This week I thought I’d lay off the intense False Self lessons to share another integral authentic business tool that’s close to my heart—understanding your life story (which is where you’ll find your “real business story”).
If I could wave a magic wand and give you anything, it would be for you to deeply understand and value your life story. Why? Because your story is a treasure trove of information about your life purpose, your superpower, your self-sabotage stuff and more.
Case Study: A Leader in Disguise
For example, I recently had two Clarity Sessions with a new client who just relocated to Canada from the U.S. Her main question: How do I convert more people on my website?
The Backstory: She left behind a loyal client base in the States and now she has to build a new one. Her husband can’t work here yet, and they have a three-year-old daughter to support. She needs to create income, and fast.
If you have a business, I’ll bet you’ve also wondered how to turn more of your website visitors into new subscribers and clients. To solve that problem, we need to answer two other questions first.
Q: What converts?
A: When visitors believe your product, service or brand will either make their lives better or help them feel better about themselves during or after using it. Ideally, you won’t just tell them a story, but make them feel they are part of a story.
Q: How do you make people believe this?
A: By sharing a business story that new clients can connect with emotionally; don’t just tell them what problem you’ll solve for them, tell them what you stand for and why you’re the right person to help them.
Now, let’s get back to the story of my new client.
Amy has the cred. She’s a multi-talented entrepreneur: a childbirth educator, doula and photographer, as well as a clinical researcher with a PhD. Her current passion is an educational project—she’s collecting one million stories of women who’ve had successful VBACs (vaginal birth after a cesarean).
But, like many entrepreneurs, she has never looked deeply at her own story. And this was reflected on her website, which was generic and impersonal, with too many links and images. When I visited her home page, I couldn’t figure out what she was offering, why I should care or what she wanted me to do.
The Easy Solution: Get clear on the real story of what she’s trying to do with her business and why. Once we had that, I knew it would be a breeze for her to create copy for her website.
Session one: What’s in the way of you living your purpose?
Why? That tricky False Self, of course. It would whisper cruel nothings in her ears, urging her to “stay small and safe”: “What if people attack your ideas? What if you start a non-profit for women and people think you’re just in it for the money? Remember all those media stories you saw on TV.” So we explored this voice: where it came from and strategies to deal with it, and discussed how she might step into this leadership role.
But…she still wasn’t clear on her story, which was what she needed to write website copy that converts. How could she tell people about the unique value she offered?
Session two: What’s your “Real Business Story”?
Just like Amy, once you understand your story, you’ll have most of the answers you’re looking for. You’ll also have a shot at living your full potential, which is a pretty cool thing to do with your life.
“So, how can I do that?” you ask. “Or is this just a veiled pitch for your services?”
Honestly, no. Just like Amy, and perhaps you as well, I do rely on attracting clients to make a living—so it makes sense for me to include the value I offer in my posts. But I’m a believer in the sharing economy. As you may have noticed from my previous posts, I don’t hold anything back if I think it can help you. The more we share, the more we all soar, and the more life shares with us. It’s a perfect system.
You can easily complete the following steps on your own. But if you want a shortcut, or just prefer to talk things through, I’m here for you.
Three Steps to Writing Your Real Business Story
- First, do your best to pin down your life purpose, because that guides everything. I’ve already posted a guide on how to do that here.
- Next, create a visual mindmap of your life journey so far, including all your major Turning Points, and what you learned from them. My Life Story Framework will be really helpful here.
- Finally, write your story. Begin by zooming out. Imagine your life as a book or movie. Rather than seeing your life from the character’s (your) point of view, try to see if from the author or director’s point of view. Place your life purpose and your life mindmap in front of you. Then, using these as “research”, write a paragraph that sums up this character’s life story. What is this character’s life purpose and why? What are the key lessons this character has learned that can be shared with others? What is this character naturally amazing at (what do all his/her friends keep complimenting/thanking him/her for)?
That’s it.
Okay, I know what you’re thinking. “Shit, it’s going to take a long time to do that exercise.”
Yes, it is. But isn’t it worth it? Considering you can then build a business you love with it, write all your messaging and content around it, and actually feel excited to have people ask what you do? (Again, if you’re an entrepreneur who has more money than time, we can do the whole deal in 1-2 Clarity Sessions together. But, if you don’t know your purpose yet, it might be worth doing the full Life Purpose Roadmap).
After Amy and I got clear on her story, she was so excited and motivated, she shot me this message:
BTW: she’s a dream client. Not just because she said nice things about me (love ya back, Amy!), but because she gets shit done. (Hells ya!) Overnight, she changed all the copy on her website and sent me a link. Next, she’s planning to hire someone to do a complete redesign. For now, her site is still bare bones, but her new story is live. Again, if you’re pregnant and want to be part of a movement of women “Doing birth differently” check her out.
More important, she is now excited to step up as a leader in that movement.
Which is the whole point, guys, because if we don’t stand up and take a leadership role in the things we’re passionate about, they won’t get done. We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for.
Right?
So get outta here and begin exploring your REAL story, already.
As Seth Godin says: “Go. Make something happen.”
(Wait! One last thing: Thanks for being here. You’re why I jump out of bed in the morning. You see, I know who you are; I see your greatness. You’re not just a leader in disguise. You’re the Universe, itself, in disguise. Keep that in your back pocket.)
Another winner Shawn. Way to break down your process and compel the reader (including me) to want your services and Amy’s service when I have a kid! :) If she’s still looking for a team for her redesign and website relaunch we would be delighted to speak with her. Keep rocking it superstar. And we’ll want to speak with you very soon about doing an interview with us for our Branding School module on “telling your story”. Obvious fit right? :)
Thanks Gloria! So glad you enjoyed it, and def would love to teach your branding students how to tell their story. I’ll pass on your info to Amy in case her current team doesn’t work out.