Blog | Story Bistro

(Infographic) If Your Blog Were a Beer, What Kind Would it Be?

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 9, 2018 | Branding | 1 Comment

I always love when food (or in this case, drink) and marketing come together. Once you've read thru this infographic, share what flavor you think your blog is in a comment below... If Your Blog Were A Beer... infographic by...

Game-changing Dynamite: Why I Feel the Need to Blow Something Up

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 9, 2018 | Creativity, Ideal Heroic Client | 49 Comments

Ever get so frustrated with the way things are that you'd like to blow it all up and start over? Mmm, hmmm. Me, too. Especially lately. (Fair warning: This is gonna include a bit of a rant.) Why my fuse is lit: Marketing successfully -- whether online or off --...

Dinner Conversations: Engage Your Fans Online

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 9, 2018 | Community & Relationships, Ideal Heroic Client, Market Research, Writing Tips | 10 Comments

Troll the interwebs and you'll find plenty of advice on how to avoid killing your business relationships with email and other technologies. We've all gotten so used to texting, tweeting and tagging each other, that we've forgotten how important it is to actually use our phones. And I'm just as guilty as the rest of you. So how do you bridge the gap? How do you turn an online lead (like a Facebook Fan) into a paying customer? read more

The Francophile Who Refused to Quit

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 9, 2018 | Storytelling | 3 Comments

A CPA Dreams Big, Does the Math and Makes It Happen by Alecia Caine of Find Yourself in France My dream has roots in my childhood. I fell in love with the French language the first time I heard it in class when one of the mothers came in to teach us. I thought it was...

Turbo-Boost Your Brand using Social Media (+ 4 Unique Ways to be Human)

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 8, 2018 | 12 Days of Branding, Branding, Case Studies | 1 Comment

Four Calling Birds... It's Day 4 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've got an awesome case study on how to do things that work, plus I give you four new ways to use social media to...

August Blog Prompt: Tutorial

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 8, 2018 | Writing Prompts | 1 Comment

Tell us a story! Sometimes finding inspiration -- at least where your business blog's concerned -- can feel a bit like trying to touch your elbow to your nose (frustrating at worst, just plain laughable at best). I hear from a lot of you that you're not sure what you...

Teach What You’ve Just Learned

by Danny Jackson | Dec 8, 2018 | Bloom Your Online Relationships #BYOR30 | 1 Comment

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...

Show Them You’re Listening

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 8, 2018 | Bloom Your Online Relationships #BYOR30 | 3 Comments

My own business coach is...

Biggest Business Lesson of the Year: Be (Gasp!) Human

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 8, 2018 | Branding, Creativity, Writing Tips | 15 Comments

Earlier this month, I talked about the Bears (and how to keep them from eating your business). That post sort of explains the comeback to small biz ownership I made last year. But it's not the whole story. Nope. See, this is the anniversary of something pretty darn...

Table Talk Q&A: How Do I Expand My Local Business to the National Level?

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 8, 2018 | Ideal Heroic Client, Market Research, Marketing Budget, Marketing Strategies | 1 Comment

Question: My corporate training business has been doing well in the local markets where we live. But how to do we get national clients and expand our business? On a small budget of course. How can we get that kind of reach to potential corporate clients without...

Context Matters: How to Stop Confusing People and Connect With a Hungry Audience

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 8, 2018 | Ideal Heroic Client, Market Research | 6 Comments

Meet Joshua Bell. He's HUGE in the classical music world. A few years ago, he posed as a street musician in in Washington DC, and nobody paid him any attention. Normally, if you want to see this guy play, you have to shell out a minimum of $100 (that's for the cheap...

Surprising Advice for Honing Your Storytelling and Blogging Skills

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 7, 2018 | Storytelling | 0 Comments

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...

Revamp vs. Rebrand? 10 Considerations for Your Business Website

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 6, 2018 | Branding | 25 Comments

Most people don’t know that my parents named me Christina. I changed my name to Téa in college (I'll share why at the end of this post). Yes, it’s my legal name. Believe me, the IRS, the DMV and every government office between Los Angeles and Portland can verify this...

Show Up Consistently

by Susan Giurleo | Dec 6, 2018 | Bloom Your Online Relationships #BYOR30 | 0 Comments

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...

A Solid Brand Begins with One True Passion

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 6, 2018 | 12 Days of Branding, Branding | 5 Comments

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: a partridge in a pear tree... Welcome to Day One of my 12 Days of Branding series. Each day -- from now until Christmas* -- you'll be gifted with branding advice, case studies and more. If you like what you see,...

