Tony skinner
Hi, and welcome to the podcast for podcast my business.com.au. And today we’ve got a friend from America joining us Hassani x known is x, how are you x?
X
I am wonderful. I mean, a pleasure to be here. Pleasure, pleasure. Pleasure to be here for sure. 
Tony skinner
Fantastic. And of course, you’re from https://leadyourstory.com/. And we connected a little while ago. And one of the reasons why we connected is that we both realize the importance of stories. And of course, a podcast or video cast or video is about stories. And you are someone who helps people realize the power of their stories and how to create stories that are more engaging, because there’s so many stories out there, but what makes your story and my story so good. So how do you help people with that?
X
Yeah, well, let’s back up a second. Because I think one of the things that we get stuck on this idea of story because it’s all the buzz right now we think of story as this, once upon a time, or I experienced this and telling this journey, there’s far more to it. And just to give you kind of the 30,000 foot view of it a story is taking someone on a journey, a journey where someone is able to experience their problems and their pain. And through your story and narrative. They see a path to their paradise. Pleasure, right peace, power and pleasure, they get something out of it.
That is what a story is, it’s not about whether Tony is special or extra special, we have to communicate in such a way so that our audience, our customer, feels right, connected emotionally and sees that we have an answer a solution that will help them to be a better version of themselves. And that is what a story is. And from that perspective, Tony, telling a story is the basics of it. It’s the fundamental of understanding who you’re is the audience. Because Tony, you appreciate what desire needs something fully and wholly different than x. Over here in the States. We’re having a conversation about difference between Australia and the United States and our different culture and what we eat for dinner versus this and the other. Imagine me trying to tell you a story of what a great dinner is. And I have no idea what Aussie is is Aussie I’m saying right,
Tony skinner
Aussie? Yeah. You can call me an Aussie. That’s fine. Yeah, I
X
actually I don’t even know what to call you saw my storytelling for your audience would be off. So so one of the things that I tell people
Tony skinner
sorry, I just on that particular point, though, is that stories, especially when you got the correct customer avatar, are actually universal. So I’ve spoken a lot in the past on the podcast channel, and had guests on talking about the importance of a customer avatar. And right you need to know your audience. But it’s interesting. There is some similarities between us because we were talking about what you were cooking on the grill, which we call the barbecue here. Yeah. us doing steak and to vege. And we do steak into vege. Yeah, yeah.
X
So So So to your point, there are overlaps between various audiences. But the most powerful stories are crafted for a very specific person, not an audience. So if I say grill versus the barbecue, or what did you say your word was? barbecue
Tony skinner
barbecue? Yeah, that’s right. And then you lose somebody. Yes,
X
I didn’t lose you. But there’s friction, because I’m not using your language. So you’re popped out of the narrative ever so slightly. So the greatest stories are told to a very specific person. And some stories are so grand and magnetizing, that there’s overlap because it speaks to the human condition. Whether you’re on this side of the world or the other, there are certain things that we all experience. But from the perspective of a business, you don’t have the money, the time the bandwidth, or even the the more dialed in, we know who the person is, the better we’re able to communicate that story.
Tony skinner
Yeah, and, you know, that’s the thing about stories and it’s not about I, I am here to help you get something for me. We are in this together to help each other and help each other to advance forward.
X
Yes, yeah. And I think that’s the that’s the that’s the part that I think a lot of leaders and business owners, they dropped the ball when they think about storytelling because they think it’s about telling their story. Our company is called lead your story. And your story is about positioning you as a guide, as a support mechanism as someone who can help your hero avatar, your customer make their life mirror. And from that perspective, it’s not about you. So there are three stories I tell businesses that they really want to have dialed in one is your customer story. How do you improve the lives of your customers to your service and or your product, you have to nail that that is primary, Boomerang numero uno on the list.
He got to know that story. The second one is your founder story is really not about you, me, the founder. It’s about why you do what you do, not how special you are at doing what you do. And the last story is your mission story, what you stand for in the world, why do you exist? So many of us today are making decisions about where we spend money, and where we work with companies and organizations that stand for something. Right? We’re beyond paychecks at this point, especially younger audiences, they want purpose, they want passion, they want to connect to something beyond the surface. So a story does that. It goes beyond facts, functions and features. And it gets into the human side of feeling. And that’s the powers.
