Why Your Rags-to-riches Story Will Fall Flat

Raise your hand if you feel an emotional connection with Amazon because you’re drawn to founder Jeff Bezos’s origin story.

(Me neither)

Why do I ask? 

Because I read yet another article about storytelling in one of those big-time business magazines that dished out rotten advice. The article said…

“Online shopping behemoth Amazon is another example of storytelling to build a brand. Whether they love or loathe founder Jeff Bezos and the company he has made, most Amazon customers know Bezos’s ‘rags-to-riches’ story. Today’s Amazon started as an internet book store, shipping orders from a garage.”

Ahhhh…the rags-to-riches origin story. The holy grail of brand-building, according to some storytelling “experts.” 

My advice: 

Cancel the crusade. 

You don’t need to hunt down your rags-to-riches origin story. It’s not the holy grail.

Turn the spotlight off of yourself and your business. And focus your magnifying glass on prospects and clients. 

Discover their stories. Demonstrate you get them. Deliver content that reflects their experiences…

…and they’ll connect emotionally with you and your business. 

Here’s another questionable bit from that article:

“…sharing some of the more challenging times of building a business can render a brand approachable and draw an emotional reaction from consumers.” 

That’s sometimes true, but often false.

The truth:

Prospects don’t care about you and your “challenging times” unless they see themselves in your story. 

So when you babble on and on about the ditch you climbed from or the garage where you launched your startup, prospects will yawn – unless you connect your story to them. 

Your mission if you choose to accept it:

Discover your prospects’ stories and deliver content that inspires them to say, “I can relate.” 

Once you do that, you’ll transform your content from boring to brilliant, prospect-repelling to client-attracting. 

In the Content Transformation Academy, I teach a simple Story Discovery system — so you can connect with prospects and inspire them to hire you. 

We’re enrolling new VIP Members now. Reply to request a call with me We can discuss what’s working for you in marketing, what’s not, and whether the Academy can help you fill the gaps.