A couple of weeks ago my family piled into the car and headed west from our home in Islington.

It was a hot day.

The traffic was painfully slow as we crawled through central London, the air thick with fumes, concrete baking in the sun.

So it was with great relief when we watched the tower blocks of London get smaller behind us.

The congestion lifted and, suddenly, we were tearing up the M40 with farmland spilling out around us.

Finally, the A40 plunged us into the woodlands of The Cotswolds, where the Soho Farmhouse lay in bucolic surroundings.

Soon we were sitting on a veranda outside our gorgeous wooden cabin, listening to birdsong as the shadows of fluffy clouds drifted across the field and a breeze rustled the leaves.

As dusk fell, my husband and I poured a gin and tonic while the kids went off on their bikes.

We looked at each other, and let out a massive sigh at the exactly same time.

Then we burst out laughing.

It was one of those tiny, joyous moments that make the hard work worth it – a chance to get away from it all in quiet corner of the country, away from the madness.

I realise that lots of people don’t get the privilege of escaping, but this is one of the benefits of running your own business – it’s that you can afford the time (and cost) of a few breaks.

This is a place we come to about once a year, as our British holiday (usually we’d go abroad too but the pandemic ruined that!)

So what does any of this have to do with home enterprises or creating courses?

Not a lot!

Not directly, anyway.

I’m telling you this story because I like “talking” with you, even though I don’t know you personally.

Sometimes in life, we just need to communicate.

It’s not always about getting down to the nuts and bolts of business and money.

And this is actually one of the most powerful secrets of persuasion that you’ll ever learn.

Let me explain why….

How this genius American publisher discovered the power of ‘pointless’ digressions

Before I launched my own business, I was Head of Publishing for the UK division of international publishing powerhouse, Agora.

The head honcho was a guy named Bill Bonner.

He started the company as the ONLY copywriter, sending letters out in the US mail to get people to sign up for his first financial newsletter.

From that tiny acorn grew an enormous global publishing company (now a billion dollar company!), with famous UK titles including The Fleet Street Letter and The Penny Share Guide, as well as numerous books, courses and newsletters.

As the business grew, a group of pioneering copywriters emerged, under Bill’s influence, who became experts at persuasion.

Direct mail was nothing new, of course….

But it was the way they did it that was so powerful. They believed in the power of stories to hook people, engage them emotionally, and build rapport.

Stories seemed to do this job far more effectively than lecturing, hectoring or piling on statistics and benefits.

For example, some of their promotional pieces weren’t even sales letters but actual BOOKS they sent in the post.

Things people could sit back and read for pleasure – but which would convince them to order a subscription.

At the end of the ‘90s, the internet was expanding at a fast rate, and many of Bill’s potential customers were now on email.

So he set up what may well have been the very first proper ‘eletter’.

Ostensibly, the idea was that he would write a daily report on the financial markets, the global economy and any potential bear and bull trends.

But Bill liked to talk.

He liked to tell stories.

So on many days he just wrote about his family life in France, where he lived in a Chateau, or his ranch out in Argentina, or some mishap during a business trip to London.

Some of the stories would be funny. Some would be sad. Some would be philosophical.

Not all of them had a direct point, and not all of them were related in any way to economics, markets and finance.

I remember many people at the time wondering why he’d use up some of his daily eletters on stories that didn’t have a direct sales purpose.

What on earth was Bill DOING?

To be honest, he didn’t really know himself, as this was new territory.
It was more of a hunch, based on his years of experience as a copywriter.

But he was right…

Readers loved his stories.

They liked to peak behind the scenes, get to know Bill hear about his life.

It made them feel connected to him.

It quickly got to the point where people would look forward to his emails as they might an email from a friend on their travels.

Many would ask him questions about France or his kids rather than what the stock market was doing.

Each day they’d open up his email not knowing quite what to expect – rather than assuming that it was going to either explain some market news or sell them something.

We were astounded to see that Bill’s many digressions and diversions had a direct impact on sales.

The more he told stories, the more the reader numbers soared, and the more people actually opened and read his messages.

They liked him and trusted him.

Which meant that when he DID recommend a product, he got lots of orders.

And I mean a LOT.

Soon, the eLetter was generating massive online sales, to the point where it was more profitable to do it that way than to send stuff in the post.

From what started as a casual, experimental daily email came a major source of the company’s growth and earnings, right up to today.

And it was one of the most important market lessons I ever learned.

… Stories sell.

When we started Canonbury Publishing, my husband Nick made sure that he wrote about his life and interests in his regular newsletter.

And when I started consulting with others and helping them create courses and services I encouraged them take this approach too (just as I do now with my own course)

Apart from it being a nicer, more enjoyable way to communicate…
It’s also better for readers and customers.

Because rather than being regaled with technical information, instructions and details, they can enjoy a story that gets across the message in an entertaining way instead.

When you tell stories the readers knows that you’re a real, 3 dimensional person with their ups and downs, and not some ruthless marketing machine.

This is a technique you can – and should – use yourself when you first start to reach customers who are interested in your course – or who have bought your course.

Whether it’s in an email, video, blog post or social media post, rather than continually selling or explaining facts and figures, relax a bit and reveal something about your life.

Show them that you are human.

Show them that you’re interesting and worth listening to.

Show them a few of your flaws and foibles, so that they realise that you’re a person just like them.

The best way to “show” (rather than “tell”) is to illustrate with a story.
It could be anything…

What you ate for breakfast… a funny thing your kid said… a plumbing disaster… a great film you watched… a trip you took… a secret confession about a bad habit… a recollection from your past.

Bear in mind, you don’t have to reveal anything you wish to keep private.

Just share what makes you happy, or sad.

Be yourself.

Let your customers know who you are.