Finding engaging stories for content and delivery
Yesterday I was talking with a guy who’s building a ‘suite’ of offers in the breath work-personal development space. In particular he’s working with A-players… High performers who are also biz-ness minded. Anyway, he’s doing a workshop in the next two months.
He brought up the age old problem of what to talk about at the start?
Turns out, a previous mentor had told him to start each workshop with a personal story, to build trust. Something about yourself. So that people get to know your struggles, or why you do what you do.
Makes sense.
We all know that telling stories at the front of a workshop, class, or even email can be helpful. But the problem he touched on, is that you run out of backstory, and, it ain’t that exciting to get up and talk about yourself directly.
In a lot of the articles, podcasts, et cetera, one thing I’ve yapped on about is how the character in a story is defined not by what they say, but how they do what they do. How they overcome struggles. Or their point of view on things. Or even what they stand for. Ideally, demonstrated through action.
One example I give a lot is how Tarantino will write twenty plus pages of ‘scrap’ dialogue between characters, just to get to ‘know’ them. To learn how they speak. To understand how they do what they do. Then he throws that out. It’s purely to define the characters for his own sake with the rest of the film.
Anyway, all of this is to say that when you relay any story, about something you saw, or something that happened, you are further defining your character. It doesn’t need to be backstory.
How do you find the stories?
Yesterday I was at the track - I’ve hired a coach for sprinting - and the coach brought her son along. I’d say he’s seven or eight. And he asked me what I do for work. I told him we help businesses grow and make more money. I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. He was skateboarding, so I thought he might say an athlete, or something.
“Well, I’m already in business…”
I asked him what was the nature of his biz-ness?
“I find valuable things - I sharpen sticks for adventure games. I find balls and repair them… I fix up skateboards. I store them all in my locker at school. Then I rent them out to kids at $2 per day. There are other kids who have tried to open up businesses. One kid tries to rent out bicycles to the younger kids who are like, in preschool almost. But they can’t ride. It’s not a good business. And the teachers try to shut all of us down… They’re like the government (his words, lol). But we just tell them that it’s a game. And they can’t stop us from playing. I make around $39 dollars per day. It’s a lot of money.”
The kid was a hustling better than a lot of adults I know.
Anyway, I shared this story with the breathwork guy. And pointed out that the only reason I remembered it, was because it made me pay attention.
And the thing that made me pay attention?
Change, and conflict.
Sure, it was interesting that he was renting out sharpened sticks. But as soon as he said that there were other kids trying to hustle as well, and that the teachers were trying to shut the whole thing down, I was much more engaged. And couldn’t help but pay attention.
All I had to do then, is remember the story.
The Law of Conflict
We’ve covered before that the driver for almost all attention is not a ‘problem’, but ‘change.’ And specifically, the conflict, or potential conflict that ‘change’ creates. Conflict within ourselves. Conflict with others. The change and conflict cycle runs the entire news and media show.
When the kid talked about how they are going against the teachers to keep their enterprises running, that’s when the heart of the story and engagement appeared.
McKee teaches us about this in his book ’Story’.
“When the protagonist steps out of the inciting incident, he enters a world governed by the Law of Conflict. To wit: Nothing moves forward in a story except through conflict.”
“Put another way, conflict is to storytelling what sound is to music. Both story and music are temporal arts, and the single most difficult task of the temporal artist is to hook our interest, hold our uninterrupted concentration, then carry us through time without an awareness of the passage of time.”
Conflict can be about status shifts, implied conflict, arguments, and suspense, which is really looming conflict on the horizon, such as a ticking clock, or an enemy moving closer to the protagonist.
Anyway, all of this is to say the thing we are looking for, is moments of change, tension, surprise, or conflict.
Once we can see the drivers for a story, we can start to collect them
It’s easy to look at great speakers or storytellers and think that somehow they just get this stuff. It just kind of pours out of them. And the better they are, the more natural it is, and the more gifted they must be.
Truth is, one of the key jobs of the compelling orator, or business person, is to build an arsenal of stories or parables.
This ain’t accidental. It’s something that we do on purpose, and work at daily.
People talk about ‘emptying the mind’. Well, if you want to have more compelling stories in delivery and content, it’s much more about expanding the mind. Adding more to it. Find things you’re interested in. Go out and create new experiences outside of social media, and bank stories from those experiences. ‘Filling the mind’ with experiences and stories is part of the job.
In saying that, there are three steps we can do to find more stories.
And I’ll get through this quickly. But basically, the more we practice these three, the better we get.
Step 1: ‘See’ a story, noticing conflict, change or curiosity.
Step 2: Log the story into a notebook or file
Step 3: Dress up the story
Step One - ‘See’ the Stories
A lot of people have written about this stuff at a much deeper level. Austin Kleon’s ‘Steal like an Artist’ is a helpful book. Draw on other people’s work, et cetera.
But this isn’t new.
Eugene Schwartz famously said, “You are not God, you don’t create anything from scratch. Instead, you ‘connect’ existing ideas in new ways” - I paraphrased the crap out of that.
John Cleese: “We don’t know where good ideas come from, but we know that it’s not from our laptop screen”.
It’s all the same message.
Get out there, consume the work of others. Interact with the world, and, you’ll have a constant source for your stories.
For me, I like to spearfish, train et cetera. So I regularly have stories about diving, sharks, whales. Whatever. So I’m constantly pounding out stories around that stuff. Then I have a dog who happens to have a lot of character. So I have stories about her. Then of course I’m working with a lot of unique business owners at any time, and I found early on that the stories that come from within your work are naturally going to be more valuable for your work because there’s already a lot of resonance there.
And in each case, first thing we’re doing is looking for things that make us pay attention.
And this is the great ‘gift’ (actually just a skillset that we develop) of the storyteller. It ain’t just the ‘telling’ of the story. It’s the ability to notice the event, and not just engage with it in real time. But ‘see’ it as fodder for the next email.
Soon you start to ‘see’ the stories more easily in the world around you. Just by practicing.
In short. If something makes you pay attention, or takes you by surprise. It’s probably going to take someone else by surprise as well, and is likely a good starting point for a story.
Step Two - Collect the Stories
One author that’s wildly prolific is Stephen King. I’m not a huge fan, but the way he comes up with stories is interesting. He just ‘starts’ with a scene, and then apparently, ‘sees where it’s going to go’.
So for example, I’m sitting at a desk right now. So you start with that. “He was sitting at the desk…” then you make something happen… “BANG, there was a loud noise down the street.” Maybe the guy ignores it, and keeps working…. “Then a soft knocking on the door….” And you just kind of evolve the story.
But if you think about it, that’s only really going to work in the world of fiction.
For us, we straddle business (non fiction) and entertainment. So instead of creating stories, we ‘collect’ stories.
And personally I don’t think this part gets enough attention. But how are you going to remember all the stories? You aren’t. So you create some kind of swipe file.
