STOP.
Before you start reading, enter your name into this box:
Now this article is all about: [NAME]. Continue reading [NAME]!
————————————————————
Ok [NAME], let’s me and you put on our burglar masks and start stealing some ideas!
Today we’re going to break into the Storytelling vault where they keep all of these things known as “Story Arc’s.”
Story Arc’s (or archetypes) are used to plot a basic outline of your story.
For example, this story really sucks:
Sure that’s great in real life, but we are trying to craft a good STORY here. A really good story has to be lumpy. It cannot be flat and bland.
So let’s add a little lumpiness and suspense to that bland story:
This is now turning into a story, rather than just a statement.
One of the things it took me a looonngg time to realize was:
A character cannot experience great triumph, without first experiencing great setbacks.
A great triumph comes through overcoming great setbacks.
A great win is only accomplished by first having a great loss.
This storytelling advice is also fantastic for applying to selling our OWN products and services. Adding some flair, some drama, and some imagination always makes selling more fun, relatable, and profitable.
SO take my hand [NAME] and let’s explore some different story archetypes (Story Arcs) together!
Story Arc Types:
These are the different types of stories you can tell that resonate through all cultures. Almost all human stories fall into one of these categories:
1.) [NAME] Overcomes a Monster:
[NAME] must destroy a monster. Pictured above is [NAME] heroically slaying a super-disgusting and horrifying monster named NevaTron.
In this story arc, [NAME] must destroy the monster to restore balance to the world.
“The Monster” can be anything in your story:
- An evil sister.
- A competing company.
- A megalomaniac villain.
- An illness.
- A business issue.
The point of this story is to show how vicious “The Monster” is, and then eventually how to defeat “The Monster.”
Here’s an example where “The Monster” is a business problem:
- [NAME] is a salesman and there’s a huge problem with keeping track of hundreds of clients.
- [NAME] frequently will call the same person twice, or forget to followup. This makes [NAME] look very un-professional and lose sales.
- To slay this problem, [NAME] bought a piece of software called SalesForce that keeps track of all these things.
- Now [NAME] never looks foolish or misses an appointment.
- Thanks to SalesForce, [NAME] is able to win.
This story arc can be adapted into a multi-part autoresponder sequence, on a sales page, or in a presentation.
2.) [NAME] goes from Rags to Riches:
In this Rags-To-Riches scenario [NAME] suddenly acquires hella power and wealth. Eventually [NAME] loses it all and learns a very valuable lesson. On the other side of this, [NAME] comes out a better and wiser person.
Example Rags to Riches in a business Autoresponder Sequence:
- Email1: [NAME] starts out as a server at an AppleBee’s restaurant.
- Email2: A wealthy customer leaves [NAME] a tip for $100,000,000. Woo Hoo!!
- Email3: [NAME] quits the busboy job and starts going crazy!
- Email4: [NAME] buys a yacht, starts partying, makes new and cooler friends and dumps old lifelong friends who are “too boring” to hang with the newly rich [NAME].
- Email5: Eventually [NAME] burns through all the money and is broke again.
- Email6: Despite being a huge asshole to old friends, they forgive [NAME] and accept [NAME] back into their lives.
- Email7: [NAME] learns a valuable lesson in the power of true loyalty.
This story can be adapted to your own story of rags-to-riches-and-back.
3.) [NAME] goes on a Quest:
[NAME] sets out with a group of friends to find an important object or location, faces many obstacles that get in the way, and then finally gets to the destination.
Example Autoresponder Sequence story:
- Email 1: [NAME] makes tshirts for fun. [NAME] is all excited to launch their tshirt store.
- Email 2: [NAME] launches the tshirt store, and zero orders come in :-( .
- Email 3: [NAME] is very depressed about this and begins to doubt their abilities. [NAME] isn’t sure if they are cut out for the business world, and almost gives up.
- Email 3: Then [NAME] learns about this method of building a group on Facebook.
- Email 4: [NAME]‘s Facebook group starts to grow, and everyday [NAME] is making 2 tshirt sales. It’s not much, but it’s a start! This gives encouragement to [NAME].
- Email 5: After 6 months of this, [NAME] is selling 40 tshirts a day making [NAME] over $7,000/mo!
- Email 6: [NAME] is so happy to finally have “made it” in the business world, and [NAME] wants to help others do the same by giving away the templates, strategies, and exact scripts [NAME] used to accomplish this.
