Tell Compelling Stories: The Value Story // Workshop 2

Part Two

How do you share your value without listing features or without comparing yourself to others?

Links and pdfs are below the videos.

Last week I started a LIVE workshop series. Over the years I have heard so many creative entrepreneurs like you have such a hard time connecting with new potential clients. They aren’t alone I also have struggled with using social media continuously especially with the ever changing algorithm.

Honestly it is frustrating and can be defeating until… I figured out how to help me (and you) to share stories in a way that didn’t feel like I was selling. I was simply sharing stories my clients had as a result of hiring me.

Then I was able to guide other people through this process and be able to share who they were and what difference they make more succinctly and clearly in a way people could understand. Thank you Donald Miller of Story Brand.

Before I create a website I take my client through the Story Brand framework. In doing this I am able to pull stories from them about their customers and their clients. It has revolutionized my business and helped me get clarity but also help my clients get more customers.

But there was more. I knew there was. I could do more. Because when we are at a networking event if you are repeating your pitch over and over, it feels inauthentic.

Then why does a comedian’s set feel authentic, aren’t these jokes that are memorized?

The simple answer is not for a great comedian. They are telling stories. A good storyteller can react to their audience, adjust which stories to tell depending on who they are talking to.

I believe we should be able to do this too. I use analogies when I am with clients or when I am teaching. I am always thinking of new ones and reusing the ones that have been effective over time.

I created this three part series of LIVE, free workshop because I want you to know how to do this too.

I am trying new things, experimenting this year. As a result this workshop series came to be. Instead of doing it for a paid group I decided to open it up to see how effective it can be for you.

This week we are working on the Value Story and things I learned from Donald Miller and lots from Kindra Hall in her book, Stories that Stick. (Find links below to both books.)

Watch the second lesson in this series below, then come to the live workshop Wed, March 27, 2024 at 2:30pm ET / 6:30pm GMT / 11:30am PT as I record episode 464 of the podcast. Make sure you don’t miss an email about this by signing up here: https://creativesignite.com/signup

Listen to the Pre-Workshop Lesson 2

Join us for Workshop #2

I have a live workshop style episode planned for March 27 at 2:30pm ET / 6:30pm GMT / 11:30am PT. Make sure you don’t miss an email about this by signing up here: https://creativesignite.com/signup

Watch the live workshop and practice with us.

Listen to the live workshop and practice with us.

Watch Part 1

Watch Workshop Lesson 1 here: https://creativesignite.com/tell-compelling-stories-p1/

Downloads & Affiliate Links

Download Worksheet 2 here.

Stories that Stick by Kindra Hall: https://amzn.to/3IMtDAM
Choose Your Story, Change Your Life by Kindra Hall: https://amzn.to/3VrA7wp
Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller: https://amzn.to/4ao15cq
Marketing Made Simple by Donald Miller & JJ Peterson: https://amzn.to/3TI8zlg
Chris Martin Studios (my friend and podcast editor): https://www.chrismartinstudios.com/
Rafi Hopkins (my friend who knows how to make things that solve problems): https://sectionsign.com/
5 Minute Marketing Makeover: https://www.5minutemarketingmakeover.com/

Transcripts

Transcript Pre-Workshop Lesson 2

[00:00:00] diane: Hey everybody, this is Diane Gibbs. This is workshop number two. And we’re talking about how to tell a story, a value story today. So we’re gonna do some exercises to do that. And this is the pre-workshop lesson. All right? So again, we’re using stories that stick, um, by Kindra Hall as a main source here, as well as, um, marketing Made Simple and a StoryBrand a lot of things by Donald Miller.

[00:00:29] [00:00:30] And just things that I’ve learned over the years. I. I’m just pulling ’em together. But I’ve learned a lot from the stories that stick with Kinder Haw. So let’s get into it. So this is learning how to tell the value story. Learning how to tell this value story. You think, oh, well it’s just the listing. This is the features and these are the benefits.

[00:00:48] Well, we’re gonna kind of avoid that and we talked about that a little bit last week. So who is the value to, oftentimes we are reaching other, um, companies or [00:01:00] another entrepreneur or. If it’s an author, but they’re trying to sell their book. They don’t want to just make one book. They wanna make many, um.

[00:01:10] One book, but then they’re selling, they’re printing many, I guess, right? So we first need to figure out that the value is to actually maybe more than one person, which it could be to the company, but it’s also to an individual in the company. Um, and it helps [00:01:30] their life to be better because of something that we’re doing at work.

[00:01:34] So. So first thing is we have to understand if the customer already understands that this is a problem, um, that they have a problem and there is a solution. They’ve just been looking and they just haven’t found the right person for the job, or they, they’re really early in on the process. They realize that this is a problem.

[00:01:55] They just haven’t, um, narrowed it down or done enough research and there’s a [00:02:00] lot of stages to that. Issue and why there’s a little time clock here or a stopwatch is because this part, when you’re doing your marketing, if they already know about, let’s use Paul for example. I. Paul is a book designer.

[00:02:17] People contact Paul to make their book. Sometimes people think, oh, I’ll do it on my own. It must not be that difficult. And then they realize it’s difficult or they’re just like, I know I’m gonna have somebody else design this. [00:02:30] I’m not gonna do this myself. I’m not a designer, I’m a writer. Right? So they already know this is something else someone’s going to have to do.

[00:02:37] We don’t really have to convince them or educate them about, there’s a Paul, we need to find Paul. Right. Or a book designer. Um. What we’re asking is how familiar are they with the problem? This is not in any books. This is me. But I have found that actually these become different problems. And I think about this as a teacher.

[00:02:59] I have [00:03:00] students that are super beginner. Um, they’ve had no art in high school. They’ve just been doing things on their own or learning from the internet, and then there’s the sophomores and they know a little bit more, and then the juniors and the seniors, and then you have grad students. And so there’s a.

[00:03:15] Different levels of people and what they know and we speak to them in different way. I’m not gonna speak to um, freshmen the same way I would speak to a junior even, because it can be degrading, you know? So [00:03:30] we want to make sure that we’re understanding how familiar they are with the problem that is at hand.

[00:03:37] So I’ve thought about it like this. They’re either an acquaintance, so they’re new to the problem. They, it’s is a new experience to them. They’re familiar with it, but they’re just getting to know them. It’s something that they haven’t interacted with or they don’t have to deal with very often. Um, maybe they’re a friend, they see each other regularly, but they are [00:04:00] not, um.

[00:04:02] You know, they’re not hanging out all the time. Maybe they’re a best friend. I know lots of things about this problem, but I just haven’t made a decision to get somebody else to do this for me. Maybe they’re a bedmate, somebody that, um, you’re intimate with, you understand this problem intimately, but you haven’t.

[00:04:21] Um, it, it’s a newer it, so it’s, there’s, oh, wow, I’ve gotta get this. You’re in the, the heat of it where you’re [00:04:30] like, I am going to find someone to solve this. I am at that stage. And then there’s the married to it where you have, um, you are completely another color, right? You understand ins and outs of this problem, but there is some reason that you have not.

[00:04:49] Invested in, or you’ve made that decision to move forward, um, in getting somebody else to solve that problem for you. [00:05:00] So depending on your familiar or their familiar familiarity, why can I not familiar? Whatever il Hmm. That word. How long they’ve lived with this problem we’re going to is gonna determine which story to tell.

[00:05:17] So again, we’re just kind of having these bank of stories and we don’t wanna memorize them. We just kind of wanna be like a comedian where we’re. Pulling from, we’ve told the story enough, but we’re [00:05:30] not doing it like a robot. You know, I’m gonna give you an example of me and, um, I was married to it, so I was editing my own podcast very poorly for many, many years, and I sometimes would just publish it straight up.

[00:05:49] For me, I knew there was podcast editors, but I hadn’t done enough research to see if it was something I actually could afford time-wise, or [00:06:00] money-wise. Um, I didn’t know how long it took. I liked these things to be released in a week and. I didn’t know if I could afford to do this. I have been doing the podcast this, uh, June, it will be 12 years, and for, I think the last four years, maybe three years, three after Covid I was talking.

[00:06:28] Yeah, yeah. [00:06:30] In, maybe in 2020. I don’t remember when, but I hired Chris Martin. Uh, who I met at Ben Design Conference and he became my podcast editor. It was something that has completely, uh, oh my gosh. Just relieved, relieved, alleviated, relieved it. I trust him. So that was something [00:07:00] I was looking for. I needed, I understood this, I understood what it took.

[00:07:04] I understood I didn’t have what it took to edit it, to go in and be that detail oriented, to take out things or to, if somebody said a bad word to bleep it. Um, I liked doing some of these smaller edits, but I don’t like doing that every week. It was, it was very painful for me, and so I just didn’t do it.

[00:07:26] And I didn’t do it well. So now that Chris is doing it, this was [00:07:30] huge for me, talk about a relief, but it was just me finding him and working out a schedule that could work with him and, and it’s been awesome. Like I trust him. I, we find new music or we tweak things or he gives me suggestions. Um, and I really.

[00:07:56] Believe what he’s telling me and believe that he’s not just telling me [00:08:00] nice things. I believe he’s telling me things that are helpful that I can do. So that was me with, uh, I was married to this problem for seven years, I guess, or eight, nine years. Um, and that’s a long time to do something alone. And I knew the problem.

[00:08:20] I just had not. I actually didn’t believe I could afford it, and I didn’t believe that I could find somebody [00:08:30] that I could trust to do it. But I did, and Chris is awesome, and I’ll link his information w below an acquaintance. Um, maybe this is a new project that you’ve gotten and you are not an illustrator, so you have to find an illustrator and maybe you haven’t worked with an illustrator in the style that you’re.

[00:08:53] Um, client is needing, or that you think is the best style. So you are an acquaintance [00:09:00] to this problem because this is a new issue for you. You haven’t encountered this type of book or this, um, whatever it is that you’re doing that you need to find an illustrator. Again, we interact, we. Have this issue a lot as designers or if we’re web designers, maybe we don’t have, we always have been given the copy.

[00:09:22] Um, and now we don’t. Now we need to find somebody who can do the brand strategy or somebody who can write the web copy. Um. [00:09:30] Whatever it is, we understand that there’s a problem, we understand there’s somebody else to do the solution, but, um, it will be a different conversation that you would have with someone if you were just acquainted with it.

[00:09:43] If I just was starting a podcast and I knew for sure I didn’t want to. Um, edit it. I didn’t know anything about editing. I would need to find a Chris, but Chris will have a different story that he tells for somebody who is just starting a podcast that has no experience and is [00:10:00] not at all comfortable with doing the editing.

[00:10:03] And then a different story that he would tell me who has been doing the editing for nine years. Um, so those are two different stories and you d need to tell, you need to know who you’re talking to. So again, in those, here’s your action step. This is the one we’re gonna do together is who’s the identifiable character I.

[00:10:25] In the podcast story, that would hopefully be me, but maybe I didn’t [00:10:30] tell the story well enough. So we’re gonna break that down about how this could be a better story or this is, say you’re Chris and you’re telling the story, um, how could Chris tell the story about me? As an identifiable character, a specific detail, and then authentic emotion.

[00:10:50] Maybe I got that part. I was frustrated again, you don’t have to have all four. You need one. The significant moment was when I had too many other things on my plate. I [00:11:00] stopped having time for this. I didn’t wanna stop the podcast, but I was not able to continue alone anymore. I had to have help. My health was gonna start decreasing.

[00:11:14] It wasn’t good. Life on Saturdays was all podcast and I was just getting burned out and miserable. So again, thinking about what, what was that? When was that? Again, [00:11:30] these are all the relationships, so what’s held them back from making a decision to get somebody to do blank for them? So if it’s, um. It’s a podcast or it’s a book you’ve written.

