Dave Taylor has written an interesting piece today on story telling and blogs that has resonated with me. It’s at “Don’t sell me a product, tell me a story!”:
‘What stuck in my head, however, was that his background gave him a unique ability to tell an interesting story. After all, isn’t the best marketing and, yes, even public relations, fundamentally all a throwback to our days around the campfire trying to influence and sway people based on our ability to communicate in a more interesting and engaging manner than the next person?’
Dave heads in a slightly different direction with his post than the thought process that I then went of on but it’s worth the read none the less.
What it made me think about was that one of the things that I think has grown ProBlogger.net the most has been this idea of ‘story’.
I am getting daily emails from people around the world who have been drawn into the community here not just because of the tips and information that I write – but because there is something about average people sharing their experiences with other average people that rings true and draws people in.
I may not be the most proficient writer in the world (I know this because of the numbers of proof reading type emails that I get) but I purposely write in a way that attempts to weave together my journey as a blogger with the theory and tips that I’m presenting. I’m telling my story.
The other thing that I’ve been attempting to do here is to create spaces where others can tell their stories. This has happened through the occasional interview but increasingly happens in the comment sections of posts.
I guess what I circling around here is that one way (and it won’t work on every blog) to build a more engaging and interactive blog is to consider not only selling something to your reader but to find ways to engage with them in more of a narrative form.
What do you think?
