Some years ago I wrote an article titled The Art Of Storytelling, where I talked about some of the stories I’ve written on this blog as it related to the topic of writing. I greatly believe that for almost every article you come up with unless it’s a tutorial, being able to add stories to it not only makes it more compelling and easy to understand, but it’s keep your audience engaged until the very end.
There’s a guy named Ryan Biddulph who writes a blog called Blogging From Paradise; some of you might know him, and he’s commented on this blog often. He blogs about his travels throughout Southeast Asia and how he gets to live a pretty good life, along with his wife, because of the success his blogging has led him to have. Sometimes he’s even back in the States, but still living the traveling life (or so I suppose). I learned about him through a friend of mine who no longer blogs, Adrienne Smith, checked out his blog and read some of his life stories before deciding to buy his book, Blogging From Paradise; if I had an affiliate program I’d be listing it here (well played Ryan lol).
It’s a pretty good book, but the reason I bought it is because he told a bunch of good stories on his blog (except for the one with the giant roaches; we’ve talked about that lol) and I thought the book might either be uplifting enough for me to figure out my own thing or that I might pick up a few things from it. The stories he told, and continues to tell, are his own, and he’s pretty open about it (roaches… ick!).
Most of us who buy things online often buy them from people we trust and have gotten to know. A website with hundreds of thousands of visitors every day probably sells less product than someone who has 500 visitors a day, who stops by because they like the person whose blog or website they’re visiting and the content they’re putting out.
I like to talk about the “100 True Fans” concept I got from Chris Pirillo many years ago (who these days mainly does video). He said if you could get just 100 true fans you’d probably get rich because they’d do all the marketing for you without having to be asked based on their enthusiasm, and it could carry you to ultimate success. The same concept came up a few years ago when I went to a weekend business conference where, during one of the sessions, the moderators gave their version of the blueprint. In both of these instances, it was a sense of passion and a bit of storytelling that helped the points come across nicely.
I’m always asked why I talk about so many things that happen in my life through my blogs and videos. Truth be told, I hold a lot of things back; there are stories you’re never going to hear me tell because they’re none of your business (of course, if you want to learn a lot of personal stuff about me you can check out my 100 Thing About Me post); how’s that to get some of your interest? 🙂
I do share a lot of stories, true things that happen in my life. I’ve had a lot of adventures that I can relate into talking about blogging, writing, leadership, diabetes… you name it, I’ve got a story for it. I tell the truths that some others might not tell; I don’t always end up looking good, though I like to say that as long as the story ends up being good, it’s all good, like when I shared this story on another of my blogs about waking up to a big pile of poo (I bet that caught your interest lol).
Why do I tell these stories? One, because they have a point. Two, because sometimes they’re funny. Three, because I hope it shows that I’m a pretty real person. If you or anyone else decides you want to look at something I’m marketing (like my book Leadership Is/Isn’t Easy or the few products to the right that I recommend because of the stories I tell, you might buy something that not only would put a smile on my face but a small chunk of change in my pocket. Not only will those products work well for you as they do me, but purchases would encourage me to write more often and tell more stories. Who wouldn’t love that? 😉
There’s definitely a place for content that only covers “how to” topics; heck, I write some of those. There’s also a place for writing content that passes a message along that came about because of something that happened in your life. If you can tell a story well enough to intrigue people, and you have other stories you can tell to try to get them coming back often… who knows, you might end up rich beyond your dreams.
Or at least making a living doing something you love… whatever it may be. Think about it. While you’re at it, here’s a story I told in a video about the year I lived in a ghetto. I did this video a few weeks after the murder of George Floyd; sometimes stories are based on tough situations, but they’re still compelling.
https://youtu.be/4NPogG0vPZ4
This is a great article and I appreciate your input! I would love to be able to put my life into a story.
Based on what I saw on your blog, you’re not far from turning some of your posts into stories. You highlight lots of stuff but you’re not personally sharing your feelings that often. That’s a minor change I think would benefit you.
Some readers of my blog posts have suggested more than once that I should take some pains to structure the posts and publish a book. A kind of funny biography as it were. Some hilarious titles for the book have also been suggested and I would rather not share those suggestions here!
LOL! I’m not even going to ask! If you’ve got nothing else going on, why not give it a shot? I’m contemplating doing something similar on the topic of motivation; we’ll see where that goes.
Sometimes the stories where we don’t come out in a good light are the most insightful, Mitch.
That’s true Sharon, but they’re not as much fun. lol Still, I’ve done it on occasion on this blog and my business blog; I think they’re the most memorable… at least I hope so.
Enjoyed the post and the video. Good to think about how not everyone has the same opportunities for education. How do we improve that? Being a white guy living in a virtually all-white northern suburb, I feel far removed from “the ghetto” and don’t often have to deal with issues of racism and racial inequality. Articles such as yours help. I agree about the power of story and how telling stories can effectively get points across and persuade people.
Thanks Bob. I try showing different perspectives on things in a non-threatening way, and storytelling is one of the best ways I know of to do it. My story is an extreme one, but even in today’s world there’s a major disparity in education, especially between the city and the suburbs. That’s why I talk about being fair instead of equal, because equal’s not possible in most circumstances.
Your writings also have stories; when possible, it’s the best way to go.
Wow! You had to change the total look to get the comments back on! Looks good.
Had to change the theme entirely; sniff! Still some modifications that need to be made, but it’ll probably be my next blog post. 🙂
Hey Mitch,
I noticed the allure of weaving stories and personal narratives into our blog posts as well.
It is interesting that you mention selling products in this blog post. It reminds me of how the venture capitalists on Shark Tank always ask, “what’s your story?” to anyone who walks into the tank. Sometimes, the sharks are sold on a product by virtue of the context that gave rise to the entrepreneur and his/her product!
Thanks for sharing, Mitch. Have a lovely day! 🙂
I’ve never seen Shark Tank Ming, so that’s interesting to hear. It probably makes great TV, so it makes a lot of sense. It’s what I hope many of us can do with our blogs, whether we’re selling, marketing or just talking. 🙂
Hello Mitch,
This is my first time coming across your blog. I’m relatively new to blogging and I do add some of my story in my blog posts. I would love to share more of my story with the hopes of helping other people in some way. I’m still learning how to do that. Something tells me I need to read more of your blog, and I think I’ll listen.
Thanks for sharing this.
It’s better to read the stories and listen to the videos. 🙂 I’ll bet you can find stories throughout your life or things you’ve seen and use those stories to help get your points across.