[00:11:43] What’s held me back from getting somebody to do the design or to do the cover or to do the editing or whatever it is that you do, what has been holding them back? From making that decision, from researching the decision, um, for [00:12:00] them, and then why haven’t they taken the plunge? So is it because they’re just super new and they’ve just gotten the project?

[00:12:07] Well, how can you tell stories? I. That will help those people. It’s about being present in the right places as well. So where do these people hang out? And I know we say that all the time, but this could be physically, where do they hang out? Um, where do you find the people that you’re gonna do business with?

[00:12:26] I. Maybe it’s in groups. So maybe [00:12:30] if I’m writing a book, I’m gonna start going to some sort of book conference or, um, self-publishers, or I’m gonna start investigating those things. Maybe there are LinkedIn groups or Facebook groups or, or physical groups in or conferences. Um, maybe it’s. A group in your city writers.

[00:12:49] I’m gonna ask other writers where they get published or how they get published. Um, where are they looking to for inspiration? Are they going to certain podcasts and listening? Are [00:13:00] they, um, again, these are all things we’ve already known, but again, thinking about each level that where people are very intimate with this issue, where are they going?

[00:13:11] I might go to a different place for a podcast, um, investigation than. Somebody who’s brand new to wanting to make a podcast, um, where are they getting information about trends? Maybe it’s, they’re on Pinterest, maybe they’re, um, at a writer’s conference. Maybe [00:13:30] they’re, you know, where do they get their information about?

[00:13:33] The changes in the industry or changes in the space because again, people who are brand new, they don’t know a lot about the industry or that area or where illustrators where you would go. So I do think each level of familiarity I. I said it better then has a unique way to connect with and approach them.

[00:13:55] And I think social media is great, but it’s just one way. [00:14:00] Um, and there are different methods of social media. You could make YouTube shorts or you can make, um, again, focus on one and then when you can add it, add a second one, and then. Again, it’s just a marketing arm, right? It’s just how far is your marketing arm?

[00:14:16] Can you make the same thing and use it in two different places, right? Um, but it’s about listening to where they are and who they are because each of those different [00:14:30] relationships is a different story. So this one takes a little bit longer. Um. So you have one where the customer knows about the problem and they’re familiar, and they’re familiar that there is a solution, and then there’s the customer.

[00:14:44] There’s like, what? I didn’t know. I thought I always had to live with this for the rest of my life. I didn’t even know there was a solution existed. I. This was me again. Maybe this is new. Maybe this is not, I have [00:15:00] used Max my entire, um, career. I didn’t have a computer when I was in high school. I know I’m really old.

[00:15:07] We had a typewriter, electric typewriter, but we had a typewriter and. Um, my method, I, so I’ve learned Max, I think Max are awesome, but I didn’t investigate this. I just, if I had to change in names, I need to change the name. I don’t mind if it keeps the doxy part, but I need it to say, you know, [00:15:30] birds O2 or January of 24, and I was having to change the name.

[00:15:38] I thought each one individually. So I have all these selected. I can’t change the name on all of them at the same time. Right. Well, the normal was this that I didn’t even know there was a solution out there. And it takes a lot of time, it’s a lot of effort, and I would avoid it until I couldn’t avoid it anymore.

[00:15:58] I have these, I wanna change the [00:16:00] names. This happens all the time in web, ’cause I’m trying to save for web and I was like, oh my gosh, these are hundreds and hundreds of images. I didn’t know how to do it. And I was just talking to my friend Raffi Love Raffi Hopkins. I was talking to him and he’s like, oh.

[00:16:15] There’s an easy way to do that explosion, right? Um, the normal is I was cooking on one and I was trying to change it. Each one. Anybody else like that? You need a Raffi. Well, the explosion was ralphie’s, like, oh, [00:16:30] you go to that, this, that little circle up top with the three dots, the ellipses, and you click it and look what happens.

[00:16:39] It you go down to rename and then once you hit rename this thing, rename finder items. Anyone that is selected, you can add text before the name. You can add text after the name, and then it’s giving you the example. Example, doxy 1148 dash and then whatever I had the dash is what I added, and it’s gonna save it after the [00:17:00] name and I hit rename it.

[00:17:01] All of them get done. There’s no more time wasting. And oh my goodness, the time it saves me. He just knows how to build things he knows. How to work things and he is awesome. The new normal was now. So much time saved now. It wasn’t this huge thing that I had to do for a week. It was now and not something I avoided.

[00:17:25] I don’t avoid it anymore. So that was the new normal. I maybe could [00:17:30] you give me these in an action step? So if you’re watching this, I’m not gonna do this one for you. Um, think about who the identifiable character was, a specific detail. Write it down. Was there authentic emotion and was there a significant moment?

[00:17:47] What you’re trying to do is identify the value, so what was the value of. Any of these, finding an illustrator, finding a podcast editor, educating. If [00:18:00] your problem is not known by a lot of people, they don’t even know that there’s somebody who can do a book cover or design a book, then you have to educate people.

[00:18:09] Again, that’s people at a different level. And there may be, um, a whole nother set of circles, uh, talking about relationships like that. But, um, I think that there’s three. Main, mainly three or four types of marketing. Um, there’s you, educate, inspire, entertain. Those are the main ones. If I think if you’re looking at, [00:18:30] um, commercials or you’re looking at social media, I.

[00:18:35] Was that post something that educated me? Was it entertaining? Sometimes they’re both, sometimes all three. The trifecta and then there’s encourage. Um, I added that in as, um, a separate one because sometimes the encouraging is. Different than inspiring, but it is similar to inspiring. So think about these things as well.

[00:18:58] So there are these different types [00:19:00] of marketing arms. So in the book, in the value, uh, story, chapter four, um, in stories that stick, she talks about workiva. Um, and this example is there was this um, financial advisor guy. I am probably going to butcher the story, but there’s a financial advisor guy with the dad bod and he did not want to have a dad bod.

[00:19:23] He wanted to um, do a triathlon and he was, this is not [00:19:30] him, but I’m saying it’s him ’cause he sort of has a dad bond. He wanted to change his personal life. But what happened was they were, when they would do their quarterly reports, they had to meet and they couldn’t meet during eight to five. They had to meet either before or after.

[00:19:47] Well, it ran into his running time or his biking time, or his swimming time, which was before or after work. So he had to drop from that triathlon. Because he wasn’t able [00:20:00] to get in because this always happened because they need to make sure that their report numbers were correct. So in steps, Workiva, which is some sort of reporting company that allows, if Joe puts in some numbers, then Judy, um, needs them for a report.

[00:20:18] They’re the same. Judy’s pulling from the same, we don’t have to do this. So. Inefficiency is gone. Um, your effectiveness is so much better because you’re [00:20:30] not having to double check right at the end, right before I go to change the numbers or put it in a pitch so that I’m being honest. Right. Could you do the identifiable character, this significant moment, a specific detail and authentic emotion?

[00:20:46] The normal, the explosion, and then the new normal. What? What were those? To me, this was a really interesting, yes, there is a value, [00:21:00] um, in the Workiva story for the company. The company now is more efficient. They are, um, they’re not wasting, maybe paying overtime. They’re more effective, but there’s also a value to this guy.

[00:21:18] The guy who wanted to do the triathlon, now he is happier about his job and his life because he can have a life and have a goal [00:21:30] before and after work and he can do it. So the value was really, to him, it is definitely a value to the company. The company sees that value, but the story is more potent when you tell it what his value is.

[00:21:45] ’cause that means that. You’re caring about your people, your teammates, your colleagues, and you want them to be happy. If they’re happy you’re outside of the house, then they will help you inside of the [00:22:00] company, right? Better. So identifying that value. Can you think of any other value? Now, here’s one for you.

[00:22:09] You’re gonna pick one client transformation that you, one of your real clients, and I want you to think about the normal, what they were before you, and then what was that transformation. So, um, Donald Miller just calls it a character transformation. So you don’t necessarily, the explosion is you, you don’t have to tell that [00:22:30] part if you don’t want to.

[00:22:31] But what was the normal and then what was. After, after working with you, after engaging in your product or your service. So think about it like this, that normal, what was the before? Like, what was their dream? I. Their dream was to have, um, you know, a bestselling book or to have a book that they could give to their family members or, um, that they could [00:23:00] start touring around, right?

[00:23:01] They’re gonna market their own, they’re gonna do this on their own or that it gets picked up. You know, maybe that’s the dream that their story gets picked up and then a movie gets made out of it or something. Um, what’s their, before, like in their personal life, did they have a dad bod and they didn’t want a dad bod?

[00:23:19] Um, what is their work reality like? I. Currently. So again, the future of what they want, what their personal life [00:23:30] is outside of work, and then what their work reality is like. This is in the book. She says there’s four types of explosions. She kind of just mentions this, so, um, and I really clinged onto this, so there’s a big thing.

[00:23:45] There’s a small thing, there’s a bad thing and a good thing, and I’m gonna go through quick examples of these. So a big thing. For me, one of the big things that last year I did immersion with Bonnie Christine [00:24:00] and it was a eight week class and it was a lot about illustrator and patterns and surface pattern design.

[00:24:08] But what I was able to do, I mean, it, it had a significant. And just me being able to take old sketches from old sketchbooks, all this that really, I just would think is wasted. Now I can take those drawings and. Expand on them or make something with them, or maybe there’s a start to [00:24:30] something other than just being, living and dying in my sketchbook.

[00:24:33] So there’s a, a way to use these illustrations and I learned a ton about Illustrator in a lot of different ways. So for 25 years I’ve been. Uh, working in Illustrator and in design, but I learned things that I still am not sure, and that’s why I am redoing the course this year because I want to really dive in.

[00:24:56] Um, this was a big thing that happened and this all [00:25:00] happened right as my mom. We started the end of February and then my mom had her stroke, um, the first one on March 10th, and then she passed away on March 25th. This group, and just learning kept me being able to move forward instead of just being stuck in grief.

[00:25:22] So there were other things that taking this class. Even just for my, [00:25:30] uh, hope for my illustrations, now I have a place of hope to all these illustrations and all these drawings can have a new life. And that was very hopeful. That would be good on its own, but also that these ladies still meet with were a significant part of just my grief and, um, being able to just keep moving forward.

[00:25:51] So a small thing. I’m using a lot of my examples. Um, a small thing. Um, this is my dad. Uh, I think this is one of my [00:26:00] cousins who is now like in his twenties. Um, but this is their, my parents’ front yard. My dad on the tractor, he mowed. And after my dad had his stroke, um, I was mowing. I was using that tractor and I was mowing the fields.

[00:26:14] I would come home, um. And I would mow ’cause my sister and my mom couldn’t use the tractor. Um, but I knew how to do it ’cause we have a tractor. And my dad always, I always liked to mow when I was, would go home. So I would [00:26:30] mow the fields and then I was just using the little John Deere, um, riding mower in the front yard to mow the front.

[00:26:38] ’cause that’s what my dad did. So he’s home from. You know, he went, was in the hospital for over a month, uh, in rehab, um, after his stroke. So my husband John, he, I love to mow. He gets my mower ready for me, and I, I don’t have to do anything. Or [00:27:00] when, if I mowed on the tractor, he gets it ready, puts the gas in, it checks it.

[00:27:05] Everything but maybe making it go it, turning it on. Um, he does for me. So I didn’t even think about checking any of those things. ’cause you know, John does it well, John wasn’t there. So I go in inside and I said, dad. I don’t know what’s wrong with the mower. And the mower was behind the house. This is like, there’s a big kind of hill [00:27:30] down to the right and there’s a river to the right.