Designing a Brand that Works: 6 Key Eye-Catching Elements

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 6, 2018 | 12 Days of Branding, Branding, Marketing Strategies | 6 Comments

It’s Day 6 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'll look at the six key elements of using design to create memorable visual representations for your...

True Stories: How to Fully Prepare for Your Next Presentation

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 6, 2018 | Storytelling, Writing Prompts | 6 Comments

I was just eight years old when my father handed me the little hardcover book of inspirational stories and said, "You get to give a three-minute talk next month at church. This will help." For those not familiar with the Mormon ways, every member of the congregation...

My Big Why: On Motives, Mentors, and Defining Moments

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 6, 2018 | Branding, Case Studies, Storytelling | 0 Comments

Every hero has one: an origin story. Bruce Wayne watched a mugger brutally kill his parents when he was just a child. Peter Parker found his inner hero after a radioactive spider bit him. Buffy discovered she was “The Chosen One” and learned to leverage her slayer...

Am I Doing My Marketing Right?

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 5, 2018 | Market Research, Marketing Strategies, Working with Marketing Professionals | 6 Comments

I'm currently conducting a 13-week teaching/gamification experiment called "Prosperity's Kitchen." It's an online class for solopreneurs to learn the ins and outs of marketing themselves in the digital world. The twist? It's structured like a reality TV competition....

Why Mistakes aren’t as Evil as You Think

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 5, 2018 | Community & Relationships | 0 Comments

This is a guest post by one of our own Word Chef tribe members, Matthew Turner. Mistakes have a really bad reputation, and that's something I hope to change. I'm not suggesting you make them on purpose, because trust me, you don't have to -- they'll find you...

Book Review: “Uprising: How to Build a Brand and Change the World” (Plus a chance to win a FREE copy)

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 5, 2018 | Book Reviews, Podcasts | 15 Comments

I love to read -- it's one of the reasons I do book reviews here (so that I have access to all the latest and greatest business books). But this, my friends, is a book you absolutely must read if you're serious about building something bigger than yourself. I know...

What I Wish I’d Known Then about Starting a Business…

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 5, 2018 | Marketing Strategies | 18 Comments

Advice for My (Much Earlier, More Naive) Entrepreneurial Self (Note: Much of this post first appeared on the Prosperity's Kitchen website under the title, "An Open Letter to New Entrepreneurs." I've modified the text somewhat.) Hey Girl, I'm really proud of you for...

How to Eat Your (Marketing) Artichoke

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 5, 2018 | Productivity | 4 Comments

When you're a solopreneur or the owner of a very small business, it can seem almost impossible to find the time to get it all done. There is, after all, actual work that needs to be finished, or you won't be getting paid. I get it. I'm in the same boat. The important thing to remember though, is that every little bit helps. Baby steps are crucial. They move you forward and build good habits. Habits that can ultimately bring you all the customers you can handle. read more

Your Signature Dish: How to Create a Product or Service that Sizzles AND Satisfies

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 5, 2018 | Branding, Storytelling | 2 Comments

Noise. Bloat. Overcrowded marketplaces. Saturated industries. I won't kid you. It's an uphill battle to create the right offer -- a product or service -- that stands head-and-shoulders above those of your competitors. And that battle? It's won slowly; over time. You...

Your Bank Account is Half-Full Because Your Marketing is Half-Hearted

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 4, 2018 | Marketing Strategies, Working with Marketing Professionals | 9 Comments

You have a pretty good understanding of what needs to be done (marketing-wise) in your business. You read all the advice (it's pretty much the same from blog to blog). You know you need a marketing plan. You know you need to do x-y-z on a regular basis. But you're not...

7 Ways to Use Facebook to Find and Research Your Target Market

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 4, 2018 | Market Research, Social Media | 17 Comments

Back in the day, if you wanted to really understand your customers, you'd need to pay dearly for the information. Market Research firms around the world still command a pretty penny for conducting statistically valid research projects for the big corporations who can...

The Baconomics of Branding (or, How to Bring Home More by Being Different)

by Téa Silvestre Godfrey | Dec 3, 2018 | Branding, Case Studies | 4 Comments

True story: Mr. Perfect and I are moving in together in 3 weeks. Sure. It's just across town. But the headaches are still the same: find just the right place; do gobs of paperwork; make tons of phone calls to various utilities; simultaneously pack-sell-or-trash...

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