This year I started to catalog my personal stories, starting from my earliest memories. This isn't something you do in one setting.
I have a running Google Doc that I add to in a weekly basis.
Not only has it been therapeutic to try and remember all these little gems, but I want to catalog them for a very important reason: People remember stories.
Our brains are wired to remember stories after a single telling.
Stories aren't lists of benefits, step-by-step processes, or hard-lessons that make you sound like you're listening to the Peanuts teacher (wahhh, wahhh, wahhh).
If you're a writer or creator and you want to connect with your audience on a deeper level, it's time to add story to your strategy.
A great story is a Trojan horse.
On the inside there's this big intention — to teach someone a lesson, give a warning, we'll a product, entertain, or make someone healthier.
On the outside the story feels like a gift.
Instead of lecturing someone with what they should and shouldn't do, we tell the story of an underdog who couldn't lose weight, but did. Or the 'dumb kid' who became a brain surgeon. Or maybe the addict who lifted herself and taught thousands her technique.
We love stories.
When we here good stories we put ourselves in the middle of the action. Instead of crossing our arms and being resistant to some expert telling us what we do, the story allows us to earn the conclusion ourselves.
We buy the story, because we become part of the story.
No one wants your list of facts, or to feel worse because she doesn't follow a healthy lifestyle.
But if we listen to a story with the same lesson, deep-inside the wooden horse, we open the gate, wheel the giant gift inside the fortress and do a little dance in response to our good fortune.
Meanwhile, we absorb the lesson (the stuff inside the horse) without the resistance or the lecture.
Where the Trojan horse wasn't good news for the city of Troy we can use the same principle of story to better-help the people we serve.
Whether you're a writer or creator you'll benefit from the power story.
Stories get shared
When you share a great story with your readers, they'll share it with others. Your lesson, message, or creative solution is best spread using the power of story, not some list of bullet points.
Think of that party you attended a couple years ago.
Someone shared a story with you — a deeply personal one. You were moved. You internalized the story. You remembered it from a single telling. You put yourself in the middle of the action. Once you got home you shared the story with someone else. That person shared the story again.
Instead of lecturing your readers with bulleted lists of things that should and shouldn't do, try opening with a relevant story of a case study.
Instead of starting your next podcast or video with a life-changing lesson, start with a story of the person who applied the lesson you're about to share.
Instead of beginning your next book by starting immediately into your teaching, paint the 'before' picture with a story.
What if I don't have a relevant personal story?
That's OK. First, it's likely you do have a personal story you can wrap into a relevant lesson. But if you don't, borrow a story from someone famous. Not only will your work benefit from the power of story, but you'll also benefit from the celebrity's reputation.
Start collecting stories today.
You can use one story thousands of times. Attack each story from multiple directions. The simplest story — like the route you take to walk your dog — can leave a memorable mark with your reader.
Tie your stories to the point you want to make with your content, product, book, or service.
The brain has a hard time telling the difference between the experience of a well-told story than something we experienced ourselves. This is how you make a strong impact with a single exposure.
Your readers won't remember all your bells and your single whistle, but they'll remember the great, underdog case study you shared of the person who bought your product and used it.
Share your best stories with your tribe
One of the best way to serve your tribe is through the power of email. If you want your readers to actually open your emails you've got to give them incentive to do so.
Start every email with a great story.
The story will sell whatever intention you have for each email. Whether you want a reply, you'd like a click, or you want the reader to answer a survey, stories are powerful ways to encourage reader behavior.
Not only will your readers remember the stories longer, they'll sell your ideas to themselves. You won't have to hard-sell your best work.
Email is a fantastic vehicle to build a tribe of people around a series of stories. And not only will your readers share these stories with others, they'll put themselves inside the lessons you want to make.
It all starts with your email list.
I've got something. Just for you…
When you build a tribe around your best work, even if you're starting-out, you've got an instant audience when you're ready to fly.
I built a free email masterclass for you. I hand-crafted the whole thing. It took me a couple months. I call the masterclass the Tribe 1K.
I'll show you how to get your first 1,000 (or your next 1,000) readers without spending a hot nickel on ads. Past students include New York Times bestselling authors. Yep, the ones you see in the bookstore.
Your email list will help you build a legacy creative business.
If you want to grow your creative business you need email before you lose that valuable reader. Start your list before you need one. Once you need a list it's almost too late.
Guarantee your seat before I charge an enrollment fee.
We're waiting for you.
Enroll in my Free Email Masterclass. Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers
August Birch (AKA the Book Mechanic) is both a fiction and non-fiction author from Michigan, USA. As a self-appointed email marketing expert for writers and creators, August helps indies make more work that sells and sell more work they make. The core of August's process is your email list. When he's not writing or thinking about writing, August hangs-out with his beautiful wife and handsome son, carries a pocket knife, and shaves his head with a safety razor.