Hi Reader,

I promised this month I’d share with you some tools I use to tell stories. School holidays (and nits) made this commitment a little hard to keep, but here I am. Just slightly more frazzled than usual (but not itchy, thanks for asking).

Since moving into marketing around six years ago, I’ve been fascinated by how storytelling is how applied in the field. There are lots of frameworks and different definitions of what a story means.

Stories In. Stories Out.

To me, a story can be both an underlying core message and a narrative that encapsulates that business on an about page.

• There are the stories that live INSIDE the business that bring everyone onto the same page.
• And the stories that live OUTSIDE the business and invite people in.

I like to think of it as a tree with a root system. Stories go into the business like a root system. We shape them according to your strategy for your business. The branches of the tree are the stories you share with the outside world.

These are the frameworks I'm sharing today:

Tool 1: Generate your stories with the Story Timeline

Tool 2: Clarify your message with StoryBrand

Tool 3: Explore the Customer Transformation Grid

Tool 4: Reveal your personal brand through Seven Stories

Tool 5: Use the Pixar Story Spine for your business

A word on story frameworks

In a hurry to check out the details? Jump into the article now.

Before going further, a word of caution: there are many great frameworks, but none of them fits every situation. The truth is, it’s tricky to construct your own brand story.

We often find it hard to categorise ourselves and boil things down. There’s a saying, “It’s hard to read the label of the jar when you’re on the inside.”

That’s why you might want to work with someone like me to tell your story.

Follow your nose

To avoid overwhelm, I’d suggest you start by thinking about what your audience needs to know about you before they buy. Look at the data available and use your intuition to put yourself in their shoes. Today I'm sharing tools to help you do that.

Beyond frameworks, you need imagination. That’s what I’ll be writing more about next - how to hone your storytelling nose and creative instincts. I’m joining in a scheme organised by a copywriter I admire, Anna Rogan. Each month she invites a copywriter to answer a question. Then we each share the advice with each other’s community.

Anna writes in a lovely conversational style and is generous with her advice. If you're keen to see what she's all about, you can join her email list, too.

Be sure not to miss out on the article sharing my storytelling trade secrets. It's a biggie!

Sara

P.S. I love all the storytelling tools I've outlined and am thinking of running a workshop where I walk you through some of them. If you'd like to attend, or at least hear the details, fire back with the word "YES!"

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