[00:27:33] And I said, dad, you’re gonna have to come out and look at it. And so we walks, you know, he, he’s unsteady. This is unsteady ground. We walk around and he tries to crank it and he’s like, oh, Diana’s just outta gas. He’s like, go up to the shop. I went up to the shop, I got the big can of gas, and I walked it down and it was heavy.

[00:27:54] And I walked it down and I filled it up and dad was just sitting on the, on the [00:28:00] mower and he’s like, so I put it in, he cranks it. He’s like, you know what, I think I can, I’m gonna, instead of walking, I’m, I’m just gonna take the mower up. And then he’s like, you know what? I’m gonna finish mowing. I can do this.

[00:28:13] That was it. My dad needed a purpose and talk about a small thing about running out of gas. That situation, that one thing that happened was a big [00:28:30] changer for my dad. So from the stroke, which was a big thing, bad thing, um, changed his life. This gave him purpose and he didn’t feel like he was, um, you know, there was nothing left for him that’s, he was in a depression before this and, um, he didn’t know why God saved him.

[00:28:52] He just didn’t know what he was gonna be able to do. All right, so a bad thing was the stroke. So these are all kind [00:29:00] of dad related. There’s my dad, and you can see he has a stroke because his left arm, his dominant arm was the one that, that side was affected. So the stroke was a bad thing, but for me, um, this was when this huge bad stroke.

[00:29:15] Um, my dad didn’t believe in Jesus before. I don’t think he was, he was, he would say he was agnostic. He believed in God. He just wasn’t really good friends with him, you know? And didn’t have a relationship with him. And [00:29:30] so to me the stroke is huge because my dad got to know Jesus and that’s really important for me and it’s a really important part of his life now.

[00:29:42] And I just thought, ah, that was such a neat. Um, a neat thing that God did in a really, really bad thing and he’s changed his life. So a good thing, I was doing a lot of meetings before covid online, so being on Zoom was really [00:30:00] easy for me. I really love meeting people. I love meeting people from all over. I.

[00:30:04] I was in a pivot place in my business, and so Covid gave the opportunity. I had been wanting to do this four years. I had, um, I think maybe back in, I don’t know, 2014 I had started doing. There’s a whole episode. I’ll put it down below where I interviewed, uh, Natalie Callback in 2018, 19 18, [00:30:30] 19. I don’t remember maybe.

[00:30:33] Anyway, I interviewed her and she had been doing this creative jumpstart. It was for the whole month of January, and it was awesome. And it was such a great creative place for me that I was like, I wanna do something like that for business, for creatives, for business. And so I had this idea and my friend Mario was like, Hey, you just need to do it.

[00:30:55] And in May of 2020, there were lots of things in the United States that were [00:31:00] going on that weren’t all that great. And it was very stressful. And I was like, I don’t know if I’m supposed to do this. And Mario was like, look, you weren’t called to be successful. You were called to be obedient. If you feel like God put this on your heart, then you need to do it.

[00:31:16] So I was like, okay. I don’t know Lord. But I did it and it was, it was successful. It brought people together. It gave people from all over a chance to learn together to com [00:31:30] commune together. We had campfire chats right online and they were, it was a really great time. I did this for two summers, but it was a lot of work, but that was a really good thing.

[00:31:41] Here’s. The thing when you’re telling a story, kind of switching gears here. Kendra Hall talks about this and Donna Miller talks about this is having, um, something to be easy to understand. So when you go into all this jargon or industry speak, [00:32:00] it can muddy the water or you’re going into too much detail.

[00:32:05] So stories need to have that are gonna connect, are gonna be. Full of cognitive ease that people understand they don’t feel stupid. Um, so. System. One is cognitive ease, and this is from her book. And then system two is cognitive strain. So here’s an example of ease and strain. I’ve used both of these typefaces the entire time during this presentation, [00:32:30] and one has not been straining, but now is.

[00:32:33] The ease is the same typeface I’ve been using, um, for all of the regular text and then for the impact text or the, um, bigger text. Sometimes I’m using a script, but using a script in all uppercase is extremely difficult to read. We actually have to read every letter because they’re not, scripts are not meant to be used in all uppercase, just so you know.

[00:32:59] So don’t do that. [00:33:00] But there’s ease and there’s strain. One of these took longer. One of these was faster. So we want to be the one that’s ease. So the story that is easier to understand, that it doesn’t have to be, you’re trying to act like you’re a dictionary. I. So Donald Miller talks about making it caveman easy.

[00:33:21] He doesn’t use that term, but so easy a caveman can understand. So he says there’s a five second rule for your website and five minute marketing makeover, which I’ll [00:33:30] link down below. Um, this is a, a video series that he has that’s free, that you can watch. I love it. He says that on your website in the first five seconds, somebody should understand what you do above the fold.

[00:33:44] Can you in five seconds, can someone tell what you do, even somebody that’s not in your industry? So in the initial interactions I want you to avoid, she talks about lists, bullet points, price, comparisons, features, [00:34:00] and benefits. Yes, you will need these. They will need to be on your website somewhere or in your pitch decks or in, um, your contracts or your, your bids.

[00:34:13] But they’re not for that initial interaction. They’re not what you bring with you. I. Is your iPad with the list of your features and benefits and compared to other people, or, here’s three different packages. You don’t wanna do that in the beginning. [00:34:30] So we instead wanna create a shareable experience, you’re gonna create a story.

[00:34:34] The shareable experience is something that when someone else hears it, they’re like, Ooh. I wanna do that. A shareable experience is something that people will go and tell their friends about. So let’s say it’s a podcast. Um, I may tell somebody about this and they are not doing a podcast, but then somebody else, here’s that story about me and what I was trying to do.

[00:34:56] Or the person who has this dream of the [00:35:00] podcast. ’cause Chris is telling other stories. He has other people who weren’t editing their podcast. He has those and then those. Stories. They’re like, oh, their friends telling them that they’re gonna start a podcast. And then they say, do you know about Chris Martin?

[00:35:15] A shareable experience is a story that people are gonna be able to remember, but also it’s simple enough that they can share. Oh my gosh. Let me tell you about blank. Let me tell you what happened. Right? I love, I love this [00:35:30] quote from Kendra Hall and this is in, uh, the chapter four, and it says, beyond simply being engaging stories actually prime the brain to be more open to what you’re offering.

[00:35:42] And I think that this is incredibly important as we figure out our value stories. So that’s the end for this. We’re gonna co have some exercises. During the show on Wednesday, and I hope that you’ll, or the next video, if you’re watching it in [00:36:00] order, um, the next video will show us doing some examples and um, and there’ll be a worksheet just like there was this time.

[00:36:06] So hopefully you are creating better stories for you. And now we’re gonna talk the, it’s the value story. Next week we’ll talk about the founder story and then we’re gonna stop with the founder story. Um, and. Hopefully this has helped. I’d love to know what you think and if it was helpful, um, you can download the worksheet down below and [00:36:30] you can like, and subscribe, but I wanna know what you think, one takeaway, something you didn’t know before, and then one thing, one piece of action that you’re gonna do as a result of watching this.

[00:36:41] Alright, I hope you do the worksheet. Bye.

Transcript LIVE Workshop Part 2

[00:00:00] diane: Hey everybody. Welcome to the Experiencing. No, let’s start over. Welcome to the workshop series, and it is all a big, uh, exploration. It’s an experiment. I’m doing a lot of things that I don’t normally do. I’ve done workshops, but I haven’t done them live like this, which it is really, um, I really appreciate you guys [00:00:30] being here.

[00:00:30] The people who are on screen with me, I appreciate the people who are in the chat as well. Um, but it is, um, it is ballsy and courageous that you’re willing to do this on screen with me. So thank you. So we’re gonna start, um, with everybody just saying who they are, where they are, one more time again, um, who they are, where they are, and what they do as quick as possible.

[00:00:53] Regime. You’re gonna start for us first. 

[00:00:57] Raijeim Douglas: Hi regime Douglas. I’m in Columbus, [00:01:00] Georgia and I have an art nonprofit called Otter Hoochie, and I’m an artist. 

[00:01:06] diane: And hoochie is because of the Chattahoochee? Maybe not. Yes, because of something else right off, right off the chat that somebody else might not know, right?

[00:01:15] Yes. Okay. Alright. Pick, uh, Paul or John? John. Best for last. Paul. Best for last. Okay. John. Best for 

[00:01:24] John Ingles: last. Right. So I’m John Ingles with Wild Routed, which I run with my wife Diana [00:01:30] and my son Brennan. Uh, we do, uh, illustrations, graphics, promotional products for, uh, national parks, state parks, uh, conservancies and public lands, coloring books and such.

[00:01:43] So I am an illustrator by trade. And is Dee and Brennan, 

[00:01:48] diane: you all have different styles too? We all have 

[00:01:50] John Ingles: different styles. We do, yeah. 

[00:01:52] diane: Okay. Okay. How about you picking Paul. 

[00:01:56] John Ingles: Oh, Paul, go next. Oh, I don’t, okay. Thanks. John. Yes, [00:02:00] Paul? Yeah. 

[00:02:02] Paul Nylander: I’m Paul Nylander. I’m in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Uh, Illustra Design is my company and I’m a book designer.

[00:02:10] Long form content covers, interiors, book production, that kind of stuff. 

[00:02:15] diane: Absolutely. You are. Okay. I just put over in the chat. Thank you for being here. Everybody I just put over in the chat, uh, or if you’re watching on YouTube, it’s down below. Um, it is a PDF, so if you wanna follow along and you didn’t download it from [00:02:30] the email or from somewhere else, Daniel, it’s good to see you outside of Kent, uh, or in Kent, Ohio.

[00:02:37] Um. So download the, the whatever the PDF and, um, John, when new people come in, mm-Hmm. Do you think you can hit those three little button the ellipses next to the thing and copy it and then just paste it anytime somebody comes in? 

[00:02:57] John Ingles: I do not know what that is. Okay. Nevermind. 

[00:02:58] diane: Paul, do you [00:03:00] think you could, um, do that?

[00:03:01] Do you know how to do that? Sure, I can do that. Okay. Awesome. Forget that I asked John. John, just, just take it in your, I’m gonna show you how to do that later. Just not today. 

[00:03:11] Paul Nylander: What’s your advance, John? You can do that. 

[00:03:13] diane: So I wanna show, I always think it’s good to be able to make fun of yourself, especially when you’re learning and because we’re, we’re doing things that yes, we maybe think we should know how to.

[00:03:26] What to do about our business. Sometimes it is not always [00:03:30] evident and so I appreciate that you guys, even people in the chat that you’re willing to do some of this, but especially for the people, um, here on screen with me, you’re willing to be wrong or willing to say, I don’t know, or help me, or whatever.

[00:03:45] So I am doing a series of birds that are made outta cup paper that I made. Sometimes I’m using real paper ’cause Paul encouraged me to use real collage paper. So I’m, I’m trying, not that it’s fake paper, you know, like fountain paper. Anyway, so I, [00:04:00] yesterday I was like, I had this head and I was like, I think it could be a eagle’s head.

[00:04:05] So I wasn’t looking at any books of eagles and I made this, it looks like a very fat chicken. I understand. It is. It’s all made outta scraps. It is hilarious. Okay. I knew I even wrote in the post, I said I. This looks like a fat chicken. This doesn’t look like a eagle. And my husband’s best friend [00:04:30] messages him today.

[00:04:31] He’s like, we have some eagles at the, um, the place where he works. There, there’s a nest. I’m gonna take some pictures for Diane. John just tells me this, he doesn’t know that I’ve posted this. He didn’t even see this. Um, but I know that Steve must have seen this and thought, oh my gosh, she does not even know what a eagle look, a bald eagle looks like.

