I don’t have to tell you: Starting a business can be tough.
One of the biggest problems with getting your business over that initial profit hump – and staying there once you do – is standing out and breaking through the noise.
No matter what you do, there are a whole lot of others doing it too. And a bunch of them are doing it successfully.
The good news is you have a power tool at your fingertips that solves that problem:
STORIES.
While descriptions, lists or features can make your eyes glaze over, stories grab you. Engage you. Pull you in. Long after you’ve forgotten the details of someone’s success, you will remember the story of their success.
The more deeply you dive into stories about your business, your programs and your ideal clients, the more you stand out. The more you break through. The more easily you attract perfect clients.
And the more easily the answers to your toughest marketing questions appear.
This post is for you if:
- You’re looking for a way to stand out from the crowd, but don’t know how to make it happen.
- You would love a way to make talking about, promoting and positioning your offers easier and much more effective.
- You’d love to find a way to forge a powerful bond with your ideal clients that makes them a client for life.
The ability to craft four specific powerful stories are your secret path to help turn that thing you do into the solution your ideal client has been searching for.
That makes them believe it’s been created just for them.
STORY
YOUR ORIGIN STORY
Your Origin Story is not a resume. Or a boring parade of random facts about your life.
It’s a well-designed sequence of specially selected events from your life AND the founding of your business that create a connection between you and the people who are most likely to hire you.
Ideally you want the narrative you share in your Origin Story to touch on:
Your mission: That’s “The Big Why” behind your business, which goes beyond what’s in it for you and focuses on the impact you want to make for others.
Shared values: Your origin story should highlight values you share with your audience: Authenticity, courage in the face of uncertainty, creativity – whatever they are, they can move your prospects to feel like they’ve discovered a kindred spirit.
Your success arc: You were once where they are – warts and all – before you discovered your breakthrough. It gives them hope and belief that someone like them can succeed, because someone like them has.
You are strategically selecting specific events in your life so you can weave them together in a single narrative that forges a bond with your ideal clients. And positions you not only as the person who understands them. Or has been where they’ve been.
But the one who is a perfect fit to take them where they want to go.
The more they can see bits of themselves in you and your story, the more likely they are to choose you as their guide.
While my own origin story is probably a shade long for today’s shorter attention spans, it was quite a hit when released. And has been shared almost 100 times on Facebook.
Notice how I choose the events strategically to present a specific point of view, and highlight specific values that will connect with my market.
STORY
IDEAL CLIENT PAIN STORY
A mentor once told me when you’re able to precisely articulate what a prospect is going through, they immediately believe you have their solution.
This is the crucial importance off the Ideal Client Pain Story.
This isn’t about “being negative” or worsening their pain. It’s about letting them know you know how they feel: The struggles, the frustrations, the doubts.
And your certainty despite all that … great things are possible for them.
When your prospect feels like “you get them”, it creates a deep connection and bond because it establishes your caring. You’re not just trying to sell them something, but trying to make their life better.
While the clients you focus on may have one primary pain (not making enough money) there may be multiple smaller struggles that make overcoming this big challenge feel impossible:
“I can’t write copy.”
“I have stage fright.”
“I don’t know how to sell, and think selling is sleazy.”
“I have no idea where to even begin.”
“I have zero confidence in myself.”
The more aware you are of all the struggles your clients face on the road to achieving the outcome you help with, the easier it is to craft stories that connect with them.
It increases the probability they will reach out to you because it removes their fear of judgement.
It makes your messaging a lot easier because you know so much about what your audience is struggling with.
But most importantly, it helps them know you see them as a real live human, with goals and insecurities. And not just a “mark” to be “sold”.
STORY
IDEAL CLIENT TRIUMPH STORY
The magic of the Ideal Client Triumph Story is it offers your audience a real tangible sense the outcome you help people with is possible for them.
But it goes one step further:
Because its a story, it doesn’t just offer that as an intellectual possibility.
But immerses them in a rich, powerful of experience of how it would feel if it was actually happpening.
So it’s not just “make more money” but what they could experience if they did:
The things they could do.
The places they could travel to.
The experiences they could have.
The dreams they could live.
The gifts they could give to people and causes they love.
And this doesn’t just happen with the ‘more money’ outcome, but with any highly desirable outcome you help with that your ideal clients are yearning for.
The impact of placing them in the midst of this vision of triumph not only makes your client the hero of the story, but connects them to you as the person who can help make it happen.
If you’re struggling coming up with the specifics, take the elements of your Ideal Client Pain Story and reverse them.
- Waking up along again becomes waking up next the person you’re destined to spend the rest of your life with.
- Struggling to pay your bills becomes never having to worry about money again.
- Being ashamed of how you look becomes walking into any room and seeing heads turn as you do.
STORY
YOUR PRODUCT STORY
The problem with simply describing your product or program is it makes it sound like everyone else’s product or program.
It’s nameless. Faceless. Anonymous. So it fades into the background and you struggle to fill it.
Your Product Story creates a more emotional, compelling face to your offer. It connects deeply to your intended audience because it:
Offers a purpose and impact for that specific product.
Calls out and addresses the specific pains, problelms and issues it’s designed to resolve.
Builds a compelling picture of the specific future possibilities and outcomes the product is designed to make real.
Positions the product as the bridge between the specific struggles of the intended audience and the bright future it can help them build. And the perfect fit for what they are searching for.
(It’s different from the Ideal Client Pain & Triumph Stories because it focuses on the challenges and outcomes of the specific product.)
You can even include a mini-origin story for the product itself, revealing how you “discovered it”, the impact it’s had on your life and why its so important that you offer the benefit to your audience.
So, how does all this this emotional connection make your business more profitable?
Descriptions inform people what you do. But they don’t move people to WANT what you do.
Stories build desire for what you do by engaging your audience and revealing the difference you make in a way that’s compelling and unforgettable.
Because your audience actually how good things could be with your support, something is at stake. Something they value could be missed or left behind by not taking action.
You’re not just selling a product or service. You’re selling a passport to a day-to-day experience where their dreams become their reality.
Also … because your stories uncover a deep well of of specific outcomes your market yearns for, as well problems they want to escape, it give you a wealth of compelling messaging you can use in your promotion.
Copy, emails, social media, opt-in pages and even sales pages are no longer a struggle because you’ve done a deep dive into what moves your market to respond.
And because you know the specific goals and outcomes your market values most, the impact and effectiveness of all your presentations soar.
The TRUE power of these stories is the emotional connection they forge with your ideal clients.
Your ORIGIN STORY helps your potential clients see you as a real person with real skills who really wants to help. Instead of someone one just wants to sell them something.
Your IDEAL CLIENT PAIN STORY lets them know you know exactly what they’re going through.
Your IDEAL CLIENT TRIUMPH STORY immerses them in the experience of the success they want to live. And builds hope, belief and confidence what they want is possible for them.
Your PRODUCT STORY makes your offer come alive, and makes them feel like its the perfect match solution they’ve been hoping for.
Now that you have the stories that connect, wouldn’t it be great to find the clients who can pay what your worth?
It doesn’t have to be an impossible dream. But it doesn’t happen by accident. You have to be intentional in seeking out top-tier clients for your top-tier work.
If you’re wondering exactly how to do that, I can help. With 21 specific suggestions that can make your high end client search a whole lot easier. Take a look!
