Imagine getting paid £293,000 to tell a story…

And I don’t mean writing a blockbuster novel like Stephen King or JK Rowling.

No inventing characters, crafting plots or building worlds.

Instead, I simply mean telling a short story about a real business.

This sounds outlandish.

But it’s true…

According to a recent article by Tom Orbach, director of Growth Marketing, corporations are offering big money for someone who can craft a good backstory.

“I counted 10+ companies hiring a storyteller in the past week,” he says, “They are paying $320k-$400k for roles like ‘Brand Narrative Lead’. Vanta, Field AI, Patreon, Forage, Anthropic – all hiring the same type of person.”

That’s a LOT of money.

$400K is around £293,000!

And this is not the only article I’ve read on this topic.

There has been a huge spike in commentary recently about this subject across numerous publications.

For instance, the Wall Street Journal ran a story with the headline ‘Companies are Desperately Seeking Storytellers.’

It described how companies are recruiting people to produce blogs, podcasts, case studies and branded content to attract customers, investors and new recruits.

But this is not simply a copywriting job given a fancy new name.

And it isn’t just about ‘branding’.

The job of these storytellers is to shape how the company talks about itself – not only in its advertising and website, but to its staff, customers, interviewees and the media.

And it’s now so important that this one task is worth £293,000 a year.

And there’s a reason why this is becoming urgent.

The Missing Ingredient AI Can’t Give You

We know that AI is amazing.

It can write emails…answer customers… make images… pump out social media posts and website articles… even script and produce entire videos.

So this has levelled the playing field for online content.

It means that any operator, big or small, can quickly get a good-looking business online…. complete with all the essentials, like a website, blog, email newsletter, product listings, sales promotions and a social media presence.

But there’s a downside….

It means that the competition is greater.

And in an online world that’s saturated with AI-generated content, it’s difficult to stand out.

So what’s scarce these days isn’t content…

It’s MEANING.

People searching for help online are increasingly looking for businesses, products and services that MEAN something.

(That is, other than just making money!)

They want a reason to trust the company, or the product – and to believe in what it offers them.

Because the truth is, AI can’t automatically make people genuinely CARE about your business.

For that, you need the human touch.

And this is where a story comes in.

Why Stories Attract Customers

In his book, Unleash the Power of Storytelling, Rob Biesenbach explains that stories are the most powerful form of human communication.

They inspire emotion, grab attention, and stick in the memory in ways that dry facts and statistics cannot.

This is why stories can enhance any kind of business project.

For instance, if you’re looking for content to put on a website, in your social media, or email newsletters…

Or you want to increase the appeal of an eBook, digital course, report or subscription service.

It even applies to product listings and business descriptions on sites like Amazon, Etsy, and eBay.

In all cases, a story can make your offering:

• Appeal to the emotions of the prospect
• Increase their feelings of trust
• Stick in their memory more easily (and for longer)
• Stand out from all the competition and give you a unique point of difference

And you don’t need to be a £293K-per-year professional storyteller to achieve this.

Formulas for Effective Storytelling

Rob Biesenbach argues that effective stories consist of three elements:

• A main character
• A goal they are trying to reach,
• A challenge or obstacle they must overcome

Translated into a home business context, this could mean YOU are the main character.

But it could also describe the character of your business itself, as an entity which is trying to put something good into the world.

Either way, the key is to think of an overarching goal that you are aiming for – beyond making money.

Think about how your product aims to improve the life of your prospect… or wider society.

And then think about the core reason why you (or your business) have taken on this challenge.

There’s a great book about this by Blake Snyder called Save the Cat!

He explains that it’s important to make the hero of your story likeable and relatable… showing qualities that audiences might connect with, like compassion, bravery or honesty.

One way to do this is to save a cat!

If a main character in a film were to be shown saving a cat from danger, the audience would instantly like them more, viewing them as heroic and selfless.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you literally need to rescue a feline animal and write about it on your website.

It just means showing potential prospects that your business or product is genuinely helpful for people.

A ‘save the cat’ story could be about:

• A customer who overcame a challenge with the help of your product or service.
• A problem you overcome, either in business, the creation of a product, or in your personal life.
• A disadvantage you’ve had, which your readers might share, or appreciate.
• A personal reason why you decided to help people, the environment, or society in general.

It’s also worth heeding the advice of Chip Heath and Dan Health, authors of Made to Stick: Why some ideas take hold and others come unstuck.

They boil down good stories into six key qualities:

• Simple – try to boil your backstory down to its essential meaning. This creates a compact message that’s easy to grasp and hard to forget.
• Unexpected – people tune out predictable information, so use the element of surprise to get their attention.
• Concrete – abstract concepts are forgettable. People remember specific details, ie. what something looks or feels like.
• Credible – people need to trust what you are saying is true. So add credibility in the form of stats, results, earnings, expert testimony, or a case study.
• Emotional – facts alone don’t spark action. People respond to content with their emotions.
• Story – a narrative with a beginning, middle and end gives the brain a framework for understanding and remembering something.

Alright, so those are the ingredients.

But how do you put something together?

Creating Your Business Story

First, sit down for an hour with a blank sheet of paper, a whiteboard, or an empty Word document.

Think about, then write down:

• Who you are (your persona in your business)
• Any disadvantages of obstacles you’ve had to come
• What your product is, and what big benefit it offers people.
• Why you created your product or started your business
• What your ultimate goal is, for yourself, your customers and wider society
• Anything unique about your experience, approach or outlook

Now try and put that into a story with a beginning, middle and an end.

You can use an AI tool like Chat GPT to help you.

Simply enter your answers into the format below, then feed it into the chatbot.

PROMPT: I want you to craft a compelling story for my product/business/service. It needs to be simple, unexpected, specific, credible and emotional.

Here are the ingredients:

I am… [PERSONA].

I experienced… [DISADVANTAGE OR OBSTACLE]….

My product is… [DETAILS].

It helps people… [BENEFIT].

I created it because… [REASON].

My ultimate goal is… [GOAL].

I am/It is unique because [EXPERIENCE, APPROACH OR OUTLOOK]

For example…

PROMPT: I want you to craft a compelling story for my product. It needs to be simple, unexpected, specific, credible and emotional.

Here are the ingredients:

I am Tom Smith from Luton.

I experienced financial hardship all my life and left school at 16 without many qualifications.

My product is a course that shows people how to turn DIY skills into an income.

It helps people earn money independently, choosing their own hours, and using skills they already have.

I created it because I found a way to enjoy an income without any qualifications, education or financial advantages.

My ultimate goal is to help people like me find freedom, pride and independence no matter where they come from.

I am unique because I am sharing the tricks, techniques and strategies that I developed myself through trial and error over three decades.

You’d then get a story which might begin like this…

“I left school at 16 with no qualifications worth mentioning and a pretty clear sense of where people like me usually end up. Money was always tight. Jobs were something you took, not something you chose. You worked when you were told to work, for what you were offered, and you were grateful for it.

What I did have—though I didn’t think it mattered at the time—was the ability to fix things.

I could tile a bathroom. Patch a wall. Fit a shelf properly so it didn’t sag six months later. Little jobs. Ordinary jobs. The kind most people put off, mess up, or don’t trust themselves to do.”

You can then delete any bits that don’t quite match the truth, or add extra elements in.

When you’re happy with this story, paste it into a Word document and save it. This can be your backstory master file.

Then you can get ChatGPT to create shorter versions that fit more easily into social media profile pages, press releases or shop listings.

No matter what stage you’re at with a product or business, give this a try – it will help you ensure that your offering is unique and meaningful!

Go on, give it a try and send me what you come up with…