If your ideal customer travels a lot, your products or services can assist them on their travels (think iPad, sleep pillows, convenient luggage, or comfortable travel clothing). In the real world, you can take this a couple of ways. Examples of this are Alice in Wonderland, or Cast Away.
Stories of normal protagonists who are suddenly thrust into strange and alien worlds and must make their way back to normal life once more. Your product or service is meant to be a long lasting tool that can be used along the way, or ongoing companionship (such as a coach) you should look to ensure your services can withstand the test of time, and you will overcome any odds with your customer no matter how daunting they might be. Unlike "Rags to Riches" if your ideal customer is on "The Quest" you're in it for the long haul. In the real world, this is very much the story of every beginning entrepreneurial journey. Often "Quest" stories make our hero(s) encounter a variety of challenges that are all seemingly unrelated. The Odyssey is a classic example of this kind of story. The hero, often accompanied by sidekicks, travels in search of a priceless treasure and must defeat evil and overcome powerful odds, and ends when he gets both the treasure and the girl. A good coach is meant to pull the best out of their pupil, not do it for them) (this is where many coaches fail by trying to overdo it. If your product or service falls into this category, you should look to play the role of the "Fairy Godmother" that gives the hero just enough to get to the right place and the right time. This could apply to photographers, musicians, artists, and yes even bloggers. In the real world this applies to anyone with an undeniably incredible talent who wants to break through and be successful. In the stories, this is where a modest and moral but downtrodden character achieves a happy ending when their natural talents are displayed to the world at large. If your product or service falls into this category, you should look to play the role of either the sidekick that will stick with them to the very end, or the weapon that will deliver the final blow. In the real world this could be overcoming an addiction, fighting off a pervvy boss, debt, beating an illness or any thing else that requires something to be defeated for the hero (your customer) to win.
In the stories, this is where the hero must destroy the monster to restore balance to the world. The reason I bring this up is because your customers are going through one of these plot lines at this very moment in their lives.
At some point in all of our lives, we experience to some degree one of these 7 archetypal plot lines, that's why they exist.Īnd in each of these types of stories, there are individual characters that play a huge role in the development to how that chapter in your personal story plays out.Įver meet the wise stranger that gave sagely advice out of nowhere when you needed it the most? Or have you found an unlikely ally that helped you overcome overwhelming odds? Well, actually it has everything to do with marketing. Now why do I tell you this? How does this possibly relate to marketing?
Did you know that there are only 7 basic plotlines throughout all story telling?Ĭhristopher Booker author of The 7 basic plots distills all of story telling to 7 basic archetypes that make up all of storytelling throughout history.