Who is the hero of your business story?
When you put a business story together, you are the director of the script. You have to cast your characters so they will appeal to your audience.
Your story has 4 characters, 2 required and 2 optional.
For a business story, you need a hero and a guide. You are the guide. The hero is a person (or thing or animal) who brings you a problem. You may have a villain who threatens the hero. And you may have cheerleaders who help the hero when you can’t be there.
- There are 3 kinds of heroes — you, your client, or an imaginary person.
- There are 3 qualities the hero possesses — these will surprise you. The hero can’t be a loser even though the hero brings you a problem.
People don’t want to identify with losers: so who do they choose?
What about the hero who’s the client of a lawyer or tax preparer? The hero doesn’t do a lot of work, but the hero can’t be totally passive.
- Finally, what happens to the hero? You don’t wave a wand but your client — the hero — does come away as a different person.
Ultimately the hero sells your story. People want to place themselves in your story. If they can’t identify with the hero they’ll turn away.
My latest podcast focuses on choosing the best hero for your story. Click here to listen.
If you’d like to understand the role of the characters in developing a selling story, click here for a home study video course.
If you’d like to work with me for a stronger marketing story, we can start with the Strategic Intensive — a two-week sprint to a new and better marketing strategy. Click here to grab your spot.
Originally published at https://cathygoodwin.com.
