(This post is part of a series about creating the MENs story. You can begin at the Introduction.)
Now it’s time for a final story example.
I have used the Fire Came Later Framework to create five story lengths, and the fourth—the Tiny Story—is presented below.
The Tiny Story
Tiny Stories are ‘half as long’ as Short Stories, about 300-600 words. They take about 1-2 minutes to read.
This story length is what many FCL community members would use on sales pages within a funnel, on social media posts, in ads, in a single e-mail, or on stage as one part of a more extensive presentation.
Tiny stories are maybe the most amazing—if you get it right. They will be jam-packed with detail and quickly move your dream customer emotionally to take action on your offers.
A Review of MENs
The Company
MENs is a $297 monthly subscription program where a committed network of men mentor, educate, and nourish fellow men for better health and wellness.
Philip, the founder of MENs needs stories of achievement and transformation of new members as they are mentored, educated, and nourished by fellow MENs members.
If he can clearly show this transformation, which can only be achieved through MENs, his story and company will succeed.
The Dream Customer
The dream customer isn’t part of a collective, doesn’t have mentors and support in their lives, and wishes to be better for themselves and those around them, but they don’t even know where to start.
The Story’s Character
Steve, the character in our story, is a 36-year-old portfolio manager at a Wall Street bank.
The Story
This is the story of how MENs happened for my friend Steve, a 36-year-old financial analyst. About a year ago, he was single, overworked, unhealthy, alone. He felt and looked bad. He knew it, and it was quite paralyzing.
“Ah!” The pain in Steve’s side had returned, forcing him to the bathroom. Working late—Steve is a Wall Street portfolio manager—he was thankful no one else was there to see. After a while, Steve came out of the stall, sweaty and unkempt. He looked in the mirror—it wasn’t pretty.
That pain sent Steve to the doctor.
On his way, he ran into an old friend from college. Gary was here for work but had brought his family to do a bit of sightseeing. The contrast between the two of them couldn’t have been greater, and they both felt it. All Steve wanted to do was get out of there, so he said he was late for an appointment, cutting off their conversation. They exchanged business cards, but Steve never intended to call Gary.
Steve was startled as the doctor came into the room—he had been staring at Gary’s card. The doctor explained to Steve that his EKG and other tests showed he was becoming at risk for angina and hypertension and that he shouldn’t have these kinds of test results at 36. The doctor was worried he might not get to 50.
Steve started to sweat. His father died at 48 of a heart attack.
The doctor recommended that Steve start exercising, eat better, and get more sleep. Steve promised, but deep down inside, he wasn’t sure he could / would do it.
A week later, his promise to the doctor still loomed.
Steve resolved to try something at least and opened Google. ‘Exercise programs’ yielded four billion results, and for a moment, that felt overwhelming. But his father—who he lost in high school—wouldn’t leave his mind.
Steve picked one of the links and bought an 8-week program. “I can do this,” Steve thought.
The package arrived quickly, but it took Steve five days to open it.
The exercise book’s first step was to warm up—touch your toes. It didn’t go well. As Steve leaned over and reached, his left hamstring cramped, and he fell to the floor in pain, trying to straighten his leg.
He grabbed the book and threw it across the room in frustration.
After a while, Steve got up. The book had landed by a table with Gary’s card on it.
“How did Gary look so good and seem so happy?” He picked up the card, debating whether to call. “What am I so afraid of?” He took out his phone and dialed. The call went to voicemail, and Steve, unfortunately, left an awkward message.
Gary, of course, called back. His concern and encouragement surprised Steve—Gary wanted to talk. Steve took a deep breath and explained everything.
When Steve had finished, Gary shared that he was in a very similar state two years ago. He, too, had health issues and was so stressed at work it almost ruined his marriage.
“Thankfully, I found the answer,” Gary said. “Mentor, Educate, and Nourish—MENs. It’s a mind and body framework with a great member community.”
Gary said he learned of MENs when he reached out to a former colleague for advice, just like Steve had done.
Steve was blown away at Gary’s transformation and the concept of MENs. Gary offered to be Steve’s sponsor if he would join. Of course, Steve said yes.
The next day, Steve received his first MENs email, asking him to answer three very personal questions. After replying, he received a series of additional emails from his MENtors. As he read them, he started to well up with hope.
Fast forward a year, and Steve is 35lbs lighter and has two great checkups at his doctor. He can even touch his toes. That became his mantra—when faced with a challenge, Steve thinks about his toes.
Looking at his phone, Steve notices a new MENs email. He just got matched with a new member who needs financial help.
Steve has become a MENtor too.
The Offer Transition
I hope the story was compelling and sparked some interest in MENs for you, or at least a similar opportunity for things you might struggle with in life.
Now we want to introduce your specific offer through a transition. The dream customer that read the story has seen the offer in action, and now they need to be presented with their opportunity to take action.
Identify the following to use within the transition:
- You or someone else – who is the character of your story?
- Dream customer – who is your dream customer? An entrepreneur, a retired couple, an unhealthy businessman, someone who has trouble dating?
- Material result – what does your dream customer want to achieve? This was part of your modus ponens argument that was part of a past in this series—MENs Story: Pre-Story.
If Your Story is About Your Journey
Your story ended with your personal New Normal. Transition from your success to your offer like this:
Along my journey, I saw many [dream customers] like me, trying to be successful. I soon discovered that the methods that I built for myself could also help them, which was pretty amazing. And to be honest, as much as [the material result your dream customer desires the most] is so wonderful, it is nothing like the feeling of helping [dream customers] do the same. So now, I want as many [dream customers] as possible to take advantage of what I’ve learned, so I’ve created:
Title of Your Offer
Then present your offer’s details.
If Your Story is About One of Your Customer’s Journey (Ex: A Case Study)
Your story ended with your character’s New Normal. Transition from your success to your offer like this:
I am so happy about [your character’s name]’s success. The feeling of helping someone achieve their dreams is just about the best feeling in the world. These methods have helped countless other [dream customers] achieve [the result your dream customer desires the most]. Now, I want as many [dream customers] as possible to take advantage of these methods, in the same way, so I’ve created:
Title of Your Offer
Then present your offer’s details.
MENs Transition
- You or someone else – Steve
- Dream customer – men who need help with their health and wellness
- Material result – better health and wellnes
I am so happy about Steve’s success. The feeling of helping someone achieve their dreams is just about the best feeling in the world. These methods have helped countless other men achieve better health and wellness. Now, I want as many men as possible to take advantage of these methods, in the same way, so I’ve created:
MENs
Conclusion
With a powerful and emotional story connected to an offer transition that highlights your role as a mentor, your dream customers will be compelled to take action on your offer. The only way to get there is with the right story, showcasing how well your offer solves your dream customer’s pains or problems, leading them to achievement and transformation.
Remember, this post is part of a series:
- Introduction – an overview of the process
- Pre-story – a few exercises before you create a story
- Story outline – let’s look at an aspect of the FCL Story Outline Framework
- Write – let’s understand how to write an FCL story
- Final story – one of the story lengths the FCL Framework helps produce (this post)
- Headlines – let’s write some headlines for ads, sales pages, email campaigns, etc.
- Story summary – let’s distill the story down to its essence
Each post will link to the rest, so it will be easy to see the entire process.
Remember, the FCL Framework helps create very specific types of stories—that will make your dream customers see you as their guide and your offers as their path to success.
Ready for the Fire Came Later Framework?
The FCL Framework is the best method for structuring and writing stories that create belief—belief in you as the guide and your offers as the path to their success.