[00:04:57] That is terrible. And I just [00:05:00] thought it was hilarious. So, Steve, I appreciate you, um, so much. And I wanna see the, I wanna, I’m excited that there’s a bald eagle down the street, you know, but I know that this doesn’t look like a eagle and I should have looked at a picture. So we’re just laughing. It’s good to laugh at yourself and just letting you know, I know this doesn’t really look like a eagle, but.

[00:05:20] Sometimes you gotta go to bed. 

[00:05:22] Paul Nylander: I think it’s a really good interpretive E eagle. 

[00:05:25] diane: It is definitely an interpretive eagle or maybe a baby eagle [00:05:30] or Yes. Um, or a chicken. Um, either way I think that this, this bird would have a hard time flying with these tiny little wings and the big old belly, you know, like it was, um, non-proportional, but, oh well.

[00:05:44] Um, so today we’re continuing kind of what we did last week. So we’re gonna do a little, um, um, recap, I guess. Um, but also, um. There was a pre-lesson, which I did send out yesterday, which was late. I know, but I’m [00:06:00] working on it. Um, there is a worksheet, there’s three sheets in the worksheet. You guys can down download, um, that if you want to.

[00:06:09] It’s not an insertable PDF, I didn’t have time to do that. It’s just wood lines. You’re gonna use a pen or a pencil or something or crayon I guess, and just write answers. But first we’re gonna talk about, um, just kind of recap last week. So we’ve said who we are and what we do, which is really important when you go.

[00:06:25] And one thing that I got from Paul last week that is just [00:06:30] resonated with me was Paul said, do you wanna guess Paul? Which thing you said that was okay? Um, the thing that resonated with me was that Paul said. When you’re at a networking event and you say what you do and if it is kind of like you, it was a script and now it’s a little bit more flexible, but pretty much you’re saying the same thing.

[00:06:52] And um, these stories that we’re able to create are this bank of things that you’re able to, [00:07:00] to share instead of just having one thing that’s the same thing over and over and over. So today we’re kind of diving in a little bit deeper. We’re still using, well where’s the book? Oh, it’s underneath my pile of stuff for Creative Self.

[00:07:14] So in Stories that Stick as one of the main books that we’re, I’m pulling from, um, love Kendra Hall and I’m teaching from this book and her other book, and then. A lot, a lot of other things that I’ve read, [00:07:30] um, at, in my grad class this semester, but, so I’m gonna just jump in. This one today is called the Value Story.

[00:07:36] Oh, I wanted, wait, before I share my screen, I wanted to tell you who won because I haven’t. So Daniel who’s here, um, he won Love on Designers. I haven’t sent ’em out. I’m waiting for these one pencils that I ordered to get here, and I think they’re hopefully gonna be here the first week of April. And then Eric Schafer in Fort Collins.

[00:07:57] Um, Amy Lynn, who’s also [00:08:00] was here last week and hopefully maybe she’ll be able to jump in, um, later. Maya over in Norway. And Brian, um, and Amy Lynn in California. Brian Yan is in Virginia, so. Yay to the winners. There’s a pile of stuff. I’ve already packed it up. It’s packed up ready to go, except these one Durwin Inc.

[00:08:19] Ancient Pencils that I ordered and paid for, and I just am waiting to get them. So just so everybody knows you, people actually do win and they get stuff [00:08:30] in the mail. Paul’s been a winner before, so, um, okay. Right. Paul, you were a winner. 

[00:08:35] Paul Nylander: Yeah. Oh, no, I was a winner. Yeah. In fact, I was just looking at my drawing pencils and things like that.

[00:08:40] I was, uh, pulling them out to do some stuff, so. 

[00:08:44] diane: Well, cool. Okay. Here we, I just wanted to make sure everybody knows that there are winners. All right, so this is workshop two. So there’s really four videos, just so you know. One’s a live video of the workshop last week. Um, and then there’s a [00:09:00] recorded thing, and then there’s, um, this one that’s.

[00:09:04] There’s a pre, pre-lesson is what I’m calling, and then the workshop. So we’re learning this week how to tell a value story. So again, the whole reason for telling these is so that when you are talking to potential, uh, even just your friends about things that you do or potential, you’re at a networking event.

[00:09:22] You’re at a conference, or, um, you’re with a potential client, uh, customer, um, you know, some stories to tell and [00:09:30] you’re having this kind of bank of stories, and I use like a comedian as an example. But this is actually so that we can make connections and they talk about this gap between the, when they buy and, um, the buyer and the, the solution.

[00:09:43] Right. There’s a problem and there’s this chasm in the middle, or I don’t know, really. Okay. I don’t know why the thing’s not working. So last week we talked about, uh, Donald Miller calls it a character transformation. And, uh, Kindra Hall calls the normal explosion and new normal. And [00:10:00] just to kinda recap, character transformation, um, is they, how they were feeling and what they were like before, and, um, then who they are now after they’ve used you, Paul, we used it.

[00:10:16] Um, one of your examples, I think in, in the video, um, about a client who has, um, always wanted to write this book, can you? [00:10:30] Can you tell me that? Like, what it was like when they finally got their first book? 

[00:10:36] Paul Nylander: Oh, with, with clients that are writing their own books? 

[00:10:38] diane: Yeah. One client. One client in particular. So again, the thing with this is having a real specific, um, just could you give us a fast, like, like the older gentleman that’s writing his second book now or something that you’re doing his second book now?

[00:10:56] Paul Nylander: Yeah, we’re doing that one right now. I should talk about somebody that we’ve actually gone [00:11:00] through. ’cause then they’ve had that explosion, I guess. 

[00:11:03] diane: Okay. 

[00:11:04] Paul Nylander: Are you, oh, you’re just talking about when they realize they need what they need? 

[00:11:08] diane: Well, um, either way, but like, so let’s say about, so sometimes again, you have lots of people at different kind of stages in the buying process, but I thought the older gentleman already had one book and this was just second book.

[00:11:22] Okay, so let’s just pretend like he’s only had one book and he’s the, before he had this dream. How old was he when he was writing his first [00:11:30] book? 

[00:11:30] Paul Nylander: Hmm. 84, I wanna say. 

[00:11:33] diane: Okay. So what would, what do you think his dream was before he found you? He had this story. 

[00:11:41] Paul Nylander: Yeah, he had this story. He had been, he had been working on for a while.

[00:11:44] Just kind of thoughts and ideas that had come together and, and decided to make that, that plunge, I guess that bigger step into actually turning it into a, a real book, you know, something that people could buy and, and talk about and things like that. 

[00:11:58] diane: Did he tell you [00:12:00] why he wanted to ha make this book?

[00:12:03] Paul Nylander: I’m trying to think specifically In his case. I mean, generally it’s, it’s kind of a calling. I mean, they, they, you know, authors feel compelled to get something out there. They’ve got an idea that they think is, is worth sharing. 

[00:12:18] diane: Okay. So then how Kendra Hawk talks about it is that you’re really painting that normal.

[00:12:26] And then, um, and maybe the frustration [00:12:30] in that they weren’t able to find somebody easy or, or it didn’t look good. Maybe they tried with somebody else and it cost too much, or it was, um, and it, the quality was low or they couldn’t get all the things that they needed. And with Paul, you get it all. Oh, there’s a new tagline for you, Paul.

[00:12:46] Paul. You get it all. Um, but so then, and then the explosion is works with Paul. It goes swimmingly. And then the new normal is now they have this, they. [00:13:00] So proud to be able to share their book and now their stories are passed on and there are these new stories that come because the older gentleman shared his story and Paul made it look awesome.

[00:13:14] ’cause you get it all with Paul. Hey, there’s another one, Paul, I’m just coming up. Those are all free for you buddy. John, I don’t know if you, uh, do you think you get it? Like what normal, um, explosion. New normal? 

[00:13:28] John Ingles: Yes, I [00:13:30] think so. I, something, I, something I could, 

[00:13:33] Paul Nylander: something I could interject in there that, and John and I have talked before, you probably understand this too, but you know, when, when an author decides to write something there, there’s a lot of people, I, I would argue maybe all of us out there that think we have a book in us.

[00:13:48] So, so there’s a lot of people that want to be authors in some vague sense, but that decision point, that pivot point of deciding, yes, I’m going to be an author and committing to it. [00:14:00] Like starting any business or anything like that. It’s a, it’s a monumental moment in Europe. You are a transformed person after that, then the reality of all the work hits you, but then you, you push through it and become that published author.

[00:14:14] And that’s, I mean, that’s a very, people, people stand differently after you do that. And that’s, uh, that is very transformative. 

[00:14:23] diane: Absolutely. Okay. So that’s kind of a recap for last week. Um, regime [00:14:30] you’re gonna be next because you were here last week. You’re gonna do, in that story that Paul kind of just told, um, about his one client, the 84-year-old man, we had, oh, let me go back to my slide deck.

[00:14:43] We had four things that we talked about and uh, Kendra Hall talks about that these four things, if you add these four things, it’s awesome, but even if they actually did a study and if you just had one of these things, it helped the story be more memorable or, [00:15:00] uh, that people connected more so in those, uh, regime.

[00:15:04] Who do you think the identifiable character was for Paul? 

[00:15:07] Raijeim Douglas: Uh, for Paul, it was the guy himself. 

[00:15:10] diane: Yeah. The guy who wrote the book. Absolutely. Um, and can you think of, I know you, you heard some of it last week and maybe I, I. We didn’t tell enough specific details, but was there, again, you don’t have to have all four, but was there a specific detail that you can, um, think of that he just shared?

[00:15:29] Um, you are like, I didn’t [00:15:30] know I was gonna have to do this. This is, uh, uh, tight, but I know you can do it. I can do it. 

[00:15:35] Raijeim Douglas: Um, so I guess the, the pivotal point of him realizing, and Paul being that, that that person that helps him to realize that it can happen, it is possible for me to finish this ’cause it was a thought before.

[00:15:54] And how many years prior to that did he even have those thoughts, um, [00:16:00] of writing this book and, you know, be 84 years old? Yeah, so meeting Paul and it’s like, oh wait, this person actually gets me better than others that have listened and I think I can move forward. 

[00:16:15] diane: Cool. Okay, so then authentic emotion. I think that there was authentic emotion in this, um, like, um, pride that he, he, one thing Paul said, um, and maybe this is, um, a significant [00:16:30] moment, he said when it’s published.

[00:16:32] So this is kind of both authentic emotion and significant moment is that, um, they stand taller, which I thought, um, was something, I don’t know if you said that last week, Paul, but to me that’s a, that’s something that we understand and that has to do with pride. Um, but not ego, egotistical, cocky pride. But like, you know, I’ve done this, I’ve made it through this journey, but also I’m [00:17:00] able, my story’s able to be out there.

[00:17:02] I’m proud that I’ve, I’ve written something, but also it’s gone to the next step. Would you agree or disagree, Paul? 

[00:17:11] Paul Nylander: I would agree. 

[00:17:12] diane: Okay. All right. So that’s kind of the recap. If you want more, I’ll, there’ll be a link for lesson one down below, but this is something we didn’t talk about last week, but this is something Donald Miller talks about all the time.

[00:17:26] And who’s the hero in that story? With Paul and [00:17:30] the older gentleman? Just guess anybody on screen? 

[00:17:35] Raijeim Douglas: Paul. 

[00:17:36] diane: Paul’s not. Paul’s not, so the Paul’s not Paul. The what we, and this is, this is what we think about. So think about Paul. Um, Paul is Yoda. Okay. And the older gentleman. But thank you for, so the older gentleman is Luke Skywalker.

