What's your story?

It All Begins With the Right Story

By Daren Hogge

I’ve been involved in the industry for a number of years and I'm fascinated by seeing the ways that the granddaddy companies that have been around for decades are different from the ones that are brand new.

To me it all goes back to how businesses start and how they gather their thoughts in a very short period. I started off with one of the granddaddies and was fascinated to hear the story of how the company started and how it had to change direction.

Even way back then it got me thinking about how having a story of your company’s foundation is critical to share with those who are considering joining the firm so they can gain the lifestyle that they're seeking. This industry is based first and foremost on a hope that the company you have decided to go with will have a culture that matches your own and will allow you to attain your goals.   

If you are a brand new company starting out, you can use a story that says, “We're brand new so come join us because it's a brand new opportunity.” Unfortunately, that lasts for about a week in this industry because a week later there's 15 new companies using that exact same mantra. You have go to distinguish yourself form the hundreds of companies that start up every year as to why your company is the one they should join. 

At Q Sciences we have a nutrition product that's been helping people for 18 years. The gentleman who formulated the product had a story of how it impacted his life, the lives of each one of his children. That story spread and ultimately was featured on a television show. 

One thing that is absolutely critical as you develop your own story -- it must be based on fact, truth and other elements that people can rely on. We are past the years when a company would offer a lot of superlatives that people either didn't check or didn't have the ability to check. Now everyone has the Internet and Google and can basically find out the truth very quickly

A company that puts out a false or misleading story will suffer either by not being able to recruit the kind of people they seek or having people join and then depart.  And when they flee, they start to tell people about the falsehoods and scare them away. 

Your story needs to be based on a vision. It needs to be based on an experience that has allowed people to benefit either with wealth or health. As you are going forward, sometimes your story must project where the future is taking you. You should say that your company is going to help these people; how it’s going to help them; and why it's going to help them.

Really we talk in the industry to the network marketers – or what we call independent business owners in our company – about how really you get paid to go out and share your story.  The more you share your story, the more likely your business will grow because people are attracted to it.  They want to relate to somebody in a similar situation to themselves. They want to know that the pain or the goal that they're going for has been achieved by another person. And the best way to communicate that in our business is person-to-person – by sharing with them the story that got them to this particular place. 

It's interesting to me how many times people who don't develop their own story are easily swayed when somebody comes up to them and says “I don't really don’t know if you believe that” or “you're just out there trying to make money.”

 Remember, too, that if your story carries weight for you personally then you begin to attract people because when you have that belief that in turn gives you confidence.  And from confidence you'll be able to go start coaching others to duplicate what you have been doing to get in the position you have attained.

Many times people talk about a job or a career or what we call a cause.  And sometimes people will look at a job sometimes as a chore. If you can look at your work and tell your story as though you were involved in a calling or a mission, then no matter how hard the day is they'll be able to take their mission forward and that mission will be the result in an experience and then that experience translates into a story that they're able to share. 

Go out and share a story.  Tell the truth based on fact, based on emotion and you'll do very well in this industry.

Daren Hogge is Founder, President and CEO of Q Sciences.