“It is a human need to be told stories. The more we're governed by idiots and have no control over our destinies, the more we need to tell stories to each other about who we are, why we are, where we come from, and what might be possible”. The amazing Alan Rickman (Snape in Harry Potter for those who don’t know the name) once said this and I couldn’t agree more.

I’m sure that as a child some of your oldest memories are of being told stories of your family, classic books by Roald Dahl or Dr Seuss – we read these to our kids even now. I remember my dad making up stories at bedtime or telling me about his childhood where there were 10 children.  A tyre inner tube was their toy or a spinning top they whittled out of wood. I’m still laughing a little because I’m sure you have those stories that your parents used to tell you too about walking to school in snow ‘this high’ (motioning their hand up to their knees) with no shoes… ah the good old days!

If the truth be told, Play Big, Brand Bold at its heart, is about storytelling.  Well, storytelling and doing big things that may make you feel slightly nauseous! The joy of business hey?  It’s a mindset of building your business with a sense of adventure, fun and a little bit, or sometimes a lot, of courage!  It’s about not taking yourself too seriously, understanding that you’ll probably fail a lot before you’re successful and being okay with that. When you’re building a brand it’s like being in a lab, which is why my podcast is called Brand Builder’s Lab – I thought it was the perfect name!  You test and try things out and see what works, what explodes, what fizzles out, but you figure out what’s right for you.  No one built a great business or an epic brand without making mistakes along the way.  Just remember Coca-Cola only sold 25 bottles in its first year! But as we go through this journey it’s the stories that make it come to life.  It’s the stories that help us share our message and lessons along the way.  It’s the stories that your followers and audience want to connect with.

I feel like the art of storytelling has had a renaissance in a big way and is changing lives everywhere with the likes of TED talks, YouTube and podcasts. Over the last couple of years I’ve been fairly addicted to Audible – you know the audio book app, and as it stands I probably have over 50 plus books in my library.  Along with podcasts, it’s the one thing I listen to almost on a daily basis as I walk my dog Beau and I get lost in the words someone narrates to me, through the two little black wireless earbuds cemented in each ear.

It might be inspirational, educational or could just be insightful and entertaining.  I don’t know about you, but as a business owner I am guilty of mainly listening to and consuming business content.  So whilst some people may ask – “do you ever really switch off Suz?” I have to be honest and say that I don’t want to.  I love learning and growing and being connected to others who think differently and have something unique and special to share with me.

When it comes to great stories, think about books you’ve loved or speakers that you’ve been drawn to and why.  Usually, it’s because they’ve shared something with us – a funny story or an example of an experience.   Stories are the things that we still remember years after it was first shared with us.

So back to Audible. There are three people who I could listen to all day long.  Number 1 is Brene Brown – if you don’t know her, then Google her, she’s everywhere.   I love Brene Brown. Like totally love her. I will consume everything and anything she puts out anywhere, any day, any time!

I think she is one of, if not the best, speaker I’ve ever seen and listened to. I remember a number of years ago sitting on a bucket in front of my house painting our picket fence and listening for about 6 hours to her seminar on The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting and it’s changed the way I parent.  As she  shared her knowledge and experience, it created a connection.  She has no idea who I am but I feel connected to her, which also means that every time a new book comes out, I’m there buying and downloading it.  She’s not sharing the ‘how to’ she’s telling me powerful and life changing stories. She’s challenging my thinking and she does it all through sharing amazing stories with humility, honesty and humor.

The second person is someone I’ve already introduced you to – Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat, Pray, Love fame and whose book Big Magic, as you know, was the inspiration for me to finish this book and now start penning my second and third books.  Oh hello there Suz – the non-writer writer.

And the third is Shonda Rymes who is the writer for hit shows like – How to Get Away with Murder, Greys Anatomy and Scandal.  She is also the author of one of my favorite books – Year of Yes – How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person.

I get so immersed in what they are sharing, their stories and experiences that the lessons are so much easier to take in and sometimes I don’t even realise that I’m learning as I’m listening.   I recently had the pleasure of meeting Elizabeth Gilbert at an event in Melbourne. It was emotional for me to say the least.  As she stood on that stage for an hour and a half and shared her stories, thoughts and experiences I just looked at her thinking – I just want to be around you more.  I believe what you believe.  It makes me feel more creative, like I can do so much more, like I have more to give.

Now confession time; because of all of those thoughts and feelings – yes the brand consultant in me did also think – if she was selling something today, I’m pretty sure I would be buying it.  She wasn’t selling anything but what I was really clear on, is that the power of storytelling can lead to very powerful storyselling.

