The Essence of our Story

The Essence of our Story

Don’t you just love a good story? Good stories stimulate the imagination and allow the mind to explore new worlds and arouse unexpected emotions. Remember a time when you’ve been so enthralled and drawn into a story you couldn’t put down the book; typically what got you engaged were the characters and the life experience “story” that was shared about these characters. The story about our business needs to carry the same weight and create the same impact. Our business story needs to contain a personal, emotional connection for those we want to attract and engage.

There are seven elements that make up an engaging business story:

1. It starts with a good idea or problem that needs to be solved, or both.
2. It has a protagonist who has the passion to want to solve the problem.
3. He or she must find creative ways to resolve the problem.
4. The story must have broad appeal.
5. There must be a personal and emotional connection to the audience one wants to attract.
6. The story should have a strong beginning, middle and end.
7. There should be an unexpected twist or surprise.

Many times we get so involved in the day to day of our business that we don’t really express who we are, why we do the work we do, what motivates and drives our passion to do this work and what problems and needs our work solves.

Think about businesses you’ve heard of….what was it about their stories that moved you? What caught your attention and compelled you to go to the internet or their website to learn more about them? A recent example of a compelling business story is told in the movie “Social Network” a story about Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, and how Facebook got its start; the twists, turns and surprising stories occurring along the journey. The public was so enthralled and engaged by the business story that the movie became a blockbuster hit being nominated and winning multiple Emmy’s and Oscar’s.

Now take a moment and think about what you want people to experience when they think about your business? What are the feelings you want to evoke? Do you want them to find profound meaning in your offering? Do you want them to be so excited they want to participate in some way? Or maybe they have a good laugh from your wonderful ideas? Make the time to think about this essential foundation to your business.

Secondly, and maybe more importantly, what is the story you want people to share about your business? This story is even more critical than the story we share about our business, because this is where “word of mouth” or “viral marketing” phenomenon begins. In the next blog I’ll discuss how to develop your story and the story you want people to share about your business….creating “word of mouth” marketing.

To learn about the Whole Life Marketing story visit our website at http://wholeli1.nextmp.net/about/team.

Please share with us your business story; we’d love to learn about you and give business owners reading this blog an example of how other companies write their story. Even though I write rich content and business stories for many of my clients, I find it hardest to write about myself, maybe some of you can relate? So hopefully your stories can support other business owners in their writing. Also, share with us some of the most moving business stories which have touched, motivated and inspired you.

To get help writing your business story or figuring out how to start, please contact me at jd@wholeli1.nextmp.net.

To your health, wellness and success!

Jennifer Dickens
310-418-3855
jd@wholeli1.nextmp.net
www.wholelifemarketing.com