I heard - and I think it was from Dan Kennedy - about the idea of a ‘potato box’. It was either Kennedy, or one of his mentors, they had a big cardboard box for potatoes, and used this to throw newspaper clippings, articles, anything that was fodder for stories.
You need your potato box.
For me, my potato box is really just the ‘notes’ program on my computer. Sometimes I’ll even email the ideas to myself.
Plus a bunch of diaries. I’ve probably gone through ten or fifteen diaries. This ain’t any thing special. There’s no dumping stream of consciousness, or deep journal entries. Nothing wrong with that. But these diaries are really just for collecting the kernels of what happened. A few notes that help to remember the story: Who was involved, what happened, what were some specific points that stood out?
Once we have the stories, we get to dress them up…
Step Three - Dressing Up the Story
Before I sat down to write this, I saw a short video.
A yellow Nissan parked in a carpark next to a blue Toyota. The lady in the Nissan opened her door and it bumped the Toyota. The other woman saw it, and to retaliate, she opened her door into the Nissan, and put a bigger dent in it. Well, the whole thing escalated into a raging door slamming match. Soon, they were running their cars into each other in the carpark. Ramming each other. All the while, people in the carpark were just watching, holding onto their groceries. And the line under the video was “When you meet someone who matches your energy.”
In the skit, not only was there some conflict, but the story was ‘dressed up.’ The women were a little too enraged. The cars swiping at each other were a little too violent. It was ridiculous, but, still tied close enough to something we can imagine happening.
That story of the cars has no relevance to what we’re covering, but the message is in the medium.
I’ve long believed that, because we work with mediums that are ‘limited’, we have a creative license to dress up the stories.
What does that mean?
We need to add drama, to counterbalance the ‘flat-ness’ of media platforms.
If you and go through an actual experience together, maybe we’re out diving and something exciting happens. Then we both experience that ‘story’ at full definition. Then later, we ‘tell’ the story to someone else. Well, now it’s second hand. We ‘lose’ some of the experiential side of it. No matter how hard we try to be specific. From there, it just gets worse. Print media, videos, audio… Each time, we lose fidelity and depth.
This ain’t a bad thing.
And, it allows us to tell the stories en masse. But it means we need to practice the ‘telling’ of the story. And in that process, we can dress it up a little bit. Especially elements that create more conflict.
Point out the details. Make the character a little taller. Create tension with some pauses.
If you need some help with this idea, one place to look at is the news. The news ‘story formula’ is to point out a change, and then highlight the problem this may create, and in the process, either elevate, or just plain ‘create’ conflict.
Why? Because it sells.
So in ever story, we can bring out, dress up, or ‘highlight’ internal conflict for the character, or external conflict.
I asked the guy if he had any interesting things happen that week at work.
He said something came up with his admin staff, and that they needed to re-jig a bunch of systems to make the business run smoothly, because he could have lost this staff member.
And I pointed out that in his little story, there were two or three points of conflict.
It was engaging. Even entertaining.
He realised he had what he was looking for all along. Or as I like to say with this stuff, the diamonds are under your feet. We just need to practice finding them.
There’s a famous line by Tony Robbins, and this won’t be exactly right, but close:
“80% of my work is in entertainment. If I can do that well, then I might have a chance to deliver the 20% in education”.
And so it is with all of use in service businesses (and even some hospitality) when we work more directly with a client or customer. Only a small part of what we do is actually educating or giving direct value.
A lot of the other stuff is entertainment.
How we welcome someone in. The stories we tell from a stage or at the start of a class. The humour we can infuse into the end of the consultation. Or even how we can connect with small stories in emails or articles.
All of this is a key part of becoming a more engaging service provider, and building deeper relationships that help build a business well into the future.
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Three types of story driven content
The last place we talked about story driven content was in the Sézanne article. But even though that’s relevant, that’s a product biz-ness. So if you really want a bit more of a ‘primer’, have a read of the RA MA article. Guru Jagat really was a force.
But even with that breakdown, I had a nagging feeling that we should go into some specific types of content you can actually use. In fact we may even get into some detailed tactics. But we’ll see.
Those last articles went into case studies on story driven marketing. And, why it’s important. But if you got that already, or it’s too much to go back and read them, here’s a little refresh. Skip if needed.
A story driven business is built on a single, overarching narrative that involves the client (buyer) as the protagonist or hero. The story doesn’t start with a problem, but with a change. The business doesn't claim to be superior, it creates a more compelling story that we want to be a part of. The story doesn’t just drive marketing, but also business strategy, because it literally is the business.
Can you see how this type of business is more compelling in the noisy technology age we find ourselves in? You do? It’s the businesses we love to buy from.
Onward.
Now, the whole story driven thing ain’t new, of course.
Some businesses have been ‘story driven’ since the start. But when the internet hit full saturation and we all had safely exited myspace or whatever and people got onto Facebook and instagram and video was everywhere, we realised that instead of creating businesses of meaning, we could run ads of someone standing in front of a shwhite-board drawing things, and make bold claims.
Claims about the client’s problems.
Claims that we’re the best.
Kind of like a shifty car mechanic that adds on a bunch of things you need to replace before going through the whole thing properly.
The market exploded. The marketing technology landscape blew up with it.
Check out this image by Martech. If you can!
That’s the total number of marketing technology companies in 2023 (although it could be number of companies in any niche now). This is up 7,300% over eleven years.
No wonder it feels noisy.
Anyway, we all went along with the claims stuff. Until everyone was making claims. And it just became noise. And coupled with the 2020 global trust shift (which we’ll touch on shortly), we’re back to building businesses that have a clear purpose.
And that we resonate with and what to be a part of. And all in all, I think that’s a good thing.
So our three types of story driven content that we’ll cover here include:
Pointing out the change that’s happening (either internal or external), content on how to win the game, and, sharing client success stories. Let’s look at each one.
Content Type 1 - Pointing out the change that’s happening
In the RA MA article, I was yapping on about how effective Guru Jagat was in her messaging, almost purely through reiterating the ‘Change’ or the catalyst.
“We’re in a new trajectory on the planet. This is a new time with new challenges, requirements, and rules of engagement than even five years ago.”
“For the past 15 years I’ve watched the pressure of the Technology Age consume more and more of our fading attention span and vitality.”
She did this stuff almost daily. Not bad huh?
While there’s no specific ‘problem’ pointed out, it certainly creates a natural urgency, and leaves you thinking, well, what the hell do I do? I don’t want to get left behind.
That’s what real urgency looks like.
It isn’t built on exclamation marks or hype.
Now for us, in a lot of our content, we speak to the shift in the trust landscape. Here’s a post I grabbed from a while back on instagram:
“One thing that’s happening, is we’ve shifted as a culture on what ‘good’ looks like for business. Above everything, it’s ‘trust’… Can I trust you with my time? Can I trust your ethics? Can I trust that you’re doing good work? Trust has moved from this ‘abstract’ concept to a competitive advantage. Business are shifting from claims based ‘tick the box’ marketing for attention, to building much deeper trust and connection.”
