Grow Your Business with a Good Love Story

A good “love story” is every marketer’s dream for promoting a product and growing a business. Conventional advertising is expensive and it is becoming less effective for small businesses. Fortunately, editorial stories and social media are becoming the consumer’s choice for learning more about new products. Customers will be attracted by your love story and then sold on the value and benefits of your products. The challenge and opportunity for you as a business owner is to share the love story behind your business. The branding and marketing of your business starts with your personal story. If you have a good love story, your business will grow.
I believe that every business has a good love story to share. The plot could be based on your burning desire to be in business or how your product is destined to change the world. The key is to find your unique love story (ULS) and this will help determine your unique selling point (USP). The question to ask your self is, “why am I in business”? Is it just to make money, is it to be your own boss, or is it to help improve the lives of your customers? The answer to this question will help determine the validity of your love story. If you truly love what you do, then your customers are going to be attracted to your business. However, if you inherited a successful family business and you do not feel the love for the business, then there is a good chance that your customers will move on to another love story.
The media loves a good love story. My personal transformation from a forester to “Dr. Love” has helped in the branding, marketing and growth of our business. Several years ago, I was inspired to create a relationship board game to help promote more love, laughter, better communication and more romance in relationships. The inspiration for this love game was a bit self-serving, because my wife and I needed to enhance our love connection. Like many married couples today, our busy lifestyles were negatively affecting our relationship. Since my professional background was in community forestry, the media fell in love with our romantic press releases, “man creates a love game to help save his own marriage.”
This was not a cheesy marketing ploy; our love story was entertaining and customers loved our product. Our customers could relate to the challenge that most couples face today – we are all too busy to make time for our relationships. One reporter interpreted our love story as, “we are all too busy to get lucky.” The social media loved this tag line and soon our love story spread around the world. Dr. Love and Syncrohearts has been featured in numerous print, radio and television media including two appearances on the Gemini Award winning reality TV show the CBC Dragons Den (similar to the Shark Tank in the US). How much do you think this type of advertising would have cost a small business owner? Can you see the value in sharing your love story?
I feel that every business has an opportunity to market and promote their business through editorial stories and in social media. Here is Dr. Love’s prescription for sharing your love story and growing your business: ï© Identify your niche in the media market and then expose your love story to the world. I did not waste time contacting political columnists. However, I did land two interviews on Playboy Radio when I sent a sexy press release and a demo Syncrohearts game to the mansion. ï© Press releases are not brochures for your business. The story that you share must be interesting and entertaining for the editors and producers who review thousands of press releases every year. You will know how effective your press release was, if the request for more information comes from the advertising department. ï© News stories and social media go hand in hand along the marketing path for your product. A face book posting, a blog link and a tweet will expand your story globally. Our first online order from Iran proved that there are customers around the world who are interested in a good love story.
I hope my “love story” and business tips will help you brand, market and grow your business. If a “forestry guy” can grow a successful love business, then you can do anything!