DazzlinDonna » storytelling

Great Example: Using An Interesting Story To Lead Into Your Point

Donna — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:33:17 +0000

I occasionally like to point out the usefulness of telling a story to create interest, engage emotions, and make your point in a way that connects with your readers. I noticed a tweet today that led me to a blog post that does an excellent job of using a story to lead into the blogger’s message.

Drupal 7, the cocoon and the butterfly by Dries Buytaert grabbed my attention immediately with the short tale of the man, the cocoon, and the butterfly. The little story was interesting. The “moral of the story” was educational. And the entire tale was the perfect lead-in to a topic that is technical in nature, and not generally one that would be all that engaging.

Sure, web geeks like to hear about upcoming versions of their favorite apps, but a quick scan is usually sufficient, and the blogger may not really connect with the reader in any significant way. Dries, however, does a great job of connecting with his readers by using the tale as a lead-in. The little story’s lesson was a great way to introduce the main topic Dries wanted to discuss.

If you’ve ever wanted to be better at engaging your blog readers, I recommend reading Dries’ post, whether you care about Drupal or not. Just as the story of the man and the cocoon had a lesson to be learned, Dries’ post also imparts a lesson in effective use of storytelling when blogging.

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Post tags: Dries Buytaert, storytelling
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Storytelling: Emotional Marketing

Donna — Wed, 05 May 2010 12:41:39 +0000

Recently, I started off a blog post by saying “Imagine opening up a store in a mall somewhere…” In a few sentences, I told a story designed to evoke an emotional response from the reader. In the past, I’ve suggested that readers should participate in a storytelling exercise in order to sharpen this particular marketing skill. I encourage you to try that exercise. In addition to that exercise, check out a few quotes and wise words from ’round the web that touch on the subject of storytelling and emotional marketing.

Stories Connect On An Emotional Level

Storytelling For Sustainability

Stories bring an emotional context to the unfamiliar, enabling us to not only process information, but determine if that information should sway us. Truth is, you can’t win anyone over with a superior argument. You need to connect with them on an emotional level.

>> Follow Marc Stoiber

Customer Stories

Online Storytelling Marketing: The New (Old) Way of Delivering Your Brand Message

Every company has a story to tell, they just have to find it. And the best way to find it is to start talking to your customers at a very personal level. Don’t just ask them what they think about your products. Talk to them about themselves and their experiences. Once you get into their psychology, you start getting qualitative information. If you’re a creative person, you’ll come out with a story.

>> Follow Dana Todd

If you would persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect.

- Benjamin Franklin

When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.

- Dale Carnegie

If you are hoping to increase conversions, or you are simply interested in the art of persuasion, consider mastering the art of storytelling.

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Post tags: Benjamin Franklin, Dale Carnegie, Dana Todd, emotional marketing, Marc Stoiber, persuasion, storytelling
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Storytelling Exercise

Donna — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:03:29 +0000

Want to make more money with your blog or site? Tell a story. Engage your users with your storytelling prowess. In almost any aspect of sales, you can make a bigger impact if your “pitch” is told in an interesting and engaging way. People relate to stories, so use stories as a way of helping your readers visualize how your product will benefit them.

Let’s say you are promoting a particular digital camera in a blog post. Tell a story about how you actually used the camera to capture an incredibly funny moment. Describe the funny moment in detail, and let the reader visualize how the camera managed to capture that moment so that everyone can share in the laughter.

There are millions of ways you can use storytelling to create sales impact. I’d love to see all the ways you come up with to use storytelling as a means of increasing sales, so I’ve designed a little exercise. This is simply to sharpen your storytelling skills.

Write a very, very short, short story that illustrates something that relates to software. The goal is to sell more of a particular piece of software (you can decide what type of software if it is pertinent to your story). The story has to be very short however, with a maximum of 4 sentences. This will force you to create an introduction (first sentence), a middle (two sentences describing the action), and an end (last sentence summing things up).

Be as creative as you can be and leave your stories in the comments below. If you can tell a story, based around a product, in only 4 sentences, imagine how creative you can be when you can write as much as you want.

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Post tags: creativity, digital camera, money with your blog or site, storytelling
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