In other areas, I talk a lot about the trust curve shifting.
Even Price Waterhouse Coopers, despite their slow-moving, often questionable nature, picked up on it in their consumer index:
“Since 2020, when trust became synonymous with health and safety, brand trust has figured prominently for consumers. This year, a remarkable 93% of them told us it is top of mind during holiday shopping, similar to last year’s 92% and a striking increase over the 70% we’ve recorded in the years prior to the pandemic.”
Now, you’re thinking that’s great for RA MA, or us, because there’s this big, broad, cultural change that we’re looking at, and we can all feel, right?
What about for individual businesses?
Or if you’re just serving people one to one?
Let’s look at something totally different, a hairdresser, for example
Well, we get a choice.
We can still look at an overarching change or catalyst, such as a change in trend to more natural hair colours.
Or the new information we have around how chemicals in certain shampoos or products affect your health.
Or,
We could focus on an individual change that’s happening in the internal world for your people. Such as you specialise in hair cuts for people right before their wedding day. So a big part of your marketing is focusing on the wedding, which is the catalyst of the story, how meaningful it is, and how it’s a time to be remembered and how winners have amazing hair. (There might be a trend in wedding hairstyles you can overlay on top of that. Bonus)
Another example
Maybe I’m a really disorganised guy. I’m not too bad really. But let’s say that I am. OK, well, that’s no big problem is it? So if you’re a life coach, hammering on the ‘you’re so disorganised’ isn’t really going to cut it. But if I am just starting a family… how about then? Or if I’m getting back into the dating scene, what about then? Maybe women don’t want a disorganised guy?
It’s the change that’s happening around me, that brings a problem into focus.
On a basic level, almost everyone can speak to the change of getting older, or the passing of time.
Time is running out. You’re ageing.
When we’re twenty-two, that doesn’t mean much. But when we’re sixty-two, it probably hits a little different. Heck, I’m thirty-eight and it’s different now to when I was twenty eight.
A final way you can tap into the power of change is to show your own change
So if you’re a strength coach, and you yourself are getting stronger, or coming back from injury, or learning a new skill, whatever. That change will capture attention. And this is great if you’re a really dynamic character, or you’re out doing a lot of different things that are exciting. The only thing is the client needs to see you as a relatable character so that they can see themselves in that same story. i.e, your ‘change’ needs to have resonance with it. (Yep, we’ll look at success stories later)
Why do people look at the weather report? Change.
Why do people check their phones? Change.
Why do people obsess over Hollywood celebrities and their dramatised lifestyles? Change.
Stagnation is boring. Stagnant problems are ignored. All animals, including humans, are wired to notice change. Problems can exist for a long time, but change captures our attention.
Content Type 2 - How to win on the new path
This taps into the “Garriott Sell the Game” principle that I’ve written about before.
Basically that’s where you are so passionate about the new path that you’re creating, and the change that you’re making, that you literally market, and sell the ‘game.’ You aren’t marketing your offers, or selling your offers so much. You’re selling the whole new ‘path’. And then your offer is the obvious choice, and it’s supported by your success stories.
This came from Richard Garriott, because once he built the Ultima online games, he was marketing the ‘game’, but then all these spin off offers became possible once a player was in the game.
But the main work is to market and sell the game.
So back to the RA MA example, let’s recap:
Old path: Asana yoga, lululemon pants, yoga pictures on the beach
Change: Rapid societal shift to the technology age, demanding lots more nervous system capacity. Old path no longer works.
New path: Kundalini yoga teaching brought to the west by Yogi Bhajan - meditation technology, et cetera
So marketing’ the new path, or ‘selling’ the new path, doesn’t mean selling the subscriptions to yoga. It means marketing the whole shift. Getting as many people on board with the new path as possible.
And one way we can do that, of course, is to help them win on the new path. Use content to give people the tools to move forward with your paradigm, or way of thinking.
In their case:
Free meditations. YouTube channel. Et cetera.
Let’s pause here for a sec. Can you see how this content would be boring, or even useless, if they didn’t spend a huge chunk of time and energy talking about the change, and why the new path was so important?
We needed to be ‘on board’ with the new path, before they could actually make us care about any of this stuff. And that’s where we can get stuck easily. A lot of people intuitively know they should be doing content et cetera. Where they trip up usually is they haven’t defined the old and new path and talked about the key change. So the content ends up patchy, or it’s flat.
And it feels like nobody cares.
All that is to say that with this second kind of content, you help people win.
I do articles, podcasts and books. You can do instagram content. Or live events. Whatever. If someone was on board with your new path, or the ‘story’ of your business and the future you’re trying to shape, what could you give them?
The side effect of this kind of content or experiences, is you start to build assets. I don’t even know how many articles or emails I’ve written now. It’s a lot. And I’m only just getting started. But all that isn’t because I’m trying to ‘create content’. It’s because the content is tools for people to move forward, in the new path that we see ahead.
The final thing is, I enjoy it. So I think you want to enjoy it if you can. Because that gives you a rhythm and it lights you up. And so it is, we get to creatively choose what we do.
Content Type 3 - Success Stories
Frankly. This could be the only type of content you do, and you could probably go pretty far. Because if you think about it, a strong success story of a client is going to encapsulate all three types of content, right?
They are very powerful.
Anyway, we’ll focus on just one part of the success story here, because mostly, everyone knows what a success story is.
The part we’re focusing on is from something I learned from the late Jim Camp. He was a negotiation trainer, who worked with counter-terrorism, FBI et cetera. And basically his approach was to ‘start with ‘no.’ That’s also the name of his book. But what that means is, you start with the negative.
In a negotation, that means you assume that it’s a no. Whereas everyone else goes into it assuming it’s a yes.
So straight away, you’re way less needy. But start with the negative is buillt on that. But it’s a little different. So let’s say I’m going to take my wife Ruby out for a nice dinner. But there’s a long wait time. Instead of ‘hey do you want to go to the best dinner in town, it’s amazing’, which comes off a little hypey, or needy, and it’s pretty easy to fail on that promise, I can say…
“Look, this may, or may not be true - but I’ve heard the food at this new place in town is exceptional. Now, there is a long wait time for the food to come out. Because they have to prepare it… But, I have heard that it’s worth it. It even was featured in the magazine. Do you want to go on Friday?”
And it’s an odd example, or whatever, but you start with the negative. Because that’s how we think. We weigh things up. Then, calmly describe what you’ve got.
So with the success stories, you want to start with the negative
The fear they had of starting with you. Or the problems that were starting to surface in their world. Start with the ugly part that most people hide away. They were afraid to spend the money. Or they didn’t have the time to commit… et cetera.
