Since “Finding and Telling Stories” topped our list of content creators concerns, I’ve been looking for an example that explains how to both find and tell a business story.

I found my example in the form of a recent blog post by Doug Kaye called Salvaging the Shoot. Please take a few minutes to read the short, 488 word post before reading any farther.

I love this post because it has all of the elements of a business story: protagonist, antagonist, minor characters, success, and failure. It even has a cliffhanger ending.

Story Summary

Our hero, Doug, is on a quest to capture the perfect image of the San Francisco skyline with the moon rising behind it.

Protagonist: Photographer Doug

The opening line tells us everything that we need to know about our hero:

• His goal is “ … to get the shot.”



• This isn’t the first time he’s done something like this. He’s obsessed.

Have you ever been so obsessed with achieving a goal that you did crazy things in order to make it happen, even with no guarantee of success? Our motivations, goals, and need to achieve in the face of adversity form the stuff that make great stories.

Minor characters: Skyline, Moon, The Photographer’s Ephemeris

This story has three minor characters: the San Francisco skyline, the moon, and a software product called The Photographer’s Ephemeris. The moon and the skyline are the objects our hero must acquire. The software is the tool that helps our hero pursue his quest.

Antagonist: Mother Nature

But even if our hero is perfectly situated at precisely the right time, he still has no guarantee of success. Will it be cloudy? Will fog or haze obscure his view? Will these impediments conspire to make our hero fail in his quest?

The most powerful storytelling lesson contained in this post is how the product, The Photographer’s Ephemeris, is represented as a minor character as opposed to the conventional marketing wisdom to make it the hero. Product as a minor character allows the storyteller some freedom in revealing facts. For example, since two out of three other photographers converged onto the same location through its use, the storyteller has an easy way to add third-party credibility into the story.

And lastly, the story shows how failed attempts create opportunities for serial content. Although the product worked flawlessly, Doug still failed in his quest, leaving the storyteller with two options:

• If the hero gives up, the story is a tragedy.



• But if he carries on in spite of his failure, missing the shot is merely a second-act setback that can be used later to make his future achievement much more satisfying. And as an added bonus, since the post ends without resolution, readers may be compelled to check back on the hero’s progress.

The easiest story for marketers to tell starts with their product as the successful hero. But before taking the easy route, consider your product as a minor character that helps customers (the heroes) achieve their quests. Put another way, when writing a story, ask the following question:

Is our product King Arthur or Excalibur?