When you have a big idea you need the support of the people around you to bring it to life. Storytelling is a powerful business tool. The best way to get support is by sharing a “marketing story”.
To do that you need to be clear about your primary objective. Without clarity, you won’t have a clear ask, or marketing story. I’ve discovered an easy-to-understand formula and set of questions that will make it easier for you to create your story and share your big idea with those around you.
You can craft your own marketing story by answering the following questions:
1) What is your big idea, and how did you come up with it?
The answer to this question is your big idea’s “origin story”. People love a good origin story. It’s meant to capture people’s attention right away so they’ll be interested in hearing the rest of your marketing story.
2) What problems does it solve, and who does it solve those problems for?
This is your target market. Most people will be more interested in solving problems than chasing aspirational goals. When someone has a problem they’ll go to great lengths to make the pain go away. This means once you capture their attention with the answer to question one you’ll keep their attention with the answer to this question.
3) What is your current objective? What do you most need to accomplish right now?
If you’re just crystalizing your big idea, your objective could be to craft polished marketing message. Reach out to your network and say, “I have what I believe is great idea. If I explain it to you, would you be willing to give me some feedback on making the explanation clearer?”
When you can clearly explain your big idea, you will make your conversations more productive. That’s a great objective to have.
4) What specific help or connections do you need right now to get to the next phase or objective?
These will help you get closer to bringing your big idea to life. You need to be clear about what and who you need so you can have specific profiles to ask for. This part of your marketing story is an important one because you can’t bring a big idea to life on your own.
That’s why it’s important to answer this question. You need to ask for help and make it as easy as possible for the person you’re asking to help you find resources and make introductions for you.
5) When your big idea comes to life, what will it look like? What will it do for the people in your community?
Paint a picture for people with the answer to this question. Let them know if they get involved with your idea they’re getting involved with something bigger than themselves. Let them know they’ll be helping a community of people and not just you.
When combined, the answers to those questions will create your marketing story to share with your network!
This is an excerpt from my book, Idea Climbing.
You can get my book here: “Idea Climbing: How to Create a Support System for Your Next Big Idea”