From there, dive into the steps they took, and the success that they’ve had, and what life looks like after the service.
I won’t go deeper here. Because this is a whole module that we teach on success story secrets.
But If you use success stories to show what life looks like after working with you (not what it looks like to work with you), you’re going to be showing (not telling) that you’re the best person to help your clients win on the new path that you’ve been talking about in all of your content.
These go great on a website, or on a prospectus, or information pack.
Trying to do ‘content first’ can be tricky. Because what the hell do you talk about, besides tips or making claims that your service is good? How would I know what article to write?
But if you look at it through a story-driven path, you see that the framework ‘gives you’ all of your content.
Or another way to put it. Content is only content ‘marketing’ to the extent that it tells the story of the business, and helps your clients move forward on your new path, to get to where they want to be.
Not only do you then capture your audience’s attention.
But you get quality attention.
And then you help them win, which builds trust, and finally you can easily show ‘em why you’re the best person to buy from, because they’re so deep in your world already.
Switching to a story-driven business (global gym case study)
There’s a reason most of us in small business bailed on corporate. We don’t like blindly following rules. I was talking to an architect:
“I’m lucky I get to change my work each day…” he said.
“I would never survive doing the same thing over and over”
No doubt. Small business owners are creative, and like to do things their way.
One side effects of this, is we can tend to shun big biz.
They started their business to upset the status quo… Which often leads to seeing ‘what’s wrong’ with bigger institutions.
I do this all the time.
But, truth is, there’s also lots to learn over the decades from some bigger businesses.
And once in a while, a big biz-ness wisens up, and shifts their messaging
From an archaic institution, to a story-driven business…
One example of this, is Anytime Fitness.
I noticed this because a friend had recently bought into a franchise.
Anytime is a global fitness chain.
Now, it has over 600,000 members. That’s a ‘big box’ globo gym. Most small gyms or studios hate these kind of places.
But, in late 2022, Anytime saw record numbers of Australians joining their network.
So, the customer is buying.
But this wasn’t always the case…
Here, we’ll break down how the switch to a story driven business happened.
And, how even for big business, adopting a story-driven model is possible, and can help build a bigger horde of fans…
We’ll look at three points in the business messaging:
The strength of a main story (a ‘catalyst’ or change, the old path, new path, and opportunity for the client)
How to win on the new path, or in the new story you’re creating
Success stories, to prove that the new path (then your offer) helps people win.
And when we compare these for the old version of Anytime Fitness, with the new version, we see a solid example of a ‘switch’.
Note: We do this mostly through the website. While that’s not the only way to do it, if you can’t get the website ‘story’ clear, there ain’t much hope for anything else…
The Old Version…
We’re going back to March, 2018
Anytime Fitness has been around a lot longer than this.
And while going way back to 2009 was fun for me, it ain’t particularly relevant. Because a clear story didn’t really exist.
(The ‘O.G’ messaging was mostly about a ‘quick, low cost’ gym)
So the first version we’ll look at is in 2018. Let’s look at the three different points:
Part 1 - The ‘Strength’ of the Main Story
Here’s the main header:
“Be a part of the biggest fitness community in Australia” is an attempt at positioning as some kind of leader.
But it’s feeble.
Mainly because leading in number of members has little relevance for a gym client. (Leading in ‘results might be better).
So, there’s a ‘relative’ position.
But this lacks any story element at all:
There’s no catalyst or change, no conflict (old path vs. new). There’s no indication of what the world looks like, who the main character is (who it’s for), what success looks like, or any information about the guides…
The old version ain’t a story driven business, it’s just a message around ‘mass’. And does little to raise urgency or necessity for the buyer.
Moving down the website, the confusion continues…
“Epic is waiting” has no relevance to anything. What is epic? What is the outcome?
This is a ‘stand-in’ word, to try and elevate emotion.
But that does little for the buying cycle…
Overall, the strength of any ‘main story’ is close to zero.
Part 2 - How to ‘win’ on the new path, or in the new story
While the blog was there in the top navigation, there was little on how to win in the game of fitness.
The blog wasn’t advertised on the main site.
This is common with ‘claims based’ business (i.e. ‘we don’t need to build assets or educate because we think we’re the best’)
Part 3 - Success Stories
These are completely missing. Which is often the case when the story ain’t clear.
Stock photography was the default setting. And the visual story was random.
It’s not even clear if the people in the photos have anything to do with Anytime Fitness.
There are no specific success stories.
The New Anytime Fitness - The Switch to A Story Driven Business
Here’s the new top of fold for the site. Straight away we can see a difference…
By 2022, Anytime Fitness had switched to a message around “Any Body, Any Time”
This was across their website and content at a franchise level.
Same as before, let’s look at the three key questions to see if there’s a story-driven business underneath.
Part 1 - The ‘Strength’ of the Main Story
We can look at this from three points.
These were all missing in the previous version…
The change or ‘catalyst’ in the culture. This is needed in any story-driven business.
And in this case: the customer now makes the rules on what fitness looks like
This shift that happened around 2020 was around trust, and choice. All of a sudden, businesses saw that the customer could choose who to buy from, and had 100% of the buying power. More, that it was no longer about businesses ‘forcing’ a particular way of doing things onto the customer.
We saw this with Apple allowing customers more control with advertising settings on their phone.
Uber eats and the explosion of ‘get what you want, when you want’…
And the saturation of smaller gyms, yoga studios, coaches… All offering different ways of serving.
In this case, Anytime didn’t point out this change exactly.
Partly because they didn’t need to…
The main thing is they created a ‘head nod’ statement around the change, that their target customer agrees with.
Here we go, right at the top of the site:
Anyway, a change, or catalyst means there’s now an old path, and a new path:
The old path - Play by the rules. You have to look a certain way to train.
The military boot camps.
The bodybuilding style training…
The old path was about fitting in, and doing things a certain way.
The new path - We’re here to tell you that you can go your own way… and we’ll support you
And in the Anytime ‘world’, they will help you, with cardio equipment, trainers, weights… Whatever you need, they’ll support you and guide you.
For their target audience, the new game creates a feeling of being welcome, no matter who you are.
And it also creates ‘conflict’ with the old path. Critical.
Also, notice the lack of ‘claims’…
Before, there was the claim that “epic” is waiting right around the corner. That’s all gone!
A lot of smaller gyms fall into the claims trap:
Get into great shape by summer. Live your best life with us. Et cetera.
Big, often broad claims, that mean you blend in quickly…
Now, the only ‘claim’ Anytime makes is that they’ll support you every step of the way.
Part 2 - How to ‘win’ on the new path, or in the new story
On the main page, now they direct you to the article bank. There are hundreds of articles over the years, to help readers win. In particular “motivation quotes for anybody” - focusing on not just gym motivational quotes, but motivational disability quotes, motivation quotes for women et cetera. The story is even stronger the deeper you go.