Remember that brand is the pull and marketing is the push.  By sharing their stories they are building connection.  And what is brand?  It’s the invitation to an emotional connection.  It can be building trust, love, respect.  It’s your reputation and becoming known for something specific.

Whether you know it or not, your stories could be one of the most powerful brand strategies you implement.  So the questions is, when it comes to building your business and your brand – what stories are you sharing? What are you giving your audience that allows them access to your world, your experiences, your past, your insights and the lessons they can learn from your journey?

How can you tell your story, or a story of your client, in a way that showcases what you do and how you helped?  Humans are built to connect and be drawn to stories.  It’s how we pass on information and how we tell others where we’ve come from.

I want to share three different ways you could start to implement storytelling and storyselling in your business right now.

• Your Brand Story
• Micro moment story telling
• Brand experience story selling

Your brand story:

Your brand story shares where you’ve comes from, how you got here, why you do what you do and how I can now become part of that story.  It doesn’t need to be War and Peace but you want to convey what’s important about what you’re here to do and the person behind the brand.

So, I want you to think about how you share your story.  This was something that took me a little while to get the hang of which is ironic because I do it for other businesses all the time – but when you do it for yourself, it’s a different thing, so if you need to get help then get help developing this.

What do people want to know? It’s sharing the story of why you’re here, what inspired you, who you want to serve and what you want to leave as your legacy.  Whether you sell widgets or dreams, your contribution, ideas, thoughts, struggles, successes and stories matter.  As you read that sentence some of you may be thinking – “Why, why does my story matter? As if I can impact someone or something, as if I could create something big or small that matters.”  But you know something – why not?

Imagine if the great leaders, influencers, activists and heroines of the world decided not to tell their stories. Imagine if they thought – why me? What’s the point? There are so many other people out there. Imagine if those with ideas that may have seemed just a little bit crazy thought, ‘It probably won’t work’.  The world is made up of people who do big things every day – and you, my bold action taker, can be one of them if you so choose!

If you can help, shape, encourage and lift even one person up and help them to follow their own path, then that is always worthwhile. So start to craft your story. Think about the moments that brought you to this place. Think about the lessons you’ve learnt and how you can use those in your content, videos, podcast, books, speaking – wherever you hang out.

Whenever I’m working with a speaker, coaching or personal brand strategy client, stories are one of the first things we work on.  Anyone can teach content, but it’s the stories we share with content sandwiched in-between that make our presentation unforgettable or memorable.  So spend some time writing down all the stories that are relevant to your journey, what you talk about, share and teach.

Micro moments story telling

As the 2^nd edition of this book has been published in 2020, right now Instagram stories has a huge amount of attention and traction and is the perfect platform for micro moment story telling.

When it comes to building a brand, you have to become a storyteller.  People aren’t interested in the fake gloss anymore, they want the real and raw, the honest journey.  We want to see the behind the scenes, what you’re up to, who you’re working with and what makes you tick.

Mid 2018 and at the beginning of 2019 I started to track my income specifically from Instagram stories. I was using stories regularly and enjoyed connecting with people so much more in the micro moments of our day rather than the Instagram feed.  I’d get questions and I’d send back an audio direct message or video answer.  Every time someone joined Brand Builder’s Academy or bought a ticket to an event I’d send them a direct message in stories and connect with them personally.

By the end of the first quarter of 2019 I had attributed around $25,000 in sales to Instagram stories.  People were either finding my podcast or seeing me speak at an event and then following me on stories to keep in contact.  What I found is that once they found me on stories they were then taking action and booking in to work with me.  A corporate client booked me for a presentation skills workshop with their team because their Learning & Development coordinator was one of my followers and saw me talking about the workshop one day.

I religiously ask clients not only where they heard about a product, service or event but I ask them – where did our relationship start? Was it the Brand Builder’s Lab podcast?  What it Instagram stories? Was it seeing me speak at an event?  Knowing where people first found me and then where they got to know me has been super important to how I go about thinking about my brand and content strategy.  I honestly feel that when you nail your brand and content strategy you don’t have to spend as much time on the marketing.

The rule of thumb is that it takes around 18 touch points for someone to buy from you. But with platforms like Instagram stories someone can have 18 touch points with you over 2-3 days.  I love it when someone says – “well someone isn’t just going to meet you and then buy from you straight away”.  I actually have stories and case studies of that happening.  When you create an ecosystem of content and real touch points, your ability to build trust through the micro content moments and storytelling is one of the most powerful things you can do,  and if you’re not doing it, then why not?