Tony skinner
And it’s actually interesting, because, again, you mentioned previously about how competitive the market is and how competitive The landscape is. And one of the best ways of dealing with that is everyone has their own unique story. And people buy from people. So if you’ve got a story that’s engaging and people connect with, it doesn’t matter how much competition is out there, because you are still you and your company is still your company.
X
Yeah, yeah, story is, is one of the last few differentiators when we put our widget out into the marketplace. And I tell business owners be honest, how much better is your product or service than competitors, we all raise their hand, say we’re the best, I am better. But when we really break it down, and we’re super honest about it, the distinctions are very small. And to the point, it is expensive to be the best. It is expensive, the the the best. So people or the best businesses rely on brand, which goes beyond functions and features and being the best. It is about having the best connection.
Tony skinner
That’s right.
X
Right. So for example, Pepsi, hands down, across the board for generations now has beat coke and blind taste tests. But coke beats Pepsi with the bat, in terms of market share. Why? Because it’s not about best product. best story wins, period. This is the human side we buy from people that make us feel a certain way brands that make us feel a certain way, is not facts, facts, functions and features. So I want to empower businesses, get people to feel, and they’ll buy more. They’ll connect more.
Tony skinner
Yeah, because I mean, we all started a business as ourselves. And some have grown and expanded much larger and some are stayed that way. And some are on the journey still. So you’re talking about a story being a journey. So where is the connection between you as an individual and you as the business? And how do you make that transition?
X
Alright, so we talked about the customer story, the customer story is the one that’s out front, you want to have that across all of your media, how you transform lives, not best product, but how you tell the best stories to connect emotionally, you as a founder and your own personal story becomes important because now you can share why you do what you do. And I’ll share a quick story with you about my founder story. And the first time I share this was the first time I closed a six figure deal. And I needed to close this deal, Tony, you know if you’ve been in SBI where I got to make this money. And we got to the point, this was the one deal out on the table that was crystallizing. If I didn’t get it, man, I don’t know what I was gonna do. But she was hesitant. Everything was going good. But we got to signing the deal. She was like, I don’t know. And I was like, Listen, listen.
You know, a few years ago, my life changed when my brother was murdered, and we shared the story earlier. And I had to look in the mirror and I saw some things in myself that I didn’t like, because he told me we had a fight. And he told me you know, last conversation he was like, You will never the brother I needed. And I was like bs we grew up in the same environment, same place. It’s on you. But doing his eulogy. I finally figured out what he meant. He said I was scared to lead. When it came to leadership and helping others I would not step up. lead the team my football team track. No, you all do it. It was I’ll do me You do you. So I promised to attack my fears. You know where that landed me Tony. Well, inside of a cage, fighting another person as a professional mixed martial arts. Because I was scared of physical confrontation, and I was scared, never been more scared in my life. And this guy was pacing the ring talking about, I’m gonna kill you. There’s blood over the mat I was, I was terrified. I’m talking about terrified.
But the bell rings just like it does in life, and you got to do what you got to do. So we’re fighting, we’re going back and forth, and I’m more tired than I’ve ever been. And I fall down in my corner, it looks like I’m gonna lose, he’s pounding on me, my coach says something to me, I’ll never forget. He said, x, remember what you’re fighting for. And I just flashed, I thought about my wife, my kids, my brother, all the things I wanted to do in life. And I was able to turn that fight around and knock them out late in the first round. And I turned to my prospect client, I said, I know what I’m fighting for. What are you fighting for? And that’s when she signed on the dotted line. Because she knew I was gonna fight like him to help her overcome our challenges. That’s the connection. From your personal brand to your actual business. It’s about trusting you in there.
Tony skinner
Yeah. And it’s about helping and serving. A lot of my messaging is about serving, who do I actually serve? Who do I actually help them? Why do you do it? So? How do you get across how you’re serving people as part of a product and service? So again, from getting to I want to help you. And now we’re getting into the features a bit more on the features and benefits more?
