The entrepreneur’s challenge is to effectively communicate their value proposition, not only to customers, but also to vendors, partners, investors, and their own team. Especially for technical founders, this is normally all about presenting impressive facts. But in reality facts only go so far. Stories often work better, because humans don’t always make rational decisions. […]
Storytelling
What’s Your Story? Did Someone Else Create It?
It is an old warning in the entertainment industry. Define your persona the way you want others to view you—before someone else defines you by comparing you to someone not as flattering as you would like. Sometimes you win when others define your story I have a friend in the music business who worked hard […]
Prospects Want to Hear Your Story Before They Hear Your Pitch
I’m not an independent television producer, but I would wager that right now the holy grail among TV people is to produce a show that turns into a binge-watching sensation on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, or one of the other up-and-coming video streaming services. To me, the binge-watching phenomenon puts an exclamation mark on a recent […]
Storytelling Through Packaging: How to Tell Your Brand Story
What’s more important; the product or the packaging? Tell your brand story in a totally unique way. When you envisage storytelling, you’ll think of words on a screen or pictures on a page. It may be fictional or anecdotal, but either way, it’s a process. It’s a way of expressing how different events unfold and […]
5 Ways to Build Your Small Business Brand with Engaging Stories and Watch It Grow
Local small businesses need publicity too, even with a non-existent budget. The good news is, branding opportunities are abundant both online and offline. All you need is to write and tell engaging stories. And if you think you can’t write, don’t be too hard on yourself. New technologies can make a huge difference. In this […]
CMOs: Are You Torn Between Storytelling and Driving Growth?
A new study from the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and Deloitte, surveying close to 200 chief marketers worldwide, revealed many CMOs are still focused on the traditional storytelling aspect of their position and are less comfortable with aspects associated with driving growth, including acting as revenue science practitioners and customer experience architects. According to […]
The Case Against Storytelling in Content Marketing
My industry colleague and friend, Douglas Karr, inspired me to take on this topic. It’s been a subject of conversation I’ve had for a number of years at conferences and industry events. He poignantly points out, “That Not Every Content Strategy Needs a Story” and I wholeheartedly agree with him. He makes a very poignant case […]
5 Steps to a Compelling Story for Business Proposals
If you are proposing a merger or acquisition, or simply seeking an investor for your business, the process is the same. You have to put together a convincing story of a win-win opportunity for both sides. This may seem intuitively obvious, but as an angel investor, I have heard hundreds of new business pitches that […]
4 Powerful Ways to Use the Art of Storytelling
I was in the middle of my presentation. Before me was a stadium full of people I barely knew. Then something happened. It is what all speakers dread. My slides disappeared from the big screen behind me. Gone……. And they never came back. It was a moment that all speakers hope will never happen. But […]
How to Write Your Brand Story from the Heart
It’s called a brand story but all it really is a shorthand way of describing the most important parts of your business. A brand story just means what inspired you to set up your business, why it exists in the world and what real problem it solves for your customers. People buy from people. And people […]
