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.)
5 Ways to Make Your Marketing Stick
Quirky Much? How Your Oddities, Flaws and Peculiar Habits Help Build a Stronger Brand
You and I may never meet in real life. So there are a few things you might never learn about me. The fact that I'm 6 ft. tall, for instance. Or, that I generally operate on the "piles and post-its" filing system. (But those are just surface quirks. Not the deeper,...
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To Heat Up Your Business, It Pays to Learn How to Cook
A guest post by Zeus Yiamouyiannis. Simply turning up the burner won’t do it. Heating up your business means learning how to cook. In fact, developing a successful online business is a lot like preparing a splendid eight-course dinner. To use Tea's metaphors, if you...
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The Secret Way To Grow A Successful Business Really Fast With No Effort At All*
This is a guest post by Carol Lynn Rivera. *That was a lie. Just like it is every time you read it in a headline or on a blog or in an email and every time you hear it in a webinar or hinted at in a sales pitch. But did I get your attention? Ok, I admit to a teensy...
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Mise en place! Rock Your Project and Client Management with ASANA
I'm a small, mostly one-woman show here at Story Bistro (translation: I don't have Sous Chef). And if you're like me, your operational budget barely has room for bells, let alone whistles. But that doesn't mean you can't make the most of what you do have. You just...
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Feed Us a Story
Stories are food. Feed everyone and be willing to let them feed you, too. Remember humans love stories — it’s hardwired into how we learn and grow. Why did you start your business? That’s a story. Who are your best customers (and what makes them the best)? That’s...
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Book Marketing Lessons from a Finance Rockstar
As the President of Small Business Finance Forum, Nicole Fende, aka the Numbers Whisperer™ is a credentialed actuary with experience as a Chief Financial Officer, Investment Banker, and successful entrepreneur. She's also the author of the new book, "How to be a...
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The Gamified Tribe: A Case Study
Just over 8 weeks ago, in preparation for our upcoming season of "Prosperity's Kitchen," I called for volunteers for a little experiment in gamification. You might think it's just a buzzword, but "gamification" is one way to create dynamic interactions with your...
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Marketing: It’s Not What You Think (and, Why Knowing the Truth Matters)
During our mentoring wrap-up call last week, I asked Zeus for some feedback. I wanted to know what I might've done better or differently during our time together -- something that could've possibly made a bigger difference to him and his marketing efforts. One of the...
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5 Ways to Keep Your Marketing Costs from Boiling Over
This is a guest post by Samar Owais Marketing is a lot like cooking— easy for those who enjoy it and hell on earth for those who don’t. Until a couple of years ago, I sucked at both. While I didn’t kill my business or food poison anyone in my family, I came...
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10 Ways to Spice Up Your Writing and Let YOUR Voice Shine Through
How to Inspire People with Your Blog (Especially When You Feel Uninspired)
It's been too long since you published a blog post, am I right? I've noticed your silence online. (Are you still there?) I've looked for your latest article, but haven't seen one for weeks. I've heard you talk about the struggle to say something "worthwhile." And that...
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Perform 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...
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How to Launch During the Holidays without Crying in Your Wine
This is a guest post by Michelle Nickolaisen. Launch stress is awful at the best of times, but it's definitely not something you want to have mess with your holidays. There are a lot of factors to launching during or after the holidays without ripping your hair out or...
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Needs and Desires: How to Use a Focus Group to Uncover the Good Stuff
Stuck in research land again? Trying to get inside the mind of your Ideal Client? Maybe you've heard about this thing called a "focus group" and you thought, Yeah, that's what we need to do! Mmmm. Perhaps. A focus group can be helpful. It can also take you down a...
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Roadmaps, Blueprints and Formulas (Oh, My!)
If you've been online for any length of time, you’re familiar with phrases like “6-figure Blueprint” or “High-traffic Formula.” Maybe you've used one of those jargon phrases in your own marketing? It would be hard not to. People devour that kind of thing. It's almost...
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Show Up Consistently
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...
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Brainstorming 2.0: 15 Juicy Ways to Use the Internet
When we were kids, we had no problem accessing our imaginations. We also had no Internet, barely any TV (I remember a whopping FIVE channels!), and video games? Fuhgettaboutit. When we wanted to have fun, we had to make that sh*# UP. I remember creating whole fantasy...
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Solopreneurs and Online Marketing: What’s Working, What’s Failing
Just last month, we wrapped up a survey here on the topic of Solopreneurs and their online marketing practices. The goal? To find out exactly what folks are doing, what's working for them and what's failing. To establish some benchmarks -- not necessarily of best...
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The Truth About Why You Aren’t Learning Anything in Your Online Classes
I got an email this morning from Mary over at A-List Blogging (maybe you did, too?). It was titled "6 Reasons Why Blogger Trainings Fail." As I read through, I noticed my head nodding up and down. Yup. Yup. Yup. She's SO right about this stuff. Here's just a portion...
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The True Meaning of Your Unique Value Proposition (and How to Explain it Like a Pro)
It's Word Carnival time again! In this month's episode we learn all about the dreaded Unique Value Proposition (or USP), why it's so deceptively hard to figure out, and how you can nail it without having an emotional breakdown. Jargon is for jerks. Ninnies. Lazy...
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Style, Grace and Guest Posting Etiquette
This was kind of a major week for me, as a blogger. I had not one, but two guest posts go live on a couple of big-deal sites: One on Remarkablogger: 17 Ways to Turn Your Blog Readers into Loyal Fans One on Problogger: Make Your Blog the Event of the Year (and have...
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Starting an Online Business is Like Building a Plane While Flying
A guest post by Zeus Yiamouyiannis. Welcome to the first installment in the Zeus Experiment. Be sure to bookmark the series page so you don't miss any of the episodes. Schools fool you. Business development courses pull the wool over your eyes. “Come in,” they say,...
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This 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...
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Am I Doing My Marketing Right?
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....
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My Big Why: On Motives, Mentors, and Defining Moments
This post first appeared on TheWordChef.com in October 2013. When our Word Carnival group decided an homage to parenthood and business was in order (congrats on your new son, Nick!), I felt a little lost about how I might approach this month's theme. Then I remembered...
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A Pumpkin with a Plan (Or, How to Quit Being a Slave to Your Business)
Every once in awhile, a book comes along that really makes sense. This? Yep, this is definitely one of them. If you've read Mike Michaelowicz's The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, then you're already familiar with his friendly and accessible style, his sense of humor,...
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