I think you’ll agree with me that online survival is survival of the fittest brand story.

After all, content is king, right?

And as we are hardwired to seek out, share and buy into great stories, it’s vital that you tell a great story.

A story with a killer hook.

A story with rich pedigree or punky bite.

A story that taps right down into shared values and aspirations.

An emotionally charged story that talks to you and you alone.

That reveals something new about yourself or the world around you.

But here’s the thing: Every brand story is a cover story.

A cover story cunningly designed to mask a sales funnel.

I know: Sales funnel.

Sounds like something right out of an MBS class.

And it is.

And you know what, it works.

You see, brands don’t tell stories, they sell stories.

And you — dear reader/customer — are the often more than willing mark.

And so long as you don’t break the spell of suspended disbelief and realise that you are just being sold to all along, brand stories imperceptibly entwined with sales funnels are blockbuster material.

Now, I know that right now you’re thinking:

“Sure, brands tell us — or sell us — great stories, and in return we grow to like them and feel a connection with them — which in turn makes us more willing to buy into them on both an emotional and financial level.”

Yes. It is a trade.

And the brands with the storytelling — sorry, storyselling magic — think Apple, Nike, Airbnb and even the lone ranger fanatical entrepreneurs like the Fit To Fat To Fit guy — make that trade so easy that we don’t question the fact that it is a trade at all.

Think of it another way before we get really going: think of all those times you’ve encountered a new brand and:

Found it impossible to understand what their brand story is or got part way into engaging with their brand story when you got hit by a freight train of a sales pitch so awkward that you got out of Dodge?

Blending artful storyselling with sales funnel science is a trick few pull off.

But if you get your #storyselling sales funnel straight, backed up by your irresistible offer, you have a winning — unbeatable — combo.

Clients (as readers) will flow over to you almost automatically.

Business opportunities and deals will land on your lap.

Brand evangelists will share your story from the rooftops (whilst making your brand story part of their own).

For want of a better phrase, you’ll become The Only Story in Town. (If you want that as a formula, you’ll find a link at the end.)

And so long as you keep telling — selling! — that story, you’ll rake it in.

(Remember though: keep reinventing yourself or your business will be less Bowie and more Stone Roses, awesome though their debut was).

Okay, I hear you.

You get it.

More, you want to re-design your website right now with the very goal of selling a great brand story (with its own inbuilt James Bond style secret sales funnel).

How do you evaluate which designer or agency gun to hire?

Because, in my humble opinion:

Most Website Designers Don’t Get Storyselling.

Nevermind storyselling sales funnels.

Sure, they might — might — read your content and they might — might — have a good idea on how to tart up your About Us/Me page.

And they might have a firm grasp of the value of publishing great 10x content and understand the art of web typography.

And I’m not going to argue with that as the barest minimum starting point.

But here’s the deal:

As invaluable as all these skills are — and believe me you get what you pay for — the site they create might look nice, read well — we’ll take it as given that your content rocks — but all of this will still FAIL if everything isn’t designed to funnel the audience into making a sale.

Because as I keep stressing to you: telling a great story isn’t the same as selling a great story.

And the difference is HUGE.