4.) [NAME] Experiences A Comedy of Errors:
Light and humorous character with a happy or cheerful ending; a dramatic work in which the central motif is the triumph over adverse circumstance, resulting in a successful or happy conclusion.[3] Booker makes sure to stress that comedy is more than humor. It refers to a pattern where the conflict becomes more and more confusing, but is at last made plain in a single clarifying event. Most romances fall into this category.
People love openness and also humor. A “Comedy of Errors” story arc will allow you to showcase your silly mistakes from the past, and how you’ve rectified them.
Example Comedy of Errors Autoresponder Sequence:
- Email 1: “Hi, my name is [NAME] and I failed 3 times before I had 1 big success. Here’s the story….”
- Email 2: “My first business was selling bracelets online. I un-originally called is [NAME]‘s Bracelet Shop and posted it online. I sold about $3,400 worth of bracelets in one year. The problem was: I made no profit!
- Email 3: “My 2nd business was an eBay store where I sold vintage clothing. It was called [NAME]‘s Discount Vintage Shop, and I would buy vintage clothes from garage sales and sell it online. I just posted the pictures up and hoped for the best. That business made some extra side cash (maybe $500/mo, but I was spending sooooo much time buying the clothes and driving around town. I wish I had learned copywriting before then to better sell the clothes.”
- Email 4: “My 3rd business was a specialty auto-parts store than only sold parts for old Volkswagen Beetle’s. It consistently made me around $3,000/mo, and I ran it full time until it’s slow death (eventually competition made it harder to keep earning more money).”
- Email 5: “My next business (and most successful business) was kind of an accident. With all these websites I was building I got pretty good at WordPress themes. I started to custom-build my own themes, and eventually people started asking if they could buy my themes. I created a new website called [NAME]‘s Custom WordPress Theme Shop and started selling just 3 themes. In my first month I made $8,000. By the 6th month I was making $35,000 selling themes!”
- Email 6: “In this email I want to show you the very first sales page I made for my little WordPress theme business.”
This kind of story is educational for people, but also pokes fun at how many times you’ve failed, which lets people know it’s OK to fail a few times in search of the perfect business!
5.) [NAME] Experiences a Tragedy:
Example “Tragedy” Story for selling (this is a true story):
I got robbed a few years ago, and the robbers stole all my computers (including the boxes they came in). This made me more pissed off than I could ever imaging.
I experienced great pain and anguish from being robbed. It made me paranoid to walk into my own home. It made me stay up at night thinking of violent ways I’d exact revenge on the motherf**ker that robbed me. These were not feelings I expected to have from being robbed. So when I wrote that piece of copy, it almost flowed out of me effortlessly.
I wrote about this experience for an AppSumo deal about Project Prey which is a software (I now have on all my computers) that tracks the devices location.
One of the reasons why so many famous writers have historically been alcoholics, deviants, drug addicts, or deeply flawed people….is because that pain and suffering provides a wealth interesting stories. When someone goes through setbacks followed by triumphs followed by setbacks…..their life is essentially carving out a perfect “Tragedy” story.
The rule of thumb to follow about your character in a “Tragedy” story:
- The audience can learn from [NAME].
- The audience can identify with [NAME].
- The audience is rooting for [NAME] to win.
- The audience has a strong reason to follow [NAME]‘s story.
- Even through [NAME] may be flawed, [NAME] learns to overcome those flaws.
This is why almost every major popular movie through history starts with an orphan (or someone cast aside by society).
Some of the biggest and most iconic movie characters revolve around orphans:
- Titanic.
- Pinocchio.
- Avatar.
- Annie.
- Batman.
- Superman.
- Spiderman.
- Harry Potter.
- Frozen.
- The Wizard of Oz.
- The Jungle Book.
- James Bond.
Losing family is the ULTIMATE human loss, and so anyone in this circumstance usually has a lot of obstacles to overcome…..and all good stories need obstacles.
Example Story Arc’s:
I’m too greedy to just write about story arcs for the sake of good story telling. No, I want to make money.
So how do we apply telling a damn good story, with selling a damn good product?
As I’m writing this I’m sitting across from my buddy NomadicMatt (owner of one of the largest travel blogs online), and this is his actual story about how he went from boring desk job to a successful nomadic travel blogger (hahah….I just randomly started snapping a picture of him and he looked up at me with this disdainful look :-P ):
Nomadic Matt Story Arc:
“Matt Kepnes was a school teacher when he was 22. Then he decided to follow a traditional corporate career and started working at a healthcare administration job for 3 years. He found this work extremely boring, and the cubicle he worked in seemed to get smaller and smaller every year.
