This is a critical part of business growth and tangible traction that, in my opinion, is the most underutilized yet readily available tool in your tool bag. It is the tool your hand most comfortably fits. It was created for you and you alone. No one else has it. You are the only one who can wield it with masterful skill. 

Your story. 

What do I mean by story? I mean your unique journey of discovering your passion, sharpening your skills to master that passion, and then, hitching a yoke and plow to the energy behind your passion in order to monetize something you truly enjoy. It is the story that brought you here and it matters. 

Why? 

It garners respect for your willingness to pursue something you believe in. It builds trust in that you took the time to hone skill sets to master your passion. It generates a desire in your target customer or guest to support through patronage and revenue. See, if I know why you use the term “sawmill gravy” for your breakfast service, it will mean more to me when I receive it on my biscuit. If I know that your grandmother’s recipe for sawmill gravy was handed down to her from her mother as a means of using bacon and sausage drippings to create a depth and richness of flavor - and that the logging men of the Blue Ridge Mountains would add this gravy to every offering on their plates at 5 am in order to curb hunger while harvesting timber for home building during the early 1900s, I will stop to remember them when I take a bite. I will share that story with my friends. I will be your greatest evangelist. 

While your story may sound different, or may not come from the Blue Ridge Mountains, your story is still … yours. You had your own beginning. Tell it. Share it with us. It will connect us to you in ways that your coupons can’t; in ways a Friday night special can’t. It will knit guests to their plates in a way that will make them think about you more than once per month because, when they order a plate of your story or visit a boutique that is your story, they’ll become part of your story, too. If the experience is rich, they will also become your evangelist.

And that, my friend, is the greatest marketing tool you’ll ever need.