Summary
People relate more to stories of setbacks and comebacks than flawless success. Sharing authentic challenges builds connection and inspires others. Dr. Yaniv Zaid’s marketing workshop teaches entrepreneurs how to craft genuine, persuasive content to boost their business.
In today’s world, authentic marketing storytelling is more important than ever. People connect more with stories of setbacks and comebacks than with perfect success. Sharing real, authentic challenges is at the heart of authentic marketing storytelling. It builds trust, relatability, and inspires others, helping you stand out in a crowded market.
During a marketing and networking workshop I held for the Project X community, I heard an excellent talk by American real estate mogul Robert Shemin. He spoke about Donald Trump’s books, particularly the first one, published in 1987, “Trump: The Art of the Deal.” The book was a massive bestseller, staying on The New York Times Best Seller list for almost a year, long before Trump became a global TV star on “The Apprentice” and decades before his election as U.S. President in 2016.
What made the book such a huge success? According to Shemin, it was because Trump, a multimillionaire real estate entrepreneur, had already declared bankruptcy twice and managed to bounce back each time to regain his multimillionaire status. People love to hear and see stories of “resurrection”—the ability to rise from the ashes, recover from failures, losses, and crises, and reinvent oneself.
Without Trump’s dramatic failures and comebacks, his story wouldn’t be that interesting. There are many real estate entrepreneurs in New York who inherited money and knowledge from their families, just like Trump. What makes his story compelling is that he lost it all and managed to rise again, not just once, but twice, and still became a multimillionaire.
People, especially today, don’t want to hear just about your successes. It’s not inspiring enough, and it doesn’t evoke enough empathy. If you appear “perfect,” with a “magic touch,” like someone “touched by God,” people feel there’s nothing to learn from you because you were simply born that way.
The real art of marketing is to be authentic and share both your setbacks and successes. Share the hard moments alongside the good ones, and the frustrations and disappointments along with the joy. You don’t need to invent failures or exaggerate them (as some mentors do)—just be real and speak genuinely, without sugarcoating reality.
Marketing tactics like “look at my penthouse,” “check out my model girlfriend,” or “see my luxury car” are far less effective in 2024. They mainly attract a specific type of customer that you might not want in your business anyway.
I often say you want to be Batman, not Superman. What’s the difference? Both are superheroes, but Superman isn’t a regular human—he was born on another planet. Batman, however, is just like us, with a tough backstory (his parents were murdered when he was a child, he fell into a cave, and had fears of darkness and bats) who developed extraordinary skills. Superman can’t really teach me to fly because I wasn’t born on his planet. But Batman can teach me because he developed his skills as a human.
In recent years, there’s been a strong trend in the tech world: a series of talks called “Fuck-Up Nights,” where entrepreneurs share their failures and mistakes. Spoiler—these talks often have a twist, as those entrepreneurs usually went on to big successes afterward.
In other words, this is exactly what authentic marketing storytelling comes to play! People love hearing about challenges, struggles, and the tough journey. It’s easier to connect, relate, and draw inspiration from these stories.
We all have “scars,” problems, disappointments, and failures. People want to hear about the dilemmas and pains “behind the scenes.” Not everything in life is rosy, so don’t try to paint your business or personal life as perfect. It won’t seem authentic, and people will connect less.
Soon, I’ll be launching another round of my successful marketing writing workshop, where we learn and practice how to write in an authentic, interesting, and persuasive way. We work on crafting messages for posts, videos, emails, talks, and books that can go viral and attract as many readers and customers as possible.
So, if you’re an entrepreneur, author, freelancer, speaker, business owner, or blogger looking to drive action through your content, refine your messaging, write books and talks, and significantly grow your income over time, I invite you to join me on this exciting journey that will transform your business and content!
All the details about the upcoming round of my marketing writing workshop are available now.
Feel free to reach out for any advice on delivering your content, both in writing and verbally, or to discuss the upcoming workshop.
Contact me:
Email: yaniv@yanivzaid.com
WhatsApp: 054-8001200
I promise to respond to everyone.
With love,
Dr. Yaniv Zaid
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