There are also recipes and training tips.
Part 3 - Success Stories
Strong success stories are proof that the new story they are creating actually works.
So, we would expect to see a bunch of stories of a diverse group of people (‘any’ body), winning, in a range of ways, because fitness looks different now.
And, we wouldn’t expect to see transformation photos, strength gains, or more typical gym success stories.
Because that was (in their world), the ‘old path.’
Here we go:
I didn’t highlight the other messages, but here they from left to right
My childhood medic alert bracelet broke, and I took that as a sign to be the one in control of my own journey.
It motivates me to better my health & well-being for the longevity of my Paramedic career.
I need be physically & mentally strong enough to support Sam.
My motivation is to NEVER SAY NO TO ADVENTURE!
Being able to visit and do photography of incredible animals and scenery.
These are missing a few things as far as success stories go… But they’re trying.
These stories tell us: Anytime Fitness is a place for any body to come in, and find out what fitness looks like for them, so that they can go out and do the things that they love.
The focus of this case study was to show that there’s no biz-ness that’s ‘too big’.
And that if you want to clarify, or flesh out your business story to help with marketing (and business strategy), it’s very possible. Even if you’ve been going for eight years.
The main learning though, is that there is one unifying story here.
Any body. Inclusivity. Fitness done your way.
Anytime didn’t try to mix multiple story arcs (maximal strength, women’s training seperate, yoga etc).
They might have those offers within the world, but they would exist as quests that the customer goes on, once they’re bought into the overall story.
Once you clarify your business story, you know stand alone, and know where you’re going in your strategy and marketing.
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The Sézane masterclass in worldbuilding and story-driven marketing
One thing that’s going on ‘round the here lately is Ruby is learning French
She’s using the app. She also follows this lady on instagram, who, each day, goes through a French word. She might explain how to pronounce a syllable or something. Plus, she also follows a bunch of French fashion brands, and artists.
Well Ruby was watching this video about how to say a word, and at the end of the lady pointed to her t-shirt. Talking about how she’s done a collaboration with another brand, Sézane…
Now, I normally wouldn’t be so interested in all of this.
But I knew that Ruby had bought a bunch of Sézane clothes over the years. And that this French fashion brand has blown up. In particular, a few months back she came into the office after they had a sell-out clothing drop, and it all went in thirty minutes.
Before she could get any…
Anyway, so my ears pricked up at this video.
I pointed to the phone.
“They’re in the French culture ‘world’, not the Fashion world” I blurted out.”
“Who?” She asked.
“Sézane”
“But this lady is teaching French, not selling clothes”
“‘Zactly!”
And this is a really key thing for service businesses to think about.
“Market the world, before the offer. Sell the world, before the offer.”
Most service businesses position ‘relatively’ through claims.
For example, a gym might say ‘we’re not CrossFit’... or “we can help you lose weight faster, here’s our proof.” Or a nutritionist might say “You need to fix your mindset around eating. Here’s how…” Coaches: “It's time to change, I’ll help you.”
This puts you smack in the middle of the ‘claims based’ marketing noise (‘claim’ to solve a problem the business describes), that is so filled with hot air, promises, and general chatter, that it’s almost impossible to stand out.
Especially now, where consumers need to trust a brand much more before purchase.
So a lot of times, this leads to discounting, or being ignored, or, both…
But when you sell the world, before the offer, you’re a story-driven business. You’re taking the position of a ‘movement champion’ rather than a claims based marketer in the middle of a sea of red noise.
And by championing a new movement that the client wants to be a part of, your offer (or Sézane’s offer in this case) becomes the default choice for anyone wanting to ‘wear’ the French culture.
Let’s break down how Sezanne does this, so you can apply the thinking to your own biz-ness as you see fit…
Note: Should we pay attention to product businesses if we run a service? Absolutely. Hospitality businesses are great as well.
Step One: Sézane clearly defines their ‘world’
You can think of your ‘world’ as your meta. The genre, or setting of your business. Where you’re located, the characters, the colours et cetera.
Your ‘world’ infuses everything you do. Because it’s where the story takes place.
(Go back through the articles or podcasts for more on this)
This is part of the ‘story’ as explained on Sézane’s ‘About Page’:
So, what do we know now…?
First, from the name, the site title, we know that the brand is French. With a coastal vibe.
We know that they are about a ‘new story’, because they told us.
More:
Further down on the ‘About’ page, in the film “10 Years of Creation as Told by Victor” where he talks about Sézane, he states:
‘The Parisian life, symbol of their Renaissance, and their Revolution’.
‘Renaissance’ is French for ‘re-birth’. Or creating a new version, or a new story.
More:
On the about page, they have something called Sézane en Rose. ‘On the first Wednesday of every month, we wear pink to raise awareness and support breast cancer organisations across the world.’
OK, so here’s what we have:
** The ‘world’ is mostly for women.
** The ‘world’ is about French culture.
** The ‘world’ is colourful, musical, and has dancing
** The ‘world’ is about Renaissance and Revolution.
** The ‘world’ is about fashion.
While we know they sell something to do with fashion, nothing has been said about the product yet.
As we take in this ‘world’, we start to look deeper at the story as it could apply to us as the consumer. Which is always the main reason the business exists. I.e. to make a change for a particular group of people.
Why look at the ‘world’ first with marketing?
You don’t have to. But it’s typically fixed from the backstory of the business owner a little bit.
Plus, it creates an ‘immersive’ way of thinking, that allows the customer to go on a lot of deeper journeys:
“I eventually came to believe that instead of conceiving of a story and then creating a world in which it could be told and make sense, I should create the world first - then let the player have access to all of its capabilities as they negotiate their own story.”
- Richard Garriott
Note: Some people like to create the story first. And that’s OK.
Others, will try to just create the offer. A solution for a particular problem.
And there’s nothing wrong with that either. But in a crowded market, if you create the world first, or at least in line with your core narrative, you shift to becoming a ‘story-driven’ business, that stands alone.
Step Two: Define the Story, or Narrative
OK, so the ‘world’ is defined.
Remember, this is just the setting, or theme for your business story.
Let’s look at that main business story. This is the ‘game’ the business is helping their customers play.
This is why your business exists. It must make some kind of consistent change.
For example.
In Creator Club, the overarching ‘story’ is you learn the skills to build a unique, well-known and profitable business.
Let’s look at a gym:
Inside the world of a gym, there must be one overarching narrative.
You get stronger. Or you get more flexible. Team training. Or you get more fitness so you can show up at your job better.
(Gyms that lack a core narrative can struggle over time)
OK, back to our example, Sézane.
In the Sézane world, there is one core narrative:
To embrace your version of your own renaissance. To have your own ‘French Revolution’.
Now this started in France, where they began. But soon, it spread.
And, once Sézane spread to other countries, it was about a ‘new’ sense of culture, life and energy.
