The Power of Selling with Storytelling: Why It’s Crucial for Your Marketing

The Power of Selling with Storytelling: Why It’s Crucial for Your Marketing

November 11, 2015 By

FINDING THE NUGGETS OF GOLD in your life experience is one of the most enriching encounter you will ever have with yourself.

Because on the other side of it is the incredible understanding of the meaning and purpose of your journey, and depth of joy in connecting with your clients from a deeper part of you. All of your leadership and moneymaking ability rests in that narrative, because that is how people will connect to you.

The process will lead you – step by step – to fully step into the greatest expression of yourself, to be confident and bold, and to articulate your story in a way that resonates with your ideal clients.

Everyone has had a unique path through life and if you can get clear on how that path evolved and how to share it in a compelling way, you’ll connect quickly with anyone.

“So, what’s your story…?”

If you’ve ever tripped over your tongue trying to answer this question in a few simple words, you know what I mean.

Most entrepreneurs stumble their way through an answer.

Five seconds later, they don’t even remember what they said.

If you don’t recognize the value of your story how can you expect anyone else to?

Make it easy and magical for your clients to get you and what you’re offering, or else they’re off to the next thing.

To become more successful, you don’t have to change your story. You have to KNOW your story.

Your story reveals who you are at your best, so you can attract a wonderful tribe, create better rapport with your clients, show up powerfully, share your compelling messages, grow your business, and become intensely valuable to those who matter most.

Once you know how your story is valuable to yourself and to others, you’re more authentic and confident, more likely to make a positive impression, and to bring forth your natural CHARISMA. It all begins with understanding your story and how to share it with the world.

Dare to tell your story so that you can connect deeply, contribute widely and inspire those you are called to support.

 

Filed Under: business writer, freelance writer, Uncategorized, website copy, writing Tagged With: , , , , ,
Let Your Magnetic Ending Linger…

Let Your Magnetic Ending Linger…

July 26, 2014 By

“There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.” ― Frank Herbert

A magnetic ending lingers long after the story’s been told. Endings are where things finally begin to make sense. At the end of a scene you’ll know you’ve done well when the reader absolutely must press on. Two kinds of endings are particularly powerful. The zoom-in endings and the zoom-out endings. With the same magnetic appeal of a camera zooming in or out on the image captured in its lens, endings should either bring the reader up close or pull back and provide a wider perspective.

ZOOM-IN endings invites intimacy, emotional contact that draws the reader or listener closer, sometimes uncomfortably close as they get entangled somewhat in the emotional experience.

The reader gets to feel the emotional pulse.

Zoom –in Devices:

  1. Disclosure in Dialogue: Enacting a dialogue is a great way to move your story forward. But it can also be used to create drama and intensity in your scenes. A dialogue with a surprise element is a great way to end a scene. It zooms the reader’s or listener’s focus in on the speaker and builds suspense for the next scene.
  2. The Cliffhanger: Cliffhangers leave the reader on the edge, uncertain of the outcome. A character is left in grave danger; an action is cut short at the precipice of an outcome, or an unexpected event alters reality. Draws the reader so deeply into the action that there is very little chance she will put down the book at that point, desperate to go on to find out what happens to her. Cliffhangers trigger a rush of excitement; the blood races, the adrenaline pumps and should be used sparingly.

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Filed Under: storytelling, writing Tagged With: , , , ,
Who was I to Write a Book?

Who was I to Write a Book?

July 23, 2014 By

Back when I started writing my first book, everyone thought I was in dreamland.

Who are you to write a book?

How will your book be different than the millions of books out there?

Why would your book be important?
Honestly, I was quite unsure. So unsure, I sent seven stories to a small publisher to check if I was on track. When the publisher dissected my stories, ripping apart every sentence of every page it hurt. But it didn’t crush my passion to earn a living through writing.

A year later I presented a completed collection of stories to a prestigious publishing house. The book was well received and elicited an invitation for another book, a compilation of my Dear Libby column. [Read more…]

Filed Under: writing, writing a book Tagged With: , , , , ,
Free Flowing or Structured Outline, That is the Question

Free Flowing or Structured Outline, That is the Question

July 16, 2014 By

Many authors bristle at the thought of having to write an outline before they write. They fear it will make their writing stiff and stifle creativity and flow.

I know, we all like to feel blissfully free. An outline can make you feel restricted. You want to write with spontaneity, just capturing the words as they flit across your brain. After all, you want your words to be authentic, congruent with who you are, a genuine expression of yourself.

Using an outline does not cramp your style. It does just the opposite – it releases it and empowers it. That’s because it provides the necessary structure to hold what you want to say effectively in a focused and organized why. The reason you can enjoy a hot drink is that there’s a solid structure in place – your cup – to hold the liquid. With nothing to hold the hot coffee, all you have is a mess, a hazardous flowing mess.

Susan Harrow, author of Sell Yourself without Selling Your Soul offers a terrific template for developing stellar stories. I think you’ll love it as much as I do:

  1. Explain the situation.

  2. Develop the action.

  3. State the result.

  4. Close with an epiphany.

  5. It’s concise as it is brilliant.

Here’s another template. This one I learned years ago, when I first started writing. My first writing mentor gifted me with these excellent guidelines. Though more than ten years have passed, I still remember it. To share it with you, I did a quick google search and discovered that her advice actually came from William E. Blundell, author of The Art and Craft of Feature Writing: Based on The Wall Street Journal Guide. [Read more…]

Filed Under: storytelling, writing Tagged With: , , , , , ,