[00:17:55] Do you see that Paul is guiding him and um, the [00:18:00] hero is. If Paul was the hero of the story, he would be like, I went in and I saved the day, and I can do the same for you because you can get it all with Paul. Right? Um, like that probably would be not so good. Um, but then Paul’s the hero and they’re just having to come into his story, but he’s actually, um, just one part of their story.

[00:18:22] His, that man had a normal, the explosion was Paul the guide or, um, the [00:18:30] action that he, uh, the service that Paul provided, um, the design work, whatever. Right. Um, and then the new normal was the, the hero the Luke Skywalker has, um, has beat the odds. He was able to get his book published and in the hands. So do you see, um, one thing that Donald Miller really teaches is.

[00:18:52] You need to not be the hero in these people’s stories, your customer stories. So I just wanted to go over that in the beginning. You are [00:19:00] the guide. So today we’re gonna be talking about the value to who, so the value of any company story. So if I, um, engage with, um, you regime to do the art on the, the hooch is, tell me again so I don’t mess it up.

[00:19:19] I know it’s the Chattahoo art. Arte 

[00:19:23] Raijeim Douglas: Art Auchi, 

[00:19:24] diane: yeah. Okay. So if I’m engaging with you, it is going to be um, or the [00:19:30] say a company decides to have you come and do something for them, um, and they’re doing something and now they’re able to give it to, um, maybe, um, a group of people they’re buying your services to be able to.

[00:19:47] Expand, uh, a group of people. Um, it is making that company look great, right? There’s value to them. It’s increasing, um, awareness about that company and [00:20:00] how they really care about the people in the community. But it also would be, um, a benefit to anybody who’s actually participating. Right? So there’s a benefit to the company.

[00:20:12] Yes. Um, and if we are just talking about business to business, um, there is different than maybe business to consumer, but I do a lot of work with other businesses, um, as a designer. Then for me, I can’t, it’s gonna be really helpful [00:20:30] for me to have some personal value stories. So we’re going to get into this.

[00:20:34] The one thing we need to know is, does the customer already know that there’s a solution and is looking for service providers? This is gonna be something that we’re gonna answer. A little bit later in answer four, five and six, I think four, four maybe. Um, because the, we don’t always know everything that is out there.

[00:20:59] [00:21:00] Um, and I give it example in the other, uh, in the other little video. But some, if they already are educated that this is a solution, that there is a solution out there, we don’t just have to live with this, then the time to obtain or close the deal, or sometimes it can be shorter than if you didn’t even know, um, that this was a thing.

[00:21:25] Then you have to educate them a little bit more. So, um, how [00:21:30] familiar are they with the problem? We didn’t talk about this last week, so, and this isn’t in the book like this, this is Diane’s little analogy, but, um, this is how I. Thought of it, and hopefully maybe it makes sense. Um, the analogy is, is sometimes you have, maybe this man had had this book written for a long time.

[00:21:54] Um, he knew that he needed to find somebody. Um, but he, [00:22:00] he just hadn’t, he, I don’t know why he hadn’t, but, um, you know, as he gets older and older, there’s that he re, the pressure is on. He really needs to solve this problem. And, um, so I call that as being married to it. Sometimes you’re just intimate with it.

[00:22:18] Um, but you are, and you’re excited about it because you’re more than friends. Um, but you, it’s in the excitement, oh my gosh, I’ve, there’s this thing and [00:22:30] I know it really well, and now, um, I’m gonna go and I can find somebody to solve this service problem or this, I. Gonna buy, buy a new bed. I finally have time to, you know, get the whatever sleep number, bed that you want.

[00:22:47] I don’t know if I’d ever get a sleep number bed. My parents have one anyway, um, best friend, friend and acquaintance. And the two I gave as an example was an acquaintance and married to it in the other video. So acquaintance to me, [00:23:00] I’ll just recap, is something that happens to all of us, um, or often if. You and the example I gave was for, uh, Paul.

[00:23:09] So Paul’s, he would say maybe he wasn’t an illustrator yet. Um, he’s working on always drawing, so I appreciate that. But I also have said many times in my life that I’m not an illustrator either. So I would hire these things out. So I get a new job from a client and, um, a a client says, Hey, I want to [00:23:30] illustrate, I want this book illustrated.

[00:23:33] Um, and it’s a children’s book. Well, Paul is new to this. It’s, he’s an acquaintance. He knows that there’s a solution. He just has to find, um, uh, an illustrator. So knowing, uh, maybe he hasn’t had to have do that at all. He, this is first Children’s book, although I know it’s not ’cause he’s done plenty. But say the very first one, he might not be as familiar with finding an [00:24:00] illustrator.

[00:24:01] Now he’s maybe more in the bedmate, uh, range of finding an illustrator. He knows how to do it. Um, he’s more intimate, uh, with how to do it and where to go to find one and not one, but really knowing where they are. If they’re like, oh, I didn’t, I don’t know that. Or if they obviously know that people illustrate.

[00:24:21] So there’s a difference between not knowing that there was a solution and then this. So there’s levels of, um, [00:24:30] intimacy with being, um, ready to purchase. And I think that that is the thing, just trying to determine when you’re talking to someone, you’re asking questions just as much as they’re asking questions to you.

[00:24:46] And I think that that’s one of the things in. Networking. That’s really important. So depending on their familiarity with that problem, how long they’ve lived with it, maybe it’s a dream of writing a book or a dream of getting it published. Um, how [00:25:00] long have they been dreaming of it? Paul’s has a lot of, um, self authors, what do you call that?

[00:25:08] They’re all self authors, 

[00:25:10] Paul Nylander: self published usually. Or author publishers. Yeah, 

[00:25:12] diane: author publishers. Um, then what, there are some people who are like, oh my gosh, there was one lady in Covid, um, she started drawing and then she’s like, made this bird book that Paul is the designer for, and now she’s making all these bird books.[00:25:30] 

[00:25:30] And, but that wasn’t something that she wasn’t as familiar with. She knows there were books, but she hadn’t decided to make it into a book. So once she found Paul, Paul’s done it all. Um, but that’s gonna determine which story he’s gonna tell to which person. So I use the example of me finding an editor, um, Chris Martin’s here.

[00:25:52] Thankfully he edits the podcast for me and when I found, um, him to, and asked him [00:26:00] actually if he would do it, I was very married to it ’cause I had lived with it for a very long time. Um, in the other video I talk a little bit more about this story so that you’re getting some of those identifiable characters.

[00:26:15] The, um, the specific moment, the an authentic emotion and details. So the finding an illustrator I said was an acquaintance, and I use Paul as an example. I I just made that up. So I don’t know if it’s true or not, but [00:26:30] the action step is in those stories. Um, can you, and again, they don’t, maybe aren’t all there, but is there an identifiable character, a specific detail, authentic emotion or speci significant moment?

[00:26:44] So just. Now Paul, um, regime, and John, can you tell me, um, John, you go first, which, uh, of these could you do in the Paul Illustrator? Can you identify a character [00:27:00] who’s the hero? If it’s the bird, bird lady book? She, during Covid, she starts drawing all these birds. Mm-Hmm. And then she’s like, I’m gonna make a children’s book.

[00:27:10] Okay. So who’s the hero? 

[00:27:12] John Ingles: Well, you want her to be the hero, right? She’s the 

[00:27:14] diane: hero. She’s the hero. Paul, just so your client always 

[00:27:17] John Ingles: needs to be the hero. 

[00:27:18] diane: Yep. 

[00:27:19] John Ingles: Right? 

[00:27:19] diane: So when Paul’s telling the story, he is lifting her up. He’s the bottom cheerleader for her. Wouldn’t you wanna work with a bottom cheerleader like Paul?

[00:27:28] Mm-Hmm. [00:27:30] Because he’s for sure telling all these stories of these winners. So if you think about you, and y’all just went to the conference in San Francisco and you’re and wild routed as having, you’ve done all these drawings, y’all have done these drawings of these parks and um, crater Lake, they have a coloring book, correct?

[00:27:51] Mm-Hmm. I think it’s over there, but it’s under a whole lot of stuff. So 

[00:27:55] John Ingles: cra craters of the moon, 

[00:27:56] diane: craters of the moon, not cra lake. Yeah, you got lake. Yeah, whatever. You were close. It was a crater. [00:28:00] Absolutely. Yeah. I wasn’t close, but thank you, um, for just making me not feel so bad. You saw the chicken I drew?

[00:28:06] Correct. Um, so creators of the moon you did. Um, and then y’all went out. So the, the hero there were, there are lots of other national parks, but who was the hero when you were talking about that one coloring book. 

[00:28:23] John Ingles: So it was our client there, Sarah. So she’s the executive director, cra of the moon. Craters of the moon.

[00:28:29] Yeah. [00:28:30] It was she, they were the hero. Right, 

[00:28:32] diane: right. And who are you? Yeah, you’re just the one that comes in and does what 

[00:28:36] John Ingles: takes the burden of all the unknowns off of them so that their vision can be brought forth. Right. 

[00:28:43] diane: And can do it algae ink and eco-friendly that they’re trying to do. And it’s something that nobody else has.

[00:28:52] And it’s specific to their, you’re going to their park, you’re talking to them about their animals and their plant life. And [00:29:00] then you’re making all these illustrations based on your pike. Through the park. 

[00:29:05] John Ingles: Through the park, yeah. Right. Yeah. 

[00:29:08] diane: But the park is, is the hero. So the identifiable character would be Sarah.

[00:29:15] ’cause you’re talking to other camp, or not camp, you’re talking to other park, park director, rangers. I don’t know who you’re talking to. 

[00:29:23] John Ingles: All the above. 

[00:29:25] diane: So, but Sarah would be, ’cause she had to make the decision just like, um, [00:29:30] Paul would be with the lady who’s the lady who did those covid drawings. The birds, what’s her name?

[00:29:37] Paul Nylander: Uh, Heather. 

[00:29:37] diane: Heather, okay. You could have made anything up right now. I’m sure Heather’s never gonna want 

[00:29:41] Paul Nylander: this because her nickname is Heather Feather, so. 

[00:29:43] diane: Oh, Heather. Oh, that’s good. See, Paul does it all. Okay, so, um, regime, can you think of, um, for you, someone in that married, can you think of one client who, um, like [00:30:00] I think with Sarah, for John, she very much knows that they’re, they wanted to stand out at Craters of the moon, but she didn’t maybe know how.

[00:30:11] So in that, um, acquaintance, um, John, do you know where she would live in this? Um, like did you have to educate her a lot about doing coloring books, adult coloring books? 

[00:30:25] John Ingles: Uh, just a little bit. But the, the idea with us, the idea that we [00:30:30] could focus on their park specifically with all the topics in it, is what was she was really wanting to focus on because there’s so many unknowns in that particular park.

[00:30:41] ’cause everyone has a vision. Everyone sees the same things when they go to, they go on the same hike trail. And just that there’s the drive-by areas that people tend to go to. But most of these national parks, state parks, public lands are way bigger and have a lot more going on. So, 

[00:30:58] diane: so do you know the uniqueness 

[00:30:59] John Ingles: of that?

[00:30:59] Yeah. So [00:31:00] 

[00:31:00] diane: for example, where, where do you think um, Sarah was in the acquaintance friend, best friend Bedmate married to the problem. And maybe it was the problem that there were too many things that people weren’t seeing and she didn’t know what a solution would be. 

[00:31:21] John Ingles: She would, she would be the bedmate.

[00:31:23] Okay. She knew everything about what needed to be done, but just didn’t know how to get it done. 

[00:31:28] diane: Okay. ’cause we’re problem [00:31:30] solvers. Okay. Regime, what about you? What would be someone who, like a, a customer for you who, um, do you feel like people know about your problem? I mean, not your problem, your, so your solution or they don’t know about that there is a solution to their problem or, and you’re having to educate a lot more people or are people more familiar?

