Storytelling is the most powerful marketing tool you will ever use. It is also the fastest way to building a lucrative online business where you are respected and recognized as a leader in your field.
People learn about you from you sharing your story. No one has ever dropped out of the sky to come online as an entrepreneur, so we must all explain where we came from and what we are doing now in a storytelling format. This is called our “origin” story. This is mine:
I was a classroom teacher for twenty years, while working in real estate as a broker and residential appraiser simultaneously. After sustaining a serious work injury at school and surviving cancer twice I made the decision to leave the work force and come online.
It was 2006 and that first year was a struggle, but I was determined and finally replaced my previous income after a year and a half. I learned that having a small list was not a reason to earn small income, and became known as the “huge profits with a tiny list” entrepreneur. Soon after that someone on a teleseminar mentioned that you could not earn any “real” money until you had at least ten thousand people on your list and my comment to that was “good thing I didn’t get that memo!” My name and beliefs around this topic were solidified and I set out to make a name for myself as a relationship marketer.
So the plot thickened and I moved forward and upward with confidence and determination. I went from being known for earning huge profits with a tiny list to relationship marketing without skipping a beat. I quickly added affiliate marketing to my bag of tricks and being known as a super affiliate soon followed.
Using Storytelling as a Tool as an Entrepreneur
What’s your story? How are you sharing it with your target audience?
Here are some ideas that have worked well for me and for those who work closely with me:
* Start a membership site on your topic and use stories to make your points along the way
* Blog on your topic and build an “authority” site, sharing stories within your posts
* Write and publish a book and use storytelling to convey your message in a unique way
Remember that your story can become the legacy you leave for others. Shape it so that it accurately describes and explains who you are and shows your strengths in a positive light. When someone hears about you or reads something you wrote twenty years from now, what story will they envision? How can you make sure those in the future understand who you were and what you cared about during your lifetime?
Tell them…
That’s right. We tell the story we wish for others to know about us. This is how I came to know about the power of storytelling firsthand:
During my first year working online I attended a marketing event not far from where I lived. After signing in at the registration table I headed to the area in front of the doors to the auditorium. There were several groups of four or five people standing in this area, talking about the event and what they were doing in there online businesses. One group’s discussion caught my ear when they mentioned someone who had been a classroom teacher who was now working online. It was only when they mentioned that she had also worked in real estate and was a cancer survivor that I realized they were talking about me!
The stories they were sharing within their group were the ones I had shared over the previous year. That got me to thinking; if my stories were of interest to these people they would certainly be of interest to others. I vowed on that day to begin sharing more stories with my blog readers and those listening to my teleseminars to become more memorable and interesting. Then I moved closer to the group and introduced myself!
This particular story occurred before social media was around. Believe it or not, most of us working online today began before Facebook went public, Twitter was created, and LinkedIn became acceptable for those of us not in the corporate world. These days we all have the opportunity to share our stories through videos, images, posts, updates, and tweets and someone in the world will always be there to find out about what we are doing. But this great opportunity comes with great responsibility. You must remember that everything you say or do on your blog or on social media will be out there for eternity, even if you delete it. You have most likely heard stories of people posting hateful or inappropriate updates and years later being called to task with un? repercussions.
Your story is your legacy, so make your storytelling meaningful, emotional, thoughtful, and sincere. Craft it well, share it far and wide, and your storytelling will change your life.
I’m author, publisher, and entrepreneur Connie Ragen Green and would love to connect with you. If you are new to the world of online entrepreneurship please check out my comprehensive training on how to set up Funnels That Click and learn how to gain an unfair advantage when it comes to building a lucrative online business.
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