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 research psychologist Barry Staw. You can read his ideas in this article from HBR.

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 question: Why should I hire you and not someone else? 

You don’t need to share your life story. You probably don’t need to share your company’s mission. But if you do, you need to create a context.

 I’ll show you exactly how to frame your story and avoid the most common mistakes of About Pages.

 What you’ll learn in this episode:

• What “likable” means to a prospective client (it’s not the same as being a good friend)
• What story really matters when you write your About Page (and it’s not your life story or origin story)
• Why most websites don’t need a mission statement (and what to write instead)

Resources:

My course on finding your client’s backstory - Click here

My course on “Bragging 101” - How to find your personal brand by telling stories - Click here

My course on “Write your About Page” - Click here

Strategic Intensive - a 2 week sprint to overcome your biggest marketing challenge (which might be writing your About Page) - Click here.

Free webinar recording - Write your About Page with Stories 

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 response to your story

Resources:

Strategic Intensive Program
Background on story archetypes - FREE guide
Understanding your client's backstory - FREE guide

 

This week's episode is an encore presentation. It's designed to introduce new audience members to a podcast they may have missed. And it's one of my favorites!

We rarely associate"productivity" with "storytelling."

But content creation is the biggest driver - and the greatest challenge - of online marketing. Storytelling helps you create more high-converting marketing content more quickly. 
Using your story archetypes helps you know what stories to tell to support your brand. 

Learn how storytelling helps small business marketing (especially for solopreneurs) with creating content, branding, and targeting, with examples and how-tos. You'll see why we no longer think of storytelling as right-brained and productivity as left-brained: they work together to support your marketing strategy. 

You will learn...

...how to use stories to develop and build your brand (and why this method makes you a better marketer)

...what is a client's backstory and why their backstory should be your target (not their demographic)

...how to create more content faster by using stories to set up your structure.  

Don't forget to leave a review and a rating!

More about branding with archetypes: Free report here.

Book on Amazon Kindle: Grow Your Business One Story At A Time
(free with Kindle Unlimited)

Strategic Intensive Consultation

Find your client's backstory: My video self-paced course

 

 

Many service-based entrepreneurs tell me, “My services seem so ordinary! I want to create a sense of excitement among potential clients.”

It’s how lots of small business owners (including me) begin looking at their websites and sales letters.  

That doesn’t mean inventing wild stories or digging into your distant past for inspiration. Any story comes with hidden pitfalls and many people resist getting started.  

We can learn from a unique, creative experiment co-created by an anthropologist and a writer. They transformed ordinary thrift store purchases (none more than $2) into valuable objects that commanded high prices. 

Their secret? Writers were asked to invent stories surrounding each object. 

As business owners, we can learn from their story. 

Of course, business stories must be accurate. You can’t deceive your audience. But you can apply these principles to describe your offer. In fact, that’s what we do in a story that sells.  

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Examples of how stories can transform ordinary objects into valuable treasures (including a close-to-home example from a business owner)
• Qualities of stories that increase the value of ordinary offers (while remaining completely truthful)
• What you get people to say when you tell a selling story (which is why these stories succeeded)

RESOURCES:

My self-paced video course: From Storytelling to Story-selling

My self-paced video course: Brand Your Business With Stories

“Borrow my brain” consultation on storytelling

FREE: 17 Surprising Ways To Use Storytelling For Your Business Growth - Click here.

 

MENTIONED IN THE PODCAST:

Original article about the Halston mug 

 

 

 

“Should I tell this story? I don’t feel comfortable sharing.”

Or

“I *really* feel I should tell this story, even if it makes me uncomfortable."  

If you’re like many of my clients, these questions arise when you’re wondering about sharing a story, especially a personal story. You feel deeply about the topic but you wonder if it’s a good idea to put it out there for all the world to see.  

You have doubts:

• What if the story backfires and makes you look like an idiot? 
• What if the story turns away potential clients who feel that’s TMI? 
• Maybe there’s a better story…but now you wonder if that one’s good, too.
  

Recently I’ve heard expert marketers - people I respect - encourage others to follow their enthusiasm.

If you’re excited, there’s probably a good reason. Don’t let the idea die!  

But others will tell you to slow down. Do the research. Get feedback from colleagues you trust or mentors who will be honest with you.

The truth is, either scenario could be a win for you. You’re being guided by your intuition, which can speak to you in many ways. 