[00:31:54] Raijeim Douglas: So a lot of people are not familiar, um, with uh, what I, [00:32:00] what I can do for them until I am working with them and they’re like, oh, I get it. And, um, because a lot of times they don’t know why they need to have, uh, art as a focus to help them with their mental health. And, um, anxiety and that, so 

[00:32:24] diane: that’s, so they, they know that there’s a problem, but they just didn’t know [00:32:30] that you could be part of the solution.

[00:32:33] Yes. Right. They’re, they may be looking for other solutions for anxiety and the other things that they’re dealing with. They didn’t even think that art was one of the solutions. Yes. So, so, um, okay, great. So we’re gonna go a little bit faster. Hopefully everybody gets that. There’s these four things you’re trying to do this.

[00:32:52] What do you think John has held Sarah back from making this decision to get someone to make something for [00:33:00] them that is unique to Craters of the Moon 

[00:33:02] John Ingles: up till meeting us? I think the idea that she didn’t know how to make it her own. Right. Okay. She had ideas of what needed to be supported within the park and what she wanted to focus on, but no one else really did what we were doing.

[00:33:16] Which was get her involved to determine what the content was. 

[00:33:19] diane: Okay, perfect. Yeah. Okay. So then Paul, for you with, um, do you wanna do the older gentleman or do you wanna do Heather? Feather Heather? She [00:33:30] was pretty fast making her decision, wasn’t she? 

[00:33:33] Paul Nylander: Well, I mean, as far as when I got involved, yes. But leading up to that, I mean, she did a lot of research trying to figure out how to do this.

[00:33:39] So, so I think the, the thing that’s holding her back in that case is just the uncertainty about the process and maybe the fear of doing it wrong. You know, getting, getting labeled as, you know, imposter kind of thing. Imposter syndrome, I think. 

[00:33:55] diane: Hmm. Oh, that’s a good one. Okay. 

[00:33:58] Paul Nylander: It’s a, so it’s a little different than [00:34:00] John’s example, which I think is a great example though.

[00:34:01] But I mean, this is her own, I mean, it’s her own drawings and everything like that. Um, but she doesn’t wanna do it wrong. 

[00:34:08] diane: Yeah, she definitely has a style. And she’s self-taught. Right. So there’s, but they’re super cute birds. 

[00:34:17] Paul Nylander: Mm-Hmm. She was, and, and in her case she had done some merchandise already. She had cards and mugs, I think with the birds on ’em, you know, from, you know, print on demand kind of stuff and things like that.

[00:34:28] But, um, [00:34:30] a book is a bigger commitment 

[00:34:32] diane: and I think, I think 

[00:34:33] Paul Nylander: answer John notes, 

[00:34:35] diane: right. Answering those, um, questions of why they haven’t taken the plunge. So, um, regime, do you think a lot of people are trying to solve this problem? They just literally don’t even think to do it with art? 

[00:34:50] Raijeim Douglas: Yes. Um, that is a lot.

[00:34:52] ’cause they think, oh, I could draw or I could do this. And of course in the design world, we see it, [00:35:00] see it all the time. And a lot of people like, well, I do this, or you start hearing their stories. Well, when I’m stressed out, I sit and doodle. Or I am, um, when I’m having anxiety, I, I crochet. And so they’re doing all these things, but not realizing that that right there is their, uh, their way to de-stress.

[00:35:27] diane: Mm-Hmm. 

[00:35:28] Raijeim Douglas: They need to do that more, but [00:35:30] they don’t hear that because there’s so much going on all the time that when it comes to then I’m the person to be like, well, when you’re doing this, do you realize you’re doing this? And they’re like, oh, it is calming for me. 

[00:35:43] John Ingles: Mm-Hmm. 

[00:35:44] Raijeim Douglas: So that’s where I’m realizing that that’s where I come in and I can help them, because for a long time I couldn’t figure out, I was in that with the book, you know, kind of like researching.

[00:35:58] Researching. Mm-Hmm. I [00:36:00] don’t have a degree in, um, in therapy art, but I’ve been doing this for so long with people. That I’ve researched and, um, figured out ways that, why, why do people come back to me? Or why do they speak about me when I’m not in the room? Yeah, 

[00:36:22] diane: okay. And I, and sometimes for you, they may just not know.

[00:36:27] So that’s kind of the, this next one, [00:36:30] this one takes a little bit longer. If somebody doesn’t know that a solution even exists, this, uh, what you’re taking them through that you’re gonna have to educate more. And because it’s a nonprofit, the education, uh, portion hopefully, um, is, is fun. And that’s some things that you’re able to give to people, um, to be able to offer this.

[00:36:52] So, um, but does the customer even know that there’s alu a solution? And I think that there’s always gonna be something in [00:37:00] everybody’s business that there’s. Some people didn’t even know. Oh, I, I mean, even in web design, obviously people know they need a website, but maybe there’s some other element in what I’m doing that often people are like, oh, I didn’t realize why we were gonna, why we were doing that.

[00:37:18] But that really does help. And I think, um, it’s having some of those stories too. But this kind of, you need to know who you’re talking to. If they’ve never heard of widget B, then you’re gonna have to educate them [00:37:30] before you are gonna be asking for a sale. So, um, an action step would be, um, one thing I would love for y’all to tell me quickly maybe is how, is one way that you could educate about, um, each of these three separate problems?

[00:37:46] So John, how could, what’s one way you could educate other, um, park, uh rangers, 

[00:37:54] John Ingles: park rangers. We’ll go with that. Right. Okay. So the, the idea, so we have the [00:38:00] example now. So we have a real world example that we can show them, right? Not only with sales, but how the park was promoted using this particular product.

[00:38:09] And then the hidden advantages, which would be the algae ink and recycled at that. Okay, so now you’re giving, 

[00:38:16] diane: now you’re giving me features and benefits. You know, I’m gonna interrupt you. Oh, because I wanna make sure. So, hey, we’re, we’re a stepping, I’m ahead of you. You, but what would be something, what is a method?

[00:38:29] Is it that you [00:38:30] go to a, instead of Oh yeah. Are you going to, you went to a comp, uh, trade show. 

[00:38:37] John Ingles: Yep. 

[00:38:37] diane: How else during the year? ’cause it’s one trade show, a show a year. How else are you going to give? Um, educate people 

[00:38:47] John Ingles: so we can send samples to potential clients? We can do social media. Promoted on our website.

[00:38:53] Okay. 

[00:38:54] diane: That’s good. That’s way more you’re taking other people’s, I think that’s the direction you’re going. Yep. That’s it. That’s it. Okay. Regime, what can you do? Sorry, [00:39:00] don’t take all of the ones. So Paul has nothing. I’m sorry. Um, oh, see, uh, I know if John hadn’t said social media and all that other stuff, it’s okay.

[00:39:12] You can have social 

[00:39:13] Raijeim Douglas: media. I’m really hard with it. 

[00:39:15] diane: Uh, you go and work with certain people, 

[00:39:20] Raijeim Douglas: but, uh, showing up at different events, so that’s just, oh, then someone else that hasn’t seen you go, oh, I didn’t know you do this. [00:39:30] 

[00:39:30] diane: You could go to the VA and do a workshop just for them, right? Mm-Hmm. Yep. Okay. Paul, very good regime not giving 18 answers.

[00:39:42] Like John Paul, is there anything left for you? 

[00:39:46] Paul Nylander: I was thinking, I mean, it’s, it’s attending thing, so conferences, but you know, just simple q and as, not even about, you know, what I do, which is design, but just q and as about the bigger field publishing. Get some of those questions out. 

[00:39:59] diane: Where do you [00:40:00] go to do those q and as?

[00:40:02] Paul Nylander: Anywhere that publishing or writing people are gathering. 

[00:40:06] diane: Hmm. Yeah, 

[00:40:08] Paul Nylander: so sort of writer’s meeting or, or publishers kind of meeting, 

[00:40:13] diane: but one of your clients is for indigenous peoples and languages. They, um, that would be a whole nother, they might not be at a writer’s conference. Where might those people be?

[00:40:24] Paul Nylander: Actually, they might be at a writer’s conference. 

[00:40:27] diane: They might, 

[00:40:28] Paul Nylander: there are indigenous gatherings like that [00:40:30] now. 

[00:40:31] diane: But it could be that there is something more, um, cultural based that is, I don’t know that again, you’re just having conversations like you’re attending an event that, um. My friend Raffi, he goes on this, oh man, I wish I knew what it was called.

[00:40:47] And if when y’all know what it’s called, you’re gonna be like, you could remember that. It’s like he gets in a canoe and they do this. The elders have done this path of, and it’s like a, they go, um, and camp [00:41:00] and um, and he was asked to go along with them. And just going to that, um, just being present and attending something like that, I think is helpful.

[00:41:08] Okay. Going back to the thing, is there anything in the chat? 

[00:41:12] Paul Nylander: I’ll also mention Chris in the chat, Chris Martin pointed out, you know, giving a workshop or networking event at, uh, rotary Club or book talk also in my case. Yeah. Which is, that’s a whole deep thing, but yeah. 

[00:41:25] diane: Yeah. Okay. Awesome. So again, I’m not gonna ask you to do this, [00:41:30] but anybody could say, yep.

[00:41:31] Did they have an identifiable character if you didn’t think about adding one in? Right. Um, a specific detail, authentic emotion in that significant moment. Think if you can add off work. Great. And again, this is gonna take practice, but identifying the value, which is what we were talking about. And we have 15 minutes.

[00:41:50] Oh Lord. Okay. Um, the, I think that there’s three. Types, really four types of marketing arms. You educate, inspire, entertain, and sometimes you [00:42:00] encourage and sometimes encourage and inspire the same. Um, but if you can do all three, that’s awesome. I think it’s really difficult to do all three. And she talks about Workiva, um, which is a service, and it’s like, so that all the numbers are together.

[00:42:13] I’m not, I’m, you can listen to the other, um, uh, video to tell you the example. He didn’t wanna have a dad bod. That’s why I use that image. Um, the value for this, I’m just gonna tell you, so Workiva had a company value that they got, is that they [00:42:30] were less. Um, inefficient. They were more efficient and they were more effective because, um, they, their business ran better because their numbers were together ’cause they hired Workiva or they bought the Workiva product or something.

[00:42:44] Um, but the personal value was that that man actually got to get out of his dad bought, he got to do his triathlon that he wanted to do. And he wasn’t frustrated because before he was having to meet before work and after work to meet to [00:43:00] make sure the numbers were right before he gave it to the salespeople or the pitch decks or whatever he was making.

[00:43:06] So the value there is always gonna be a value for the company, but when you tell the story, um, you’re actually telling it to the guy who is, has always had to give up his, uh, swim time and his runtime after work to do this other step. So, um. What was the dream? So this, we kind of already talked about this, but I just want you to think about [00:43:30] this.

[00:43:30] These are other things to add into your dream. These are like the before parts, the, um, what they, the normal, um, what it was before they got involved with you, you or your service. What was their dream? What was their personal life like, and what was their work reality like? Um, so I was gonna have you do one client transformation and I still think we’ll do this ’cause I think this is helpful.

[00:43:57] Um, regime, do you [00:44:00] have one person that you’ve worked with that you could say what the before was like and then what the after was like? 

[00:44:07] Raijeim Douglas: Um, yes. Um, one, I, I started teaching at the va, um, just art classes and basic drawing. And there are some people that actually started drawing like they’ve already been drawing before.

[00:44:20] So one of the girls, she is like. We had this project where I just had them do a 3D, [00:44:30] um, uh, like a, a ladder on a piece of paper, you know, the folded, and some of them had never did it. And so I, I did simple steps and they all completed it. 

