business" myself. However, last year I wrote a book about fighting the stereotypes of aging. This book grew out of my experience as a marketer and writer, but it's not about business. 

I'd be interested to hear your experiences as a business owner who's experienced growth.  Do you find yourself sharing more comfortably (and more personally) as you grow your business?

Resources and references

Learn about story archetypes here.

Connie Ragen Green has many books on Amazon. 
Connie Ragen Green - The Road Trip: An Entrepreneur’s Journey of Self-Discovery
Connie Ragen Green - In Pursuit of Healthy-ness
Connie Ragen Green- Intersection of Hope and Synchronicity
Dorie Clark - The Long Game
Angela Duckworth - Grit
Cathy Goodwin - Aging in Sneakers

This podcast looks at 3 ways your website resembles an Easter egg:

(1) Websites, like Easter eggs, rarely last forever.

After working with dozens of business owners to create a compelling, “stand-out” online presence, I’ve discovered that the most constant success factor is a willingness to change. Your website may need change for several reasons - you, your market, your environment and more.

(2) Websites, like Easter eggs, are fun to decorate, so it’s easy to forget what’s under the shell.

(3) Websites, like Easter eggs, can be hidden away and found only during a treasure hunt. Good for eggs. Bad for websites.

On the podcast, you'll discover creative ways to deal with each of these challenges as you create your website.  

Resources: 

Free report to download: http://CathyGoodwin.com/webplan

Critique/review of your website: http://mycopy.info/yourtweak

Copywriting support for your website: http://cathygoodwin.com/writeweb

Your client says, "I don't want to work with you anymore."

Or they disappear.

What can you do? 

You can try to find out why they've left. Usually, that's a lost cause. Some clients don't know why they left. Some don't want to hurt your feelings. Some fear confrontation.

Your client has a story. You just don't know - and you may never know - what it is.

Even worse, they won't answer questions like, "How can I make things better?" Why should they? That's work. Hire your own coach or hold a focus group.

This podcast explores the similarity between personal and business breakups, especially when you're ghosting. 

The truth is, breaking up and being ghosted may be just what you need for your business. 

Starting at 9:25 you'll get 3 very specific ways to deal with a business breakup - especially what to do before it happens so you minimize the damage.

Free report: What motivates your client? Three keys to finding their story.