It’s got all the ingredients of a made-for-TV movie.
Young newlyweds fly Delta Airlines from Michigan to Puerto Rico. They’re connecting with a Caribbean cruise. Mid-flight the new wife realizes she’s left her passport at home. She can get to Puerto Rico, which is a US territory, but not the cruise. She’s devastated.
Introducing the guide who saves the day – a Delta Airlines flight attendant named (according to the stories) Dusty Dills. Dusty figures out a plan. The woman’s friend will retrieve her passport from her home. From the Detroit airport, another flight attendant carries the passportto San Juan as he works the trip. A San Juan customer service agent unites the woman and the passport. The cruise is saved!
With the help of the airline’s vigilant PR department, the story goes viral. I found it in Inc Magazine online.
As it happens, I’m a long-time fan of Delta and have lots of miles with them. When I read this story I wasn’t surprised to learn that it was a Delta flight. They’ve been sharing stories like this for a long time. It’s part of their branding.
As solopreneurs and small business owners, we aren’t likely to get national coverage when we save the day for a client.
But I wouldn’t be surprised if you had a few of these “save the day” stories from your own business. If you’re a Passionate Advocate archetype, they’re hopefully all over your website. You’ve probably got some spectacular stories…like the lawyer who dug into the official police story to discover his client wasn’t even driving the car that caused the accident.
Any archetype can come with a dramatic story.
- Did you save a client whose web developer disappeared to Tahiti, taking the client’s passwords along?
- Did you surprise a client whose success was held back by FOT – Fear of Technology – by coming up with a solution even a technophobe could love?
- Did you create an “aha” moment so your client realized she was targeting clients who were all wrong for her business?
- Did you inspire your client, who felt hopeless after months of unemployment, to start a business because “if I did it, you can too?”
You may not get the kind of coverage a big airline can command. Let’s face it, apart from size, we don’t have the fading glamor of the airline industry.
Yet you can use the story on your website. It might even become “your” story, and it’s much more effective than a tired old “how I got here” story.
This is the kind of story that builds your brand. It communicates your values and your approach much more effectively than a manifesto or a series of power words like “amazing.”
Your story-based brand will …
…show your ideal clients why you’re the best choice to meet their needs
…simplify your marketing so you easily send a clear, consistent message
…motivate purchases with a clear promise of what you deliver
If you’d like to get started on branding with stories, I have a course you can begin immediately: Build Your Brand With Stories. Use the code JULY50 to take 50% off the published price. [This coupon will be discontinued at some point. I’ll try to remember to remove it.]