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Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die Chip Heath, Dan Heath ISBN-13: 9780739341353 |
Like many, I was lured by the get-rich dream. The recipe was simple: get a business license, find something simple to sell, write a brilliant direct marketing piece, print many thousand copies, send them to a highly productive mailing list, and wait for the bank account to balloon. The book emphasized the mechanics of every steps and tips on creating that brilliant piece. Your head was spinning with excitement. I could write a DM to sell this and that. They will find me the suppliers and rent me the mailing lists. All I have to do is be creative. I can do that!
Then I learned the costs of those mailing lists. Even if they are 6% response rate lists (as compared to the 0.5% of phonebook), my spreadsheet showed me that I would have no profit after paying off the list rentals.
So, sucker was I. Again.
Above is an attempt to create a memorable story. Did it work?
Make it Simple, find an Unexpected angle, use Concrete examples, cite Credible sources, tap into people’s Emotion, and, always, tell a Story. SUCCES. Don’t forget that your audience do know what you knew. These are the simple technique to make your points stick. Did you remember my opening story?
Good stories mostly follow one of the 3 plots: challenge, connection, creativity. The challenge plot is the overcome of seemingly insurmountable hurdle. The connection plot links people deeply. The creativity plot is the ingenious ways to solve problems. My story was not any of them, but it could still be memorable. I was inspired to buy Robert McKee’s book Story, or maybe attending his seminar someday.
Thank you, Michelle, for suggesting the book.