The Story Selling Podcast

Are you a business owner who also likes to write? If time allowed, would you write more of your own copy?

If yes, you may be a good match for 'Copywriting in Collaboration'!

Listen now to learn:

• Why the balance of copywriting responsibility sits on a continuum
• Why Copywriting in Collaboration allows everyone to play to their strengths
• The mindset required to deliver great results

When I'm helping a business owner tell their story we always start with the Story Map Interview. The Story Map is a process to explore your story and map out the key events.

In this episode I share the key lessons I've learned from 5+ years of Story Map interviews. I discuss key insights for both the business owners and copywriters. Listen now to learn:

• Why telling your story is best done in dialogue
• How to capture emotional depth in the interview
• How to convert the interview into a usable format - and beat the blank screen for good!

You can also see my Story Map interview questions here.

In this episode I share an interview I did with my friend and Google Ads expert Jonathan Wilson. We crammed a LOT of storytelling insights into this conversation!

You'll find this conversation a good recap of recent episodes, and also a teaser of future episodes to come.

Download or listen in now :-)

Which stories should you tell in your marketing? Should you tell key events from your past? Or should you relate more everyday goings on?

This episode looks at the foundation of story selection. Discover the difference between a 'core story' and a 'current story', and the use case for each.

Listen now to learn:

• How to identify your most emotionally compelling stories
• Where to place each type of story in your follow-up sequences
• Why a 'current story' can sometimes transition into a 'core story'
• How to come up with new ideas

"How often should I email" is perhaps the most-asked email marketing question. Will you 'annoy' your list by sending more frequent emails? How do you determine the most appropriate publishing schedule? How do you DELIVER on that schedule?

The answer lies in consistency...

Listen now to learn:

• How consistency encourages a regular reading habit
• Why consistency adds tangible value to your email list
• A simple calculation to determine optimal email frequenct
• How to deliver consistently on your schedule

Editing is a critical part of the copywriting process. But how much should you edit? Where should you put your focus for the biggest gains? Listen now to learn:

• Why perfectionism is the enemy - and how to beat it
• The two most important editing steps
• How long to leave between writing and editing (and why you need a gap)
• How to apply the 80/20 principle for efficient editing

Learn how to keep people reading - by using conflict! Spice up your next marketing email with the three forms of conflict. Listen now to learn:

• Why most of your conflict should NOT be physical peril
• How to leverage internal dilemmas for added suspense
• How conflict can help to upgrade your reader's level of understanding about your topic

Learn how to lace intrigue and suspense throughout your stories to keep people reading. This episode includes a worked example and recent insights from Rob's copywriting work. Listen now to learn:

• How to lace suspense throughout a story - without making it too obvious
• How to bring the reader into your story
• How to let the reader walk in your shoes, feel your fears and share your peril!

You've had an idea for an email. You've got a great story to tell. You've planned the story using a timeline...

But now you've come to actually write the email, the blank Word document of doom is staring you in the face.

How do you convert your timeline into a draft email, without pulling your hair out? That's the topic of today's episode. Listen now to learn:

• How to expand your timeline into an interim first draft
• How (and why) to check your first draft for contrast and drama
• How to expand your first draft into a fully drafted email

Learn how to connect seamlessly from your story to your sales message using the 'one idea'. Listen now to learn:

• How to 'bridge' between a story and your sales message
• How to inverse the one idea to open up more connection possibilities
• How to 'seed' the one idea for a seamless transition