Stories
Stories — Miles Mortensen (ISOM)
Catalogue of stories worth retelling. Origin moments, transformation moments, signature anecdotes, customer journey stories, anti-stories. Reusable currency across email broadcasts, ad creative, sales pages, podcasts, organic content.
Purpose
Stories are the single most reusable asset in marketing. The same origin story can anchor an email broadcast, a podcast intro, a Reel voiceover, a sales page section, and an ad script — but only if it's been captured well once and lives somewhere accessible. Without a stories file, stories live in call transcripts and Slack threads and never get used.
How to populate
Sources to mine:
- Sales call recordings (gold standard)
- Client interviews and podcast appearances
- DM threads where the client tells a story to a buyer
- Client's existing content (some great stories are already in their feed)
- Customer interviews and review videos
What good looks like: each story captured with: a one-line summary, the long-form text or transcript link, the emotional beat it hits, the angle types it fits, and the places it's been used (to avoid burning it out in one channel).
Update: rolling. Anyone on the account drops a new story here whenever they hear one. Tag with date heard so it's easy to find recent material.
Story Index
| # | Story | Type | Emotional Beat | Date Captured | Used In |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [TO POPULATE] | Origin / Transformation / Signature / Customer / Anti |
Story Types
- Origin stories — how the client got into this, the founding moment
- Transformation stories — before/after, theirs or a customer's
- Signature moments — the one anecdote they're known for, the line they're quoted on
- Customer stories — a specific buyer's journey, named
- Anti-stories — what the client isn't, what they pushed back on, what they refused to do
Stories
Story 01 — [ONE-LINE TITLE]
Type: [Origin / Transformation / Signature / Customer / Anti]
Date captured: [TO POPULATE]
Source: [Call link / transcript / interview]
Emotional beat: [TO POPULATE]
Best for angle types: [TO POPULATE]
Where used so far: [TO POPULATE]
Long form:
[TO POPULATE — verbatim if from a transcript, or the cleaned-up version if from rough notes. Keep voice intact.]
Hook variants (3-5 ways to open with this story):
[TO POPULATE][TO POPULATE]
[Duplicate per story. Aim for 10-20 stories minimum once the client engagement matures. Each one earns its place by being reusable across at least two channels.]
Related
- Dossier Index
- Avatars — Section 7 Language & Voice should match the voice in these stories
- Craft Offer — stories feed offer enhancement narratives
- Proof — customer stories often double as proof
- Creatives — story-driven ad creative