[00:44:43] diane: Some people have never draw. Did you think she could draw or not draw before?

[00:44:47] Raijeim Douglas: She did not think that rulers, like, she hated rulers using rulers in her art classes. She never did it. She didn’t go after project with it. But after [00:45:00] that project of that simple thing, she was like, you know what, I’m, I think I’m gonna try to do more stuff with rulers. 

[00:45:10] diane: That is a that, because now you, she, you taught her how to utilize it and it wasn’t like this real technical, bad thing that she was always getting wrong.

[00:45:21] Right. Okay, great. All right, Paul, can you give us a character transformation of somebody? You can do either Heather or you can do [00:45:30] somebody totally different. 

[00:45:32] Paul Nylander: Well, I mean, we, we, we kind of did that with the transformation, how people feel about themselves before, but I 

[00:45:37] diane: want a specific story. Mm-Hmm. One person because I think, um.

[00:45:44] Like John will be able to say craters of the moon and Sarah at Craters of the Moon. And actually that helps to paint the picture instead of it being like a general, because if regime didn’t, she didn’t have to say the girl’s name, but she said it was this, [00:46:00] this girl. And she had a specific, um, interaction with a ruler that she didn’t like, uh, that made her hate rulers, which again, specific detail for sure, and kind of weird.

[00:46:11] But then by doing this thing with regime, um, hopefully now she’s not stressed by rulers, like at or doing the art. So the full transformation was that now she’s able to do art and it’s relaxing her because that’s what regime’s thing is that, uh, art [00:46:30] reduces anxiety. Um, but the ruler was an anxiety, uh, provider and so now she has a new relationship with the ruler and she doesn’t think about it in the same way, but so.

[00:46:43] I having a specific means that for me, I’m like, oh, if you could do that for what? One person with the ruler, I wonder what you could do with somebody else because, um, maybe you’re, somebody’s like, well, I don’t have problems with rulers. [00:47:00] Okay, well buddy, you know, here’s another story. And then you’re not gonna tell a story about a ruler.

[00:47:04] You’re gonna tell a story. No, my ruler, you’re gonna tell a story about something else. Um, that’s another transformation of how art was, uh, relaxing and actually being taught how to use the item helped to reduce stress in just using a ruler, which I think is pretty cool. Okay. So but a specific instead of general, because then we can, we can [00:47:30] put ourselves in their shoes.

[00:47:33] Right. 

[00:47:34] Paul Nylander: I, I get the idea, but I, I wanna, I would have to think about it a little bit because I Okay. I’m, I’m a little bit careful also of how many personal details Sure. I share about clients. Sure. On the fly, so, okay. 

[00:47:44] diane: So, and that, that’s also a great point. So if you were sharing on social media, or you were sharing on, um, something like this, or a video or even in your newsletter, why would you maybe not want to [00:48:00] out?

[00:48:00] Somebody 

[00:48:01] Paul Nylander: certainly wouldn’t want to embarrass them. 

[00:48:04] diane: Absolutely. Right? 

[00:48:05] Paul Nylander: Even if it was transformative, you know, them coming from that. 

[00:48:10] diane: How’s the only way you could, um, feel better about sharing that? Maybe not the only way, but how is one way, 

[00:48:18] Paul Nylander: I mean, my way has usually been to make it more generic, but I think that’s, that’s not useful here.

[00:48:25] diane: Well, just here, I think making it generic’s fine, but you could ask permission. [00:48:30] You could ask permission to share your, their story. And if somebody said, oh, Diane, you had such a great transformation, whatever. Um, and I’m like, you think so? Like, and they said, would you mind if I shared your story, um, in some of my, uh, promotions?

[00:48:52] And I’d be like, you know what, no problem. Um, but I do think you have to have some permissions. We even have to have [00:49:00] permissions for testimonials, right? You can’t, you’re not supposed to put somebody’s testimonial on your website unless they tell you it. They can’t, you know, you, you get permission to do that.

[00:49:10] So I think that that’s one way. John, do you have, um, a, uh, example of a character trust? Do you wanna do Sarah? 

[00:49:19] John Ingles: Uh, I’ll do another one. Our very first coloring book that we did for Newberry National Volcanic Monument. For 18 years, she wanted to do a coloring book and didn’t [00:49:30] really find the right people to do it.

[00:49:31] And then, uh, doing, going through the process and involving her, made her very comfortable and she’s very happy with the outcome of the whole thing. So, you know, not only did we give her a part that highlighted unknown features of the park, but also the added bonus, we’re talking about features a little bit of, of being algae ink and recycled paper.

[00:49:53] So it gives her a selling point also in addition to highlighting the park. So, 

[00:49:58] diane: okay, cool. [00:50:00] And you solved it 18 year. Talk about being married to it. Right. She was definitely married to the problem. Um, and I think some of those are good. So I gave four examples of explosions in the one online. I’m not gonna give that today.

[00:50:15] I am gonna talk about this. So. Donald Miller talks a lot about this and, and Kendra Haw also does as well. She calls it system one and System two. Cognitive ease and cognitive strain. The easiest way for me to show you cognitive ease and cognitive strain is this. [00:50:30] These are the same type faces I’ve been using.

[00:50:32] One takes you a whole lot longer to read. One is easy to read and one is is not easy. Can you guys see my screen 

[00:50:41] Paul Nylander: you’re not sharing right now? Oh, 

[00:50:42] diane: boogers, snot. Wouldn’t you know it? Boogers, boogers, boogers. I’m just going on. I’m hitting, uh, boogers. I hate when I do that. Four types of explosions. Big, small, bad.

[00:50:55] Good. It’s in the other video, but I am gonna talk about, you can see it now. ’cause now I can see [00:51:00] Paul’s face. Um, cognitive ease and cognitive strain. Okay. Here’s the easiest way for me to show this one Right. Is easy to read and one takes longer to read. Correct. Paul’s nodding. Yep. Um, uh, John says yes. Um, hopefully everybody in the chat is agreeing.

[00:51:20] That one is, it’s a script typeface in all caps. I think this is a, uh, I’m sure there’s someone who’s gonna say, yes, you can [00:51:30] break the rules, do this. But I think this is terrible. I think this is very difficult to read, and it is not easy to read. It takes a lot longer. So, um, which one do you want? Um, do you want to tell all these long things that people, I’m just checked out?

[00:51:46] Um, so Donald Miller talks about make it, it’s easy, so easy that a caveman can understand what you are wanting in your website. He calls it the five second rule in the Hero or the. Above the fold when they [00:52:00] first get to your website. Is it easy to know what you do? That is his thing, and I absolutely agree with it.

[00:52:06] So on my website it says I’m well, it will, if I ever redid my website, it would say, I build websites for whoever I build websites for. And that’s definitely what I do in my clients. I make it really simple so that their clients when they’re coming, um, are able to do that. So how can you make what your stories are easier for people to digest?

[00:52:28] So you wanna [00:52:30] avoid in these initial interactions, there is a place for lists and bullet points and price comparisons and features and benefits, but not in these initial, um, interactions with these people. They’re great for your quotes or your bids or things like that. Right. Man, he’s good with time.

[00:52:48] Jackson’s like, it’s time to go out, mom, you’ve gotta get, wrap this up. Um, so you wanna avoid these things here. We talked about that a little bit. Um, instead you wanna create a shareable story or [00:53:00] experience. And this goes back to what Paul said last time was that now I have lots of different stories that I can share.

[00:53:06] When somebody else new comes into the same group I’m in, I don’t have to share the same story. So the action step would be to create a client. What is the client’s value to their company? So for Sarah, um, what is the value to the park of them getting the, um, craters of the moon, um, [00:53:30] and you showing all the details and them having this as a product that they can sell.

[00:53:35] Do you know, can you tell me John, uh, 

[00:53:38] John Ingles: yeah. Value to the company? So br bringing attention to parts of the park that people probably aren’t familiar with in a more sustainable way. As people buy this, that also helps them raise money to support the park. 

[00:53:50] diane: Okay. And then what is, this might be a little bit difficult, more difficult, but if you were talking about, um, who was the other lady at the other park?

[00:53:59] Newberry. [00:54:00] 

[00:54:00] John Ingles: Yeah. Karen. Yep. Karen. 

[00:54:02] diane: Um, oh, no, Karen, I’m 

[00:54:04] John Ingles: just kidding. No. 

[00:54:05] diane: Um, Karen, uh, we’d say Karin, that’s my cousin’s name. I didn’t know it wasn’t spelled with a y for a long time. Anyway. Uh, Karen, what is a personal value for her of having the Newberry? Um, what’s something personal that’s come out of this for her?

[00:54:24] Her, um, do you know? Well, she 

[00:54:27] John Ingles: had, for, for the longest time, she wanted to have this [00:54:30] product out in her mind, a book that she’s wanted to have that supported a park. And so now the realization of that being there is a pride I. She feels like something was accomplished that she’s always wanted to do. You know, 

[00:54:42] diane: in a way it’s a story for her, right?

[00:54:44] So she was able to make a good connection with y’all. Y’all are the guide, not the hero, right? So in the, that’s kind of like, uh, example five and example six on the sheet. Um, again, I’m just trying [00:55:00] to get you guys to put some examples of things that you, you are doing. So sometimes an explosion for somebody is a big thing.

[00:55:09] Um, and this could be, um, I don’t know what they are gonna be. Um, but a big thing for somebody. Maybe for the old, uh, somebody who’s older that is trying to, um, get their story out. I have a client who is suffering from cancer and she wanted to, [00:55:30] which I think is a big, big thing and a bad thing, but she has a type of cancer and she’s like, I wanna make this book Diane, because I want my family to have pieces of all my artwork.

[00:55:41] And so we made a book, uh, that was like, like that. And then, um, uh, but that was the big explosion that happened that made her want to make this book and, and hire me to do that with a small thing. Um, a bad thing. We aren’t, cancer would be a bad thing or [00:56:00] um, you know, some things that prompted, um, I’m trying to think about it in business.

[00:56:06] ’cause a lot of the stories I had were more personal, um, in. Anyway, and a good thing. Um, then again, just remembering how can you make it easier? Cognitive ease and cognitive strain. Um, and I also think you need to, we’re almost done. Uh, adjust your expectations on the length of time it’s going to take to convince people.

[00:56:29] May, [00:56:30] I hate to use the word convince, but to let them get to know you, to build that trust so that they’re ready. Um, sometimes people only have, uh, they do their budget at one time in the year, and so you have to wait till the, the time comes around for you to fit into that budget. And sometimes things cost a good bit so that they don’t have, um, they don’t have time.

[00:56:51] People in that initial, um, or that second meeting, you need to have some stories to be able to tell. Um, to me this was, I [00:57:00] loved this quote, so I did have it in the other one. I’m gonna put it here beyond simply, and it is, I. The hanging punctuation, uh, beyond simply being engaging stories actually prime the brain to be, um, more, to be more open to what you’re offering.

[00:57:16] So maybe it, the more stories you’re able to use, um, and build that trust, you’re able to, um, get them to be a client, um, quicker. So that was it that, see, we did, we [00:57:30] got through. It was, that was my other little thing. Anyway, the examples were just to walk you through the sheets is I gave an example if you were watching the other video about the podcast editor.

[00:57:42] It’s just sometimes good for you to listen to a story and try to write down what the normal, the explosion and the new normal, and then check off. Was there an identifiable character? Was there a specific detail, authentic emotion in a significant moment? There’s little check boxes. I guess I could share my [00:58:00] screen on that.

