After a few years of doing OK with my marketing, I tried something that worked unexpectedly well. Way, way better than I thought.

Honestly, I fell into it by accident. I basically ran out of ideas for the regular emails I was doing.

I'd written a whole “soup to nuts” series covering all they key aspects of marketing and sales for service businesses. At the end of the series I was basically worn out. No more ideas.

I dredged my brain for something I could use that might be useful for people to hear and I came up with zip. Nada.

Then eventually I remembered an incident that had happened a few years earlier. No huge marketing insights, just an important lesson for me about grasping the nettle when you really want to get something done.

I called the email “So, are you going to do this?”.

It was a very personal story and frankly I was really worried when I sent it out. I thought that because it didn't have tons of details marketing tips in it that people would get cross or feel cheated.

I needn't have worried.

The exact reverse happened. I started getting all sorts of email replies from people saying they'd had the exact same experience, or how much of an impact the message had on them.

It's happened time and time again. My simple, story based emails based on my own experience get the best results.

I still use the “Are you going to do this?” email today and it still gets great results.

Being open. Sharing things that mean something to you (while being useful to your readers at the same time, of course). These things build a closer bond to your audience. They build trust.

And recent research shows they enhance learning too.

So if you want to magnify the results of your marketing: be brave and bring more of yourself into your marketing. Say what you feel and think. Share personal stories.

Now you can't just be self indulgent. Each of your stories has to also include a nugget of useful information for your audience. But a small nugget wrapped in a personal story has much more impact that a huge list of tips written without the personal connection.

Try it