I’ve been a Star Wars fan for some time now and really started to become a huge fan in my early teens while playing a Star Wars customizable card game that was similar to Magic the Gathering.
It’s something I’m proud of and the movies (except for episodes 1-3) I would watch over and over again.
It wasn’t until I really started to study marketing that I realized how much the scripts for Star Wars, Harry Potter and just about every other movie were so similar that they were a great tool for marketing a business.
What am I talking about?
The script that Star Wars uses, as well as almost every other movie from Harry Potter to Hunger Games and so many more, is called the Hero’s Journey.
This is a script that has 7 parts to it and not only can it be used to make movies but can be used to tell a story for your business so you can use it in all of your marketing materials.
Let’s dive into each of the parts and how it was used in Star Wars: A New Hope and how it relates to your business and your story.
Meet the Character/Hero
In Star Wars this is Luke Skywalker. He’s the hero and the main character you’re going to follow throughout the movies. When it comes to marketing your business, although you would like to be the hero for your customers or clients, it’s them that are the heros.
In your messaging you will want to position your customers and clients as the hero of the story and as we continue, you’ll see why.
External/Internal Struggle
In Star Wars, these are the struggles we first find out when meeting Luke. His external struggle is wanting to defeat the Empire and his internal struggle is knowing something else is there….later finding out that he wonders if he is in fact a Jedi.
When it comes to your story this could be a number of things. Your internal struggle could be something like impostor syndrome and your external struggle could be wanting to help others but not knowing how to do that.
The sooner you figure this out the sooner you will be able to start creating the momentum in your business that you have been looking for. As you’re looking to solve these problems, this brings us to the next step.
Meeting the Guide
In Star Wars for Luke, he meets Obi-Wan as his guide. A Jedi Master that starts to train him before sending him for further training from Yoda in the next movie.
In your story and in your business, you are the guide, the one that is there to help your customers and clients and show them the way so to speak. You and your business are the Jedi Master and your customers and clients are the young padawans.
Given a Plan
In this part of the journey, Luke finds out some disturbing news about his uncle and aunt and starts on his path with Obi-Wan as they head to Alderaan.
For you and your story, this is where you start to provide value to your audience. I have said it before and I will say it again, the last thing you want to do is spam your audience with links and offers all the time. You want to position yourself as the expert in your industry and the best way to do that is to provide value as much as possible.
Gets a Call To Action (CTA)
In Star Wars, this is when Luke joins Han and Chewbacca and starts his journey to defeat the Empire while learning to become a Jedi when he’s trained by Obi-Wan.
In your story this is the CTA where you take the next step in helping your audience with an offer. For example, if you’ve read the last few blogs we’ve used a CTA for the free Expert Secrets book, another way to provide you with even more value. This is kind of like Obi-Wan telling you about Yoda to continue your training. (That comes in Empire Strikes Back)
Help Avoiding Failure
Although failure is a great way to learn and grow in Star Wars this is where Luke is attacking the Death Star during the trench run. He has help from not only the other pilots but has help from Obi-Wan in the way of telling him to use the force to help with his attack.
This is where, as business owners, we can rely on our network and use tools like Facebook groups to help us avoid failure as well.
Ends in Success
This is the ending of this movie, Star Wars: A New Hope, where Luke destroys the Death Star and defeats the Empire. Along with Han and Chewy they are awarded for their efforts and the movie ends with everyone happy.
For you in your story, this is where you have helped a customer or a client and they leave happy. This is also where you have started to build a relationship with them so they keep coming back…for Empire Strikes Back!
With these 7 steps you can create a great story and use that in all of your marketing materials, podcasts, YouTube videos and so much more!
If you’re ready to have your own guide or even be a guide, we encourage you to get a free copy of Expert Secrets so you can learn more about what we just talked about and so much more.