The ONLY Way to Start Your Stories
Donnie Bryant
Financial Copywriter & Copy Consultant | I've helped clients boost revenue by 3X to 7X
Today I wanted to give you a little more insight into writing stories that sell. I'd like to illustrate with a famous fictional story that created a real-life story.
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Once upon a time in a land called Zamunda, a handsome prince left home to avoid marrying a woman his parents picked for him. The prince wanted to find true love for himself.
Before the king and queen "rescued" their son in the faraway city, they checked into the royal suite at the Waldorf Astoria...
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You may recognize this story as the plot of the Eddie Murphy movie Coming to America. Coming to America was one of my wife's favorite movies. (Of course, it's one of mine, too). And even though the Waldorf played a tiny role in the film, my wife always dreamed of staying in a room at the storied hotel someday.
After many, many years of waiting, that dream finally came true in 2017.
My wife woke up on the 15th floor of the Waldorf Astoria Chicago on her birthday.
We didn't have servants to brush her teeth like Prince Akeem, though!
Where All Stories Should Begin
When you write emails with the ultimate goal of selling something (product, service or idea), it is critical that you begin with aspiration.
Getting a room at the Waldorf was one of my wife's lifelong aspirations. The moment I learned about it, it became MY aspiration to make her dream come true.
Your reader aspires to:
- earn more money without abandoning his family 20 hours a day
- have gorgeous, healthy hair her friends secretly envy
- retire comfortably and ON TIME
- find true love without flying from Zamunda to some faraway land
- get rid of back pain without surgery
- ...or whatever.
Connect – and connect quickly – with your reader by telling stories that tap into their specific aspirations. Yes, problems work too; people aspire to live without their struggles.
Your stories introduce them to a world where their aspirations can be realized...make it seem eminently possible and even easy...with the help of your product or service of course.
No hard-selling necessary.
???? Freelance B2B & B2C Writer | Content Strategist | Brand Messaging | Real Estate, Commercial Cleaning, Roofing, Home Improvement, Sales / Consulting, Local Business, Marketing, Nonprofit, Wellness, Personal Finance
3 年Great read Donnie! ?I think telling stories can be hard for many people...letting u into their private life. And the talk about relieving people's pain and what they really want from your product. Ive always used the tag line "Making your life easier" when I owned a cleaning biz and now. I think it's a universal want. That would be weird to have someone brush my teeth for me. ??
B2B SaaS Writer. Construction, Energy & Mining. Technical writing | Leadership Content.
3 年Thanks...
Direct Response Copywriter and AI Prompt Engineer
3 年Great points! Stories are a great way to connect with your prospect... but they work even better when you dig down into your prospects' underlying motivations. Dimensionalize the benefits, as Clayton Makepeace says. I'm with your wife - I loved Coming to America. Can't say I've been to the Waldorf-Astoria though.
Messaging Specialist | Senior Copywriter | Full Stack Content Creator | List Mgmt. | Creative Direction | Affiliate Marketer | WordPress Expertise|
3 年Another fantastic example to get your point across, Donnie!