“#1 Job Of Any Sales Story You Tell To Sell”
Hey all you entrepreneurs! Here’s your chance to tell a better story that leads to more sales, signups, and credibility so you can tell better stories so you can sell more (while you’re not forced to pull your hair out)!
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The Transcript
Jim Edwards: Hey guys!!! Jim Edwards here along with…
Stew Smith: …Stew Smith!!!
Jim Edwards: And welcome to episode… I’m sorry, I cut you off. “I’m wonderful, Stew. Thanks very much… and Yourself?”
Stew Smith: Good… Number seven.
Jim Edwards: So, we’re on episode seven and today we’re going to be talking about the #1 job of any sales story you TELL to SELL…
That’s like my Doctor Seuss tie in… You know, “the #1 job of any sales story to TELL to SELL kids…”
Stew Smith: Is… Hit ‘em in the feels!!!
Jim Edwards: Hit ‘em in the feels.. right in the feels!!! (laughing and making an upper cut motion)
And actually, so, what we’re going to talk about in this episode is…
How to tell better stories so that you can get more sales, more signups and more credibility…
So, that you can just plain sell MORE without pulling your hair out!!!
So, there are 3 keys we’re going to share with you today, as well as a Stew and diving in and holding me accountable…
And not just letting me pontificate without challenging me!!!
So, the #1 key when it comes to using stories to SELL is not the story itself, but…
It is… creating EMOTION in people!!!
That is the #1 thing that you need to do, if you want to sell people stuff!!!
And so, if you’re going to use a story…
You’ve got to use a story that’s going to create EMOTION because people buy on emotion!!!
People, you may or may not realize this, but in order to get somebody to get off of that wallet…
You’ve got to create emotion in them that makes them go, “Oh Wait…”
I’m either…
“Dissatisfied with where I am right now and I’m going to buy this, in order to increase my level of satisfaction…”
or
“I’m not feeling loved right now… so, I want to buy this to increase my feeling of love”
Whatever it is… you have to get them into an EMOTIONAL state that then will facilitate the buying!!!
And we’re not talking about, you know, negative to positive or…
Negative to less negative or…
Positive to more positive or…
Getting them into bad state and then scaring them…
There’s all kinds of stuff, that kind of emotion, that we’ll talk about, I’m sure, ad nauseum in the future…
But, the biggest thing is that you have to remember…
That people buy on EMOTION and they justify on LOGIC!!!
So, if you want people to buy, you actually have to change their EMOTIONAL STATE…
And the easiest way that you can change somebody’s emotional state, other than stealing their dessert or kicking them in the gonads…
Is to tell them a story that will create EMOTION within them.
So, you got to make them sad, if you want them to buy your product, so that they can get happy…
You got to inspire them, so that they will want to stay inspired… with your service or solution.
So, we’re going to use Stew as an example…
Okay. He may not even realize he does this…
But when you tell stories of the… tell the story about the most recent buds class and how many guys you had there and… how many of them made it through.
Stew Smith: Yeah, I had… I think there were like 10 of my guys.
Jim Edwards: Okay. Let’s start over…
“Hey guys, Stew Smith here. I want to tell you a quick story about the most recent buds class that is going through buds training out in Coronado, California right now. I think this ought to get you pretty excited to hear about the results of these guys are getting. Okay. Pick it up from there, Stew…
Stew Smith: Yes! Well, you know it actually has worked out really well because all but one made it through.
Jim Edwards: Okey.
Stew Smith: However, I don’t know what happened. I had a couple of them do stupid things and actually get kicked out of training in second phase… for missing a muster and some kind of honor integrity violation…
Jim Edwards: So, okay. That’s not the story I wanted to hear.
Stew Smith: That’s the physically they made it. I was just being honest…
No. That’s not a story I even like to tell, you know…
I don’t want to let a lot of people know that, “hey, there’s 10 guys of mine at BUDS and then some BUDS instructor, you know, beats up on them a little bit” but I know exactly where you’re going with this…
And I had a really good group of guys make it through.
Statistically speaking about 20% make it through, but we had almost 90% made it through this challenging event.
Jim Edwards: Right…
Stew Smith: Just post the event…They did stupid things.
And you know, the training’s not over just because hell week’s over.
Jim Edwards: Right. Well… Let’s talk about what those stories now.
If you wanted to talk to people about exactly what you just said, “Training’s not over in BUDS when hell week’s over! I’m gonna tell you guys a story that you really need to sit up and pay attention to.”
Stew Smith: Yes! Exactly!
Jim Edwards: Now you think about training for years and then you get to BUDS and you make it through hell week…
And now you think to yourself, “Okay, I’m done.”