For Ruby, for example, she has European heritage, she went to France when she was young.
And now living in Australia, she has a craving for that culture. So, she started to learn French, et cetera.
[Note: Often, your core narrative is more powerful when it coincides with a cultural shift, or ‘change’ that makes it more urgent. For example, although not stated on the site. Sézane’s ‘renaissance’ narrative, of a new, more energised future, is in contrast to a lot of the technocratic, or more ‘muted’ lifestyle that is more common now. In this sense, they are rising up in the face of a change, presenting a new opportunity to buyers.]
Variations to the narrative
Note: For most businesses, there are a lot of variations to how that major narrative will play out for each person.
I.e. People may go to your gym for slightly different reasons. Or some people do certain classes, and not others at a yoga studio. Because they don’t follow exactly the same path.
Here’s a specific example:
In Creator Club, there are full time employees building side businesses.
There are architects. Trainers. Coaches. Consultants.
All building story-driven businesses.
And while that is the main narrative, some people are using it to become more confident in all parts of their lives. Others are using it to meet people, and take advantage of the social aspect of the live events. Others, are purely focused on revenue.
And you’ll find in your business, that people have all kinds of directions they can go.
And you can either try to control that. Or, you can build your world in more ways so that they can develop their own stories in their own ways.
(And stay within your business world.)
Anyway, let’s go back to Sézane, if you think about the French Revolution or Renaissance ‘story’, well there are different facets to that narrative.
The clothing
The food or the art
The people, and community
The music, and dancing (that period was known for a lot of music)
The language
You can probably see where this is going in terms of offers and content…
But once you define the over-arching narrative of your business, things get a lot easier.
Let’s look at two more examples.
Let’s say you’re a Yoga Studio.
Well, if you are clear on the overarching narrative - let’s say it’s preparing the mind and body for the modern world (similar to RA MA institute).
Well, what are some of the ways that could play out…
The client gets better at ‘skills’
The people come together to meet each other at ‘community events’
The client learns ways to build physical strength
The client learns ways to improve their relationships
The client goes to classes specifically to clear the mind
All of these help the customer progress further on the overarching narrative.
OK, last one.
Let’s say you’re a Real Estate agent.
Well, the over-arching story might be for the customer to become a proud home-owner and welcome and respected member of the community. OK, some of the quests, or ways that could play out:
Finding a home
Financing a home
Setting up your home
Meeting your community
Maximising your home for re-sale
Your ‘world’ will have tools, and assets that help people to go down one, or any of these paths.
This gets clearer as you learn more from customers, and look for more ways to help them.
For more on narrative, check out the RA MA article here.
Step Three: Create offers to help clients move forward in their story
There are two kinds of offers. Paid. And Free.
A lot of free offers might fall under the ‘content’ banner for service businesses.
But they are still offers!
When I saw Ruby watching the video, she was learning how to say certain words in French.
It’s both entertaining, and, is helping her to feel like she’s moving closer to the goal. That was the ‘value’.
She’s paying for the ‘free’ content with time and attention… That’s the trade. And, this is helpful when you think about your content, because you can learn to see it like a paid offer. It has to provide a benefit for the reader.
If the content is obviously moving the reader closer to the sale, it’s usually a benefit for you.
If the content is obviously moving the reader forward in their story, then it’s a benefit to them.
OK, let’s look at the Sezane offers.
We’ll break them down to both ‘paid’ and ‘free’.
‘Free’ Offers:
App that you can get to check out latest styles. This seems self serving, but remember in fashion, it’s also helping the audience create vision
Educational and inspirational content on social media
French lessons
Clothing / outfit ideas
Inspiration through showing customers dressed in Sezane.
One of my favourites - a Sezane playlist, which is used at the official Sezane l’appartement store in Paris
Other notable content:
Multiple dance collaborations: Sezane x LA Dance Project
Dance videos on the website
About the staff videos that are interesting
General content (social media) is largely grouped into three categories:
Examples of customers who are moving forward in their own story of ‘renaissance’
Education, ideas or tips to move forward in the story yourself
Product offers (how to actually buy the clothes to move forward in the story)...
This takes us to the paid offers…
‘Paid’ Offers:
Clothing
Cookware from collaboration with chef
Men’s clothing
Bags
Shoes
Jewelry
Swimwear
Maternity
Glasses
The clothing we expect from a clothing brand. But all the offshoot offers? Simply other ways to ‘surround’ yourself with your own French Renaissance.
Finally let’s look at the influencer collaborations:
Collaboration with Jamie Beck, author, photographer
Collaboration with Elénore Toulin, who does cooking content (French Chef)
Collaboration with Suzanne Meyer dancer.
Collaboration with G. Kero, a particularly colourful artist.
In each case, influencer collaborations are not set up just use other people’s audience to make more sales or awareness (usually the influencer is much smaller in audience size)
They are set up because they benefit the customer first and foremost, by uncovering more of the main narrative (renaissance), in a different way - i.e. through music, or art.
Alright, so the offers in a business should not be ‘presented’ with their features, or as stand-alone offers to make money for the business.
This includes ‘free’ offers, like content.
But rather, as stepping stones for those who want to go deeper in the world, and progress further on the main narrative, or story.
A story-driven business supports this even for non-paying customers. Because they are driven by the story. Customers pay for the deeper level of guidance, support, or in this case, immersion with the clothing.
Sézane ain’t wildly popular not because their clothing is well designed (it is).
It’s not wildly popular because it’s driven by influencers.
They are wildly popular because they have created a story that resonates, with an immersive world.
Rather than trying to ‘sell’ the offers all the time, they have a limited amount of stock of the clothing, and a much bigger amount of content, world-building, and tools to help inspire customers to move forward in their own narrative, or story of ‘renaissance.’
They are not just a clothing company.
They are champions of a movement: create your own ‘renaissance’.
All that is to say, if you want to build a story-driven business, your three areas of focus are:
What is the world (setting, and overall theme).
What is the over-arching ‘narrative’ taking place in that world?
What are your offers. These are stepping stones to move forward in the main narrative of your business.
Want to add more offers? Run a live event?
Great, what do your clients need to move forward in their journey, or story?
Want to inspire your clients to go down more quests, spend more time in your business?
Great, add more depth and detail to your world so they can explore.
This may be the best story-driven marketing I've ever seen
It’s RA MA Institute.
Here’s the breakdown…
A few months back I visited a friend who runs a gym.
He was talking about getting some clarity on the business ‘story’, to try and bring the staff together, and be more connected around a vision.
Very important, and of course at the heart of content marketing, decisions, et cetera.
Anyway, he’d see my other work. Where, I’ve talked about how we help businesses with story-driven marketing, and how this can also bring the team together powerfully. He asked if we could run a small story strategy workshop up at their centre.
A couple weeks later we met at his lair, and started off the team session.
After lunch, once we’d loaded up on a home-made slow cooked beef, we got into the real ‘juice’ of their story strategy.
