When to bring out the story of your business
Last week I had a first conversation with a very talented artist who does mostly sculpture.
He wants to bring his work out to the world in a big way.
At first, I was wary about even meeting. Because while he sells his art, and we’ve worked with artists, art is very different from services, consulting or coaching businesses that we normally work with.
“Basically, I’m going through a big project. New website. A showing in a gallery end of next year. I have spoken to the website lady, and we both agree I need to find a good photographer and videographer. I heard that you do story or narrative work and help people clarify the copywriting… Personally, I think this needs to go first. Surely we should clarify the story before we do the site and photography? Because the story will inform everything else?”
Most businesses start out in the traditional route:
They pick a niche
They create an offer they want to sell the niche
They use ‘storytelling’ as a marketing tactic afterward
Story-driven businesses that thrive in the new economy (short on trust and saturated with options)… take a different path:
They identify a story and compelling world
A psychographic resonates with the story (the niche self-selects)
They use small (and big) offers to help people live out that story
In the old way, businesses try to ‘target’ a niche.
And then make claims how they’re different or better.
As markets get more crowded people start to ignore claims.
Now, the ‘niche’ is attracted naturally to the business story.
And invests with the business to get support in the transformation.
While this is obvious with services (“making law simple”, “helping women get in the best shape of their lives at any age”, “business coaching…”)
On the surface, it’s different for art.
But is it really?
As we talked through his work, we learned that the whole reason he got into sculpture (at 50+ years old), was grounded in a story of connecting with parts of the land, and with the human form.
One option for the ‘story’ - He is bringing an organic ‘humanity’ back into the limelight in a digitised world.
That certainly isn’t going to be the final narrative.
In fact, we’ll throw that away if we move ahead, probably.
Because something much deeper may emerge.
But even off the cuff ideas like that can show how ’story’ is the strategy not just for businesses that thrive, but for art, and other creative pursuits.
And of course, he is correct.
The story ideally comes before everything, and informs the video guy, site builder… And entire internal team as well.
Frankly, this rarely happens.
Most businesses come to us with an offer and a bit of a marketing ‘problem’ (that feels like confused messaging), and then we start to bring out their world and story so their audience can engage. And when they see this it kind of re-invents what the whole idea of marketing looks like for them.
This is natural, probably.
Usually when people start a business, they are just thinking about getting clients.
Rather than clarifying the overarching business story for a long term business that resonates.