NOTE: I am sharing a blog I posted on my LinkedIn page, which you can FIND HERE, about how you can update your business’ blog very easily today.

What I love about storytelling is that it is visceral.

For example, if I tell a story about my mother, who has worked a graveyard shift for more than 30 years, helped keep our family together even after my dad died more than 20 years ago and for the last 10 years has kept active by mowing the lawn, pulling weeds and just doing general maintenance and upkeep on my childhood home in Chicago, it could touch off memories of your own mother’s sacrifices.

Maybe your father was the one who worked the graveyard shift.

Or perhaps your own home was overrun with weeds and it reminded you of that one day when you were out cleaning up with your sister.

The point is that the best stories have ties to an emotional connection.

Why did Star Wars do so well?

The overall arc was a story about family and friends – we all have those – united against an evil force (or so we thought) that happened to have lightsabers, Ewoks and the Dark Side in it.

The Avengers series of 1,215 movies rely on the audience forming a bond with the characters and caring about their story’s resolution.

How?

They ground the story in reality, even as the characters fly around and shoot lasers from everywhere. That creates a connection with the audience.

But what about those stories set in lands that we’ll never visit or identify with other than through the make-believe games we once played (hint: emotion)?

We identify through emotional connections.

So how do you use this to your advantage in business?

Be a storyteller. Use emotion.

I plan to do a series of posts and videos about storytelling for businesses both on here and YouTube. If you are on the ‘Tube, consider subscribing (#linkinbiojustkiddinglinkishere: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTUZcko5E1ne5l6LY8g01UA). It’s not super polished yet but it’ll get there, I promise.

But I digress.

It’s easy for me to sit here and say, “Be a storyteller.” It is something I have done for most of my professional life.

But many entrepreneurs don’t know where to start.

They can run circles around me when it comes to running a business but put an MS Word document in front of them and they forget how to function.

That’s OK. You have your strengths and I have mine.

For those considering hiring a marketing firm (there is value in that, too, but that’s for another post) or who have a blog that hasn’t had fresh content since the Obama administration, I have a simple tip to begin this series: Start with Numero Uno.

That’s right. You, yourself and U.

Get on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn (I KNOW you have one of those) and introduce yourself.

It doesn’t have to be long.

I’ll give you a prompt: Tell me in 150 words why you started your business with not one of those words being “solution,” “synergy” or “disrupt.”

Share it in the comments, too. I’d love to coach you through it and give you feedback.