Think beyond value props. Think STORY.

Your business is much more than the sum of its sales. Your business has a story. It's an incredible story about you, your customers, and the world.

Sharing your business' story is essential to engaging customers emotionally.

By story, I don't mean "beginning-middle-end" plot points. I mean the context in which your business actually produces a feeling in your customers.

The problem is, thinking in big picture "story" terms can feel lofty. Especially for boots-on-the-ground problem solvers. We aren't coding here. We aren't hacking. We're playing Hollywood, high above the top-of-funnel.

While it may not be intuitive to think along these lines, you absolutely can.

Below are 3 thought-starters to help you understand your business in "story" terms.

We'll explore:

• Your business as personal story.
• Your business as global story.
• Your business as customer story.

As you "search" for the story, remember this is emotional territory. There is no objective right or wrong story, but you should still know when you find something good, because you'll feel it.

Let's begin.

1. Your business is you. Your business' story is your story.

Only YOU could have created your business.

I’m not referring here to the obvious-- that there’s only one physical “you.” I am referring to you, the sum of your experiences. You, the unique intersection of all your interests and personality traits.

There is a simple reason you're working on the business you're working on: you MUST. You have no choice in the matter. Your path led you directly to this place. Directly to this business. Directly to this post. Directly to the period at the end of this sentence.

Your business is an inevitable point on this path. By sharing your path, your story, on some level you also share your business' story.

Review your path to reveal your business.

Consider how your path made you who you are. Consider your personality. How do people know that your personality is your personality? What do you do that demonstrates your personality? Now, consider your business. What is your business' personality? What could your business do to demonstrate that?

Hitting this from another angle: why are your friends your friends? What draws them to you? Perhaps those same traits could draw people to your business.

2. Your business only exists because the world told you to build it.

The world hired you as CEO, but ultimately it is the founder. After all, your spark of inspiration was the result of intersecting culture, trends, and technologies which the world had been cooking up for years. Your business was bound to happen. Fortunately though, the world incepted the idea into the mind a most capable custodian: you.

Think about the initial spark that inspired you to build your business. Think about the environment, the circumstances in which that moment took place.

What trend, culture, or technology makes your business very much a thing of the present?

Not only is your business a product of the times. It is a product of the place.

The world chose to make this business exactly where you are. It chose your country. Your neighborhood. Your corner of the internet. Why in the world would "the world" do that? What's so special about this "place?" This "community?" How do they make you feel?

3. Your business isn't the hero. Your business is the ally.

Your business helps very specific, very real people: your customers.

Your customers are deep into their own epic journey. After years and decades, their winding life's path crosses your own. At that fateful meeting, you offer to help them.

To invoke Joseph Campbell, you are an "ally" for these journeying "heroes".

They are not helping you get to the promised land of riches and renown. No. You are helping them on their quest to slay the proverbial dragon.

Think about your customer's life. What are they actually trying to achieve, big-picture? More interestingly, how could you potentially challenge or inspire them to succeed?

Consider how your business supports your customer's grandest ambitions in life. Not just their immediate needs.

Ultimately, this is the most important context in which to perceive your business. Your business is not the hero of your story. It is the ally of their’s.

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The point of these thought-starters is not to get all woo-woo on an internet business forum (though I do find that fun). The point is to help you understand your business story and build stronger connections with customers.

By considering yourself, the global stage, and your role in your customers' life, you bring the story of your business into focus.

You build an emotional foundation upon which customers can genuinely relate to your business. As a top-of-funnel strategy, this is not where you make your sales.

This is where you make your brand.

My name is Davidson Vorhes. I am a filmmaker-multi-hyphenate. I help brands tell engaging stories with video.

If you would like to brainstorm content ideas for your business with me personally, feel free to reach out directly on my website: www.bigfootage.net