Social Selling Posts
A selling post tells one true story about the problem your offer solves. The right reader sees themselves in it and knows what to do next.
By James Schramko · Updated November 2026
Most posts that try to sell read like ads. The reader scrolls past. A selling post that works reads like a story first, and the offer sits inside it. PARIS is the format I use for these posts.
This page tells you what a PARIS post is for, when to reach for one and what a good one does. The method itself is something I build with Mentor clients. Monday, write down the one problem your offer solves, in the words a client would use.
What It Is For
Creating social media posts that drive sales to your offer without hype, jargon, or gimmicks. This format builds curiosity, connection, and authority all at once.
When To Reach For It
When you want a strong story-based post. When you want something deeper than tips. When you need to clarify the problem your offer solves.
Use it when a teaching post has done its work and the reader is ready to hear what you sell. Use it when you have a real client story, with permission, that shows the problem and the shift.
What A Good One Looks Like
A reader who has the problem recognises it in the first two lines. The story is short and specific. The shift the client made is clear. The offer is named plainly or left for the next step, and either way the reader knows what you do. The post closes with a question, a nudge or a reflection. It does not always need a sales call to action.
More leads come from connection and clarity.
What To Avoid
Hype words and jargon. A story with no specific detail. Three problems in one post. A hard sell on every post; vary the intensity of the call to action across the week. A client story without the client's permission.
Self-Diagnostic
Read your last five posts that mentioned your offer. Count the ones that opened with the offer. Count the ones with no story in them. Count the ones a stranger could not connect to a problem they have. Each of those asked for the sale before the reader felt understood.
What To Do This Week
Monday, write down the one problem your offer solves, in the words a client would use when they first come to you. Keep it to one sentence. Then find one client story, with permission, that shows that problem and what changed. Hold both ready for your next selling post.
Quick Reference
- A selling post is a story first; the offer sits inside it.
- One problem, one story, one shift per post.
- Close with a question, a nudge or a reflection; a sales call to action is optional.
- No hype, no jargon, no client story without permission.
Selling posts are one post type. The others and the places they go have their own pages: Four Beats Every Social Post Needs, Signal Surge, Authority Comments and LinkedIn Format Discipline.
Want the PARIS method built around your own offer and your own client stories? That is the kind of work I do with Mentor clients.