He rarely got vacation time, so on his 3rd year he used up an entire years worth of vacation to Thailand. While there he met a bunch of Australian backpackers who were taking a full year to travel, and he got really JEALOUS of them!
This was a turning point. He instantly knew he wanted to quit his job and travel. So he went home, gave his six months notice, and took off on a two month road trip across the US. His thirst for travel was still there, so he took an impromptu no-return-date trip to Europe.
From then on, he was no longer Matt Kepnes…..110+ countries, 4 books, 27 travel guides, and 1,500 blog posts later, he then became: Nomadic Matt.”
A lot of people can relate to the boredom with their job, and a strong desire to see the world before they die. So this story of how he quit his job to travel is very relatable to a large audience.
Here’s my own story arc:
Neville Medhora Story Arc:
“In high school Neville wanted to become a doctor, and got to join a class where students get to shadow 10 different types of doctors over a year. The class made up an award for Neville called “Least likely to become a doctor and instead go into computers!”
The constant tinkering with computers and webpages led him to start his first real business in high school. Then in college he started one of the first open financial blogs by writing about all his business adventures and posting the income online.
By the end of college he had the blog and several small businesses that were earning a pretty decent income. Instead of following the traditional path of getting a job after college, Neville went full-time as an entrepreneur. Since then he has still never had a job and continues to run online businesses.”
This story let’s people know some background about me, and WHY I chose this path. If someone is interested in an entrepreneurial path, this story arc lets them know I might be someone to follow.
Here’s another example about my buddy Pat Flynn:
Patt Flynn Story Arc:
Patt Flynn was an architect and a family man, happy with both…..but then in 2008 the housing meltdown happened and he got laid off from his job.
He started a small side business that made about $2,000/mo on the side, and started openly blogging about his experience with it. His blog started picking up some steam, and eventually became his full-time business.
He talks about how he made the transition and all the steps (including mistakes) he made.
A lot of people can relate to that desire to not take dramatic leaps in their current life because they are happy, but still want to make income on the side.
While his story isn’t all that dramatic, it’s extremely relatable to a huge portion of the population.
Thanks for reading [NAME]!
Hey [NAME], download this entire post for your own files:
P.S. Hey [NAME], what’s a story arc you tell in your marketing? How do you position yourself (or your product)? Let me know, and I’ll personally leave feedback on every single comment :)
AWESOME ADVICE
Thanks for Valuable Information. Story 1(the monster) and Story 3(quest) These type of stories looks quite similar!
What a great post!
Definately going to bookmark your site mate :) Will love to see these types of post in future
Great stuff! I wonder if it is easier to write compelling story arc bios for other people than it is for ourselves? Finding the right humble/arrogant balance is hard.
I actually think it’s totally true: It’s SO much easier to write it for other people. I find it really easy to write for others during consults than I do for my own products.
Hey great article, fascinating topic and i loved the fill-in-the-blank hack! Which got me to thinking…
We all love stories that star US … so does it make sense to try to make the story arc about the reader/customer more than about yourself? (I think this is the approach taken in the book “The Story Wars”) Or are you telling your own story in a way that they can identify with and see themselves in, so in a way it really IS about them? Or do you think both ways are valid?
Thanks Lisa! Customers can get good information about stories about THEM, but also stories about yourself if they can “see themselves” in your story.
That’s why autobiographies are popular, because you can see inside the mind of a person and learn lessons from it. Both ways work!
Salam and hi!
I could totally relate to Nomadic Matt. It’s just that I’m still stuck here. Don’t get me wrong. I love my job. I love teaching, I love being around kids. BUT deep in my heart, I’m aching and yearning to travel around the world. To see the other side of the world that I have never seen. Although the Internet could give you access to that, at your finger tips, BUT it’s not the same, reading other people’s story or watching videos/pictures, with experiencing the experience yourself, right?
That’s not my point by the way.
I found your blog from a storyteller ‘guru’ i followed on Facebook. I am a newbie in copywriting and business alike. Hence, I REALLY want to improve my copywriting. Because I know people don’t fall into hard selling method. Sometimes, I feel that I don’t have the talent to write, I don’t have the character to influence people, to make people to read more, and eventually become my customer. Heck, I felt that that’s not me sometimes, after writing a post. I’m shy, really. ?
