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

5 Ways to Make Your Marketing Stick

by | Jul 19, 2024 | Features and Benefits, Ideal Heroic Client, Market Research, Marketing Strategies, Writing Tips | 11 Comments

When I was still a youngster (in the days before the Internet was considered a valid way to get your message out), I spent my nights and weekends at the UC Davis Extension learning the "official" rules of "Product-Price-Place-Promotion." One of my first professors (I think his name was Mr. Aguilar) had a strange attachment to the term "pasta marketing." He must've used this term at least twice in every class. His point was that lots of people do their marketing like they cook their pasta: they throw it against the wall to see if it's done. If it sticks, they think it's good. And if doesn't, well...you go back to the drawing board. read more
The Remarkable Purple Carrot: A Marketing Parable

The Remarkable Purple Carrot: A Marketing Parable

by | Jul 19, 2024 | Branding, Case Studies | 6 Comments

Here in the West, purple carrots aren't a commonly found in your local produce departments. In fact, you'll probably have to go out of your way, by searching for them at the fringes: places like your farmer's market or a specialty grocer. There's a little vegetable stand near my house where I can find maybe 3 or 4 at any given time (mostly because there's a woman who comes in every morning and buys nearly all of them for herself). The shop owner literally can't keep enough of these guys on hand. In short, these guys are special. Remarkable even. And they're almost certainly a topic of conversation when served to dinner guests. They're so special, they make the chef look special, too. read more
August Blog Prompt: Tutorial

August Blog Prompt: Tutorial

by | Jul 19, 2024 | 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...

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Dinner Conversations: Engage Your Fans Online

Dinner Conversations: Engage Your Fans Online

by | Jul 18, 2024 | 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
Behind the Scenes of AmyTV

Behind the Scenes of AmyTV

by | Jul 17, 2024 | Storytelling | 4 Comments

Some of you may have seen Amy's video series, Content Marketing Stripped. She's created a total of 20 videos so far -- each one a gem filled with storytelling, humor and value. Perhaps (like me), you found yourself giggling out loud and sharing the videos with your...

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