084 How to avoid 3 content creation mistakes that give new meaning to the term "cringeworthy"
Release Date: 12/26/2022
140 How to Use Stories to Teach Without Being Preachy
Strategic Storytelling
So you've got something to teach people. You're the only one...or one of the few. But your audience isn't stupid. They know a lot already. Who likes being treated like a child...especially a stupid child? Who likes being treated like a newbie when you're not? In this episode of Strategic Storytelling, I'll show you three ways to use stories to get past the barrier. Instead of saying "you should do this," you can tell a story There's at least 3 ways to use stories to make your point: as examples, as a step-by-step story, and as a novelistic story you made up. They're all...
info_outline
138 Get profitable testimonials with storytelling
Strategic Storytelling
“I have many happy clients. How can I get them to share testimonials?" That’s what my reader asked me when I was looking for new applications for. telling stories. It's a complaint I hear from other service business owners too. Let's face it: if you're a small, service-based business, you need credibility. Nobody wants to be your first client! In this episode of the Strategic Storytelling podcast, I share the reasons people don't leave good testimonials. It'll help you navigate the challenge more easily. Let's face it: writing a good testimonial is almost as hard...
info_outline
136 Are you telling stories to yourself?
Strategic Storytelling
There’s something appealing about telling stories. We all want to talk about what happened to us..especially the bad parts. But when you're writing for business, it's important to tell your story only when you have a purpose for that particular story. Too many people write stories for validation. They say, "My cat died. Here's how I feel." Or they say the business hit a wall. Here's what happened" There's a place to write about your business. Psychologists talk about it all the time. It's as effective (at least for some) as a therapy session. That's not what I'm...
info_outline
136 The Celebrity Archetype: Are you a fan?
Strategic Storytelling
Of the five archetypes I've identified, the Celebrity holds greatest awe and power. ***If you're new to my community, you can download a free report featuring the five archtypes Think of Taylor Swift and think of those folks in People magazine. We don't want to BE a Celebrity, but we can learn from Celebrities. It's no accident that real celebrities tend to be spokespeople for all kinds of brands. So now let's look at business. Chances are you'll meet a celebrity somewhere along your business journey. You'll be tempted to use them as examples along the way. But the truth is,...
info_outline
135 Why you can be passionate in what you do...but you're not a passionate advocate
Strategic Storytelling
As you know, I've got five story archetypes for basic branding for small, service-based businesses. You can learn more about them I talk a lot about the most common archetypes - the Role Model and Educator, and sometimes the Innovator. But I rarely talk about Celebrities or Passionate Advocates...with good reason. You feel, "I'm already passionate about my work!" But that doesn't mean you're a true Passionate Advocate. Advocates set limits on what they do. They have to be hard-nosed about it or they'll run out of time. Worse, their clients expect perfection, which they can never deliver....
info_outline
134 Pull-the-plug stories: What happens if you quit?
Strategic Storytelling
We have lots of stories of celebration, where people talk about their wins. What we need are more stories of pulling the plug. For example, in this episode I talk about someone who decided not to get a drivers license. In a typical story, she'd try and try to pass the test. She'd spend hours studying. But in this story the woman decides she won't bother. She'll move to a city where she can take a car or just ride public transit or even walk. A variation of this story is a "you can go home again" story. You can quit and then go back. The original idea for this story comes from...
info_outline
133 Use storytelling to build a client-attracting About Page: 3 Tips
Strategic Storytelling
If you’re a service based solopreneur, entrepreneur or independent professional, your brand is YOU. Your About Page will be critical to your online success. And yet, if you’re like most business owners, you’ll tell me the About Page is the most difficult page to write for your website. That’s because most people hate to talk about themselves. And business owners are people! It’s easy to feel like you’re boasting. It’s common to wonder, “Will I come across as an obnoxious jerk?” The truth is, your About Page isn’t about you. Your About Page answers the client’s...
info_outline
132 Business Storytelling: 3 Business Stories You Don't Share With Your Clients
Strategic Storytelling
When we think of business storytelling, most business owners think of stories as a way to relate to clients - and certainly I encourage that direction. You can use stories to engage clients, explain a complex offer, communicate your value, and much, much more. In this episode, we’re going to talk about another way to use storytelling. We look at 3 ways to use stories to help plan your next steps and develop your strategy. These stories help grow your business, but you rarely share them with your clients. RESOURCES: Enter the conversation in your clients'...
info_outline
131 Numbers Make Stories Come Alive (Or Raise Questions About the Storyteller)
Strategic Storytelling
Numbers make stories more vivid. When we say, "Apartment 101," you may get a picture in your mind of the door with the number. But there's a downside. When you use numbers to suggest how you value something, your audience will be judging you. They assign their ow values to every story. In this episode you will learn... ...how the vividness of numbers makes your story more clear (and how that can be a downside) ...how casual references to certain details will send a message to your audience (and it may not be the message you want them to hear) ...how context will be important to your audience's...
info_outline
042 ENCORE: How Storytelling Makes Your Small Business Marketing More Productive in 3 Ways
Strategic Storytelling
Content creation is the biggest challenge of online marketing. Storytelling helps you create more effective marketing content more quickly.
info_outlineGo through your inbox and you’ll find yourself responding to messages with, “I bet whoever wrote this is blushing beet red by now. The word ‘cringeworthy’ was designed for this.”
We’ve all made at least one cringe-creating mistake and I bet you’ve seen plenty of examples, too.
In my experience, these mistakes don’t happen because business owners don’t know any better. The problem is, we get busy and we take good advice out of context. We apply a piece of advice that’s great for someone else’s marketing story archetype…but dangerous to ours.
We’re encouraged to knock out a blog post in fifteen minutes or less. I’m a pretty fast writer but I make cringeworthy mistakes when I do that. I have to review…and review again.
We’re told to begin with a story of something embarrassing so we appear vulnerable. Who can forget that email about the person who lost their underwear at an inopportune moment?
We’re told to be controversial. Take a stand. Criticize your industry. Take aim at the competition. We’re not warned, “But don’t come across like a victim.”
We’re told, “Don’t give away the store. Don’t share too much.” We’re not warned, “Don’t leave your audience thinking you’re a scam artist.”
In the right context, each piece of advice can be extremely useful.
If you’re a Role Model Archetype, you’ll share your own struggles – more accurately, how you conquered those struggles to become a success.
If you’re a Celebrity archetype you’re probably not reading this email…but you can get away with a lot. Celebrities attract passionately loyal followers who want them to be outrageous.
Celebrity archetypes can get away with a lot…and Role Models are next. If you’re not familiar with story archetypes, download this free guide.
On this podcast, you won’t just learn about mistakes. (That would be mistake #3). You’ll discover how to fix them…especially the third: you’ll find a rare example of how to turn snark into strategy.
More mistakes? Look up Podcast Episode #81 on networking mistakes.
Apple
Spotify
Your favorite platform
Learn more about storytelling when you visit my website and purchase my kindle book: Grow Your Business One Story At A Time.