I’m gonna tell you about a couple of these guys that went through and I worked with.
I knew these guys… Good guys… and they had a momentary lapse in judgment that costs them their dreams FOREVER.
Stew Smith: Yeah…
Jim Edwards: Now next time you’re thinking about that…
I want you to really think hard about these guys and how you would feel if that happened to you.
And so, I’ve got a podcast that you guys need to listen to that’s going to walk you through the 10 whatever…
You know, selling people isn’t always about, “Hey, get your credit card out.”
It’s selling people on an IDEA…
It’s selling people on a MINDSET…
It’s selling people on a PHILOSOPHY…
It’s selling people on a course of ACTION….
It’s selling people on…
It’s not just, “hey, I’m going to tell you a story and you’re going to give me money…”
But those… you talk about a powerful story to sell people on keeping their shit wired tight.
When these guys are going off to go to BUDS, you need to tell him that story of those two guys!!!
Stew Smith: Yeah! I wrote a big article on it yesterday about humility.
And you know, actually being humble and honest with yourself…
And you know, realizing things aren’t over and getting cocky.
Jim Edwards: Right. So, be humble or the world will humiliate you.
Stew Smith: Yeah, absolutely. Life will humiliate you.
Jim Edwards: Life will humble you too…
So, that’s the big thing, it’s that you’ve got to create emotions so people will pay attention!
Stew Smith: That’s a really good point Jim!
I’m so used to creating the motivational emotion in people to push and help them go in a direction.
Very rarely do I even go onto the other side of that of like…
“Hey look, just because you made it through, it doesn’t mean, you know, you’re done.
Like you’re God’s gift to everything…
So, now you still have to be humble and you still have a lot to learn, right? Because you’re going to be the new guy in the seal team.”
Jim Edwards: But it’s that whole Yin and Yang thing….
The whole carrot and the stick…
You can push and you can also pull…
And you can also give them a one two punch!
There’s nothing like giving a great motivational speech and then getting them all pumped up and then kick the legs out from under them…
And leave them laying on the ground crying!
And you talk about making an impression…
That makes an impression!
And then, that’s that contrast of moving people to extremes with your stories.
So, #1 you’ve got to create EMOTION in people.
And again, you don’t have to tell a story that’s 20 minutes long.
You can create emotion in 30 seconds…
If you tell the story the right way!
If you tell the right story!
The second key to this is that your emotion sets the tone and…
People will take their cue from you.
If you’re telling a sad story, but you’re laughing and joking about it…
Then people are not going to get sad.
They’re going to laugh and joke.
That’s part of what makes comedy work… is the dichotomy of the delivery and the story and that kind of thing.
But, when you’re telling a sad story, you should be SAD when you deliver it.
If you’re telling a happier, inspirational, you should be inspirational and happy.
And people might say, well, what if it’s in writing?…
It doesn’t matter because if you’re in that state, it will come through in your writing!
Yes, it is easier to deliver a story with emotion when you are doing it live or whether you’re doing it on video or doing it from the stage…
But it still comes through in the written form.
So, whatever emotion you want people to FEEL…
You need to convey that emotion!
And some of the things that I have found is that as we go through life, we’re all we kind of seek this steady middle ground…
Not too high… Not too low…
You know, Stew is a great example of that.
I mean, you know, I’ve never really seen Stew super pissed. I’ve never seen Stew super excited.
Maybe when he had a peanut butter and banana sandwich and my house…
He was pretty excited about that.
But he’s always pretty, pretty even keeled. Which is fine, I mean that’s important.
I would assume that was important when you were a hundred feet down in the ocean for 12 hours inside of a mini submersible thing…
It helps to be calm.
Stew Smith: It’s the drugs… it’s my medication.
Jim Edwards: That’s the thing where maybe I take for granted some of the background that I have in the theater.
I did a ton of stuff in theater in high school and was really, really, really good at it… If I do say so myself! I learned…
Stew Smith: lead actor, senior play.
Jim Edwards: There you go. Lead. You’re awesome! Look at you!
I was the best supporting actor.
Stew Smith: Didn’t have to sing though. That was the good news. So that’s good.
Jim Edwards: I can’t sing. I can’t dance either.
So, my point is that… you know what I’m talking about.
You emote and… you and I’ve even talked about this in the past.
I said, “Damn Stew, you get all motivated. I can’t imagine you pissed off when, when guys aren’t paying attention or something like that.”
And you told me, “Yeah, it only takes a couple of words and they get the message.”
Stew Smith: Well, that’s the key. If you don’t fly off the handle all the time… people take your real seriously when you do.
