It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity. So said Charles Dickens in his famous novel, A Tale of Two Cities, published in 1857.

Dickens was a consumate storyteller. He ranks at the top with the best of the best, right up there with Edgar Allan Poe (my personal muse and the author credited with writing the first mystery story), Emily Bronte, Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain and so many, many others. These writers composed stories the way Beethoven and Mozart composed music---with an ear to the emotional impact their work would give the audience.

Storytelling is a fine way to get your sales and marketing message across. In a February post on Reveries Magazine, a Harvard professor named Howard Gardner is quoted saying that, "changing the story" can change people's minds. His newest book, Changing Minds gives readers 7 "levers" they can pull to "dislodge set ways of thinking."

Resonance Reason Research Resources Rewards Real-world events Representational re-description

The last item, representational re-description is the crux of what Gardner is talking about when he tells us that "changing the story" can change minds.

To me, a committed storyteller from way back (gee, I wish I could get back to that novel lying dormant in my desk drawer!) using stories to communicate speaks volumes. The key is to understand that you can change the story for the audience. Keep the underlying purpose in tact, but change the facts. Even change the outcome. Why? Because different people want to hear different things.

Women are suckers for a good story. Just ask Michele Miller. She has the scientific proof that women are verbal beings, and that our brains are wired for reading faces. When your face isn't available, telling us a story about you works darn well.

I encourage my clients to add the story of how their business got started to their About Us page. One reason I do that is because more women than men visit a site's about us page. Another reason is because that About Us page, with your personal story, engages women. It helps us get to know you better. It helps us make friends with you. Any competent sales coach will tell you that people buy from their friends, from people they trust. Women need to trust you. Give them a good story, and you are on your way to giving them that warm fuzzy feeling that they've just entered your living room for a cup of coffee.

Following Prof Gardner's advice to change your story merely means updating your About Us page periodically or adding content to your homepage that speaks to your [women] customers. Understand how the women who visit your site think. Your story can be a comment on local news. A question about national news. A reference to an exciting event in your family--the birth of a baby or the graduation of a son or daughter. Remember, women consider their co-workers as family. That means you have an opportunity to talk about exciting events in the lives of your employees, also.

I'm not suggesting a Charles Dickens novel on what's going on at your company. Merely announcing the promotion of one of your sales people, or having a bulletin board with news updates, can be your way of telling your story.

When you understand these stats, from The Rhonda Report, it puts the women's market into perspective, and it should convince you that storytelling can be an easy way to get women to buy from you.

Women are more likely than men to have been the founder of the business (73% to 60%) rather than have purchased, inherited or aquired it in another way.

Women are less likely than men to use commercial loans or lines of credit. (56% to 70%)

Women are less likely to have raised money from outside investors. (4% to 11%)

Women were ahead of men in their adoption of the Internet and ecommerce as a business growth strategy. (58% to 35%).

[stats taken from The Planning Shop. ]

Women are interested in your story. Follow Professor Gardner's advice and change your story now and then, and we'll be eager to return to your site to read it. While we're there, we're likely to buy something.

What's not to like about that?