You hit send. You wait and nothing comes. You refresh your browser and see a few opens. You’re waiting for the flood gates to open. Then it starts. Your paypal account dings from it’s first sale. Then another and another.
You’re ready to scream with excitement, but you’re glued to your screen, watching in disbelief as the sales keep rolling in. Minutes later you’re doing the happy dance and belting out to Rihanna. You did it!
Let me guess. You too want sales. For your services, info products or that idea that’s brewing waiting to be unleashed into the world.
I get it.
To do that, you need to connect with your audience. The best way to do that is with story.
Did you know that 80% of people won’t get a concept you explain without an example?
Stories are the best way of giving real life examples. They grab attention. Pull you in. Take you for a ride.
But maybe when you sit down to write you go blank. Nothing comes to mind. What do you say? Will people even care? It’s probably already been said before.
Your mind wonders. You think about making dinner, picking up the kids, replying to that email or booking your overdue dentist appointment.
A Facebook notification pings you and you get distracted. Before you know it, it’s time to pick up the kids from school and you have nothing but a blank screen staring back at you.
Do you see how I used story to draw you in?
The best part is stories can be as short as a few words or one line. Or they can be as long as a book. Best part is their is no rule book. Either way it adds personality and spice to your copy.
Stories let you stand out and hook your audience.
Let’s start with the shorter version of stories that are only a few words, one liners or sentence starters.
“You’ll never guess what happened to me today….”
“When I looked out on stage and saw her I knew…”
“As I belted out Bruno Mars in my pink Volkswagen beetle, I realized my windows were open and…
Try leading with story and backing it up with logic or data, so people emotionally connect with you, the writer first.
How do you come up with stories?
Pay attention to how you speak. Take notice of the small daily things that happen in your life that can be used in your copy to convey a concept or liven up your writing and bring out your personality.
“I spent the entire morning staring at my screen, sitting there, in front of my computer, dazed, wishing I was outside, sipping a lime margarita on my purple floatie in the pool.”
“I heard there were donuts in the lunch room so I ran to grab one before the hoarders got their fill. I couldn’t help but wonder, was this all there was to look forward to? Was this the life I was meant to live chasing a 50 cent donut with excitement?”
“I looked down at my two year old son as he yanked down his pants in the middle of the grocery store isle to take a pee. If looks could kill, I’d be toast.”
It’s time for you to create your own story bank.
Part 1: Spend 10 minutes and list out any past experiences or moments that come to mind. Don’t filter them, just write freely.
Part 2: Take note of different moments in your daily life over the next week. Jot them down in the notes app on your phone.
Next time you’re writing a newsletter, blog post, social media post or sales email, go back to your lists and choose one or two stories that you can tie in.
Voila!
Story bank and compelling copy are a match made in heaven.
Have a great weekend.
