Hardest Sell: Convincing Folks To Know You When You Give Them No Story.

Facebook connects the world.

Twitter is the pulse of the internet.

Shopify ___________. Can you fill in the blank?

Some folks feel that Shopify is a multilevel marketing company. Is it?

Listen, my aim here is not to pick on Shopify. But because it’s one of the biggest Canadian tech companies, it’s hard not to notice how anemic the efforts of Tobias Lütke, founder and CEO of Shopify, seem to be in mainstreaming Shopify.

I don’t know Tobias. He seems like a smart tech guy. And it also seems like none of Tobias’ bonuses are tied to spreading a great story about Shopify. :(

And that’s sad. Because storytelling matters. A lot.

But not just any storytelling.

You see, the stories that folks in the mainstream love tend to be about aspirational topics born out of mutual interest between themselves and those who are sharing those stories.

Elon Musk gets that.

For example, Tesla is not about wheels, hubcaps, or transmissions. Tesla is about lifting us out of the rubble of a tired past and hyperlooping us into a better future.

Let’s wrap this up with a friendly reminder for Tobias Lütke:

Sometimes a remarkable product/service enters the mainstream with no story.

But for the most part in life, the mainstream things folks tend to love start with a great story.

Nov 25, 2017