With our crowded in boxes, and our overloaded brains, information floods to us from every direction.
You want people to see your work, right?
You want to make a difference.
You want to leave your mark on the world.
And, you’re tired of hearing crickets!
You want people to feel SO good about what they read from you, so much so that they can’t WAIT to leave you a comment and share with their friends!
So, how do you do this when you write your blog and you send your emails?
Well, from the “research” out there and the principles passed down from the Guru’s, we know people are looking for information to help them feel better in their lives.
Great, let’s go to work!
We scour google for the right data to prove that what we make, and the content we write will make our readers feel better.
Now, data is good, and certainly has it’s purpose, but reading stats and figures makes people run away faster than than being chased by a sabertooth tiger.
So how do we get our message across in a way that shows that we know what we’re talking about – AND that it will help our readers feel good in their lives?
Tell a story.
Now, I don’t want you to run away screaming or thinking “oh my God yet another thing I have to learn about writing content”, because writing a story is easy!
I don’t mean writing an epic novel or even a children’s fable.
You can add story in a sentence.
Even “why did the chicken cross the road” tells a story. What do you see when you hear that line?
In marketing and advertising, you may remember these. One line tells a story.
- The King of Beers
- Just Do It
- A Diamond Is Forever
There’s an emotion that’s triggered and a connection that happens with story.
Your readers want the story.
Well, they may not want the chicken crossing the road, but they want a story that they can relate to.
And, they want a story that they can sink their teeth into because it means something to them.
When you read or hear JUST DO IT, what happens? Do you get inspired? Are you ready to throw caution to the wind (at least a little bit) and do something you never thought you’d try?
Writing with story in mind, helps you keep from boring your reader to tears.
A good story, no matter how long or short, gives your reader a visual they can associate with, and an emotion they can connect to. It includes your reader by putting them into the story.
Not all your stories will be one liners.
If you have some facts and figures that you want to share with your reader, ones you want them to remember, you can give your reader stats and data in a story!
Let me try an example…
Here is a statistic.
“One out of every three clicks within an email occurs on a mobile device.”
Now, this is a pretty useful statistic to know about email marketing and mobile phone use.
Here’s the thing, it’s a short sentence and a pretty easy stat to remember, but I’ll bet you that 10 minutes from now you’ll be thinking “what was the number of clicks again?”
Now, how about a story?
There were 3 little pigs. They were all on the same BIG PORKY’s ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WOLVES mailing list. Now, not all pigs have the latest and great p-i-g-phone. The first little pig didn’t even have a phone and checked his emails from his desktop, when he got home. The second little pig had a flip-phone without 3G (actually, he didn’t have any G), so he could only read <text> from his phone. The third little millenial pig was a techy and was happy he could click the link to the “how to keep a wolf from blowing down your house” email with resource links to the brick house builder.
Okay, my story is a little exaggerated for the purpose of this post, but you’ll remember it, AND it gives you a little insight into why 1 out of 3 clicks in emails occurs on a mobile phone.
Now it’s your turn!
Take a look at your content. Where can you add story to make it more interesting and engage your reader?