Telling Your Business Story
Don't Be The Greatest Story Never Told
Don’t Be The Greatest Story Never Told
In the year 1965 George Stevens produced and directed a film by name the Greatest Story Ever told.
The story was about the life and chronicles of a man from Nazareth. This man was a carpenter named Jesus. It revealed his birth, his life, his miracles and his death.
The effect was to open up this riveting story to those that hadn’t even heard of his story. Suddenly people on the streets were having a conversation about The Bible and the content in the Bible. Conversations could be heard saying, “I didn’t know this or I didn’t know that about the Bible.”
George Stevens was telling the story as he saw it. He shared, told and revealed what he felt people would really want to know. Can anyone imagine the death and then the bringing back to life a man? This was a compelling story told in detail. He revealed ‘the’ story. The effect on anyone hearing that story was huge as history testifies.
Last night at bedtime my young son asked, “Daddy tell me a story about your new bike when you were a little boy.” So, I went not to tell him the story (again.)
I was a new blue tricycle I got for Christmas. It had a red toolbox at the back big enough for my elder brother to stand in and hold onto my shoulders as I peddled along. My mother would put us out on the long landing of the 2nd-floor flats where we lived in Edinburgh.
We then raced along singing aloud a song by the Dave Clarke 5. The song was called ‘Bits and Pieces.’ I’ve no idea why that siong). As we happily sang aloud I had to brake suddenly at the end of the long landing. I wasn’t used to the brakes so I braked harder than I imagined. This resulted in my 6-year-old brother then went flying over the top of my head and landing on his bottom in a wet puddle. That’s the detail that makes my son howl in laughter.
Now my 4-year-old son now keeps repeating that same story and detail to others.
When I read and then watched the story of Steve Jobs and Apple it was packed with so much detail on his future driven ideas. His complicated and eccentric life. His technology ideas and so forth. I would say that story created an attachment with me and using Apple products. Apple for me stands as rebelliously new tech that is constantly pushing boundaries. I can relate to that but the story got me hooked on the Apple story.
I bought my first iPhone after reading the Apple story despite being dedicated to my Sony phones at the time.
Telling Your Business Story In Your Book
You should never underestimate the power of telling your business story in your book.
Storytelling in your business creates, opens up, and reveals another dimension to your business. It can reveal parts of your business that no one knows. It can create attachments to your business that no marketing will create. It’s a truly compelling reason to have your own book.
The reason is simple.
Humans Have Been Telling And Telling Stories Since Time Began
Human beings have been telling and telling stories since time began. Let’s not forget although Stevens told the Bible story in 1965 it is a story that goes back over 2000 years. It’s also a story that has created emotional attachments to its readers and those attachments are for life.
Apple and many other big brands are the same. They tell the story. They build drama, emotion, the heroes, the villains, and the triumphant moments that make a reader or viewer say, ‘Wow’. Then they walk away and share that story with any ears that will listen.
Storytelling is the greatest, most viral, most shared, most emotional or analytical driver you will ever, and as a marketing man and writer of 38 years I mean EVER use in your business.
Stories once discovered and well presented will give your business the greatest foundation for business building.
Writing Your Business Book
There has never been a greater demand for storytelling. Books get read. Sales of books that inspire, offer hope create happiness and offer solutions have never been greater.
People love a book in their hands. They love to sit and read books. They love to travel with books. Thrillers and business books are the go-to reading for travel.
I am not trying to convince you to write a book but I am sharing with you that this is the time when readership has never been greater. Telling your story in a book will be the greatest thing you will share with others.
Like most, I doubt you will have time to write your story.
I am here to help you. As a ghostwriter and specialist in ghostwriting business books give me a call and let’s have a conversation about your book.
A Story From Alan Forrest-Smith
Let me finish with a short story for you. It is from one of my own books.
Extract from Deliberate Recreation by Alan Forrest Smith
“During my endlessly long divorce period, I felt like dying. I never had thoughts of suicide I just felt exhausted and closer to death than I was to life. I had nothing. I had no one. Everything I owned and felt attached to had gone.
During this dark period of my life, the only place I could get peace and privacy from everyone and everything was in a local graveyard. I know it that will sound strange, but it was private and no one would enter late at night. This gave me privacy and time to think.
One night when I was sitting in a graveyard at around 2 am used to stare at the grave headstone. One night as I sat there and started to awaken to the reality that no one was going to fix this apart from myself. I didn’t want to be joining the man in the grave at fifty. Unless I foxed this that’s where I was heading.
It’s hard for me to explain right now but it was truly a moment that brought me out of the despair. In that moment I felt overcome with a power that felt so strong I just knew everything would work out fine I just had work to do.
I jumped out of the bench in the frost and walked back to my parent’s house where I was staying in an 8’ by 6’ room. It was just 5- minutes away. I walked as fast as I could. I went to bed and set my clock for 6 am. Once I got up this was the day I started to deliberately recreate my new life by design.
From being broke and homeless, within weeks I had cash to rent a house for the next 12 months. Within 6 weeks I had a home and had moved in. Within a few months, I met the woman who today is the love of my life (although when we met I didn’t realise she was to be the one.)
Today, I have fully recovered from the pain, destruction, and despair. I am happier than I have ever been yet I went through a total deconstruction of my life only to deliberately recreate a new life that was to take the shape and form of nothing like my past life.
How?
I now know there are powers and strengths available to everyone. Today these powers are ignored and weakened by the automated world and its algorithmic thoughts. These powers can be recovered with time, thought and actions. This book reveals those thoughts I personally have experienced, discovered and used time and time again. I discovered how to release what I already had within. Doing this was to change my life. Knowing these ‘secrets’ could change yours.”
END OF BOOK EXTRACT.
I told my story, have you?
Don’t let your story be the greatest story that was NEVER told.
Alan Forrest Smith
Read more here …
Business Book Ghostwriter | New Writer Mentor | Authors Advisor and Consultant