X
Yeah, well, we need those things, what they should be in the minority, not the majority. So there are four P’s inside of a great story problems and pain, a premise prison that people are locked away in a myth of fallacy, right? Like we talked about podcasting. As a business, we talked about that there is field myths that you as an expert, understand that keep your target market trapped. You want to share what those traps are, to help them overcome their problems and pain. And then you want to give them the power steps, the 123, the blueprint to overcome those challenges, and then help them to experience more pleasure.
So basically, it is a four part journey, your media, your content, your writing, whether you’re doing text, images, video, or was the last one audio podcasting, you want to make sure that you’re sharing that journey? Right, so so so me as a brander, and a marketer, I simply talk about how the problem that many businesses have with standing out in the marketplace, it’s crowded, how do you stand out, it must be frustrating to know that you are so good at what you do. But you can’t stand out. And you find it hard to bring in new business no matter how good you are. Because and here’s a secret, best story wins. The premise is not about best service, it’s about best story. So when I work with you, I’ll help you to come up with a narrative that position GE was an expert that distinguishes you and why they should choose you in your marketplace, something that resonates and connects with you so that it’s fully and wholly your story. And when you share that on your website, and your content or your podcast, and your authenticity, are you, you will find that people will say You know what? I want what he has to offer.
Tony skinner
Yeah, that’s true. Okay, so, Jeff, some tips for businesses, who are not necessarily even starting the journey, but businesses how they can improve on their storytelling and help them to generate new business by doing that.
X
Yeah, I would say, first off, ground floor is understanding your customer. You have to intercept their narrative, you don’t understand their problems, from their perspective, the pain that they’re going through the the paradox and premise that locks them up that you can set them free with, if you don’t understand how to simplify the steps to helping them in their journey, and what they get. If you can’t communicate that you’re going to find it hard to distinguish yourself.
So step number one is to truly understand and to connect with your customers. From there, it’s about sharing the stories and the journeys of how that connection evolves. You know, if you’re starting out, you may not have a bunch of customers, but you may tell a journey of how you went to go speak with the customer and you interviewed him and figured out this than the other and you transparently share that journey of building your business with your market. Right? You need to be transparent. His story is about vulnerability too. You can’t be perfect, you got to show some pain yourself.
So the first first is understanding your customer and then having a framework to then tell a story through. We have a ton of resources that we have that we offer for free Are you on our website, and things of that nature, if you go to launch my story comm we have six video training course that walks you through the four parts of story for branding and building culture. So, you know, tap that tap into that resource. We’ve been getting some really good feedback on how that’s helped leaders and businesses, from the startups to those who have hundreds of employees to really start to think about story in a different way to help them stand out in the build that brand.
Tony skinner
Right, thank you very much. Okay, so anything else you’d like to share?
Yeah, um,
X
I think I think you know, at the end of the day, when I say best story wins, I don’t want you to think that it’s about fireworks. I think one of the things that stops businesses from sharing their story, and in just yelling into the marketplace, we’re better, we’re better, we’re better, right? facts, functions and features is they don’t believe in the power of emotionally connecting. And they don’t believe that what they have to share about their stories, especially. Tony, you and I were with ourselves 20 473 65. So what we’ve been through what we’re doing doesn’t feel special. It is pure, plain vanilla. And we’re looking across at the other guy, and he has Chunky Monkey and all these other flavors combined. And we look like we’re nothing special. The key ingredient becoming a great storyteller, the first domino to fall is to believe that you have a story worthy of sharing. That is the first one, the rest of them come into play once you believe it. And then you just need to tackle some resources that help you to efficiently do that. And like I said, you can go to launch my story calm. And we have a free course on how to do just
Tony skinner
great. All right, look, thank you very much x. I know it’s late where you are. And we’re saying how hot it was. And that’s trying to do that frown height who’s centigrade look hotter, then we get he most of the time, like over 40 degrees. I don’t know how you live in the middle of the desert. But hey, heck, I’ve got to ask you. Have you seen any UFOs?
X
I have not seen any UFOs? I have not. But it’s interesting that the stories are starting to change around that governments are starting to say hey, some stuff is happening. You know, so? I don’t know. I haven’t seen it. I believe they’re out there.
Tony skinner
So the truth is out there. Right. All right, thank you for your time, and it’s Hassani x from legal story.com known as x and thank you very much. P