My first impression reading your blog was ‘WOW’. I could feel your positive vibes, I LOVE every single information in it. And I felt that my visit to your blog is appreciated. My presence in your blog is VALUED. I just LOVE the feeling. And I know I HAVE to learn to write the exact same way like you. People can relate to your story, follow you and buy whatever you are selling. Nahh, I still have a lot to learn and practice. It’s going to be a slooww process but I hope that I can be like you and pofff become a magical storyteller/copywriter. It’s not magic. I know. Thank you, thank you and thank you. Wish me luck in copywriting.
P/s : I don’t have a story arc. To be honest, I don’t have any idea. I’m simply writing my thoughts here. How do you turn yourself into a copywriter seriously? Okay this is too long already. Thank you for reading.
Hey Neesa, thanks for the kind words! You can maybe first start your journey on becoming a copywriter here:
https://copywritingcourse.com/how-to-become-a-copywriter/
….and also devour all my free articles:
https://copywritingcourse.com/resources
….and if you really want to accelerate the process, join the paid KopywritingKourse:
https://copywritingcourse.com/join
However you need to START WRITING SOMEWHERE first. I always encourage people to setup a little Blogger.com blog and just start writing.
But for now, read all my free resources and they will lead you down a serendipitous path :)
At 25-years-old, I naively believed that the red flags would magically disappear after the wedding. Well, they didn’t. In fact, my situation grew worse by the day. I realized that I exchanged vows not with a man, but a monster. Harsh verbal assaults replaced “Good Morning”, and violent outbursts were exchanged for “I love you”. I didn’t know what to do. After 5 years of silent suffering, staring at my 6-month-old daughter gave me the courage to say “no more”. My mother, oblivious to my horrible relationship, gave me a book that changed my life. Just one small, yet profound line, “Are you happy?” No. I wasn’t happy at all. I could no longer stomach the turmoil, I had to take back control.
And that’s exactly what I did. Divorce was the first step to liberating myself. Sadly, my daughter was used as a pawn in his twisted plan to continue terrorizing me.
Now, everything I do is outcome of my wish to help protect women and children from having to endure my situation. I took my love for fashion and design and decided to use the troubles of my life as inspiration to bring awareness for victimized families dealing with abuse, separation, and limited opportunities.
H2D is the product of one woman’s determination to seize hold of the “happily ever after” so often told in fables and fairy tales.
Throughout my life, I have overcome my fair share of trials. Now, I want to spread my regained confidence with the world. Led by my love for my daughter, I have decided to do what ever I can, to try and make something good out of this bad experience and support suffering children.
I want my struggle, my story, my strength to serve as the starting point for more women to stand up and say enough is enough. It is my goal to inspire you to have the courage to love yourself more than anyone else, and separate from anyone who can’t love you even better. When you’re not feeling your best, you can surely look it.
Little girls around the world are lulled to sleep with bedtime stories of princesses, princes, and the famous “happily ever after” ending. In a sad reality, very few girls grow up to live the life they hear about in fairy tales. I know because I was one of them. When the curtain finally falls, you see the entire production for what it really is. You can admit you’ve always known it was just a show.
Holy moly….that was a really powerful story.
The story I’m telling is, “A Potter’s Journey” that began as a blog authorship series for the American Craft Council website. The last post was, “A Potter’s Journey: The Search for 1,000 True Fans.” Our team just documented me setting a new Guinness World Record and we are well on our way to changing how the world sees both pottery and entrepreneurship.
Oh that’s a unique story Joel! Hope it works out well for you!
We chucked everything and loaded our 6-month old son in the car and drove from Georgia to California on the promise of an interview with a magazine and an in-laws house to rent. On our way there the guy who was supposed to interview me got fired, and when we arrived, the in-laws decided they weren’t moving. We pulled up in the driveway, unloaded the car and I opened the newspaper to the job section. When I awoke I responded to an auto body shop ad for a position and said I was the guy. I went in for an interview that morning and when he asked when I could start I told him: “I have a dirty shirt and my lunch in the car.” I wasn’t even in California 12 hours and went to work. We got an apartment the next week and ate, lived and slept on the floor and kept building. Fifteen years later I still work for that magazine (it’s now quarterly) and that opened doors into a bitchin’ career in the industry and adventures I could only have dreamed about. In short, my message is good things come to those who want it, take risks, and work hard.
I wear an XL. :)
Thanks for sharing Brandon. Cool that you took the chance and got what you wanted!
