Weekly Challenge #006: How to Cause Your Pets to Attack: The Art of Story Selling

Harry never actually draws blood.

At best he just startles you.  In most cases he ends up starting himself too.

Harry...Harry Potter to be exact, is my daughters cat. She received him last year for Christmas.

You can’t not love this cat. He’s sweet, affectionate and as I suggested, will attack the shit out of you when you least expect it.

It’s a little game he likes to play and oddly, playing it with him has taught me to be a better storyteller. Or should I say…story seller?
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Here’s how the game usual goes:

I catch Harry staring at me. His body language suggests he’s considering whether or not to make a meal of me. It’s both adorable and somewhat menacing at the same time. The whole scene is straight out of Clavin and Hobbes.

I tilt my head to initiate the game.

He crouches into a ball.

I allow my gaze to land on him. No direct eye contact mind you. I’ve learned that direct eye contact will break the spell causing the beast to roll onto his back and act like he wants his momma to change his diaper. So weird. 

The partial eye contact is critical.

I slowly begin to hide myself from his view.  It’s important to leave something of yourself showing, however. Just enough to make him think he might lose his chance if he waits too long.

His pupils dilate like giant black moons: the point of no return.

The moment is both tense and exciting. Even though I know exactly what’s about to happen. The explosion of energy never fails to scare the ever loving’ bejesus out of me. 

Harry makes the attack and I scream like a two year old. 

The game is over. No one’s harmed. Both of us feel like we’ve won.

I remember a time when marketing my business was legitimately frightening for me. I hated talking about myself and avoided getting to know what my prospects wanted... what got them excited.

If someone wanted what I had to offer great. If not... their loss.

This attitude was a defense mechanism.

Marketing myself was anxiety provoking for me. I blamed my inability to understand my audience on my audience. Text book projection and a recipe for failure. 

But now marketing has become something of a game. The same one I play with Harry. Learning about what your clients want, what gets them excited and telling the story that inspires them to take action… it’s a necessary part of the process. One that has become one of my favorite parts of growing my business today. Here’s a little challenge to help make it more fun for you:


WEEKLY CHALLENGE

Let’s start by keeping the stakes low. Don’t practice this with your business just yet. Practice with someone unrelated to your work. It will likely make this  easier for you so you can experience it as play and then you can translate the lessons to your business, later.

Your challenge is simple: build up someones desire for something. It can be anything from a chocolate chip cookie to… um… whatever. Sell them a story they can't refuse. But make sure you can deliver  the goods or you may loose their trust.