To guide us through the five stages, I gave them the following example.
Some of the greatest story-driven marketing I’ve ever seen…
The Story-Driven Marketing Structure
The business I shared with Matt and his team was the global studio that is RA MA Institute. RA MA is a Kundalini Yoga Institute founded by the late, great Guru Jagat, that provides “Yogic and Meditative Experiences for True Freedom and Fulfilment.”
They offer in person experiences, online yoga classes, retreats and more.
So they’re a yoga studio and community, but certainly unlike any other…
[A personal note. I first came upon RA MA through watching the changes that I noticed with my wife, Ruby, when she found Guru Jagat’s work in 2018. Over the years, Ruby went deeper into the RA MA world, through Kundalini teacher training, the business training, et cetera.
Ruby made a lot of life-long friends from RA MA.
Three things:
I’ve never worked professionally with RA MA, or anyone affiliated with them
I have only respect and appreciation for Guru Jagat, and the path she and the team carved with RA MA. This article is about ‘marketing’. To me, marketing is the story. It’s the overall change that we’re making. It’s truth. So I ain’t trying to pigeon hole Guru Jagat’s work into marketing speak, I’m just observing from my lair, through a story-driven marketing framework.
Since Guru Jagat’s passing, RA MA Institute may have changed. I’m not sure, as I haven’t watched as close personally. This article is based on RA MA as I saw it, prior to Guru Jagat’s passing.
It’s also clear that Guru Jagat was a great marketer. She knew what it meant to create a narrative:
"You do have to create the narrative and you shouldn't be afraid"
-Guru Jagat
Anyway, all images, quotes and ideas are directly from the RA MA website at various times, from Guru Jagat’s book Invincible Living, or from Yogi Bhajan’s work, who originally popularised Kundalini Yoga.]
Anyway, Matt and the team shrugged when I mentioned RA MA…
But as we dove into the story strategy… it was a different vibe altogether.
We could see how clearly the story structure allowed Guru Jagat to champion a new ‘movement’ that RA MA followers and members could get behind, that spearheaded a new direction in the culture.
STEP ONE - Point out a change in the culture that impacts your people
Most service providers lead by talking about their service, or at best, with a ‘problem’:
“We have a great community.”
“You can’t find a good gym”.
“You’re struggling to lose weight”.
“You’re tired of accountants that take too long.”
And typically, the more urgent, and painful the problem, the better.
There can be two issues with this. First, we can put up with a problem for a long time. Even for life. Second, when you tell someone they have a problem, it can put them on the defense.
They can ‘armour’ up, and then are not receptive to the message.
But when you point out a cultural change that is important to us, and happening now, then we will often pay attention, and become more receptive.
This is the catalyst for the hero (your customer) to set off on their quest.
Here’s an opening ‘slide’ of the old RA MA site:
More:
It ain’t just a once-off on the site. Guru Jagat relentlessly, repeatedly reiterates this message.
"We're in a new trajectory on the planet. This is a new time with new challenges, requirements, and rules of engagement than even five years ago.
And she ain’t alone. There’s ‘lineage’ to this (more on lineage value in marketing another time).
Her teachers, predecessors and elders, all the way to Yogi Bhajan, who first brought Kundalini to the West in the 1960’s also pointed to this change:
"We will find people getting empty, more perturbed, not able to bear enough, not having much tolerance, and very argumentative. It is not the fault of people. It is the result of the power with which the psyche flows on the planet... What is coming is very proper, qualified, calculated, and demonstrative insanity. Whenever a nation goes through a demonstrative insanity, it changes the order…”
-Yogi Bhajan
This ‘change’ coincides with the shift into the Aquarian Age. Which a lot of yogic schools talk about.
But Guru Jagat repeatedly points to this shift. Constantly reminding us of the urgency, and attacking it from different angles and schools of thought.
Example:
In other places, she used the terms “Digital Age” and “Technology Age”, pointing to the shift to the digital reality / reality hybrid life-style we now have.
From what I can tell, Guru Jagat also coined and embodied the “creation culture”, which coincided with this change that we’re going through as a culture.
Note: While there is already a sense of the ‘problem’ that could be tied up with this change, it’s the change that is in the spotlight. This is a macro change. It’s not the individual. This was also pointed out by Yogi Bhajan:
“It is not the fault of people”... “It is the result of the power with which the psyche flows on the planet”.
Very specific, urgent, and major.
Again, while uncomfortable, a static problem can be ignored. A changing problem, or accelerating situation with high stakes, cannot be ignored.
Watch animals, they pay attention to change. Not static problems. Watch your own behaviour around your phone, your inbox, your bank account. We pay attention to change over static problems.
Step one in this story-driven framework, is, point out a change or catalyst that is relevant to your customers.
This satisfies one of the key questions in marketing: “Why now?”
STEP TWO - Raise the Stakes (create tension through vision)
Marketers will tell you that there are two drivers for change. We move ‘away’ from pain, or potential loss (go to the doctor). Or that we move towards pleasure, or gain (train to get stronger).
You must show both, by creating both positive, and negative ‘vision’.
Show how recognising the change will lead to a positive future for the customer.
Show how ignoring the change will lead to a negative future that they can’t ignore.
RA MA and Guru Jagat did this eloquently:
“For the past 15 years I’ve watched the pressure of the Technology Age consume more and more of our fading attention span and vitality”
“The required upgrade is creating a very palpable pressure. With the demands of technology and the massive shifts in economic, geopolitical, and societal values, our human operating system is also upgrading. We have the choice to either consciously participate in this shift or be in conflict with it.”
She shows the positive vision both personally through her own example (demonstration marketing: starting fashion brands, producing music, creating the institute).
She also points to other Creators:
“After… becoming introduced to the technology of Kundalini Yoga, every part of me has become more awakened. I’m clearer, stronger, more conscious, more creative than ever. I’m in a place I always wanted to get to but couldn’t quite figure the way before”
-Alicia Keys, Recording Artist
Contrast creates tension.
We’re presented with a choice between two visions. The vision of chaos of the mind. And the vision of having the strength to deal with the Digital Age, and the Aquarian age. And therefore having very positive personal power, relationships, health and business.
To bring this home, Guru Jagat regularly repeats the stakes:
“Either the technology is using you, or you're using the technology”
I believe the ‘technology’ she refers to is two fold. The technology that we have, AND the Kundalini ‘Technology’ - mantras, kriyas, et cetera.
STEP THREE - Show What’s Possible for The Customer
Notice at this point, there is still no mention of the service! There’s no mention of the membership.
But here, Guru Jagat helps you see what was possible:
“In this pressurisation, something incredible has emerged, mainly a viral need for wellness on a deeper and deeper level; a quick and efficient way to release the pressure. To see that possibly there is a way to live that is more vital, more inspired, less based in fear and anxiety. There is a different way.”
