If you have been in the online marketing space for a while, you probably would have heard all the rave about infusing your marketing message with your story. Right? Not to mention all the courses that are currently available to teach entrepreneurs how to use your story to promote or project your brand. I wouldn't even want to go in to all the blog posts on the same topic. It could be pretty overwhelming. But wait a minute.. What's the big fuss about your story anyway? I'm going to try to demystify this whole story thing so that you can start to effectively use the power of stories in your business.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF USING YOUR STORY

The primary reason why you use your story is build belief. Everything about what we do is selling(That's a topic for another day) and people don't buy unless they believe. There is nothing that is as powerful as using the power of stories to help people believe. There are 4 core beliefs that a person must experience before they buy and your story must hit at least one but preferably all 4 of those core beliefs. I remember sometime in 2004 when I was still building a network marketing business, I was invited up on stage to share my story and I really went into detail explaining how things were really tough for me in the beginning and all the challenges I went through before I finally experienced a breakthrough and started enjoying success. I shared my "zero to hero" story but alas at the next meeting about half of the people didn't show up and I found out later it was my story of what I went through to get to where I was that put them off. It was an inspiring story that was 100% true but it didn't achieve its purpose because it worked against one of the 4 core beliefs. I'm inspired by the story of Jesus but i ain't letting no one rip off my clothes, lash me on the back and drive 6 inch nails through my hand. I believe in him, but I don't believe I can do what he did (You get the point). If your story does not enhance all 4 of the 4 core beliefs, then it may end up hurting rather than helping your objective.

YOUR STORY DOESN'T HAVE TO BE DRAMATIC

So what if you were never homeless and living out of a trash can? Or what if you never were never the size of an elephant and now weigh less than a starving chicken? You were never bottom of your class before you discovered the secret to academic success. Does this mean you can't have a compelling story? Of course not. Your story just needs to communicate how someone who was in a similar situation to them transitioned to a place they desire to be (It's great if it were you but it doesn't have to be you. It could be a client or even some random celebrity who may have used a system similar to yours).

Your story does not have to be a story about you.

it's just has to be a story that builds belief. The key thing to remember is the purpose of your story and that is to build those 4 core beliefs.

HOW DO YOU TELL A STORY?

1. The background: What were things like initially. Emphasise the emotional impact of the situation 2. Initial failure: What attempts had been made to turn things around that didn't work and the impact. 3. The Breakthrough: How did you discover this breakthrough moment. 4. What did you do: explain what new things were done different to before (It's really important to present this in a way that make you come across as human and not super-human. Telling me a story of how you discovered you had a Superman cape under your clothes and you flew into a burning building to rescue someone may inspire me but I won't believe I can do that too. 5. The outcome and key lessons learnt: Again it's important to describe the emotional impact of achieving this thing that you so desired. That's it. I hope this helps. Please go ahead and share your thoughts in the comments below.