Lately, my business has been in a bit of a pickle.
For years, I’ve relied on Google as the main source of new blog readers and students for my courses.
Unfortunately, Google traffic has dropped off so much, that I started to fear for my business.
I needed to do something.
So, 5 months ago, I jumped back into LinkedIn.
The first two months on LinkedIn, I felt anxious and overwhelmed. The amount of content—like on every social media platform—is mind-blowing. I’d rather spend my time here with you than in that manic environment.
But needs must.
Fortunately, I soon realized I can rely on my blogging skills. I use the same content strategy: Share useful tips, use my own illustrations of Henrietta, and above all …
Tell stories.
Stories help start conversations and make real connections.
I’m not into the numbers game. I like building relationships. I like hearing from you and I want to give you a glimpse of who I am and what I stand for, and stories are perfect for that.
Here’s one tiny story I shared on LinkedIn …
It was a Thursday night, 7:30 p.m., 15 years ago.
I had just returned home from a long day at the office.
I felt exhausted.
And I looked forward to one of my favorite quick dinners …
Thai-style chicken with cashew nuts. This dish reminds me of sunshine and holidays. It makes me happy. It’s comfort food.
I’ve made it numerous times.
So, what could go wrong?
Dinner would be on the table before 8 p.m. The recipe is super-easy:
- Roast unsalted cashew nuts
- Stir-fry onion, garlic, and chilies
- Add chicken, then bell peppers
- Add oyster sauce, light soy sauce, fish sauce, and lots of Thai basil
- Add roasted cashew nuts
- Serve with rice
That night, distracted by office shenanigans, I messed up this simple dish.
I totally forgot the cashews.
No big deal, you might think. You still got the fragrant basil. The spicy chilies. The salty fish sauce. The sweet bell peppers.
But no …
Without the crunchiness of the cashews, the dish didn’t taste like a sunny holiday. It tasted wrong.
Storytelling is just like cooking.
You also need a balance of flavors and textures.
Shall I explain?
Ingredient #1. Action
My story about cashew nuts is just a silly story.
But it kept you reading, right?
That’s because of the action.
Actions add drama to stories, and they make you want to read on because you want to know what happens next.
In the story of the cashew nuts, the actions are simple. I’m returning home from a long day at the office. I look forward to one of my favorite dishes. I cook the meal.
I could have described cooking this dish in more detail. But this is a miniature story for social media—not a novel. The recipe gives you a quick idea of my actions in the kitchen and it allows me to use bullet points so it’s easy to skim read.
I use two other techniques to up the drama. First, I add emotion: I share how much I look forward to this dish. Secondly, I pose the question: So, what could go wrong?
Did you sense trouble ahead?
Ingredient #2: Details
Details give credibility to a story.
Without details, a story can feel made up.
That’s why I include things like: It was a Thursday night, 7:30 p.m., 15 years ago, and also my thought that dinner would be on the table before 8 p.m.
But details are not just about credibility.
Details also help readers imagine a story.
So, first, I share the details of my anticipation: This dish reminds me of sunshine and holidays. It makes me happy. It’s comfort food.
Did you share that sense of anticipation? Were you cheering me on?
Also, there are details of the dish: The sweet bell peppers. The fragrant basil. The spicy chilies. The salty fish sauce.
Our brains process sensory details almost as if we can taste the sweet bell peppers, as if we can smell the basil, as if we can feel the spicy tingling in our mouth.
Sensory details transport readers into the story.
It’s like readers become part of the story.
Ingredient #3: A transformation or insight
Without a purpose, a story just becomes an empty anecdote.
So, what’s the lesson in the silly cashew nut story?
It’s not about the cooking.
This is a metaphoric story and the lesson is about storytelling.
Just like you need a balance of textures and flavors in cooking, you need a balance of ingredients in storytelling, too: Action, details, and a purpose.
When I shared this story on LinkedIn, I kept the lesson brief. Attention spans on social media tend to be shorter than for a blog, where the reading environment is more relaxed.
But the lesson is there because the lesson helps build authority while the story adds personality and draws an audience closer. That’s the power of storytelling.
Your stories matter
Stories help you stand out in a sea of bland content.
