Entrepreneurs are especially susceptible to the hypnotizing buzz about new marketing mediums... cuz, magic bullets ARE cool, I know.
But marketing mediums (blogs, social media, your website) are just the special effects, the lure of a cinematic marketing explosion.
Said in another way, Facebook won't spread the word without the word.
It's easy to let the star power of the newest trends sell you on some Karate kicks or a cool high-speed car chase to a quick sale, but every marketing medium--including your website--needs consistent content based on a foundational story.
A web site and every other marketing tool under the sun is only a true marketing medium when you fill it with a meaningful, contagious, distilled and transportable story. That's "content." That story is what really explodes the benefits of what you offer. That story is the ongoing conversation these marketing mediums depend on: the story about how you greatly improve the lives of your audience.
That's your script. It's called: "When Meaningful Benefits Attack!"
Your web site--5,000 new words needed
SEO and SEM--400 search terms needed
Social Media--5,000 new words needed
Your blog--5,000 new words needed
Your Newsletters--Ditto, Ditto.
So, what exactly IS the foundational story?
It's a dozen scenarios to describe the accomplishments of your work and 20 benefits describing how you make a difference in the lives of the people you help; it's an in-depth knowledge of the "pain" people go though before they buy your offering; it's knowing how the lives of people are changed as a result of what you do. It's an insight into the character arc of the person you help.
That's what sets the sound stage for well-developed content. It's the heroic journey that all people can relate to.
You are the hero of this journey...what is it about what you do that resonates with others?
Without the story, websites are as useless as dead brochures in the sky. Search Engine Marketing (SEM and its sister SEO) is what's used to get higher rankings on the Google, and need hi-octane fuel--stories--to run their search engine.
Nothing has changed before or after Guttenberg: a good story made the fireside sacred, made the book important, made cinema mythological, made radio hypnotic, made TV a vehicle for advertising, and can make social media--yes, social media and your web site--meaningful to others.
Foundational stories aren't complex, just deep enough to keep you expanding on their core. Here's a few I've written just in the last week:
1. Some stories address "conflict" right out of the gate...
A new client told me that the software he had written in the 1980s as a teen-ager is still in use today in the furniture fabrication world. He solved automation problems, but his journey to automation led him to see the value of creating one-of-a-kind objects for urban homes based on engineering excellence.
That's his story, and it's the basis for why his new company provides thoughtful, hand-made products that will stand out in the market. Everything he creates comes from the realization that something can always be engineered in a better way. So, every piece of furniture has a story to tell about how it improves a small urban space without automation dictating the design. This story is the basis for his bio, his vision, blog entries...
2. Storytelling skills make the story interesting:
A psychologist came to me concerned that she had "over-thought" what she did for her patients. Her "over-thinking" paralyzed her marketing efforts. (Yes, psychologists get stuck sometimes, too.) She felt so mired down in academic ideas, she could no longer explain the benefits of what she offered without launching into a dissertation. Her story needed distillation. It needed trans-port-ability...
The emotional "pain" her clients came to her with became our focus for her story. Her clients often use their emotional pain as a doorway for new potential. The pain is the opportunity for understanding emotional patterns, patterns everyone feels trapped in at one time or another in their lives. "Pain" is also the gateway to true healing. Her work offers a sense of relief and deeper relationship to the meaning of emotional pain:
"Pain" is something most people avoid, but it's the springboard to greater learning for her patients. And, it's the basis for the story that leads to everything she'll use to talk about what she does in her practice, and on her web site and blog.
3. A story is often a break-through for creating your brand
An owner of a well-know specialty store for eyeglasses came to me because she wanted to find the common thread to unite her love of art and the one-of-a-kind eyeglasses she sells.
For my client, we discovered together that the art of seeing is an act of personal expression. She showcases eyewear that is "jewelry for the eyes...Because the art of seeing is the art of life." And her specialty eyewear store is the "art of seeing for a unique you."
"The art of seeing" is her campaign, her brand. It's the basis for every story she will tell about the originality of her handmade eyeglasses. It's the reason why art and eyeglasses go together, and it's the story that her demographic uses to justify spending a little more on original frames.
It's also the basis for every 'lifestyle' discussion that she creates for her blog and every other social media outlet she uses.
Writing a Foundational Story is how you get the content you need, the viable content for each marketing medium you use to spread your message.
There are quite a few movie star faces to get seduced by:
Yet, your story is more than a clever headline. Don't be held captive by headlines seen on any billboard or side of a bus, or corporate consumer web site. THOSE ARE THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON AN EVOLVED STORY THAT HAS TAKEN MONTHS TO FIND ITS VOICE. Much harder, is developing a story that could springboard itself to every kind of medium.
After you've built that foundation story, your script, you've got the ammunition--not popcorn--for every single marketing weapon under the sun--including your website. This is the way to compel people on a blog, with something to say on Facebook, or a series of search words for a Search Engine Marketing campaign destined to inspire clicks. And when the credits roll, the explosion should come from new sales, not the special effect of the latest marketing medium...
But here's the story: a well-done marketing medium is rare--without a compelling story.
So how do you start to build a Foundational Story?
How can you start to uncover a Foundational Story that champions the benefits of what you? I use a couple of key questions that always open the door to a Foundational Story:
What do your clients, or your customers, sincerely praise you or your company for? What do they tell you they are most grateful for concerning what you do for them?
What are you most proud of in your work?
The answers to these two questions are the gateway to what you feel is meaningful about the work you do. The answers you mull over in your mind--or declare adamantly--are the beginnings of your deeper story.
For my sequel, I'll have examples of more Foundational Stories with ways to get around the use of the first draft words, 'everyday-speak' words and 'corporatespeak' words that can trivialize and diminish the emotional power of a Foundational Story....
Wow! I needed this. Put it in a book and I'll buy it!
True, everyone has a story--businesses too--but it takes a storyteller like you to bring it forth. I hope people realize that this is not a task for the meek. It takes skill, practice, and a large dose of innate talent. Not a job for the friend or relative who always thought they had "a flair." This takes mad, pro-grade expertise.
Thanks, Joseph!