The Story of You
When I was a kid, I was not interested in learning to read. Here's an excerpt from an earlier newsletter.
In 1st grade, I found that learning to read was difficult and resulted in hyperventilated breathing between words. “And [gasp] the [gulp] p-p-purple [pant]...” I didn’t see any reason to advance beyond the Dick and Jane books. Their blasé shenanigans with Spot and the red ball were just fine for me. No more dialog needed.
One day, at the town library, I was picking through the usual array of Berenstain Bears books when I noticed a book on display in the “Junior” section where my smarty-pants older sister always got her books. It was Jack London’s White Fang. My mom noticed my trance and suggested we read the book together. We did—every day after school, “W-White [gasp] Fang’s [sigh] snarl...” The book was far beyond my reading level but the adventure within those pages was phenomenal. I couldn’t get enough of reading. I was hooked--for good.
You see, learning to read is just a skill, a tool—you learn how to do it. I had no interest in the tool until I discovered the story.
What’s your story?
Your features and benefits are not your story and they do not drive customer behavior. Your services and products are proof of progress toward the world you are trying to create. The stories you tell should demonstrate how your products and services help your customers get to the world they want to create.
Websites, flyers, SEO and social media are all examples of tools. All of them can be used to tell your story. However, just because we have these tools doesn’t mean we have the clientele, response or results we are looking for. And it doesn’t mean we use those tools well:
Fifty-five percent of small businesses don’t have a website.*
70% of the small-business websites have no call to action on their sites.**
68% don’t have an email address on their home pages, and 27% don’t have a phone number. **
Even if we correct everything in the above stats, what is the story you’re going to tell? And who will you tell it to? And will they identify with the story? And will they buy the story of you? You are too close to the subject matter (your business) to answer these questions on your own. You are an insider in your company and the realm of customers and prospects is on the other side of the glass. They are the keys to your success and if they don’t understand you, they don’t buy from you. Tools can be 100 times more powerful in the hands of experts. I know how to get to the answers. Together, we can make your business into a remarkable brand. You can expand your business and grab a bigger slice of the market. Your company can move beyond surviving to thriving. Don’t wait—call now—let’s reveal the story of you. 303-246-5358.
*According to a 2013 survey of more than 3,800 small businesses conducted by Google and Ipsos.
**Small Business B2B Call to Action Study