Brand experience story selling 

I’m so nosey.  Let’s be honest – given half the chance most of us are.  When it comes to people we like and follow or events we have total FOMO (fear of missing out) over, then we want to see what’s happening, who was there and what it was like.

One of the best examples of brand experience story selling, could be either an event experience that you want to share and showcase or it could be experiences that people get when they work with you or are part of your community.   We buy things that visually appeal to us.  Remember, we don’t just buy a product, we buy into a community and an identity.  We want to go to the event and be part of that tribe.  We want to experience what those people who attended experienced and we’ll pay for the opportunity to physically be there and now we’ll also pay for the opportunity to virtually be there too.

When people ask me “what do I post? I have no idea what to say. How can I “create” content for stories? My answer is always the same.  I don’t really “create” content for stories – I just take you on the journey with me.  I let you know what I’m doing, where I am, what I’m thinking, how I’m navigating interesting, insightful, challenging or fun things.  I’m giving you insight into my life and business.  You’ll see the highs and the lows.  You’ll see me when I have incredible moments but I’ll also share with you when I feel broken and I’m struggling.  It’s the micro moments that build trust. It’s those micro moments that build connection.  You are my community and I’ve chosen to make you part of my journey and take you with me on this ride. You can choose to hang out or you can choose to unfollow – the choice is yours.

What you may not realise, is that when you share the journey, people want to be part of what you do, what you offer, what you sell, where you’re going to be speaking and basically whatever you’re going to be a part of.  I just really want to make sure that you walk away from this chapter understanding the incredible opportunity you have.  This is the time to get real, raw, and honest, to connect and start sharing the brand experience that is you – it’s your personal brand. What you stand for. What you’re about. Why you do what you do.   It has power. Don’t forget it.

Great stories stay with us.

Just in case you missed it the first time I said it – your story matters.  Just know that you can create something from nothing and then give it meaning that people can connect with – the right people.  The people who want what you have and connect with your story, the journey that you’re on and where you’re going. When I think of anyone and everyone that I admire, there is always a story I connect with behind the business and even though often we don’t like to think about it as ‘the brand’, their success is because of the stories and impact they have made and shared.  It’s the experience they share that builds their brand and the connection people have with it. It’s either their opinion, unique take or the way they look at or see the world. Don’t you love meeting interesting people with different points of view? You have a viewpoint whether you realise it or not. It’s okay for you to share it.

I was recently listening to an interview with Adam Braun, the founder of Pencils of Promise, a global ‘for purpose’ organisation that builds schools and educates children all over the world, which he started with just $25. He called the business Pencils of Promise because when he was travelling, he came across a young boy and asked him, “If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?”.  The little boy said, “A pencil”. He didn’t want toys or food or anything else – just a pencil. To that child it meant possibilities. He could draw anything he wanted and it made him happy. Those are the stories we remember.

Coco Chanel is famous for shaping the fashion industry but started with humble beginnings.  She took something simple like clothing and created an iconic feeling of luxury, style, and confidence around the Chanel brand. Her quotes are in this book and all over the interwebs. Give people a feeling when they connect with your brand and they’ll never forget you.

Michael Jordan gave Nike a story that young kids and old men could relate to.  He lost as many times as he won but he never gave up.   A brand is a feeling above all else.  It’s a connection we have personally with something or someone. It reflects something in us.   As one person I may not be able to educate thousands of children around the world, but if I donate or support a ‘for purpose’ group like Pencils of Promise or a similar organisation and become part of that vision and the work they do, then I can make a difference and I get to be part of their story.

Within The Connection Exchange we support One Girl which is a charity that educates young girls in Africa and teaches them to run businesses so they don’t have to get married at 13 and they can finish their education and stand on their own two feet – a life I could never imagine. But the point is with just $35 a month we as a business are doing something that matters. If your mission is to empower and support women for example, then ask yourself how far that mission can reach. Sure, The Connection Exchange is here to support women to build their businesses and we do that through the podcast, Brand Builder’s Academy and events, but how is that mission going further, doing more, reaching others who can’t afford or don’t have the life opportunities we have?  That’s why One Girl was the perfect fit for our mission and also gives our business a wider and deeper purpose.

So I want you to start to think about the stories that you could be sharing, both in a bigger and a smaller way.  Think of your brand story and the brand experience story selling you could be doing more of, as well as the micro moments of storyselling, to attract, engage and spark interest for your audience. Great stories stay with us, so start telling yours.

 

 

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