They add personality and flavor to your writing, so you can start conversations and build relationships.
Stories help you be more human.
And human content wins.
Happy storytelling!
P.S.
Want to captivate your followers with stories, too?
Stories in Miniature is a self-paced course (with 60+ story examples) that teaches you how to tell stories for social media, emails, blog posts, sales pages, books, and courses (no storytelling talent required):
Hello Henneke. Thanks for another informative and entertaining post. Stories create connection with readers. Fun to write and fun to read. All the Best.
Yes, that’s so true: fun to write AND fun to read. Win-win, eh?
Your ability to distill the essence of storytelling into just three ingredients is nothing short of magical. Each post feels like a culinary adventure for the imagination!
What a lovely compliment. Thank you, Jack.
So how do you tell short stories when you can’t think of one, it seems like my brain is always in some type of fog and my synapses don’t want to fire up. What do you do?
What can help is to take 5 minutes a day to write down one story idea. It can be something that happened to you or maybe a story that you’ve read. Then just let the idea sit there and add another idea the next day and the next day.
Then once a week or every other week, go through your list of ideas. Pick a story you’d like to write but don’t write it yet. Write it the next day.
Our brains continue to process ideas even when we’re not focused on those ideas. We even process things while we sleep. So, it becomes easier to write your story the next day. Write a rough draft and leave editing for the next day.
Just take your time. Writing can be hard but when we take our time and let the process take its course, it becomes easier.
I have sorely missed you! So you are still posting, but not sharing here…I’m on LinkedIn, but also have left it just sitting there. Hmm.
I may have learned two lessons, here. 🙂
Hi Katharine, so lovely to see you. I’ve missed you, too.
I’m still posting here and still sending my emails every other week. That hasn’t changed!
Lovely to reconnect. <3
I have not received emails. This is the first in ages! wow. A lot of things have changed. My email was shifted to a more modern version, I suppose. (I was using a basic version for those with low reception. I live amongst tall trees, away from large cities, and it was working better for me.) We have moved house, though and now my email has changed and I never guessed after all the years, that you might be in my spam. I’m looking, today! Spam is NO place for your mail to be!!! <3
Ooooh, I don’t want to end up in your spam folder.
But it’s always possible, of course. Some email system are super-strict with bulk emails.
I hope we can stay connected again. Let me know?
I think it is a glitch. I’m not sure; so hard to believe.
However, on searching for your name, I’m finding tons of emails untouched, in the inbox where they should have arrived, but I never skip over your emails, so I do think they are visible unless I search for them. Not sure.
However. Haha. There is a super easy fix for that. I know to search every Tuesday! That will fix it, for sure!
And no, I don’t want to lose contact at all!!!
It sounds strange. I don’t know what’s happening. It appears to be an isolated issue because I’ve not seen a big drop in open rates.
Hopefully, by opening this last email and clicking through, your email system has learned that you’re interested in my emails.
Glad you’re back 🙂
Hello Henneke,
I am struggling to attract prospects through lead generation.
Can you share an article on writing for attracting TOFU prospects, please?
Top-of-the-funnel (or middle-of-the-funnel) content is usually about the problems and challenges that prospects are facing. That’s how I write most of my content, and any of the advice I share about blogging is applicable: https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/business-blogging/
I assume that you’re promoting your content through channels where your prospects will see it? If your content is not working, then it’s worth checking whether your prospects recognize the problems you’re discussing. Perhaps they use different language to describe their issues?
Thank you, Henneke, for your wonderful article. It captured me and I had to go on as I was in an hypnosis 🙂
Your tips are always useful. The best ones, I can say.
I am curious to know if your activity on LinkedIn has been fruitful
Thank you, Maurizio. That’s a lovely compliment.
And yes, my LinkedIn activity seems fruitful. My following there is growing but more importantly, I’m getting more people on my email list. I haven’t measured whether I got any sales from the people that found me on LinkedIn but it feels like I’m attracting the right audience.
Great post Henneke! Thanks for summarising the essence so beautifully. Stories are key everywhere, that’s what keeps engagement high regardless of the platform. When stories taste synthetic, people move on. I’m wondering if LinkedIn is a place where people go to read anymore because of the amount of noise there is?