Everyone loves a good story. If you have not yet encountered “The hero’s journey” check it out. I found an overview here: http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero%27s_journey.htm
Hey Richard, I’ve DEFINITELY seen the Hero’s Journey…….originally wrote a piece on it, but thought it was too similar to some of the others.
Thanks for sharing!
I think we all have a reason ‘why’ we do what we do. But after reading this, I know now that I have to explain my ‘why’ in a story. I’ve heard of ‘story arcs’ before but it never really occurred to me that, indeed:
1) I could even have a story (caregiver-mom trying to help terminally ill child)
2) A potential client/vendor would be interested (my perspective as a caregiver can add value to your offering)
3) Because my story is true, it could resonate with other parents (used medical marijuana to help my child)
But you opened my eyes. You taught me that I can put my story in a frame to give to my customer. I know now that I have to think differently. I know I have a story that can be used in a variety of ways: to engender credibility with customers and vendors alike and to engage both of these groups.
It seems krystal klear now to tell my story for patients, partners and profits. Kool!
Hey Mia, glad to have opened your eyes to that! Anything that makes you unique or have a unique perspective can make you more valuable…..so it’s a shame to NOT show that story.
Glad this helped you Mia!
Awesome post Neville. What plugin / script did you use for that name field? Just awesome.
Here’s my current story arc that I’m working on:
1) Hired developer to build website in 2007 for a few thousand bucks. He bailed with my money, and left my site undeveloped. I couldn’t post or update content.
2) People still opted into my email list despite a half finished and shitty website.
3) My only form of communication with my audience was email marketing. I sucked at first and almost quit.
4) Started studying copywriting and it worked. I sold multiple high ticket coaching packages for 5 figures, and even launched my own product… over freakin’ email!
5) Fell in love with copywriting and selling stuff with words (even more than the business I started) and decided to close up shop and start freelancing my services to help other people sell stuff instead.
6) Discovered KopywritingKourse.Com and won a free t-shirt…
Okay… so maybe I snuck the last one in there… can’t blame a guy for trying.
Evan your comment is so helpful, because I keep procrastinating on blogging and using opt-ins on my website to build my list–because it’s not finished.
You give me courage to know that I’m WASTING TIME “not” getting started.
“People still opted into my email list despite a half finished and shitty website”
Thank you.
Renita,
Definitely add an optin form to your website and don’t stress about blogging and adding content.
Derek Halpern posts on socail triggers about once a month… but it’s always awesome stuff. Quality matters more than quantity.
The thing is, I didn’t even email my list daily or anything in the beginning… maybe once or twice a month… and then I picked it up a little more when I leared copywriting.
The thing is if you can sit down and write 5 or 6 emails to load into an autoresponder and pitch your product or service, you’ll make sales… and you’ll start to gain confidence in what you’re doing.
That’ll KILL procrastination big time.
I love when comments help people, good job Evan. Glad you got something out of it Renita!
Hey Evan,
1.) Maybe a shirt-worthy comment :)
2.) I used a little Jquery to pull that trick off.
Neville!
This is like a romantic comedy montage set to “Groovy Kind Of Love” by Phil Collins. And the stick figure picture you drew of me is uncanny, Neville – such an AMAZING likeness!
Once upon a time, I was the massage therapist for super heroes and mortals, and I used personalization throughout emails and messages to all my clients. One day, I created this little gem of a “quiz” – https://mindyneal.typeform.com/to/m3pCJD
All that, plus my sparkling personality, charm, and mad flirtation/networking skills, gave me the busiest practice. I was S-L-A-M-M-E-D all the frickin’ time!
And then – oh Neville, you’re gonna cry – I noticed I had no life. I worked 12-14 hours a day. My wrist hurt, and I couldn’t do the things that I love to do because I worked all the time! It was incredibly sad.
I know, I know – “poor Mindy.” Wanna know what I did?
I told myself, “ENOUGH!” I stopped….and I stripped myself down to the very naked part of my soul and really dug into that juicy part of my heart to see what was inside. And I found what I’m really good at Neville – and I love it!
BTW, I started that journey at Infusionsoft – which is actually where I found you – in the “behind the scenes” area of the movie lot that is your life Neville!
I haven’t found my way to the success that you, Pat, and Matt have…yet…but I’m on my way.
Oh, and one more thing – when I stripped myself down, I lost my shirt, Neville. So I’m typing my story shirtless, which is my favorite way to tell stories…topless, with headphones in my ears, and Jason Bourne or the LEGO movie on in the background, unless I’m listening to Spotify.
Have a beautiful day Neville! Thanks for the stories!
