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Topics relating to managing people and relationships
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DeletedUser2

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Sir Ingenious

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Agreed.

And to elaborate a bit on this, I want to take a famous piece of art.

fountain.jpg

Marcel Duchamp was able to take a fountain from some trashcan, sign it with a fake name and then make it one of the most famous art in recent history.

How? He told a story.
 

DennisD

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When I was a child, we used to go camping. My father was all about building a HUGE fire, I think it's the main reason we went camping. I have vivid memories of walking through the woods, gathering logs and kindling with my father. He always found a large fallen branch. He used it as a fire poker, but it doubled as a walking stick for the entire stay. As we sat around the fire I remember him carving faces into the end of the stick, one for each member of the family totem style. He even put the animals on there.

For Christmas, I told him that story and shared my memories with him before I shared my gift with him. He's getting older and from time to time needs to use a cane to get around.. which I know he hates. It makes him feel old. My gift to him was a walking stick with a rubber bottom like a cane.

The gift cost me $7... but the gift, to him, was worth a lot more than that.

It's an example of using story, presentation, and maybe a bit of positioning to raise the value of an object. I didn't just give him a cane replacement, I gave him memories, positive associations, an escape from feeling old.

Speed+ for posting the article. It's the MOST IMPORTANT lesson I learned working in advertising. It was also the first lesson.

We recorded our executive meetings on video. I was the video guy, I was behind the camera, and I also was the one logging and editing these into soundbites. As a 21 year old kid, I spent HOURS and HOURS absorbing and taking notes of the raw thoughts of the founders, the CMO, the CEO. What's written in the article describes their approach to branding for our clients. Tell a story, connect with the consumer, make them feel something.
 

DennisD

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Has anybody seen the movie "Holy Man" starring Eddie Murphy and Jeff Goldblum?
Goldblum plays a producer for a Home Shopping channel. Eddie Murphy is a wandering missionary who enters Goldblums life via car crash. When the holy man wanders on screen during a live broadcast, sales go through the roof. Even though he's not trained in selling, he obviously does a good job, and he does this through story. Here's a clip (obviously posted by a 10 year old lovestruck girl):
[video=youtube;cUwIRSzgtJ0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUwIRSzgtJ0[/video]
After he gives the starfish story, sales spike and they sell out.
 
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mags

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Wow. There is so much valuable information in this thread. Thanks for sharing this. I learned a new important lesson today.
 

Dezzamondo

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Here's some proof that it works...

My friend's exceptional story telling & salesmanship. He was given this monsterous bird table (ghastly thing @ 5'5" x 2'6") as a gift (says a lot about my friends). Without the description it would most certainly have gone for 99p. It's gargantuan, collection only and ended @ 0530 on a Monday!

Result: £13.04 of pure profit.

Creativity in your listings really does pay!
 

AllenCrawley

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I'm helping my dad sell his 1965 Chevy Impala and happened across this Chevy commercial. Chevy runs deep. Great story.

[video=youtube;CS3SvdWcAks]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS3SvdWcAks[/video]
 
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K.Y.

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This is amazing. I've always realized the power of story but have never taken action to get good at it.

Does anyone have any resource recommendations on how to be a better story teller/writer?

Thanks!
 

AllenCrawley

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Does anyone have any resource recommendations on how to be a better story teller/writer?

Here are two books on my reading list. Have not read them yet.

Story Based Selling by Jeff Bloomfield
Story by Robert McKee (highly recommended by Marketing Experiments aka Marketing Sherpa)
 

K.Y.

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Here are two books on my reading list. Have not read them yet.

Story Based Selling by Jeff Bloomfield
Story by Robert McKee (highly recommended by Marketing Experiments aka Marketing Sherpa)

Awesome! Thanks!

I'm going through the stories that were associated with the junk. Here's a good one http://significantobjects.com/2009/11/04/amoco-yo-yo/

It's freaking amazing how a person somewhere else in the world who made up this story several years ago is able to play this very visual and visceral movie inside of my head.

Even the curator of the project who knew exactly what was going on said he had a hard time letting go some of the items

Significant Objects: A Doll With A Story : NPR
 
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stranger

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Nice thread. Don’t worry about worry about "compettion", become the compettion.
 

mrsilva

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Thanks for sharing the article! It makes so much sense! Now I need to apply at my business... I'm sure it will make a difference!
 

TedM

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Great thread. Thanks for the book tips. this is exactly what I am trying to achieve. Tell a story correctly and you don't have any competition.

I read a Dan Kennedy book where he references the JPeterman catalog ummm "Owners Manual" as being a fantastic example of this principle.
 
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TedM

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Bumping this thread. I just read "Peterman Rides Again" and "Wild Company". The former, chronicling the rise and fall of the first incarnation of jpeterman, and the second - a similar story by the founders of Banana Republic.

