Want to know the most influential piece of marketing for your business? It’s your story.
I recently re-launched ARTrepreneur, a membership site for creatives, and something very interesting happened. The biggest spike in enrollments occurred when people watched this video where I told my story.
I talked about why I do what I do and what inspired me to take this path. My readers and newsletter subscribers connected to my story. People who were already thinking about purchasing became even more engaged and ready to enroll.
Why you need to tell your story.
“Human minds rely on stories and story architecture as the primary road map for understanding, making sense of, remembering, and planning our lives—as well as the countless experiences and narratives we encounter along the way.” – Kendall Haven via Blake Mycoskie, Start Something That Matter.
Stories are how we’ve always passed on information. People are much more likely to remember a story than facts. They’re also more likely to be swayed by a story than facts.
Want proof? Researchers at Carnegie Melon University proved this theory with an experiment where they gave students five dollars for participating in a study. At the end, when the students received the money, they were given one of two letters asking them to donate some of the money to Save the Children.
One of the letters included facts. One of the letters told a story about a poor seven-year-old Malawian girl named Rokia. The students who got the letter with the facts donated an average of $1.14. The students who got the letter with the story donated an average of $2.38—more than double!
People will tell others your story.
If your fans and customers connect to your story, they’ll tell it to their friends and family. That’s free marketing for you.
Remember the last time you recommended a product or service to someone? Did it involve a story?
Whenever I recommend my doctor to someone, I tell them about the time that he spent forty-five minutes with me trying to figure out why I was having so much back pain. A doctor spending forty-five minutes with his patient? That’s practically unheard of here in the United States. We’re lucky if we get five minutes before being diagnosed and hurried out the door with a prescription.
Whenever I recommend the place I bought my wedding dress, I tell the story of how I found my dress at a non-profit bridal boutique that benefits education for New York City children.
Whenever I recommend using lavender aromatherapy to help soothe doggie separation anxiety, I tell the story of how my dog used to chew up things like a Christmas present for my parents that took me over ten hours to make and brand new running shoes when I would leave the house. When I use lavender aromatherapy, he’s much calmer—and the chewing has stopped
As you can see, there’s almost always a story.
The media likes a good story.
Want your products or services to be featured in your local newspaper, in a wide-spread magazine, or on Good Morning America? Then, you need to have a good story. That’s what they’re looking for.
This doesn’t mean that you make something up. People will figure out that you’re lying and your reputation will be ruined. Don’t lie. Instead, take the truth and put it together so that it’s interesting.
When I told my story on my blog, I could have included a lot more information, but I picked specific pieces of information to include and discard. It would be WAY too long otherwise.
What are you waiting for? Go tell your story.
April Bowles-Olin
April Bowles-Olin helps creative entrepreneurs turn their dreams into reality through her website, Blacksburg Belle, where she writes about marketing, blogging, and increasing business success. She uses her background in psychology to help creatives reach their goals, take charge of their inner critic, and build businesses around their dream lifestyles.
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