PS – I’ll send you a selfie when I receive my shirt.
Hahah, quite the journey Mindy!
Did you work at InfusionSoft? I still use them for all my email!
Bela felt like the sky is falling onto his head.
Sam, the friendly loan shark was knocking on the door.
Five minutes earlier two banks called inquiring about the outstanding debt.
All he can think of, was this word: “F*****************K!!!”
How did he get into this situation?
[deep breath]
Suddenly Bela remembered that one thing that helped him before…
Email1: Bela starts as a construction worker and makes his first deal out of working hours
Email2: Bela scales up the deal and quits his job
Email3: … And than he makes 3 mistakes which gets him in a 150k debt
Email4: On top of that, Bela gets in a Shitty Situation everyone can relate to
Email5: BUT Bela goes back to basics using this good “Ol’School” ancient technique adapted to current times.
===
The Short Story model is widely used offline (just read the teaser on the back of a novel – to be more specific: fantasy, action, spy, war…)
I’m sure that there are online examples as well.
No Fluff.
No BS.
Straight into action.
Three paragraphs to hook you.
And then it stops.
Obviously is the best part of the book, and now you have to buy it to read the rest of the story.
Combine the above with a drip campaign
;)
Kool Beans!
Bahaha, nice one Bela :)
Oh what a thrill to see my name all over the page! How come nobody did this before, Nev?
#Genius
Bahahhaa, I mean…..I just made a full post about “Zakaria” just for you :-P
As I read the entire post I quickly saw my story arc. After a series of choices that were a financial devastation, I had to file bankruptcy.
On top of that… walked out of bankruptcy court … into divorce court, I filed them both the same day. The divorce I saw coming… shouldn’t have done it in the first place. (that little voice had told me…but… the little…) anyway sorry got distracted.
Long story short, my story arc is my pain … the 5 years of hell the bankruptcy caused. I’d wake up with pain in my stomach…so much anger I developed for the courts. But… I planed it and watched.
When them least expected it, I fired my plan. – http://Www.Bankruptcyrevenge.com
I know I shouldn’t have this anger, but I feel comfort in sharing my pain with other bankruptcy filers…and showing them home to recover.
Interesting. Hope it works out and that you’re out of bankruptcy now!
Hey Neville, I’m 100% aware that all of those “Dimas” in your blog post is a swappable variable. But, when I read that (even if I knew it’s automated), I feel like immersed in those stories arc!
Especially number #3, hell, like you’re telling me my own story..
I haven’t got any story arc to put in my marketing effort right now, but this post is opening my mind of what’s possible.
Talking about selling t-shirt, I may use something like:
“After 30+ attempts of failed design, which definitely no one wants to buy.
I’m back to the board, looking over hundreds design on the internet and finally found the right formula for a great design.. Something that you’ll be proud to wear everyday, so you’ll want to buy more than one :)”
sounds like a shameless pitch though, lol
Bahhaha, that’s GREAT! That was what I was going for!
It doesn’t matter yet if you don’t have a story, because you don’t ONLY have to market through stories. If you create useful tools, their usefulness will help sell them (although a great story line would probably help sell them better).
Cheers Dimas, this post WAS all about you :)
From my About Us page… long copy warning!
Treegear was founded by Melbourne based arborist Trevor Douglas in mid 2008. Back then, there weren’t many options for gear here, much of it was pretty ho-hum… and all of it was expensive! At this point, Trev had been running his own tree service business for over 10 years. Never satisfied with staying still, he was always looking to… well not just grow, but do things differently, and better, something to do with the “Pioneer” part of his DNA…
He spent a heck of a lot of time online researching how other tree guys around the world do what they do. This was before Facebook really blew up and sharing info was so easy. Forums like Treebuzz & Treeworld were a great source of information and inspiration though. There was so much going on out there. Something had to change.
And so Treegear was born. Driven by a deep wanting to improve the standard, availability and value of gear on the Australian market, delivered with real world advice from real climbers that understand.
But it wasn’t that easy…. At first manufacturers and distributors didn’t want to work with us. So we went around them and did it anyway! We were disrupting the industry with new stuff and lower prices than Australia had seen before… and our early customers loved it!
And so what started out as a side-project to his tree business soon took on a life of it’s own. The competition had to totally reposition it’s pricing, and today Arb gear in Australia is about 40% better value than it used to be…. You’re welcome!
In 2012 the tree care business was bought out and it was full steam ahead for Treegear.
