150 The Surprising Character in Your Business Story: The Cheerleader
Strategic Storytelling
We've talked about the hero in your story. We had an episode about the villain. And today we're going to talk about the character nobody mentions: the cheerleader. You can't be with the hero all the time, no matter how good you are. The cheerleader helps the heroes achieve their goals by just being there. You as the guide can help the hero find supportive cheerleaders. Sometimes people have to pay for this support, but often that support is available if your client--the hero--knows where to look. Sometimes you show them why it's important. When you help the hero find a cheerleader, you gain...
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149 The Hero in Your Business Story
Strategic Storytelling
In this podcast episode we are going to look at casting the characters in your story. We’ve already talked about the villain. The other characters are the hero, the guide and the cheerleaders. Who is the hero of your story? The hero has a problem. Often it’s a serious problem. Sometimes it's trivial, like a leaky faucet. You have a more dramatic story when the hero has a serious problem that requires steps to solve. You are the guide who solves that problem. We will talk about the guide's role in the next podcast. Here's what we cover and what you will...
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090 How To Craft A Selling Story for Your Small Business
Strategic Storytelling
Do you want to create a story that sells - a selling story? In this episode of Strategic Storytelling, you'll see an example of the way we can transform a "good enough" story into a strong story that delivers sales. The business owner (a financial executive - a corporate controller, to be exact) found a need for a product she could create. She needed a story to get prospective customers involved and motivated. Her first story was not bad...but you'll see what we did to make it even better. In less than ten minutes, you will learn ... ...how to make a good story great...
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069 ENCORE Small Business Branding: Your Brand Is Not Your Beach Towel
Strategic Storytelling
Are you having trouble with branding your business? Maybe you've gotten tired of the whole process. You wonder if you need to bother with branding at all. That's because you may be trying to "brand like the big guys." As a small, service-based business, you can't use the same approach. You'll learn... ...why big companies use brands like a beach towel (and solopreneurs can't) ...why your brand starts AFTER you drop the beach towel and go into the water. ...what you, as a small business, have to communicate when the brand is YOU My book on Amazon: . FREE GUIDE to...
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148 The Villain In Your Business Story: With Guest Michelle Mazur
Strategic Storytelling
In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Michelle Mazur, a message strategist and marketing consultant. Her slogain is, "Make marketing suck less." Let's face it: Most of us didn't go into business to be marketers. But it's something we have to do. It will always suck for a lot of people...but she helps make marketing easier and more fun. Storytelling is one of the ways to make marketing more fun. For Michelle, that's am unusual way. to deal with the client's pain. Instead of magnifying the pain, she suggests we name a villain that the client can fight. You will learn: Why having a villain in...
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115 ENCORE: Business Storytelling: Your Mess Is NOT Your Message
Strategic Storytelling
Business consultants sometimes advise small business owners, especially professional services, "Make your mess your message."
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058 ENCORE: For a simpler path to course creation, begin with a story
Strategic Storytelling
Online course creation has become a major industry. If you're a business owner, your course gives you new opportunities to grow your business, find clients and gain credibility. Designing a course can be challenging. How do you know what to include? How do you figure out how to sequence the modules? Explore a new way to design your course by starting with a story. You'll appeal to more students and have fun with the process. My course on course creation is Use the code COURSE50 for a 50% discount as a thankyou for listening. Free guide: 17 surprising ways to grow your...
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147 Where does your story take place?
Strategic Storytelling
Your story's location may seem trivial or straightforward. "It's a beach story." "One day I was in my home office..." "Mary went home to apartment 3701..." Don't those locations bring a special vibe to your story? The story's location tells a lot about your characters and about you. If Mary lives in apartment 3701, she'll seem different from someone living in apartment 301. She'll seem even more different from someone living on a farm. If she lives in the middle of a city, her whole life will be vastly different from someone living in the suburbs, let alone in the country. If...
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146 A branding story or a Selling Story? 4 Examples
Strategic Storytelling
Branding and selling are very different activities in business. A branding story introduces you to your audience. It tells something about you and how you provide the service. A selling story makes the audience say, "I want what she's having!" In this episode I explain the difference and show that one story can be both. I illustrate with 4 powerful examples of good stories. One story is purely a branding story. The three others establish a brand and also help you sell. Resources: Episode 141: (or why your audience can't follow your story) Episode...
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145 Being Innovative Without Marketing as an Innovator
Strategic Storytelling
It's really important to be innovative in your business. Being innovative is one of the ways people realize you are credible. You've gone beyond the basics to develop your own framework or explain your ideas in a new way. But will you market yourself as an innovator? That's a different question. In this podcast we will ... ...explain the difference between innovation in business and innovation as an archetype ...show examples of business owners who are true innovators vs. those who innovate but brand differently ...explain why you may not want to market as an Innovator. RESOURCES: ...
info_outlineStorytelling has been a big business buzzword for a long time. Small business owners frequently are encouraged, "Learn to tell stories!" or even, "You can't market without storytelling in the 21st century!"
Of course there's a backlash. We're hearing criticism of storytelling. It's fake. Companies use stories to come across as warm and fuzzy when they're cold as ice. People are tired of hearing stories.
There's some truth to those criticisms...and we can learn from them. But...stop telling stories? That's another...story. This episode explains.
Download your free guide to the 3 Common Storytelling Mistakes (and the 1 Fix You Can Apply).
http://cathygoodwin.com/mistake
Episode #22 explains what I mean by "concept story."
For a deeper explanation of concept stories, hero's journey and other stories, look up my book: Grow Your Business One Story At A Time.
Don't forget to subscribe and leave a rating as well as a review. Drop by my website and say hello - http://CathyGoodwin.com