For some business owners, being hesitant to share that story is a big “GO” signal. They tend to resist good things.

For others, being enthusiastic is a “STOP” signal. (I’m one of those!) They tend to jump into something and later wish they hadn’t.

On this episode of the Strategic Storytelling podcast, I’ll give you a new way to think about your decision to share a story…or not. 

 

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• what is intuition (it’s not as trendy as it was a few years ago) 
• how to use your intuition to sort out good vs bad advice
• how to recognize whether that “YES” or “NO” comes from your intuition (or is a false warning that you should ignore)
• why you’ll see business owners win with outrageous stories (and realize why you need to find your own style)

RESOURCES:

• My website - Click here. 
• Amazon ebook on intuition for business and careers - Click here.
• 3 common story mistakes and how to fix them - Click here.
• Storytelling consultation - Click here.

One of the biggest challenges for a business owner is getting seen as a credible expert in your field…even a thought leader in your industry.

Last episode we focused on being seen as an expert. However, not everyone will promote expertise the same way. 

If you’re a Role Model, you want to continue to tell stories that support your promise, “If I can do it, you can do it.” If you’re an Educator, you demonstrate knowledge. You tell different stories.

The one thing you don’t do: you don’t follow the advice to “be vulnerable” when you’re telling a story to promote your expertise. There may be a place for those stories…but not now.

In this episode, you will learn how to promote your expertise within your archetype. You will recognize how other archetypes use stories. It’s not just your story, but the way you tell your story, that builds expertise.

RESOURCES and mentions:

Find your archetype here. FREE checklist.

FREE training to use the archetypes to position yourself as an expert.

Brand with archetypes.  

Podcast with Cindy Bidar (Role Model archetype)

Podcast with Ellen Finkelstein (Role Model)

Cindy  Bidar's Website

Ian Brodie's articles

Connie Ragen Green (product marketing example)

Christina Hills 

Note: Some links are affiliate links. 

 

What’s the one thing you need to demonstrate in order to be seen as valuable…so you charge higher prices and clients feel lucky to work with you? In a service-based business, you’re selling expertise. You’re offering knowledge and skills beyond what “everybody” has. You hire a licensed electrician because a handyman might do the job...but you want to be sure they won't set the place on fire by mistake. You hire a professional decorator because you want someone with flair who adds something to the project…something you couldn’t get from anyone else. Your clients hire you when they see you as an expert. How do you make that happen? You can present credentials and testimonials. You can talk about how long you’ve been in business and point to a list of satisfied clients. But your most effective strategy for presenting yourself as an expert will be the stories you tell. They won’t necessarily be about you or your successes. These stories have specific qualities that communicate, “I know what I’m talking about.” You’ll never have to say that directly. Your audience knows. In this episode, you’ll hear examples of 2 stories from a business book, The End of Average. One story comes from the author; one from an area outside his experience. They position the author as an expert on a topic that’s new. We’ll analyze these stories to explain what makes them successful - and how you can use them in your own marketing to communicate your expertise and authority. MENTIONED: Todd Rose, The End of Average Article: The Flaw of Average RESOURCES: How to create content that establishes you as a credible expert in your field - Self-paced course FREE Report - 17 surprising ways to use stories to market your business - Free with Kindle Unlimited - Grow Your Business One Story At A Time

“Every year I say I’m going to plan better. And it never happens.”

“I make great plans. But I never seem to finish carrying them out.”

“I’m a small business. My brand is ME…which means my planning is all about ME and what I’ll do. All the planning advice seems geared to big business.”

How many times have you said that?

If these scenarios resonate, you’re hardly alone. 

Planning can seem like a useless exercise. We attend planning workshops, make notes on our calendars, match tasks to dates ...and then nothing happens.

But as your business grows, you’ve probably been advised to get serious about planning. And yes, there IS a better way.

In this episode, I share...

...3 reasons why most planning doesn’t work (especially for small businesses)

...3 reasons why storytelling is a surprisingly useful planning tool 

...3 types of stories you can use for realistic planning (with examples)

...Why and how each type of story works 

...How to create a reward that will motivate you through the hard slog

RESOURCES 

The 12-Week Year by Brian Moran and Michael Lennington

Strategic Intensive Consultation for planning your business

90 Days To Complete Your Next Big Thing

Video Course: How to research your client’s backstory (and understand their motivation) 

 

If you liked this episode, don't forget to subscribe! Leave a rating and a review.