[00:58:00] So, um, finding an illustrator, that was the Paul example I used. If you’re not an illustrator, you know, what was the, uh, did I just delete all of those? I sure did. Well just fit ’em all into this little thing. Normal explosion, new normal. I don’t know why I did that. That was a mistake. Um, a client transformation.

[00:58:22] This is where I want you in the chat or you, um, at home to make sure you [00:58:30] have a normal and a specific person. You don’t have to tell their name, but you need to be able to talk about the, um, the, like we don’t know who the guy was at work Workiva, but we do understand that there was. We can identify with what he wanted.

[00:58:48] He wanted to change, he wanted to have a more healthy, um, body. Somebody wants to tell their story, they wanna share their knowledge. Or, um, my client who wanted to share her art with [00:59:00] her family. Um, then how do they feel after hiring you? So client transformation doesn’t really have an explosion. You are the explosion.

[00:59:09] Um, sometimes, I guess. And then the example three was the client’s big dream is to, this would be really easy for John, talking about Karen, if he just did Karen, um, in those three, again, you don’t want them to be the two, three different people you would wanna do. What was their big dream? [00:59:30] What was their personal life look like, um, before and then after.

[00:59:34] Um, and then what, what was the explosion to them maybe? For Karen, it was a big thing. It was finally being able to find somebody who could ask the right questions and build the right. Trust to be able to do that. Um, and then what type of relationship did they have with that problem? You’re all making your own stories here.

[00:59:53] Um, the what? There’s a solution. Um, or are they married to it like Karen was, [01:00:00] or, um, like the girl with the ruler, she had had a long history of, um, not wanting to be with the ruler and now there’s a new definition for that. Um, and then example four, I guess I could have said. Question four is your services.

[01:00:16] The only reason I’m going over this is ’cause this part I think could be confusing. Of course. I know a lot of things are confusing, but whatever. What services do you offer that people know? They need, but they haven’t taken the [01:00:30] plunge. So which ones are they well aware of? But for me it was, I knew I needed somebody to edit the podcast, but I didn’t think I could afford it or I didn’t think I, um, I thought they would want me to change too many things or whatever it was, you know, list the clients or the services, sorry, the services that you offer that, like, I would say web design here.

[01:00:52] Um, and some people, um, uh, you could list all of them out, but like, some people don’t know about landing [01:01:00] pages or they don’t know about a lead magnet and, um, that’s a whole nother, uh, workshop. But maybe that’s something that they’re not aware of or they don’t know about building an email list. So that’s something I often come into contact with that they don’t know about.

[01:01:16] So that might be an acquaintance or it might be like what we’re supposed to do. What, so I want you to list the services that maybe you offer. But they know well what they are and then [01:01:30] some that they don’t know. Can you think of one regime that you are, I mean, your whole thing a lot is people don’t understand about the use of art, but can you think of a specific example that they might be aware of, but like an acquaintance That 

[01:01:46] Raijeim Douglas: I do art.

[01:01:47] diane: Okay. So for the client though, for the cut, the, your people who are going through your workshop, they do art already or because [01:02:00] it’s for, for them. Um, what is the service like that you’re walking them through it, they, that they didn’t do? You know, I don’t know that, that was kind of hard because I’m not sure I could answer that one right now, 

[01:02:12] Raijeim Douglas: I guess.

[01:02:13] Um, that I’m a teacher, the overall teacher, so that I could teach them something. So depending on what that, what that is, it depends on them. 

[01:02:28] diane: Okay. Uh, [01:02:30] Paul, 

[01:02:30] Paul Nylander: um, the thing that was coming to mind for me is a small thing, but, um, a a lot of, um, small publishers and all their publishers don’t realize they can register their book with the library Congress and actually have the book in the Library of Congress.

[01:02:45] Um, it’s pretty straightforward to do, but it’s, you have to know where to go and what to type in and stuff like that to make it work. So that’s something that I do as an add-on service. 

[01:02:55] diane: Perfect. John, what about you? 

[01:02:57] John Ingles: So we’re talking add-on service [01:03:00] or something They already know about us. It could be 

[01:03:01] diane: anything.

[01:03:02] Um, how about something that they don’t, they don’t know that it’s more of an, um, either they don’t know it’s a solution or it’s an acquaintance. They’re not as familiar with it. 

[01:03:14] John Ingles: Okay. Yeah. So that would be, uh. We, we register the book similar to Paul. We get copyright wise, we, uh, do, uh, create barcodes. We, any of the products that we have, they need it.

[01:03:29] [01:03:30] We do hang tags, so, so if it’s a, there’s a lot of little nuances along besides just doing a sticker or a coloring book that go along with the whole process Yeah. 

[01:03:40] diane: That other people might not do and might not know. Right, right. Okay. So, so those are some of those features and benefits, right. Obviously. But could you tell a story about, I know you could, ’cause I’ve heard you tell a story about the barcode people or, um, somebody, oh, I didn’t know y’all would be able to do that.

[01:03:57] Oh my gosh. That saves Sarah a [01:04:00] ton of time in having to do that extra step. She’s got a lot on her plate already. She doesn’t get to have dinner with her kids or whatever. Right. That’s a personal value, but then your, your added value of they, you’re just making it so easy that. I wanna keep working with you.

[01:04:16] Um, then there was one of, was there that you didn’t even know they, like Paul kind of gave the example of, I didn’t even know. Or like a ebook. Like I didn’t even know you could do that, Paul. I didn’t know, you know, whatever. Um, [01:04:30] the, or put it on Amazon or help them put it on Amazon. The, and then being able to sell, if it’s for, if you’re not doing B2C business to customer, um, or consumer, you’re doing B2B, what is the company value?

[01:04:45] And then can you find a personal value? Can you find a value for Sarah? Um, as she now is able to do blank because John’s taking care. John and D are taking care of this other thing. Um, and then number seven, the last one is the [01:05:00] explosion. I just want you to have some different examples of explosions and as Paul brought up, I should have put it on here, is getting, um, permission to be able to share these stories.

[01:05:12] If you can, you can say in general. Um, but if you, I. Maybe they would be happy to share this because it does connect with other people. But could you share, uh, in general, um, about a specific type of book then? [01:05:30] Um, can you make the story still specific and have details like the Workiva, they didn’t say the guy’s name, they just said he didn’t wanna have a dad bot anymore.

[01:05:40] He was gonna do a triathlon. So there was a lot of this personal stuff without giving his name. So I think there would be ways to do this. I don’t know if this was helpful, but I would really love to know in the comments, and I mean in YouTube or right now. For these people who are live. Um, but you can always [01:06:00] send me an email.

[01:06:00] Uh, all those links are down below or wherever they are, um, if you’re wherever if you’re listening to this. But I just can’t thank the people who are here. Um, regime. Thank you for being here twice. Paul, thank you for being here twice. And John, thank you for being here once, um, and the next week. This was really the value of your customer, but um, you guys are all founders of, um, your own companies and next week it [01:06:30] hopefully won’t be as long.

[01:06:31] Um, sorry it takes so long. Um, but we’re gonna do the founder story and that’s the end of the series is the founder story. Do you know how to tell your, tell your founder story? I know that a lot of people in a lot of other books have a hard time. They don’t wanna tell their founder story. Um, I. Maybe they’re, and I still don’t think you’re the hero in your founder story.

[01:06:53] Um, but it does help. So I want you guys to watch Shark Tank or Dragons Den or whatever they [01:07:00] call it over in Europe. I think it’s Dragons Den. Anyway, I’ll have to ask my UK friends, my UK friends. I’m just kidding. I’m sure they don’t call it you. They would be like, oh my God, please don’t do that ever again, Diane.

[01:07:11] But anyway, um, I appreciate you being here and now we all know Paul, what is it? Paul’s Paul can do it all. Um, and I just Is is Dragon den? Okay. Thank you Timothy. Um, thank you guys for coming and I’d love to know what [01:07:30] you thought or, I know usually a workshop is two hours or maybe three hours and I’m squishing it into an hour and 15 minutes.

[01:07:39] Uh, so I really appreciate it. So maybe you’ll take the time and I’ll won’t have to talk so much. And, um, hopefully you can do these. End. End. Do y’all have anything you wanna say as we wrap? John’s like, no, I’m not coming back. Don’t ask me again, Diane. Ever [01:08:00] regime? Uh, 

[01:08:01] Raijeim Douglas: yes, not true. Um, I do appreciate this, um, is helping me to, um, actually hone it, hone into what I do because that has been the question.

[01:08:14] It’s like, oh, so how, how can you help me? 

[01:08:19] diane: Hmm. And now, you know, you should probably, when you say art Ofie to people who are all over the world, they might think hoochie something else. Right? So [01:08:30] it’s a river in where she lives. So, um, I’m It is that. It is, but it’s just kind of funny. Maybe it’s not. Maybe Adrian, do you know what hoochie is?

[01:08:39] The other hoochie. Anyway. There’s songs, I don’t know, hoochie, coochie, all kinds of things. Uh, not, okay. Well, you can look that up, Adrian. Have fun. Uh, any, uh, I think alcohol sometimes is called hooch. I think maybe other things, um, that my mom wouldn’t want me to say on this, and she’s [01:09:00] always with us now. Um, she’d never play a bridge, so, um, anyway.

[01:09:04] Hopefully, but hopefully that helps. Paul, you got anything? Last words? 

[01:09:09] Paul Nylander: Uh, I was just gonna say, same as regime. I mean, this is, it’s, uh, challenging to look at yourself this way, but it’s really helpful and that’s, I mean, that’s always hard as to see it from the customer’s perspective, what we do. Even talking about like, you know, some of the things that they may not realize we do.

[01:09:26] Um, I, I, yeah, I’ve certainly experienced that where, [01:09:30] you know, you just happen to mention something or, you know, in my case, maybe I just ask, oh, you know, do, do you want me to take care of this for you? And they’re like, really? You could do that, that, that’s possible. Yeah. 

[01:09:41] diane: Yeah. And I think that’s cool. I think sometimes just, I do think some price comparisons are helpful, and I always give a price comparison at the end, like when they’re about to pick which package and sign the contract.

[01:09:53] Um, and I put some things that maybe are the unexpected end, but maybe I need to have a [01:10:00] story. Again. I’m now, I’m coming up with all these things that I can share on social media or all the places John said, or wherever I am. Um, I’m giving myself stories to be able to connect. And again, they’re memorable because now I’m not gonna forget the ruler thing, you know?

[01:10:21] And I’m not gonna forget, I, I didn’t forget about Heather. I didn’t know her name, but I didn’t forget about Heather because I thought it was such an impactful story. She [01:10:30] was painting during Covid and then she’s like all over and she’s doing all this art and making all the birds of Wisconsin and the Birds of Minnesota and it’s awesome.

[01:10:40] Um, John, you talked about, I almost said it like really, uh, Northern, you talked about, I don’t know, whatever. I didn’t mean to, it was just coming out like that. You talked about, um, Sarah, and you talked about Karen and you gave the pain points of some of those, um, [01:11:00] park rangers, the park directors. I just think we gotta make it clear so that people know that we wanna work with them and that we’ve seen this before and we’ve helped somebody else.

[01:11:11] I. I love that Paul said stand taller, but that’s what you’re helping them do. Regime helped it with that girl who now knows how to use a ruler in a great way. And she leaves that, um, interaction, that education, um, lesson that regime did. She leaves that not feeling [01:11:30] distant, like she doesn’t know how to use this.

[01:11:33] She actually feels like, oh my goodness, relieved. I finally know how to know how to incorporate this. I don’t, I don’t feel stupid anymore. So, okay, next week founder’s story, and I’m gonna do my best to get it over the weekend, but hey, I can’t promise anything people, I just can’t. Um, I hope you guys have a great Easter and, um, I hope that you have a great week, the rest of your [01:12:00] week.