I’ve been building Story Mining for months, taking painstaking care to explicitly lay the groundwork for the underlying concept, build the actual structure and deliver something real and substantive to help survivors of abuse claim their true selves and personal agency. It’s so important to me that Story Mining is perceived as a safe haven and a beacon of hope for women on their journey to themselves. I take the trust women have in me and Story Mining very seriously so I craft every message with careful consideration.
That being said, I also want to capture the attention of women who are looking for guidance and could benefit from what Story Mining offers.
By way of explanation, here’s a story of something I personally encountered earlier this week…
The scene: Late night Facebook. My timeline is full of inspirational quotes, memes and posts by self-improvement enthusiasts, coaches and organizations all of which I’m casually glancing at and scrolling past. Then I come to one video in particular: Full Stop. It was a woman – attractive, likable, seemingly competent – naming “four reasons you might be feeling a certain way” as they appeared one by one in writing on the screen over the video. Two of the reasons landed squarely with me. I could totally relate. She was clearly talking about my personal experience – so I leaned in. She continued, “Click below for “the one question that reveals the pattern driving everything…”
Upon hearing the hook – the invitation to “click and be fixed,” my internal thought process worked, in mere seconds, like this: “I feel seen! Someone understands what I’ve been feeling. I didn’t even have words for it but damn, she just said it and it makes so much sense. It would be so satisfying to finally understand the underlying pattern that makes me feel like that. If I understood, I could fix it, then I’d be happier with myself.”
That’s a lot of emotional processing going on in the flash of a few seconds…
I almost clicked.
Because who doesn’t want to believe that the “answer” that eludes us, the satisfaction we long for, the resolution we seek is just a simple click away? We’re so tired of carrying the burden, the emptiness, the unanswered question… And this person tells me there’s clarity on the other end of the click. Compelling stuff.
But I ultimately resisted clicking. Two things rushed into my mind that simultaneously illuminated and infuriated me…
Thing One: I want to be that relatable to potential Story Mining clients! I want to be that compelling – to stop their scroll and capture their interest immediately. Both the woman in the video and I are trying to attract clients and it’s a very good thing to be able to pinpoint and speak to potential clients in language that resonates. She obviously did that because I did nearly click through – and I aspire to write similarly enticing copy. We’re alike in that way – we know how the mechanics of client acquisition works and it starts with true, razor-sharp verbiage like hers. But that’s where the similarity ends.
Thing Two: Her methodology is fundamentally the opposite of Story Mining. Story Mining’s entire precept is that the “answer” isn’t in one click. There’s not even one question (I even offer seven to ponder) and everyone’s “answer” is different because everyone’s goal is different. To one woman, it may be a new perspective to another, clarity, and to a third, a mindset shift. It would be disingenuous – and inaccurate – to tell women that the “solution” they need is one click away.
I (and many other women) have clicked those kinds of ads lots of times, only to find a hollow answer, more questions, a paywall… Clicking through never solves or answers or quenches. It just scratches a momentary itch, feeds you junk food dressed up as a full meal and ultimately leaves you unserved and still craving the real, substantive solution. I hate that as a business model; I hate that I have fallen for it; I hate that it works.
Yet that doesn’t change the fact that I want to resonate with my audience in the same self-identifying way as this ad did with me…
I had some wrestling to do about this issue because clearly a nerve had been struck. Here’s what I’ve determined…
Story Mining doesn’t just talk about the issue so you can feel seen – it sees you, then guides you toward a method where you can find resolution at your own pace, in your own words, with room to be messy and incomplete for as long as they need to be.
You can build a business on identifying a problem, then string people along promising an endless array of smaller, shallower patches that never fully heal the wound.
Or you can be Story Mining that offers substance, deep reflection and a self-empowering path forward. I know which one I’m proud to be.
In a world of rabbit holes, Story Mining is a destination all its own.
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