Tap into the power of a shared, common experience.

Hiking is often a shared experience

If, like me, you write a blog, you’ve probably promised yourself you’ll post at least once a week.

Or maybe twice a week. Daily even.

There are plenty of good reasons for posting to your blog, whether you run a business or work as a freelancer.

Writing a blog makes sure your voice is heard. Writing posts regularly helps get your message out there, and keeps your name on people’s lips. (Google likes to see you posting regularly too.)

Is it always easy to come up with new post ideas? No, it isn’t.

In my case, sometimes l’ll have a lineup of ideas for posts, all clamoring for attention. But other times the well runs a little dry, and I have to cast around for inspiration.

I’m guessing it’s not so very different for you.

OK… let’s pause for a moment. Because that last line encapsulates what I want to talk about today.

I’m guessing it’s not so very different for you.

When I say that, I’m tapping into a shared, common experience.

I was letting you know that we all have this in common, that we’re the same in this regard… that I’m just like you. I also struggle to come up with ideas for posts.

This is a powerful way to connect with your readers.

When you put yourself on a pedestal, or create a kind of “barrier of expertise” between yourself and your readers, it becomes harder to touch them emotionally.

But when you share an experience, and do it with honestly and transparency, you can touch people very deeply, earn their trust, and hold their attention for longer.

Other examples of tapping into a shared, common experience…

Let’s say you are writing sales copy for a wonderful new, totally waterproof backpack for multi-day hikers.

You could write all about the backpack, and its amazing waterproof “technologies”.

Of course, you’d do better to talk less about the features of the backpack, and more about its benefits. Like being able to walk through stormy weather all day, and still look forward to dry clothes once you have set up camp for the night.

Or… take one step further… and tap into a shared, common experience.

Tell the story of one of your own hikes in the rain. Talk about how it felt to walk through the rain and mud all day, only to discover the change of clothes in your backpack was also wet through.

Every multi-day hiker has been there and knows how it feels.

As soon as you talk about it – when you tell that personal story – you’re triggering shared memories.

And now you can ask your readers to imagine how much better that day would have been if their backpack had been totally waterproof.

When you share memories, and an experience, you are reaching deeper into your reader’s minds and hearts than you could ever achieve with traditional sales copy.

Let’s look at another example.

You’re selling project management software to a company. You’re pitching the benefits of how your service enables even remote workers feel fully engaged in each project.

The shared, common experience? You can talk about a project that almost crashed and burned when a remote worker in another time zone didn’t get the notification she needed.

Everyone using project management software has a disaster story or two they can tell you about.

You don’t have a story like that? Ask the client.

Whether it’s about coming up with ideas for blog posts, dreaming of a dry pair of socks while hiking in the rain, or praying for software that automatically keeps everyone notified of critical events… there will always be shared, common experiences you can share.

These experiences and memories are held in our minds as stories.

Which once again brings me back to the power of stories in marketing.

In this case, we are using the power of stories to trigger shared, common experiences.

And that’s how you get people to truly engage with the message you are trying to share.

To repeat what I said earlier, when you share an experience, and do it with honesty and transparency, you can touch people very deeply, earn their trust, and hold their attention for longer.

And, of course, you’ll ultimately make more sales.

NOTE: If you want to know more about the power of telling stories, check out my course, Selling With Stories…
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2 thoughts on “Tap into the power of a shared, common experience.”

  1. Great article, Nick. Storytelling seems to be the, or one of the, top secrets to grabbing attention and conversions. I’m always on the lookout now for
    “experiences”, mine or another’s, that I can tie into copy. Thanks!

    Reply

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