Both are fun reads and incredibly informative.

Really, it's remarkable that this approach to business hasn't been more widely embraced. It's clearly the easiest path to take....cynically - all you need is an inspired copy writer...

Here's a helpful link on the topic...http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33441/10-Companies-That-Totally-Nail-Copywriting.aspx
 
D

DeletedUser2

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HA!

Great copy for a DRESSER

dresser.jpg



here is the text if you cant read it


Dresser For Sale- Possessed By Ex Girlfriend

I am selling the dresser that my ex left behind when we split.
Like in our relationship, she felt it wasn't an obligation of hers to move anything along in our union or move anything out when she left.

This dresser has 9 drawers for hiding even everything from the largest load of BS to the smallest of emotion
It's made mostly of solid wood (mirror and drawer faces) and is very sturdy and very heavy - again like my ex but with less pulp.
I believe it is made of oak and not self loathing and hatred
It has a huge trifold mirror that was perfect for each of her faces.

Very few bumps and bruises this dresser is a real keeper and just needs a little TLC - not years of therapy or Daddy's approval.

No reason to create the illusion of a bad childhood because this dresser is willing to provide a purpose for a family - storing clothes with no emotional baggage or snack cakes.

Doesn't gripe, never wonders where you have been and it can be friends with other pieces of furniture without being jealous or complaining. It does not believe the foot stool is a wh0re!

Drawers slide open freely and easily like my ex but without the aid of alcohol, cash, or credit cards

I am looking to sell it for the same amount of weight she gained in our relationship about $150. That price is not negotiable unlike my ex in any bar on a Saturday Night.

Valued at a lot more and like my ex at that price I am giving it away

Pickup only as I am just one man and like my ex - one guy just won't cut it so bring your friends!

Well worth it if you are a wingman, the adventurous type or a glutton for punishment

DISCLAIMER: Exorcism unnecessary as its evil spirits left having already draining me of anything identifying me as a man and human being
 
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K.Y.

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HA!

Great copy for a DRESSER

View attachment 6057



here is the text if you cant read it


Dresser For Sale- Possessed By Ex Girlfriend

I am selling the dresser that my ex left behind when we split.
Like in our relationship, she felt it wasn't an obligation of hers to move anything along in our union or move anything out when she left.

This dresser has 9 drawers for hiding even everything from the largest load of BS to the smallest of emotion
It's made mostly of solid wood (mirror and drawer faces) and is very sturdy and very heavy - again like my ex but with less pulp.
I believe it is made of oak and not self loathing and hatred
It has a huge trifold mirror that was perfect for each of her faces.

Very few bumps and bruises this dresser is a real keeper and just needs a little TLC - not years of therapy or Daddy's approval.

No reason to create the illusion of a bad childhood because this dresser is willing to provide a purpose for a family - storing clothes with no emotional baggage or snack cakes.

Doesn't gripe, never wonders where you have been and it can be friends with other pieces of furniture without being jealous or complaining. It does not believe the foot stool is a wh0re!

Drawers slide open freely and easily like my ex but without the aid of alcohol, cash, or credit cards

I am looking to sell it for the same amount of weight she gained in our relationship about $150. That price is not negotiable unlike my ex in any bar on a Saturday Night.

Valued at a lot more and like my ex at that price I am giving it away

Pickup only as I am just one man and like my ex - one guy just won't cut it so bring your friends!

Well worth it if you are a wingman, the adventurous type or a glutton for punishment

DISCLAIMER: Exorcism unnecessary as its evil spirits left having already draining me of anything identifying me as a man and human being

Wonderful copy :D

I'm always amazed by how creative writers can paint pictures in our heads with words.
 

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O..'.....

oldscool

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The book being sold as fictional prose.
Does that mean the author gets a literary license to exaggerate or create fake stories in the book? I mean the word fiction is right there on amazon.http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1606995251/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

Furthermore, I read a comment by the poster of that harvard article and it has me wondering if he is even an expert on the subject. Here is a reply he said to reader in comments section,

"Simon I am learning that pricing is as much art as science. My advice would be to embrace Rob's methodology and do a little testing yourself. "

Is Robs methodology fiction?
 

ZF Lee

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Here's some proof that it works...

My friend's exceptional story telling & salesmanship. He was given this monsterous bird table (ghastly thing @ 5'5" x 2'6") as a gift (says a lot about my friends). Without the description it would most certainly have gone for 99p. It's gargantuan, collection only and ended @ 0530 on a Monday!

Result: £13.04 of pure profit.

Creativity in your listings really does pay!
Now this is HIGH QUALITY COPYWRITING.
Shit, the intensity of this blade of steel is so high, I feel like BUYING the table
 

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