Every successful entrepreneur, business and product has a great story attached to it. You should too! This story will play a major role in your company’s success and should intertwine with all of your marketing, sales, customer service and promotional efforts. Many people don’t understand the importance of having their story until it’s too late. We’re here to make sure you don’t make the same mistake.
You may still be wondering what we mean by a “story,” so let’s explain. It could be your mission statement, a complete business plan, a napkin with a handwritten set of core values the possibilities are endless.
The goal is to understand the following –
What you do.
How you do it.
Why you do it.
Who you do it for.
With those four elements clearly defined you will be able to create a cohesive business strategy ensuring you are on the path to success.
Once you have everything in place you need to refer to this story EVERY single time you do anything. Yes, every time. Making a new blog post? Starting a new marketing campaign? Planning a complete rebranding? You should refer to your story to make sure you are being consistent and delivering the right message, in the right language to the right people in the right locations. As professionals we need to always focus on the consumer / customer / client first and this is a great way to keep focused.
Here are a few tips for creating your story.
- Don’t lie. Especially not to yourself.
This is not a chance for you to be overly optimistic or stretch certain truths. You want to wrap your head around what makes you unique and why people should be doing business with you and express that clearly.
- Get started now.
Start creating your story as soon as possible. Putting this off will only create inconsistencies in your campaigns and general business.
- Say what you mean, and mean what you say.
Having a great story is one thing but truly living up to what you say is the important part. Actions will always speak louder than words. If your goal is to change the world, then be sure to wake up every morning with the same plan until you have accomplished it.
- Stay grounded.
Ok, changing the world is both a very broad and exhausting task so you want to set obtainable and measurable goals to stand by. However, a long term general goal can also keep you focused.
If you haven’t created your story yet now is the best time. Use this information and do more research as well to create your specific business story. It will help you remain focused on your goals and vision while projecting a consistent message to potential clients and business.