 

 

Almost every business coach on the planet will advise you to start telling stories. They’ll encourage you to use storytelling for your blog posts, email messages, and just about any content you create.

Deciding to tell a story is the easy part. Choosing a story that will help grow your business is much more difficult. That’s mostly because you get conflicting advice from different mentors. 

“Go ahead and share,” they’ll say. “Feeling uncomfortable? Get over it.”

Even more, your inbox is filled with emails from all kinds of marketers, each beginning with a story. It’s so easy to decide, “I’m going to create a story like theirs.”

Even worse, you can decide, “I have to stay away from storytelling. I could never tell a story like theirs.”

The truth is, business storytellers need a unique approach. You aren’t trying to sell tickets to a movie. You want to sell your products and services. 

The first thing a successful business storyteller does? They don’t think of themselves as storytellers. They’re business owners. They’re marketing strategists. 

In this podcast, I’ll share 3 essential tips to use storytelling to build your brand and your business. We’ll talk about…

…why you need to frame your stories as a business owner first  

…examples of stories that “stick” in a good and bad way (and why that’s critical to your success)

…why some business owners wish they could take back their stories (and you can avoid having this happen to you) 

This is the one podcast I’m recommending for any entrepreneur who’s decided to add storytelling to the marketing mix. It’s delivered in my usual direct style and guaranteed to rub at least several business owners the wrong way. 

RESOURCES & MENTIONS:

FREE download:  Story Archetypes

Strategic Intensive Consultation - Find the best way to use storytelling, given your archetype and your business. 

Video course: Replace Story-telling with Story-selling - Affordable course (no coupon needed)

Book: Grow your business one story at a time. Ebook on Amazon. 

Book: Intuition for business and career decisions. Ebook on Amazon. 

My website: CathyGoodwin.com

Contact: http://CathyGoodwin.com/contact

You’re a service-based business and the brand is YOU. So how will you keep growing your business while you’re taking some downtime?

For many of us, holidays mean vacation and downtime. We travel. We join family and friends.  You’ll attend special seasonal networking events. 

As a marketer for entrepreneurs, I see this time as an opportunity to make new and exciting connections. The least likely person will offer you a window of opportunity.

If you are a business owner, of course, you take your business with you. As a solopreneur, you ARE the business!

So when people ask, "What do you do?" What can you share with them that will explain what you do, so this will be the beginning of something new?

Often they’re completely clueless about your world. They may think you’ve completely lost your mind. They may wonder, “Why on earth would anyone do that? Who would buy from you?” 

That’s when you really, really need a good story. In this podcast, you’ll get ideas for developing what we call a concept story, with examples.

If you’d like my help in polishing up your own story, please check out the Strategic Intensive program. We will talk about the best way to describe your business and build your brand in a variety of places.

 RESOURCES:

Grow Your Business One Story At A Time is an ebook available on Amazon. You’ll learn more about different kinds of stories to use in business, and discover why business stories are very different from other kinds of stories out there.  

The Strategic Intensive is my most popular consulting program. Get more details here.

Do you have a project that you’d like to finish in 90 days? Click here to learn how I can help you get it done with a combination of marketing, business and accountability.

FREE guide: 3 Common Story Mistakes and the 1 Way To Fix Them. Click here.

When you meet prospects, live or virtually, they often want to know more about you and your services. 

Inevitably, they’ll ask for your website. Research shows 80% of buyers visit a website before making a purchase. 

But what if your website isn’t ready? You may have good reasons for waiting to build a website. In fact, you might (wisely) want to avoid starting too early…before you know your client’s backstory or before you head off on vacation.

Many business owners respond with an “Under Construction” page. That doesn’t do anything to build a following.

On this podcast episode, you’ll walk through 5 steps to develop your brand and your online presence before you build your website. 

You’ll also discover how to calculate the best time to start building your first website or implementing your website makeover.

 You will learn…

• 5 steps to follow when you want to grow your audience before the website is ready
• Signs that it’s not the right time to start a website project
• How to get signups with a special page before you build the website
• Why you need to begin with a domain registered to you (and what can go wrong if you let your developer do this)

RESOURCES

Free training - Write your opt-in page to get more subscribers. Click here.

Earlier podcast: Email marketing with stories. Click here.

Free report: Discover your client’s backstory.  Click here.

Consultation to strategize your marketing: Click here. 

