In 1957, a 14-year-old boy named Pino left his village in the Italian countryside.

He journeyed all the way to Britain to seek his fortune.

Pino spoke no English but he found a job in a café in Hackney, London, and found that he loved the work.

Three years later, his uncle Johnny Silva also migrated from Italy and opened his own café in Lambeth.

Inspired by his uncle, Pino approached an investor to lend him money to open an Italian café next door to Victoria’s coach station.

He called it Ponti’s.

In the 1960s, the area around Victoria station was buzzing with activity and Ponti’s boomed.

This was how the Pontis’s brand was born, and it became known throughout London for its vibrant ambience and delicious food.

Pretty cool story, eh?

And do you know where I found it?

On the ‘about us’ page of the Ponti restaurants website.

It’s a great example of storytelling in business, because it does a number of things in a very short space…

• It gives the business credibility, showing that it is authentic and long-established.
• It creates an emotional connection with the reader by telling a compelling ‘rags to riches’ story of a young boy who went on an amazing journey.
• It makes the team behind the restaurant more HUMAN – making it more about the story of an Italian immigrant family than one about a business.
• By giving the restaurant a distinct history and origin, it makes it stand out from other similar establishments (bear in mind there are a LOT of Italian eateries in London!)
• It makes the business memorable, because the story of the 14 year old rural boy who started a restaurant chain easily sticks in the mind.

I have talked about the power of stories before (here) and you can see that this one story does a LOT of heavy lifting, doesn’t it?

Which is why I’d urge you to take a leaf out of their book and think of a way to do something similar when you’re creating your course.

A compelling and original backstory will make you stand out from the crowd, give you more credibility and help attract potential customers to your course.

You’ll be surprised how easy it is, if you give yourself just 60 minutes today to sit down and think about it.

First, ask yourself…

What’s MY story?

How could you frame your journey towards creating your course in a way that might connect with potential customers?

It could be a ‘rags to riches’ story like the example I showed you above.

Maybe you pulled yourself out of disadvantaged circumstances, for instance, poverty, poor education, deprived upbringing, illness, depression, shyness or physical disability.

But if that doesn’t fit your reality, then there are all kinds of story ‘frames’ that have appeal.

Here are a handful of classics.

• Battling the enemy – From David and Goliath to The Gruffalo people love stories of people going up against more powerful enemies. Are you pitting yourself against certain institutions, prejudices, media bias, and other forces?
• Rebirth – have you gone through an experience that has transformed your life? It could be a journey, experience, health problem, personal tragedy, or spiritual revelation.
• Quest – are you on a mission to achieve an objective? Maybe you’ve got a big life goal or a goal for wider society.
• Evangelical – are you trying to champion a cause or spread a message? It could be that you’re passionate about a certain approach, idea, or philosophy.
• Obsession – have you become obsessed with something so much that it drove you to become better at it, and this is what your course is helping others to do?

Any of these will work brilliantly. They’re stories that we all can easily recognise and understand.

Once you work out the kind of story you’re going to tell, it’s time to gather up the raw material.

How to create your story

To make your own story, think about your personal or professional history, and write a few sentences that explain each of the following, where applicable.

What is your background? (family, location, class, career)

Was there a particular experience, problem or goal that you had when you were younger that led to where you are now?

Was there an event, piece of art, or person that inspired you?

What first gave you the idea to set up your business, or create your first product?

What challenges did you overcome?

What results did you achieve? (Income, life improvement, awards, recognition, qualifications, press coverage, reviews).

Once you have written answers to the above, you will have some raw material.

Don’t then throw all of that into a list of facts – think about how you can craft a story.

Get into Jackanory Mode

Do you remember the kids’ show, Jackanory?

Well, when you write your story, imagine that you have sat down in front of an invisible audience of eager listeners with a book.

Try and tell your story in the same way.

Give it a beginning, a middle and an end, where you take the central character (you) on a journey.

You can tell this story in many different ways, but if you’re struggling to know how to go about it, then here’s a suggested format.

1. First, establish the CHARACTER

Introduce yourself, the star of the story.

Eg. “I’m a 47-year-old online tutor from Manchester, very happily married, with two sulky teenagers.”

• Second, SET THE SCENE…

Now go to the beginning, to the point before you discovered your knowledge, or developed your skills.

“Ten years ago. I was struggling with my role as a mother of two toddlers, while trying to hold down a job as a shop manager… “

• Third, ADD TENSION…

See if you can find the crisis, mishap or problem that forced you to make a decision.

Eg. “Then the worst thing happened – both my husband and I lost our jobs in the same year – we were suddenly in real financial trouble.”

• Fourth, describe THE EVENT/DISCOVERY…

Now think about the discovery or life event that changed it.

Eg. “That was when a friend told me about making an income from home, doing online tutoring for UK and overseas students.”

• Fifth, reveal THE OUTCOME

Now give your story the ending, where you are in a different place to where you started out.

“A decade on, I get to spend time with my family while making the same income as before, working from home for less than 3 hours each day.“

Once you have your rough story outline, try and play around with it, shaping it into something punchy.

I recommend you then read the story out to someone – just like on Jackanory, hear how it sounds, and get their feedback.

It’s worth spending time on it, as your backstory is a really important driver of sales!

If you want more help and advice about creating a brilliant ‘about me’ page, then join my Course Creation Academy and I’ll show you exactly how it’s done. Email me at [email protected] for details of how to get started.