“You can do it right now, in very little time, be connected to a deeper pulse of your life force, which manifests as instantaneous clarity, effectiveness, creativity, bravery and the like”
In some yoga circles, the benefits remain a bit theoretical and mystical. People show yoga poses on the beach. Or they speak with a spiritual tone, or have the green juice.
But Guru Jagat followed Yogi Bhajan’s lead of integrating yoga into business, community, fashion, technology and daily house-hold life. For the audience, this is a tangible way to show the possibility.
Don’t tell the customer what is possible for them. Show them.
Show them what life is like because of having your service, not having your service itself.
Powerful businesses, and leaders of powerful ‘movements’ are able to show the new reality that is available in this new time, based on playing a new game.
Or, more bluntly nobody cares about what we do. They care about what it does for them, and how it improves quality of life, status, opportunity, fulfilment.
Guru Jagat demonstrated this well, because she has the empathy and skill to show the intersection of the technology, with modern life aspirations (not separate to).
STEP FOUR - Teach people how to get the result through your features, education, and ‘world’.
By this point, we can see Guru Jagat as a voice, or a possible ‘guide’ to navigate this urgent change that’s happening.
What she then does, is, she shows how the features, or offers that she has can help you.
Without trying to ‘differentiate’ from other yoga schools, or services, or even talk about ‘em, you can see her selection of tools is wildly different. This is because she is presenting a new game, for the new age. It’s not the same game as before, because the times have changed (step 1).
Here is an incomplete selection of offers. Note that many are free, and simply take you deeper into her world:
Base Level and Free ‘Features / Offers’ within the community
**' ‘Invincible Living’ by Guru Jagat - Book
** Any number of Yogi Bajhan books on the Kundalini Technology
** Reality Riffing Podcast (free) for relevant conversations
** RA MA TV community channel (YouTube, free) for classes
** Fashion labels and clothing collections
** White Sun music (Mantra, sound technology to upgrade consciousness, health, energy)
And more…
RA MA Institute Offers:
** 3 Studios for in-person memberships - Los Angeles, New York and Mallorca
** In-person Workshops (available online too)
** In-person Kundalini Trainings (available online too)
** RA MA Yatras, camps
** Immense Grace and Aquarian Women’s Leadership Society Annual Programs
All very helpful.
Now, this is a LOT of resources or features…
Which, gives us three signals:
It reiterates the urgency and significance of the change (the characters are committed)
It shows there is depth to the world / technology (lineage, long term prolificness)
It is overwhelming if we were to try and implement it alone.
This last point is a positive, not a negative (just have one offer? List out multiple features and benefits).When we see the scope of the task, we understand the value of the guide…
And, we are in a perfect position to seek out the core offer:
Monthly RA MA TV membership (Recorded and Live options)
A membership, with all the classes, guidance and community, for $19 per month.
Step four is important (and one of my favourite.)
On a website, this will be your features.
But in a broader picture, it will include some of your content. We’re in a time where some people are saying ‘less is more’ with content. Or ‘don’t share too much, because there’s already so much noise out there.’
But make no mistake. While each business varies, step four favours the prolific, the energised, and the enthusiastic business owner. Guru Jagat was all of the above, and more.
More:
Many people think of content as “what should I put out?” from a perspective of the ego. And there can be a lot of subconscious stuff going on.
If we can see it through this story-driven lens, the question shifts to “what can I share today that may help, inspire, or energise people who are on board with this change and new game?”
Your content is helping to build your narrative, strengthening the relationship with the characters, and helping those who are on board. It feels less graspy, because it’s story-driven, not ego driven.
STEP FIVE - Show Proof of The Story Coming True
At this point, Guru Jagat and RA MA have presented evidence of a major, urgent shift (step 1). They’ve pointed out the stakes (step 2) - if you ignore the change, you get insanity. If you embrace it, you get personal power, energy and fulfilment. They’ve called you into action personally (step 3), and provided all of the resources to get there, even if you choose to go on your own, creating zero neediness (step 4). Now, like at the end of any story, we want to see proof.
In sales, this is called creating ‘certainty.’
Proof that it works, and proof that it addresses the original urgent change.
In your service, this is success stories, case studies testimonial videos, and of course, as mentioned, personal (or team) demonstration.
And this shows us another key, broader content pillar: show (don’t tell) examples of how people are adopting the change, and winning in your new world. Even if they aren’t your clients, by highlighting their wins, you are still marketing and selling the overall story.
What if you don’t have a lot of testimonials?
Two options - one is you do some work for free and get ‘em.
The other option is you double down on demonstration value. Create videos, audios or written assets to show the work that you can do.
A story strategy works best when people are talking about it
Yesterday I was talking to a client who just ran a three day launch for his business. Huge success.
Half way through though, he got some haters.
Another guy from a similar business was razzing him about it. “It wasn’t fair.” “He was ‘stealing’ clients” et cetera.
Of course none if this was true. But this is what happens when your story is clear and strong. You will have something for people to say yes to, and talk about with a positive energy…
And something for people to rally against.
And Guru Jagat had plenty of people rallying against her. I’m neither well versed in this enough to write about it, nor is it important to go deep here. But Yogi Bhajan and Guru Jagat both had trolls, haters, non-believers and more. Not only that, they wrote publicly about them, and the stories spread far.
This can be stressful. It also creates more engagement and awareness.
Lukewarm stories do not spread.
A story strategy works best when all the characters are on board
When we finished up the workshop, the best part wasn’t that there was a clear narrative for Matt at the CEO / Founder level.
It’s that the team was bought in.
Through clarifying their own unique story for the gym, they could see why they were drawn to Matt in the first place, because although it was hidden, it was at the heart of the business all along.
And now they could see how they each contributed to the story as individuals.
RA MA was the same. Clear characters were elevated, and their magic, strengths, and quirks were brought out. So while they were different, they all relayed the same story.
One of the biggest obstacles for small businesses is when the team (characters) have a disconnect with the overall story strategy.
At best it creates doubt, and resistance around talking about the story, or posting content. At worst, it creates ‘Lone Wolf’ mentalities, and an energetic hole in the business, leaking growth and profit.
At RA MA, not only was Guru Jagat constantly talking about this ‘shift’ to the technological age, but so was her husband, her peers and colleagues, her mentors. And it all resonated with exactly the same story.
“The most engagement ever”
A couple of weeks after we ran the workshop, I checked back in with Matt.
He’d done a few Instagram posts and videos in line with the clearer narrative, and updated the website to visually tell the story.
Those videos had the most engagement they’d ever had.
His one-to-one spots in the next few weeks sold out.
Their next monthly workshop sold out.
Their team began posting more on social media, and generating their own engagement, which all acts like a web, and tells the bigger picture story.
Of course these results come from a number of factors, and results always vary. But with a clear story-driven strategy for marketing and decision making, life gets a lot easier.