Today we are proud to say our mission is still the same… To scour the globe for the latest and best gear. Not just any gear, the best gear, gear we would be stoked to use ourselves. Gear that we know will make you safer, more comfortable, more efficient, and more profitable.
For just a small team of enthusiasts with a passion for all things trees & climbing, we are proud to have introduced some awesome brands & products to the Australian market.
But cutting edge products alone does not define us… It’s when you mash that up with real-world climbing experience, and share our knowledge willingly – that’s when the magic happens! The challenge then became how to best deliver that sort of hands-on advice…
So we set up an in-store, indoor tree climbing space like nothing that had ever been done before.
Our greatest reward is seeing climbers come in who are either maybe just starting out, or have been doing it a while – but all old-school (read: the hard way!), and with the right guidance leave inspired and excited about getting back out there knowing they’ll be safer, more efficient and more productive.
Sometimes it’s helping them select the best combination of gear for where they’re at. Other times it’s helping them fine-tune their current system with a demo, some hands-on climbing and a little coaching in our climbing area.
It is no fun fighting a system that doesn’t work. It’s the synergy of the right gear, knowledge and technique that makes climbing FUN! It makes me so happy to know that we are transforming the safety & efficiency of the tree industry, one climber at a time.
Awesome Trev, hope the About Page story is working well for you!
Hi Neville,
I absolutely loved this post and my favorite line is: “…the cubicle he worked in seemed to get smaller and smaller every year.” I identify with Matt’s and your arcs.
I’ve already lived through one story arc where I quit my job as well as my post-graduate degree in Pharmacology to serve as a volunteer in a meditation center for a few years. That was fun and interesting.
My present story arc is from blocked amateur writer to successful pro writer. I’m presently in the consciously incompetent, inconsistent and unconfident stage. I’m gathering skills, tools, allies, and mentors to get to the next stage. Another interesting quest. Writing is practice.
Cheers and thanks again.
Glad you enjoyed and learned Rohi! Writing is DEFINITELY mostly about the practice. Nothing can substitute for that.
Hi Neville,
This is amazing!
I love the little tweaks and personalized images/gifs you add to the content. They make it even more engaging and interesting.
I loved this lesson. Having a story arc is something that can have awesome effect on branding, getting readers’ trust and boosting sales finally.
I have a blog DigitalGYD.com where I teach small businesses about getting more social and search visibility. I then make a living based on the affiliate sales/ and content writing contracts I make from them.
Here is my story arc!
I am Swadhin and till 2010 I knew nothing about the internet. I did not know if Google was something and used knew a handful of sites like our school website for result viewing. Even for downloading a mobile wallpaper I would go to a nearby shopkeeper who used to fill my memory card in return of some bucks.
Eventually when I was broke with no job and no business in hand, I thought of providing freelance writing service to people. There were less opportunities in the offline world, so I dived into the online world and hence the start.
Now I have a few blogs, I make a decent affiliate income and make a living writing for clients (one of my awesome clients is a Forbes’ top 25 leading women).
On my blog, I teach other small businesses like me that if a person like me could achieve this, get into online world and make a respectable living online, why not they.
They too can get seen and sell more if they have the right strategies. This is what my arc is about!
I’d love to hear your views on this. :)
-Swadhin
Hey Swadhin, great job on the story arc!
It looks like in a short period of time you’ve built a cool business, I’m sure that story resonates with A LOT of people.
Possibly a shirt-worthy comment :)
You can be a real pain in the backside Neville. Everytime I read one of your posts I have to think and get pushed out of my comfort zone.
Thanks for all the pushes. One of these days I hope to be able to see a post from you and say guess what I have already done that.
Not this time though. Now I need to sit and relieve that pain by putting my fingers to this keyboard and writing my story arc.
Thanks David, glad to be a pain to you :-P
Here’s my story arc!
After graduation, I worked in the Oil Industry as a chemical engineer. The pay was great, and it was secure. But after two years, I was getting too comfortable and felt like I have learned mostly everything I could at the job.
Throughout that time, I was building my own side projects to get better at marketing, and saved enough money to quit my job.
Everything was going according to plan. I quit, grew my blog, used the experience to get me a job at my dream company in Austin.
Everything was going according to plan. Got the job in Austin, was surrounded by people much smarter than me.
Then I got let go! I was not getting results.
Fortunately, I received amazing feedback on why I was let go and worked on a mini-project to practice my weakness.