 

A content creator named Kaleigh Moore posted on social media: When working to improve yourself: Is it better to do it in a public forum and post about progress along the way, or to internalize it, hunker down, and sort of *sit down, shut up, and DO THE WORK* on your own?

This is a great question It really boils down to, “How will I tell my story?”

In this episode, you'll discover the pros and cons of sharing your story two ways. 

You can drip your story to your audience in real time. Or you can wait till the end and share your story as an accomplishment.

We'll explore the pros and cons of each choice.

Sharing in real-time will be extremely powerful. You attract and hold your audience's attention. On the other hand, each step of the journey becomes a mini-story. You need to build suspense as you continue.

We'll also look at the factors going into your choice: your brand, archetype and service. Sometimes a story will get in the way of your brand.

Finally, I prefer an alternative type of storytelling, which I'll explain at the end. It's extremely effective and creates a memorable listening experience.

Don't forget to leave a rating and a review!

RESOURCES:

My website - http://CathyGoodwin.com

FREE: Understand story archetypes and discover your own. Click here.

Connie Ragen Green - The Road Trip: An Entrepreneur’s Journey of Self-Discovery
Click here.  A terrific example of sharing a journey in a book targeted to business owners.

Interview with Cindy Bidar - We talked about her moving story. Click here. 

Work with me on your business story - The Strategic Intensive

 

 

When you introduce yourself as a business owner, do you give yourself a title? Or do you jump right in to explain how you serve clients?

Many coaches tell you to skip the title. No need to identify yourself, they say. Clients don't care what you call yourself. They just want to know how you help.

Sounds good, doesn't it?

The truth is, the people sharing this advice most likely established their businesses many years ago. They need no introduction.

When you're introducing yourself on a podcast or attending a networking event, or even writing your About Page, the brand is YOU. You introduce yourself as The Company.

In classic hero’s journey stories the guide just appears. Cinderella’s godmother doesn’t have to explain why she’s there.

She doesn’t have to point out, “I can give you access to the ball. I’ll give you a gown, slippers and a stagecoach. But making small talk with royalty? Dancing gracefully at the ball? Making sure you’ve got all your possessions when you leave? Nope, that’s another type of coach. I’m in the image creation business.”

You, on the other hand, aren’t the only game in town. You’re competing with a handful of other professionals. 

Now let’s say you’re at a networking event. Or you’re a podcast guest. How will you be introduced?

To answer this question and add clarity to your stories, you need to know some basic psychological principles. You'll learn why and how to explain your identity. 

You'll also learn the 3-part introduction that helps you explain clearly who you are and how you help clients. 

Resources:

Build your brand with the Strategic Intensive consultation.

FREE: From story to standout brand. Click here.

Brand with stories course. Click here.

 

How to communicate your value by telling a story.

Stories make it possible to communicate your value without coming across as boastful, obnoxious or unbelievable.

Your story won’t just explain: your listeners will see themselves in the story and exclaim the words you’re waiting for: “I want what they’re having.”

When your story works, you’ll show how you deliver value. When a story falls flat, it’s often because the storyteller skipped to the ending.

Recently I’ve been seeing short overviews that are called “case studies” when they’re not even fully developed stories. The storyteller presents the transformation as a “happily ever after” that was delivered by magic.

In this episode of the Strategic Storytelling podcast, we’re going to show exactly why you lose leads when you share an incomplete story. We’ll walk through two examples to demonstrate how to set up your story for business growth.

You’ve got the information; you just have to add it to your story

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• What’s missing from a lot of stories you see in email campaigns

• Why you need to show your role as “the guide” to be credible 

• How to present a hero who will make your story more relatable 

• Pitfalls of stories that leave out key details

Resources:

The Strategic Intensive Consultation

Ingredients of a Persuasive Story (video self-paced course)

3 common story mistakes (FREE)

 

"Dramatic stories in your emails? Not a good idea!"

That was the advice of a  marketing expert - not me! 

In particular, he said, emails that begin with an edgy dramatic story face two problems.

First, the story can overshadow your informational content. After all, people open your emails to get information and ideas they can use for their lives and their businesses.

Second, and most important, it's hard to relate to someone who comes with such a strong story. So the storyteller doesn't build relationships. Readers don't say, "That could be me!"

So...why do these stories seem to work for some business owners? Why do some apparently successful people keep using them?

Whenever you ask the question, "Why does this work for them and not me?" you almost always find an answer when you explore the story archetypes.

