How to Tell a Story

Recently, I've discovered that the most effective copywriting is simply telling an anecdote or story that relates back to your main selling point. Crazy that so many people miss these opportunities by overcomplicating things.

For instance. Last week, I had an electrician come do some work on my house. As most of you already know, the electrician found a burned up wire right next to the gas line under our house. So, simply put, we were one spark or small leak away from our house exploding.

I was able to take that simple story. A burned out wire (which I replaced) was all that separated me and my family from absolute chaos. 

Take simple stories (or anecdotes) from your life and simplify them down in a relatable way. Establish a connectiong between those stories to the product or service you're selling and you're on your way.

You also have to be aware of the pain point being solved by your product or service and lean into that pain when you're writing.

The more pain your potential customers feel (that can be solved by what you offer), the better.

That's it. That's all it takes to sell a successful story.

Every day you have experiences that can be translated into successful sales pitches.

Here's an example:

Yesterday, I was reading while my son did his typical thing. He crawls around our house smacking things and yelling. As with any child, yesterday, my son fell and bumped his head. I heard him crying and thought nothing of it.

A minute or so passed and he still hadn't stopped crying. Usually that means it's time to pick him up to get him to stop crying. So I put my book down and looked up.

I was NOT prepared for what I saw.

There was blood ALL OVER my son's face and puddles of blood all over the floor.

Cue parental freak out.

I've seen him bleed before, but this was another level than what I'm used to. Instead of small blood streams, this was deep red PUDDLES of blood. All over the floor.

Turns out, he had smacked his mouth on the edge of our windows (which are surprisingly sharp) and cut his gums. 

After some soothing and medicine and an ice pack my son was back to his normal self. He was ready to crawl back over to that window ledge and try all over again. I love that he got hit with a setback, dealt with it and then was ready to go again.

How often do we have problems at work that feel like a nightmare, but in reality...they're just another bump in the road?

We think the worst has happened, but really, we just got punched in the mouth. We have to deal with it and then get right back to it and try again.

From here it's pretty easy to transition this story into selling any kind of product or service.

It's just a matter of finding the right perspective that'll resonate and honing in on it.

I think most of us are capable of telling compelling stories. I also think most of us don't care enough to do so. But, I'm coming to learn that being able to sell effectively is one of the best skills you can develop in life.

But that's a topic for another day.

Hope this was helpful.