Welcome to the Story Bistro blog!
Our most recent posts have been cued up for your enjoyment. This month, our focus is on blooming and deepening our online relationships.
(See the footer at the bottom of this page to browse by category.)
How to Attract Your Perfect Customers (and Keep Them Coming Back for More)
What was the last purchase you absolutely loved? See it in your mind's eye. Feel the feelings (again) of finding it, buying it, using it. I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours... For me, one of the best ways to spend money is at my local Farmers' Market. It's not...
read moreA Surprising Way to Fix the Drawbacks of Digital Marketing (and Find New Clients)
I have a confession. I used to think I was an extrovert. After all, I've never had qualms about speaking in public. I've never felt anxiety around being the new kid in the room. And there was a time in my self-employed career when I was sure that my perfect job would...
read moreUncorked: Holly Higbee-Jansen Leads Landscape Photography Adventures
Welcome to our bi-monthly series: Corkers Uncorked. These are some of my most treasured interviews -- mostly because I get to know my readers (you!) on a whole different level. We focus on your astounding biz-related superpowers and origin stories. Bonus: you get to...
read moreThe Crowd Sale Experiment Concludes (What I Learned and Will This Work For You?)
Note: This post is Part 2 in the series. Read Part 1 here. How well did the Crowd Sale work for our Tarotic Story Prompts Deck? The results are in. In one week, we sold a total of 53 decks. (If you'd like to buy one now, you can do that here.) How did that happen?...
read more11 Tips for Making Your Brand a Word-of-Mouth Superstar
11 Pipers Piping! It’s Day 11 of the 12 Days of Branding. If you missed any of the series thus far, you can find them here. In today’s installment we look at what needs to happen in order to get people talking about your brand. If you know me at all, you know that I'm...
read moreHow to Keep Bears from Eating Your Business
If you've ever been camping in bear country, you know the drill. Lock up your food. Keep your trash safely stowed. And for cryin-out-loud, don't feed the bears! When it comes to your business, it's also a wise idea to safeguard something important: your values. Why?...
read moreThe Un-Sexy Side of Internet Marketing
These days, most of us would agree that in order to do business and market ourselves properly, you need a website. A digital space that belongs just to you. (Not to Facebook, or Tumblr or even WordPress.com -- for reasons that my friend Annie so beautifully explains.)...
read moreThis Week’s Marketing Dish: Beef Stew
Gloria Miele, a small biz coach from Camarillo, CA, emailed this week’s suggestion while she was cooking up a pot of beef stew over the holidays. Here's what she had to say: Most of the women in my family make stew this way (with some variation, like deglazing the pan...
read moreThis Week’s Marketing Dish: Spaghetti & Meatballs
Tina Robbins, a "core spirit" life coach from Denver, CO, emailed this week’s suggestion. Here’s what she had to say: Spaghetti and meatballs is one of my go-to comfort foods. There's something about the richness of the meatballs and the noodly pasta goodness that is...
read moreDoctor Who’s Favorite (Marketing) Dish: Fish Fingers and Custard!
"New mouth, New rules!" -- The Doctor Worried that your marketing sounds a lot like everyone else's? It happens. To the best of us! Usually because we're too insecure to throw away those sales page blueprints and email templates and create our own path. We're afraid...
read moreHow to Get 5-Star Referrals From Your Peers and Colleagues
Most of the advice out there about referrals is related to your customers (i.e., getting them to send you new ones.) In short, make them happy and they'll want to tell their friends about you. But you can also get some fabulous referrals from your peers and colleagues...
read moreCase Study: Creating an About Page that Works
Did you know that your About Page is one of your website's most important tools? For some of us, it's probably one of THE most-visited pages on the entire site. And that's because people want to know who they're about to do business with. Are you trustworthy? Do you...
read moreA Business Storytelling Manifesto
This isn't just another bandwagon. This is truly important stuff. Especially if you're a mission-driven entrepreneur who has some world-changing ideas, products, or services. You know that business IS personal. That it SHOULD be personal. How else will we ever fix...
