I selected this article from copyblogger because it delivers, it's simple, straightforward and right on the money!

Here's an excerpt:

"I believe a story can potentially carry the entire sale for your product, even if everything else is technically “wrong” in your ads

** no clear call to action

**lame bullets

**weak offer

For example:

"Nothing in the movie "Top Gun" told you to buy Maverick’s brand of sunglasses or join The US Navy. Yet, the movie “sold” both products to hordes of people.

**So, how do you apply this to your marketing?

1.  The personal story

This is one of the most common landing page stories.

**This one is simple — you just “walk” people (step-by-step) through a painful problem you went through and how you achieved the result your readers are looking for.

2. The historical story

**This kind of story is extremely persuasive, contains nothing even remotely resembling “hype,” and can persuade people to buy things they otherwise might ignore.

3. The “meet the guru” story

**This one is related to the personal story, but it’s got more “pop” due the built-in credibility it gives you.

**These suggestions have proven to produce results, he gives more examples......

Curated by Jan Gordon covering "Storytelling, Social Media and Beyond"

Read full article here:  [http://bit.ly/yVmlNV]

**** Recently appalled at how little copy was on maor ecommerce sites I was reviewing this articles seems prescient and important. Marty