Jim Edwards: Right!
Stew Smith: So, I’ve only had to do it a few times and it’s effective!
Jim Edwards: That’s a great point! That is an excellent point!
So, especially when we’re talking about telling stories on social media and not just in a sales letter or a video sales letter…
But just interacting with your tribe all the time.
You need to VARY it.
Don’t always be super, you know… ooooohhhh! Ahhhhhh!
Because then everybody is like, well, they’re always like that and that’s just them…
Vary it!
And don’t be afraid to be HONEST with your emotions as well.
I mean, I CRIED in front of 4,500 people on stage last month…
And it was one of the most powerful experiences of my life.
You know, it was something and I had a lot of people telling me that the story that I told was one of the most powerful things that they had ever heard!
But if I had told that story without EMOTION…
It wouldn’t have near the impact that it did ACTUALLY have.
So, don’t be afraid to convey emotion!
In fact, it’s CRITICAL.
So, people, there’s a trick if you want to convey excitement, happiness and inspiration…
Talk about 10% louder than you normally talk and…
Talk about 10% faster than you normally talk…
That will tell your body, “Oh wait! Yeah! We’re excited!”
“So, guys, I got to tell you today, I am super, super excited!
We’ve got a brand-new podcast episodes Stew Smith and are going to talk about the things that are going to make a huge difference in your life as far as telling stories!
And one of them is, I want to share with you a story about the first time I ever spoke from stage and the microphone went out…
Can you believe that!!!
The microphone went out! But you know what… I ran with it!
The microphone went out, I was standing in front of these 300 people that were looking at me…
And I was like, “Oh my God!”
And they ran up to the front with a stick microphone…
And I grabbed that thing and I said, “I always wanted to be Donny Osmond”…
And there we go… I didn’t miss a beat and everybody laughed.
And I realized right then, that when it comes to speaking…
All you have to do is just be yourself, practice and just GO FOR IT!
So, I just pulled that out of nowhere but it’s like… “oh damn! That was kind of a cool story!”
I don’t know, I just wanted to tell that story!
Stew Smith: Hey, that’s a good one!
I did the same thing in front of 800 high school kids on a big football field.
The one microphone went out and I had to yell it!
Jim Edwards: Wow!
Stew Smith: Yeah. It was legit. I was hoarse afterwards.
I bet it worked!
I said… YOU NEEED TO FOLLOWWW WHAT I’M DOINGGG…
Jim Edwards: That’s cool.
Stew Smith: “WHEN I’M UPPP… YOU’RE UPPP!”
So, anyway, it was a good little workout
Jim Edwards: and there you go!
Stew Smith: Pretty motivating!
Jim Edwards: So, the third key is you got to use the right stories!
Now, I say that and we’ve got two parallel paths we could go down here with people saying…
“I gotta use the right stories”…
“What’s the right story?”…
You know what a story is that’s gonna make people sad.
You know, a story is what’s going to make people happy or feel inspired…
Or teach a lesson to get across a moral…
Just like the story, we just discovered with Stew talking about guys making it through the hardest part of BUDS…
And then screwing it up because they have a momentary lapse in judgment.
Stew Smith: Yeah, I’m doing a podcast on that today.
Jim Edwards: That’s a great!… Cool! That’s awesome!
I mean, that story is going to sell people on a course of action.
The point is that don’t over analyze it!
On the flip side…
Use a little bit of common sense and know which story is going to help you accomplish whatever objective you’re trying to set out.
So, if I was selling a speaking course and I was going to tell that story about the mic going out, in the momentary panic…
And then just saying, “Hey, I always wanted to be Donny Osmond! Let’s do this!”
And using humor and talking about using humor to become more relaxed and relax the audience. Then just keep going…
That’s a perfect story!
But maybe telling a story about being the best supporting actor at the Emily Jordan Folger Shakespeare Theater in high school for their national Shakespeare competition…
That might be a cool story to tell about when talking about creating emotion…
That would be a cool story to tell.
But telling the story of… I dunno… I’m trying to think…
Telling the story of when I took my grandkids to chick filet…
Is NOT the right story to tell, if I’m selling people on marital advice.
Stew Smith: Yeah. But I will tell you this, when you took your grandkids to Chick Filet, I was in the car with you….
A great story… With a perfect Elmo voice…
Jim Edwards: That’s true….
Stew Smith: Yes. You have a great Elmo voice.
Jim Edwards: Well thank you. I appreciate that!
Stew Smith: I was watching from the passenger seat. I was thoroughly entertained. I didn’t add anything to it.
Your grandkids were just like… “What happened next grandpa?”
