Over 25 years ago, we wrote our first book called Persuasive Online Copywriting. It was the business card packaged as a book to help people understand the value of increasing conversions. Back then, people didn’t take words seriously. They still believed marketing was about fonts, flash intros, and button colors. I knew better. I had seen it firsthand. The right words, spoken to the right person at the right moment, could change everything.
Today, as I release I Think I Swallowed an Elephant: The Stories We Sell, the Success We Build, that truth hasn’t faded. It’s only grown louder.
Words don’t just describe our reality. They shape it.
I’ve seen businesses double or triple conversions by changing just a few words. I’ve seen relationships strain under the weight of the wrong story. I’ve watched people stay stuck for years, not because of ability, but because of the phrases they repeat to themselves.
Every one of us lives inside a story. Customers, leaders, founders, parents, students, and entrepreneurs. Whether we see it or not, our choices are driven by the narratives we believe.
Story isn’t just part of persuasion. It is persuasion. That’s not marketing speak. It’s neuroscience. The emotional centers of our brain process meaning before facts. The logical brain can justify, but it never leads.
That’s why the most persuasive copy doesn’t try to be smart. It tries to be felt. It doesn’t talk at people. It speaks to them.
That belief is what led to Elephant. Yes, it’s a story about my health journey. But it’s also a business story. A belief story. A story about reclaiming alignment. After decades helping companies sell billions, I found myself needing to rewrite my own narrative.
“I can’t” became “I haven’t yet.”
“This always happens to me” became “What is this trying to teach me?”
Tiny shifts. But massive momentum.
So ask yourself:
What story are you living in?
What story are your customers buying into?
And most of all, are those stories leading anyone closer to a better future?
This isn’t just a book about selling more.
It’s about seeing more clearly.
Because once you change the story, you change the result.
Sometimes, all it takes is a few different words.
Let’s write a better one.
One bite at a time.