==> If you're not familiar with story archetypes, click here to download a free resource to understand the archetypes and find your own.  

Celebrity archetypes promote their personalities by sharing strong stories. Yet even if you're not a celebrity, anyone can learn from the celebrity approach to marketing. 

In this episode, I share five tips for promoting your personality, based on the way celebrity archetypes communicate. 

You'll also come away with a better understanding of why certain stories work for some business owners...but flops for others.

Resources:

What's Your Archetype? Explanation and Quiz - Click here.

Strategic Intensive Consultation - Click here.

Content for Credibility - Video Course. Click here.

My website. Click here.

 

 

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to grow your business, especially if you are a small, service-based business where you are the brand. 

These days we're hearing a lot about how to use stories to improve your email marketing. There's a lot of nonsense out there, such as "You have to start with a story." But you'll find some good marketers too.

In this podcast episode, you'll get 3 tips for using stories effectively in your emails. You'll get examples of email stories that annoy the reader. You'll also get examples of stories that work. You'll also get a better understanding of what's meant by "personal" stories.

It's one of my shorter podcasts, tightly packed with information. I'm curious to know how you use stories in your emails and how you can use these tips.

This podcast follows Episode 117 where I interviewed Cindy Bidar, a popular and very successful business coach. You can learn more about Cindy here. 

Other resources:

Free guide to the story archetypes.

My flagship consultation program, the Strategic Intensive.

My book, Grow Your Business One Story At A Time (free with Kindle Unlimited)

 

 

 

There's a lot of confusion about branding for small businesses and solopreneurs. Your brand influences the stories you tell, the promises you make, and even the advice you give your clients.

Cindy Bidar has achieved considerable success in a relatively short time frame. Her brand builds on her story archetype - the Role Model.

Cindy didn't set out to brand with this archetype. Very few people even know this framework exists!

But, like many successful businesses, her marketing consistently reflects this archetype. She shares personal stories to support her promise, "If I can do it, you can do it." Her decision to start her business was based on this principle.

You'll enjoy Cindy's warm, down-to-earth style as we dig into her storytelling decisions and reveal how she uses stories to build her marketing success. 

Some highlights from the episode: 

9:23 - how Cindy decides what to share and what to hold back on

11:48. “That’s my sweet spot!"

13:20 - Ask this question when you’re having trouble coming up with ideas for emailing your list (I've never heard this one before)

14:40 - "Best way to write interesting content? Do interesting things.” 

15:30 - Using Julia Cameron’s “artist date” to refill the well

17:15 Deciding what to discuss and not discuss (the key is business alignment)

18:30 - Common story mistakes in email marketing (based on bad advice)

20:20 - What Cindy teaches that's completely in sync with the role model archetype

21:30 - The heart of Cindy’s message about success…”If I could share just one thing…”

24:30 - When Cindy just got started: what was her guiding principle

30:00 - You don't want to hear, "That's not what I signed up for."

32:00 - The Big Takeaway

 

Website: CindyBidar.com

Cindy's Membership Site (I'm a member)

Learn about story archetypes here on this page.

Julia Cameron - The Artist’s Way

Dorie Clark - Entrepreneurial You  

Dorie Clark - The Long Game

Christina Hills 

Connie Ragen Green 

Consultation with Cathy Goodwin: The Strategic Intensive

90-Day "Get It Done" with Cathy Goodwin

When you purchase through my links, I may receive a commission. 

When you're a small service-based business, you are the brand ... and you deliver the value to your clients.

Prospective clients come to you with the question, "Can you really do the job?"

They want to know about you as a person, because you're not a big faceless company. 

If you're a solopreneur, they have to believe in you. You don't come with the implied authority of a big company.

Why are you qualified?  How committed are you? Are you a dilettante, trying things out? Or will you be there for me when I need you?

It's not enough to say, "I'm amazing. Of course, i can help you." In fact, these abstract promises work against you.

In this episode, you'll discover how these questions arise. You'll hear two kinds of stories to answer these questions.

We're not talking about fantasy stories here. We're talking about using stories ethically to promote your services, based on your real skills and talents. 

RESOURCES: 

Podcast episode "Business Credibiity" with Mitchell Levy. 

My online video course, Content for Credibility.
Use the code AUGCRED50 for a 50% discount (expires Sep 20, 2023).

FREE report: 17 Surprising Ways To Use Stories To Grow Your Business