How to Escape Your Deadly Graduation Ceremony

Arthur couldn’t stand it any longer.

What was everyone’s problem? His novels were superb. They had action, life, and love plots. Why did everyone hate them?

They kept criticizing him, and they wouldn’t stop. The hate letters poured in the mail. Cramped, hand-written letters complaining about his latest novels. They scrawled on and on…

There was a common thread in them too, Arthur noticed. They said he was repeating his old novels with slightly new characters, the only difference being the newer plots were actually inferior. They said he’d burned through his best ideas, and it was time he stopped. His job on this earth was finished, and they wanted him to acknowledge that.

It was downright depressing.

Arthur Conan Doyle never outlived his criticism. He died with his latest works largely unappreciated. Even to this day, his early Sherlock Holmes series dominates the public attention.

If you’re a writer, this could happen to you too.

Eventually, you’re going to run out of things to say.

That’s not because you aren’t smart. It’s not because you don’t know your topic like the back of your hand.

Not at all. It’s because there’s only so much to talk about. Eventually, you’re going to exhaust your field of expertise.

Don’t feel bad. This happens to universities too. After four years’ talking, they run out of things to say – and their students graduate.

Regardless of how infrequently you blog, you’re eventually going to run out of fodder. The day’s coming when you’ll publish your last post you’re capable of writing.

Does this mean all of your readers will graduate and unsubscribe? Yes, it certainly does. They’ll all get their degree and leave. Your Feedburner stats will go down to flat zero.

How did this happen? Were you a failure? Nope, you simply ran out of things to say. It wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t help it. Nothing you could do about it.

But wait! There’s a solution.

You can escape your deadly graduation ceremony.

Chances are, you’ve worried about this issue before. I haven’t told you anything new. All I’ve done is confirm your worst suspicions.

In fact, I’m talking about an old issue. This problem has existed long before the Internet. Conan Doyle – the great literary genius – faced this.

If you’re blog’s going to survive the four-year mark, you’re going to have to cover the same ground you’ve already taught. It’s kind of like putting your subscribers back into freshman after they graduate.

Ouch! That sounds like a really, really bad idea, doesn’t it? Is that really going to save your blog?

Yes it will, if you do it right.

What if you give the same lesson you gave six months ago, but this time you tuck an engaging story with it? Suddenly your drowsy readers in their senior year of subscribing perk up. They rub their eyes and look again.

Can they believe their MacBook? They’d read and understood this concept before, but this time it’s somehow more interesting. They actually engage and connect with it.

I mean, did you notice how this post began? It began with a story.

As your business continues to develop on a daily basis, you interact and grow with your experience. You talk to people. You see things. You live stories.

Use them.

They’re the lifeblood of your blog. When you tell stories, you earn the right to repeat territory that already sits in your archives.

If you think your stories are boring, think again. The most boring story is really exciting if you tell it properly. Just look at this story I wrote of a small guitar recital. You can make a chat over a coffee break sound epic.

As a copywriter, you’re a storyteller. Use stories to sell and keep your audience engaged.

Are you telling stories?