The Essence of Our Story (Part 2)

The Essence of Our Story (Part 2)

In my previous blog I shared the 7 essential elements to a “Good Business Story”, and how to embody an engaging business story that people get excited about. This is critical to help drive “word of mouth” or viral marketing. This blog will support you in taking the first step in creating or updating your current business story.

In preparing yourself for this writing process, you’ll want to set aside uninterrupted time in your day where you will not be bothered by client calls, employee questions or any business interruptions. If you have the time I suggest doing a personal retreat, or business retreat with your leadership team. Get out of town for a day or two, connect with nature, get grounded and centered to really come from the heart with your message. Possibly try yoga and meditation to quiet your mind and get grounded.

When you sit to start writing your story, have a clean note pad and pen, sit in a comfortable, clean uncluttered setting and possibly play classical music quietly in the background. It has been researched that classical music stimulates creativity; an important element to writing an engaging heartfelt story. Anytime I write I always have classical music playing in the background, just as I have right now while I write this educational blog. If you are not accustomed to writing you’ll want to commit to at least a few hours of focused writing so have everything you’ll need within reach. If you are doing this with the leadership team I suggest a brainstorming or mind mapping session.

Let the authenticity of your message of who your company is come from the heart, feel the passion of why and what it is you do and put it on paper. Your story needs to have a personal and emotional connection, and will need to incorporate the 7 essential elements (for example purposes, I will use Whole Life Marketing’s story, which you can read under “About” tab of our website):

1. What is the good idea of your business? Or what problem does your business solve? For example, the idea behind Whole Life Marketing is to “create a healthier world”; how do we do this and what is our solution? “The Whole Life Marketing solution is to empower, train and provide marketing solutions to healing practitioners, institutes and organizations” to support them in reaching more people with their holistic, natural, alternative and complimentary healing modality.
2. It has a protagonist who has a passion to want to solve the problem. I am the protagonist at Whole Life Marketing as it is my passion to support healing practitioners in reaching more people with their healing gifts and talents. In turn that expands individual consciousness about the health freedom choices available to them. 
3. The protagonist must find creative ways to solve the problem. The problem for most practitioners is a level of unfamiliarity with the business development process, and they may not have taken into consideration a marketing plan or budget as necessary to bring in patients. So the problem we solve is helping practitioners get more patients and clients through cost effective and proven internet and social media marketing strategies. 
4. The story must have broad appeal. The broader appeal and sentiment right now is more and more people going green, eating organic and looking for natural and holistic alternatives to prescriptions, surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Whole Life Marketing supports practitioners in connecting with potential patients looking for their healing modality. 
5. There must be a personal and emotional connection to the audience one wants to attract. As the “protagonist” of Whole Life Marketing, my personal healing journey and how through natural and holistic medicine, against all odds, I was able to overcome my pre-cancerous condition, continuing to be cancer free four years after the re-diagnoses, is my personal and emotional connection with the audience. I have personally been in there shoes having been diagnosed with a life threatening illness and not knowing my options. I know how it feels to be out there seeking the advice, guidance and treatment of healing practitioners. 
6. The story should have a strong beginning, middle and end. See my personal story under “Team” tab. 
7. There should be an unexpected twist or surprise.  The unexpected twist and surprise in my healing journey was when after a year of implementing acupuncture, homeopathy, cranial osteopathy, life style change, diet change and alkalinity balancing; that my medical doctor refused to recognize any of this healing work and wouldn’t retest me. I actually had to find a holistic MD to retest me until I had a clean bill of health. It took me a good 2-1/2 years before I got a clean bill of health but it was worth all my time and effort because I did not have to cut out organs or poison my body to heal. I just had to provide my body an alkaline, strong immunity, healthy, stress free environment to heal itself.

When you have fleshed out the who, what, where, when of your story; and know at the core of your being that your story is meaningful, that it will benefit people, that it is the best that you can offer, then you can feel confident your business now has the nourishing foundation to take root and flourish. An excellent book that has inspired me, which I refer to all my clients is “The Science of Spiritual Marketing”, by Andrea Adler, this book will provide you the insight to build a nourishing and healthy foundation to your business marketing.

From the story you communicate about your business will evolve the story people “share” about your business! This is commonly referred to as “word of mouth” or “viral marketing”. So think about the story that is being circulated about your business and make sure it resonates with what you’re about and it is the story you want people to be sharing? These are your two assignments to build your companies nourishing foundation and engaging business story.

If you need any help and support through this writing journey, please don’t hesitate to call me at 310-418-3855 with any questions you may have.

To your health, wellness and success. Be well,

Jennifer Dickens
President
Whole Life Marketing
310-418-3855

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