This is a fact:
If you don’t grab your prospect’s attention at the very beginning of your content (whether it’s text, audio, or video), then you’re going to have a hard time getting them to “listen” to what you have to say.
Your content will essentially be wasted and ineffective.
That means you need to capture their attention in the first paragraph (or first minute of audio/video) if you’re going to have any hope of doing that.
One of the most effective ways (and my favorite) is to use a story to capture your prospects attention.
Dale Carnegie, who was famous for establishing public speaking seminars around the U.S., and wrote the popular book “How To Win Friends And Influence People”, gave a good example of someone using a story in their intro. It’s in his book “The Quick And Easy Way To Effective Speaking”.
He says, “Here is the way Mr. Powell Healy began a talk at the Penn Athletic Club in Philadelphia:
“Eighty two years ago, there was published in London a little volume, a story, which was destined to become immortal. Many people have called it ‘the greatest little book in the world.”
When it first appeared, friends meeting one another on the Strand or Pall Mall asked the question, ‘Have you read it?’ The answer invariably was: ‘Yes, God bless him, I have.’
“The day it was published a thousand copies were sold (back then this was a lot!). Within a fortnight the demand had consumed fifteen thousand. Since then it has run into countless thousands of editions and has been translated into every language under heaven.
A few years ago, J.P. Morgan purchased the original manuscript for a fabulous sum and it now reposes among the priceless treasure in his magnificent art gallery.
What is this world famous book? It is…”
You’re curious aren’t you? 🙂 Want to know what the book was?
It was Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”!
That story essentially FORCES you to keep reading/listening to hear what happens next!
That’s what you want to do with the stories you use for the introductions to your content marketing.
There are two keys to doing this:
1. You have to find the right story to start with.
2. You have to tie that story into the rest of the content you want to share.
When you first begin doing this it might take you time to find the right story and/or figure out how to tie it into your content.
But don’t worry.
With a little practice you’ll learn how to do this pretty naturally!
Coming July 19th:
On Monday, July 19th I will share some other “tools” you can use to grab your prospects attention, so they will consume the rest of your content.
Until then…
Spread the word! Link to it. Tweet about it. Blog about it. Send smoke signals. Whatever! Here’s how…
Click here to tweet this (make sure you’re already logged in to Twitter).
Click here to post this on Facebook.
Here’s the link you can post on your blog: http://wp.me/pfeEX-bQ
Thanks,
Scott @rampbusinesses
I’m a business strategist, consultant, content creation specialist, and speaker. I’ve been studying effective marketing and business methods (both online and offline) since 1999.
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