read moreLizard Brain Much? How to Blog When Everything You Write Sucks, Nobody Reads or Comments, and You Feel Like a Failure
This might surprise you, but not everyone enjoys the process of blogging. Even those who write for a living! I've had clients whose main source of income was freelance writing tell me "I hate blogging." And others who've even written and published entire books ask me,...
read moreYour Business is Like an Artichoke
Have you ever been seduced by a vegetable? I have. And her name is Artichoke. What is it about her that draws me in? She's beautiful, sensual and earthy all at once. She has hidden mysteries, layers of "meaty" stories, and a delicious interior that can only be...
read moreSurprising Advice for Honing Your Storytelling and Blogging Skills
Have you seen the above rules before? It's super-smart advice! [Get more writing and content marketing tips from Copyblogger.] Here's Step #11: Don't Write in a Vacuum. It's simple: if you want to get better -- no matter what your experience level -- you should also...
read moreMore Stories Means More Readers (Plus, 15 Stories You Should Be Telling)
It happened again this morning. (Sometimes it feels like Groundhog Day around here.) Groggy-eyed, I opened my email to find that someone else was talking about the power of storytelling. Again. In case you hadn't noticed, "storytelling" is the latest craze. It's the...
read moreUncorked: Sarah Arrow’s Secret to Blogging Success
Welcome to our new bi-monthly series: Corkers Uncorked. It's a new take on the spotlight posts I did at TheWordChef.com (remember the Wordie Hall of Fame?). Those were some of my most treasured interviews -- mostly because I got to know my readers (you!) on a whole...
read moreBe an Authentic Goofball
This post is part of the 30-Day Bloom Your Online Relationships Challenge. If you'd like to play along, you can sign up here (don't worry -- it's FREE). We're working through these small, powerful actions together and sharing our questions, learnings and...
read moreCreate an Intentional Space for Your Visitors
This post is part of the 30-Day Bloom Your Online Relationships Challenge. If you'd like to play along, you can sign up here (don't worry -- it's FREE). We're all working through these small, powerful actions together and sharing our questions, learnings and...
read moreGo Old School: Have a Real Conversation
This post is part of the 30-Day Bloom Your Online Relationships Challenge. If you'd like to play along, you can sign up here (don't worry -- it's FREE). We're all working through these small, powerful actions together and sharing our questions, learnings and...
read morePerform a Random Act of Kindness
This post is part of the 30-Day Bloom Your Online Relationships Challenge. If you'd like to play along, you can sign up here (don't worry -- it's FREE). We're all working through these small, powerful actions together and sharing our questions, learnings and...
read moreBack of the House: How I Keep This Bistro Humming
One of the things I do each month with my Digital Dining Room group is host a Secret Supper. If I were an actual chef (and not just a metaphorical one), those Secret Suppers would be intimate gatherings in my kitchen where I'd show my guests exactly how I make my...
read moreUncorked: How Gabrielle Taylor Helps Highly Sensitive Entrepreneurs Thrive
Welcome to Corkers Uncorked. These are some of my most treasured interviews -- mostly because I get to know my readers (you!) on a whole different level. We focus on your astounding biz-related superpowers and origin stories. Bonus: you get to learn more about your...
read moreWhat The Beatles Can Teach You About Telling a Story With Your Home Page
How can a rock supergroup who broke up 45 years ago help you tell the story of your business? Turns out, they can teach you a lot. I’m a huge Beatles fan, even though they split up before I was born (which would come as a surprise to my 7-year-old, who recently asked...
read moreAdd Your Secret Sauce: Five Ways to Add Your Personality to Your Website or Blog
Bad Table Manners: 39 Ways to Kill Valuable Business Relationships
No man is an island. -- John Donne You've probably heard the Golden Rule of Sales: that folks only do business with those they know, like and trust. It's true. The Better Business Bureau's Standards of Trust are built on this maxim. Luckily, most of my business...
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