Once upon a time, in the bustling city of New York…

A young woman stood before her bathroom mirror, looking glum.

She was wearing tight white trousers.

But she could see the seams of her underwear, and they were creating unsightly bulges.

She just couldn’t find anything which could be worn under her clothes – invisibly – that would keep her body shape how she wanted it.

So she had an idea…

She would figure this out and create this product herself. She just knew that if she did it right, women would love using it.

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy.  She wasn’t rich or well-connected.

Her job was selling fax machines (who remembers those!), door-to-door and she had limited time and limited funds.

But she was absolutely determined to succeed.

Armed with nothing but her life savings of $5,000 she took her idea and presented her body-shaping underwear idea to the bigwigs in a fiercely competitive lingerie industry.

Door after door was shut in her face.

It was a case of “No” after “No” after “No.”

However, she persisted, improving her pitch during late night work sessions in her small New York apartment.

She believed the power of a product that could make women feel more empowered, confident, and comfortable in their own skin.

Eventually, one manufacturer said they’d give her idea a go.

On that day, Spanx was born.

It wasn’t an overnight success – but eventually it became a major business that was bought in 2021 for the sum of $1.2 billion.

Quite the story, right?

And of course, as I’m sure you might have guessed, it’s the true tale of how Sara Blakely went from being a struggling home entrepreneur to major business star.

And the fact that you are reading this far into the email shows that it was a story that connected with you.

Which is EXACTLY why I told it!

Because this simple story teaches a whole load of lessons…

… About how challenges you face in your personal life experience can lead to new product (and course!) ideas.

… About how anyone can create a successful business even from humble beginnings.

… About the power of self-belief to drive us towards our goals.

… And about the importance of persistence for getting us over obstacles and setbacks.

The story of Sara Blakely delivers all of this in a quick, compelling way.

It shows you what’s possible in your life if you have determination and an idea that you believe in.

It connects with your hopes and dreams about creating your own product.

And it’s easy for you to remember, even long after you finish reading this email.

That’s the power of storytelling.

Why Stories Are the Best Persuasion Tool

Stories are vital in course creation – and, in fact, in ANY business you might choose to go into.

When we listen to or read a story, we tend to identify with the characters.

We feel an emotional connection between what they are doing and what we are doing (or WANT to be doing!)

What’s more, when we start reading a story we’re compelled to find out what will happen in the end, which means we stick around for a bit to find out more.

So if you want to make a deep connection with total strangers, (i.e. people who click on your ads, watch your webinar, download your report, or visit your website) then the best method of connecting with them is to tell them a story.

Tell them a story about you, and how you got where you are…

Tell them a story about your product, and why it was created.

Tell them a story about someone who uses your course, or received your help in the past.

Tell them a story about something in the news that might interest them, and connect them to your message.

Tell them a story about THEMSELVES…. Their frustrations and problems… their hopes and dreams… and how their lives could be better.

In telling a story, you get across a message in a way that’s concise, memorable and compelling and of course most importantly you make it relevant to them.

It’s one of the reasons why the religious teachings often come largely in the form of parables and stories.

And it’s why folkloric tales and myths have lasted many centuries, even millennia!

Stories stay embedded in the mind – and the good ones get told and retold, passing their important message on from person to person.

This is why having a good brand story is so vital…

Because people will want to share and re-share your story.

If it’s something that connects with their deep beliefs and cherished worldview, they will happily tell others about it, leading to more clicks, more traffic, more followers, more sign ups and more sales.

Which is why all your blog posts, email newsletters, social media posts and press releases should tell stories too.

In fact, whenever you come to write ANYTHING for your business, always ask yourself.

What’s the story here?

Why does it matter to my viewer, reader or subscriber?

What is the message I want them to take away?

How can I relate it in the most direct and simple means possible?

When you ask yourself these questions, you’ll always create compelling content that gets its hooks into your subscribers and customers.

And it’s just a much more fun way to communicate.

There really is no downside to it…

But the key is to tell the story in YOUR voice.

In a world where more and more content is being created by AI (and I’m all for that in the right way)… storytelling needs to come from you.

Don’t leave it to ChatGPT or some other AI system to come up with your story, or to tell it for you.

While I think AI is incredible for some aspects of content creation and planning – even with the most sophisticated prompts (and I’ve tested a lot for you). I really don’t think it’s there yet for storytelling.

Even if you input your story into AI and get it to craft a narrative (which is fine!)… make sure you later edit it into something that genuinely sounds like you telling the story out loud.

And don’t worry – you don’t need to be a great writer to be a good story teller.  Just start by writing how you would speak to a friend… (you could even just hit the dictate button in a word or Google Doc so that it types out as you speak… you’d be surprised at how much more natural it sounds than when you type something out).

The human touch is vital so give it a try.

And if you want do some extra homework a fantastic resource is Donald Miller’s book –  Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your message so customers will listen

It’s around £10 and available in most good bookshops!