I also wondered whether people were still reading on LinkedIn because there’s so much noise. I personally struggled with the amount of noise.
But people do.
People actually comment more on my posts on LinkedIn than on my blog here. I’ve been surprised by that!
My blog here is still the hub of what I’m doing and I’m encouraging LinkedIn followers to join my email list. That’s working reasonably well so far. One of my carousels went viral-ish in July (23k impressions) and that generated a nice uptick in new email subscribers. It feels worth it (even without that one post).
Mmmm… this is an interesting insight. Might give it a go again. I suppose adjusting the content for the platform (with a lot of love) can do wonders. For instance, reformatting my blog posts into a Reels listicle on Instagram. Or a PDF/slider on LinkedIn? I’ll keep an open mind after your comment.
Yes, the sliders (carousels) work well for me on LinkedIn. Better than just a post + visual. I haven’t tested it but I’ve read that portrait visuals do better than landscape.
Thanks for this short story on short stories.
I’m also just getting back onto LinkedIn after a long break. I’ve seen those slider posts from others but when I looked into it, somewhere on LI it said they don’t allow them anymore?? Looks like I got it wrong.
I’m really interested in hearing more about them- how to set it up? Is it just a pdf or?? Any info you can point me towards would be great.
Thanks.
I’m ready to tell my stories in ways I just couldn’t quite picture before.
Linda
Hi Linda,
The slider posts are definitely still working. I’ve been posting one, sometimes two per week. I think they’re officially called documents, and many people call them carousels.
I use Canva to create them and then download them as PDFs before uploading them to LinkedIn. A portrait size works best. I use 1200 x 1500.
I think carousels/sliders are a great medium for telling stories in miniature. Some of mine tell stories but not all.
Are we already connected on LinkedIn?
Thanks for these tips about the slider posts. I think these will be really helpful for me.
I just Followed you on LI. I’ll send a message to see if we can connect directly.
Yes, sure, let’s connect and let me know how you get on?
Henneke,
I love the tiny stories, and all of your content help. I’ve been reading for years.
My blog also lost a ton of traffic (and income) from the Google (not) Helpful Content Update last September. The new algorithm raises corporate blogs. So I moved to Substack. It’s primarily a free newsletter platform, and your newsletter would fit perfectly! You can charge or not, promote your courses, etc. (but I would pay for your newsletter)! Plus, you keep your audience and your work. It’s not lost to the platform’s owners.
I absolutely love the platform. Here is my newsletter on Substack if you want to see what the platform looks like. It’s called Steeped Stories. https://maryannrollano.substack.com/
Warmly, Mary Ann Rollano
P.S. I don’t work for Substack – just a huge fan of the platform!
I’ve thought about Substack but I’ve built my whole blog here on my website.
I don’t know whether I’m too attached to the way I’ve been doing things but this here feels the home of my work.
I also find that with Substack people put the whole post in the email and that makes it harder to actually track whether people engage with your content. Open rates say so little. People might have opened your email without even reading anything. When people click to read my post, I know that they’re interested in reading more.
I still get a good amount of traffic here, just not as much as it used to be. It has steadily declined over the years.
Did you keep your blog on your website, too, or completely moved to Substack?
I kept my blog for now. I just stopped using MailChimp as my email provider due to cost and moved my email list over. My plan is to give it a year and see how it goes, but so far I really like the Substack platform.
Let me know how you get on?
I rely a lot on email sequences so Substack wouldn’t be able to replace my email provider. I could only move over for my blog updates.
Thank you, Henneke. That’s a perfect story in miniature to explain – and illustrate! – the power of stories in miniature.
I used to think stories needed to be heroic but I’ve learned that’s not true.
Simple, everyday stories work. And all of us have many simple stories like that to tell.
“Do the need full. “
That’s an expression my lawyer would use when he would be requesting more information in a litigation case.
I stopped “doing the needfull” when I realized it was just creating more billable hours for him.
It kept the litigation game going onwards.
I eventually fired him when I finally realized this.
That’s my short practice for today Henneke. Thank you as always for your insightful posts.
That’s a good story, Ray. Thank you for sharing.
Sometimes it’s hard to know what spend is useful and what’s a waste. I’m glad you figured it out.