Jim Edwards: And I’m sitting there thinking… Stew Smith is sitting next to me.
And “I’m talking like Elmo” (Speaking in a high-pitched Elmo voice)
So, there you go…
Make sure the story makes sense but don’t over
analyze it either.
That’s a big key. So, before we kinda sum it up…
Do you have any thoughts on any of this Stew or do have anything that you want to share?
Any questions or anything?
Stew Smith: My big thing is, especially with social media, you can do this almost in an instant… with a post.
You know, you can post a happy post and…
Usually I would recommend babies and puppies, right?
Jim Edwards: And unicorns. And kitties.
Stew Smith: They’re always happy, right?
You can also do something motivational. Maybe a testimonial.
Somebody who’s used your product…that motivates people.
But I love humor. Right?
And if you’ve seen, I have found some of my best click through onto my store have been from humorous posts that I did…
Or some something that I did that was pretty damn funny!
You know, whether it was a Kermit meme or something else that just brought laughter…
People giggle when they click it and say, who is this guy? Right?
Jim Edwards: But that’s none of my business…
Stew Smith: Right, exactly.
So, love it! You know, I have found humor to be probably the best!
However, you know, since I’m not the guy that goes on the dark side very often…
I think today’s podcast I’m going to do is to take them into that humility side…
In that dark side of when you become arrogant and cocky at a program where you still are only halfway done…
You know, just because you finished very challenging part of it doesn’t mean you’re done.
Jim Edwards: Right.
Stew Smith: You guys still have your game face on.
So, I think I’m going to take it over there and get a little real with them on that one today.
Jim Edwards: So, that fits really well with your formula of “To, Through and After” because humility applies “To, Through and After”.
Stew Smith: Yeah.
Jim Edwards: It’s when you think your shit doesn’t stink. That’s usually when life has a…
“Come here, I got something for you, right here! Oh… That’s what you think! Yeah!”
It doesn’t matter what age or what level!
It’s what the Greeks called Hubris…
Stew Smith: Yeah.
Jim Edwards: In literature. It’s Hubris. And that’s usually when Karma is kicking you. Right. Square in the gonads.
Stew Smith: So yeah…
Jim Edwards: I think it’s going to be very powerful.
Stew Smith: Yeah. You can’t learn through… You don’t learn at the moment of success.
You learn at that moment of humility and…
Staying humble, you will be in receive mode a lot better, right?
Jim Edwards: That is absolutely true!
So great! Basically, what we’d like you guys take away from this are a few things:
#1 target the emotion that you want to create.
Don’t just create emotion for the sake of creating emotion because that just confuses people and will actually repel them.
If you’re creating emotion and then there’s no point…
It’s like being in a codependent weird relationship in college…
You want to get the hell away from that quick!
Second, you want to mirror that emotion yourself, in the telling of the story.
Even if you’re writing it and it’s in written format…
Be in that emotional state as you are writing out the story because it will come through.
#3 Tell the right story. Don’t just tell any old story…
Tell the RIGHT story.
And usually that means, it has a moral that leads to whatever course of action that you want people to take.
And the thing is, once you’ve MOVED them…
Move people where you want them to go with your product, your service, your idea, your course of action, whatever it is…
That’s where they end up.
It’s the thing that’s going to just make sense after they’d been on this emotional roller coaster ride.
So, the big takeaway here is that you can tell better stories…
And you want to tell stories that lead to morals.
You want to tell stories with morals that lead to more sales, more signups and credibility without…
Having to over analyze it and pull your hair out.
Once you get this, it’s a very, very, very natural process.
So, pretty much what I would tell you guys to do…
If you are not already members of the Sales, Copywriting and Content Marketing Hacks Group on Facebook… You need to be because it’s absolutely amazing.
It’s interesting to see our progression.
Now we’re closing in on 4,000 members. Now, Stew is that cool or what?…
I mean, others have… and I have 4,000 members… they hardly have anybody.
4,000 members is pretty cool because it’s still a really tight group and people are helping each other.
People are asking great questions.
It’s a lot of fun and some people are having some real breakthroughs.
So, if you’re not a member yet, you need to be, you can go check it out at TheJimEdwardsMethod.com/group
And we would just ask if you liked this podcast… If you like what we’re sharing with you here… Please tell your friends, PLEASE…
This is my emotion of the little puppy dog. (making puppy dog face)
Stew Smith: And don’t forget, you can see it on YouTube. You can see it on iTunes, Google play… and very soon it will be on Spotify.
Jim Edwards: Well, excuse me. Absolutely. We’re legit. Cool. Well, thank you Stew! Great job today!
We will talk to you guys soon. Bye Bye everybody!
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