Now I’m working for another dream company and things are going according to plan! For now at least…
Wilson, I can’t gauge what you might be able to teach others through this description…
Hey Simon, this was just a story arc outline, not the whole story. And maybe Wilson doesn’t have anything to sell yet?
I remember when I started blogging, most blogs existed just because people enjoyed sharing, there was no business motive to sell anything.
Hey Wilson, cool little story arc!
I would apply some cool names to different parts of the story.
Like the part where you had a good job but didn’t like it, you can call that: “The Comfortable Chasm” or something more dramatic.
Thanks for sharing!!
Hi Wilson,
Great story! There are so many great endings/lessons you can pull out of that piece where you were let go, retooled, and came back strong. Things like persistence, resilience, redemption, and vision. – Ann
Good thinking Ann!
THIS IS LITERALLY MY WHOLE LIFE RIGHT NOW.
I’m a copywriter, and my entire reason for being is to get more people sharing their story. In fact, Neville, I share a quote from your book on my actual website. Here’s the snippet:
Quick! You want to start exercising again, but the call of Gilmore Girls is strong.
Who would you rather hire:
>>A personal trainer who’s been obsessed with running his whole life; or
>>A trainer who struggled to get off the couch for years until finally figuring out a system that works?
I haven’t told you anything about their skills, just their stories. But you already have a first choice, don’t you?
If you’ve ever heard the phrase, “Your About page isn’t actually about you,” we’re about to blow your damn mind.
I don’t think there’s a business in the world who can’t benefit from sharing their personal story.
Marian – you get my vote for winner!
What?
We’re not voting on this?
You still get my vote.
Bahahah…..thanks for the votes Alan, you can be my 2nd Judge :)
Awesome Marian, and glad you liked the quote from the book!
In marketing a soon-to-be launched jewelry line, I used the following arc on the “About” page:
Every woman has a story and a legacy beginning in girlhood. During her life journey she collects cherished tokens that tell her story and speak to her legacy.
Problem: “What are my tokens? Are they good ones? Do I have enough?”
Among these tokens are the timeless jewelry pieces offered by the jewelry line.
Solution: Buy a piece, ensure your legacy is grand and enduring!
Cool Leigh….how did it do? Did the story resonate with people?
Daren wondered how people came up with such engaging story lines. Every time he tried to write the story of his business, it came out like a boring bio at some long-winded speech.
Then Daren met Neville. Neville knew all about how stories worked to grab attention and draw the reader in. Now Daren can help clients see themselves in his own story. Daren likes Neville.
Bahahah…..great comment [NAME]….I mean….”Daren” :-P
just setup a teespring page to sell tshirts to help raise funds for cancer support in the UK.
Tomorrow i find out if i have breast cancer and have told my story on facebook to sell the shirts.
People are intesested to see what my results are, so sending them to http://be-brave.co.uk to buy the shirt
Fingers crossed for both my news and the shirt sales
update on previous message
here is the video when i reveal the results live on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/philip.alderson/videos/1047773405313824/
Hmmm….can’t see the video. Maybe post the results in text later!
That’s cool, how did the sales go Phil?
Originally thought the “First Name” field was for an email signup but was pleasantly surprised to see if made the all about Aaron. That’s me!
I honest have never even thought to tell my story in my business even through its pretty good. Thanks for always putting out great content Neville and giving me something to think about.
Glad you liked my little Jquery hack Aaron!
I thought it was a fun way to better tell some of these stories :)
Now you made me curious. Do you want to tell us how this query hack works? I searched already the whole interweb but cannot find any clue :-(.
Hey Neville, This post comes at a great time for me. I’ve just revamped my 22 part autoresponder and it’s much tighter and more intentional than before. (Before it was a mess of whatever content I could scrap together…) BUT I realize most all of the emails lack a story arc and I need to apply AIDA more.
I try to position myself close to the “Pat Flynn” story. I don’t think I am though. If someone that never met me and just read a few blog posts signed up for my email list, they may not have the same impression after reading the emails. I need to do some thinking about what to do next to make sure there is a clear story arc and for it to be the one I’m intending. Thanks
Awesome you’re recognizing it now Doug.
I don’t ALWAYS think an autoresponder needs a story arc, but at some point it’s a great tactic.
For example, my own autoresponder is:
Emails 1 – 7: Story arc about how to write and then it sells the KopywritingKourse.
Emails 8 – 12: Story arc about automating a lot of my emails.
Emails 12 – Whatever: Random good information.
So you don’t necessarily need the ENTIRE thing to be a story, but maybe some of it :)