Stories Mean Business - Nick Warren

In his book, 📓The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene coins the 5th Law:

So much depends on Reputation – Guard it with your life.

The book is intentionally Machiavellian in style, but Greene is a fascinating guide, drawing the 48 insights from amazing historical sources.

I first bought the book in 1999, but a recent reread had me looking at the 5th law in a new light. Reputation is, of course, related to ethos – persuasion by character.

Which is why it's so important to tell our story.

Green quotes the 16th century Italian diplomat, Baldassare Castiglione.

"Therefore I should wish our courtier to bolster up his inherent worth with skill and cunning, and ensure that whenever he has to go where he is a stranger, he is preceded by a good reputation.... For the fame which appears to rest on the opinions of many fosters a certain unshak able belief in a man's worth which is then easily strengthened in minds already thus disposed and prepared." (Baldassare Castiglione, 1478-1529).

The last sentence is worth rereading until you have fully internalised it.

This is why we tell our story.

Episode home:

https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/735:-Reputation-and-Robert-Greene

Yesterday, I got an email from a car mat company asking me to review a recent purchase.

The email – and indeed the whole buying process – had been good up to the point where they offered me a False Choice.

A False Choice is a logical fallacy where the persuader intentionally offers fewer options than actually exist.

In this case my options were either that A) I LOVED THEM, or B) I NEED SUPPORT.

This kind of technique can be powerful, but if we take it too far the fallacy becomes obvious.

Episode home:

https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/734:-The-False-Choice

Plato said, "He who tells the stories rules society."

At least, the internet thinks he did. It certainly sounds like something Plato might have said in The Republic, but here's the thing ... he never actually said it.

At least ... I can't find the source anywhere.

"Why does this matter?", you might ask. "It's a perfect quote for you. Who would know?"

Actually, I know you'd never say that because you understand the persuasive power of ethos, and why that requires a long-term perspective.

Episode home:

https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/733:-The-Plato-quote-I-don't-use

Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is everything you'd expect from a Marvel movie: fast, funny and full of action.

I loved it, but I also understand that it lacks what most Marvel movies lack ... a sense of consequence and emotional weight.

Which is why the end isn't that memorable.

But – in classic SMB style – let's contrast it with something else, from Captain Beaky and his Band.

P.S. Here's the full text of the poem I mentioned.

NEARLY FOUR

A teddy bear sits on a mattress

Episode home:

https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/731:-Shang-Chi-and-the-Legend-of-the-Brown-Bear

Yesterday, I mentioned the Trigger or Inciting Incident – the thring that throws the hero's life out of balance.

In business, our customer is the hero, and we either cause or react to ... that trigger.

If you have a 'painkiller' business, you offer a solution to a pain that your prospect already has.

To put it another way, if your prospect has a bleeding neck, metaphorically speaking, they'll be very motivated to buy a solution. Marketing in that case is usually about making that pain as salient a possible, and showing how you can help.

If you have a 'vitamin' business – like I am – it's very possible that your sales and marketing will focus in causing the pain, creating tension that can only be resolved through your product or service.

Either way, you're in the trigger business.

Episode home:

Well-told stories start when something happens. That something knocks the hero's life out of balance, and they are forced to take action ... usually something small... to get it back on track.

But the small action backfires, triggers a BIGGER REACTION, and things get worse. More tension. LESS BALANCE ... and the need to take an even BIGGER ACTION.

So it goes, building and building, until the end.

Likewise in the journey of our prospect, we want to start with small actions, and increase them carefully.

Start too big and we'll lose them immediately, fail to build tension/value, and we'll lose them later.

I've been talking to a client about his process – specifically the process by which he turns cold traffic into sales.

And there's a kink, a catch ... a point of friction.

He needs to build progressive engagement, rather than going right for the kill.

Episode home:

https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/729:-Building-Progressive-Engagement

In the 1990's – like every aspiring entrepreneur – I bought The Art Of War by Sun Tzu.

It was book that was more purchased than read and more read than understood.

But I did read it, and one of the lessons I remember dealt with power and timing.

Tzu used a lovely metaphor of a falcon. Its power comes from it's height, but the ability to break the back of it's prey comes from timing.

Back in Podcast 709, I talked about my major victory securing this fantastic guest for my 1,000th episode next year.

That happened because I'd spent 2 years storing up 'power' before releasing it.

So many of us squander our power away on one tactic after another, zig-zagging in different directions.

Getting nowhere.

Don't do that.

Episode home:

https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/728:-Sun-Yzu-on-Power-and-Timing

Shakespeare says that there are seasons to life. For me, the longest and most powerful season started 21 years ago today.

Our son was born.

I joked to my wife that 'kids' were a 20 year project, then we'll do something else.

It was a joke, but in truth the ultimate goal of any good parent is to make themselves redundant ... or perhaps it's better to say ... make their child strong and self-sufficient.

Jack has grown from a blue-eyed baby into a strong, caring, hardworking man who's funny as hell.

Happy Birthday, son.

And don't worry ... however strong you grow I'll always be your Dad.

Episode home:

https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/727:-21-Years-Ago

Psychologists recognise two types of rewards, Extrinsic and Intrinsic.

Extrinsic are your basic external status markers – salary, bonuses, promotions etc.

Intrinsic rewards are tied into increasing self-efficacy (e.g. getting better at something) and trigger the neural reward system, which in turn reinforces the activity through positive emotions.

This podcast touches on how I'm using intrinsic rewards in the early days of my course.

Episode home:

https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/726:-Intrinsic-versus-Extrinsic-Rewards