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.
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Got Resistance? That’s FABulous. Let’s Use it.
“In a troubled time, you must become that which you are longing for.” – Stephen Jenkinson, Orphan Wisdom School Do you know? When I'm caught up in the world's chaos and anarchy, I long for peace. I want things to be OKAY. I want my son and my husband to find their...
read moreRoadmaps, 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...
read moreGet ‘er Done: Write Your Marketing Copy and Content
You're just like me. A small business owner who doesn't have their own marketing department (or who can't afford to hire an expert). Who wears all the hats and later wonders why you have a "bad case of hat head" (as one of my clients likes to say). And whose arms are...
read moreThe 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...
read moreThe Story of Our Pricing: My Experiment With the Gift Economy (and Your Invitation to Join Me)
What story does your pricing tell about you and your business? In the past, experts said if you wanted to position yourself as high quality or even luxury, you'd better price your product high. Why? Because higher prices tell your potential customers your stuff is...
read moreTell a More Engaging Brand Story: Use a Villain!
One of the things I have my clients do over the course of our time together is create a persona (or three) for their customers' Big Challenge/Desire. (It's part of the Biz Story Outline.) We ask the question: Who, or What stands in the way of your client...
read moreA Business Paradox: Slow Down to Speed Up
You've seen the marketing hype and heard all the promises: Build a Six-Figure Business in just 60 Days! Or, Fail Fast, Succeed Faster. There's even a magazine called Fast Company. And it's true: most of us want that income NOW. We've got bills to pay. Kids to send to...
read more10 Best Books for Learning the Art of Business Storytelling
Unless you live under a rock, you've likely heard by now that using stories in your marketing is the Golden Ticket to business success. There are scads of blog posts and books out there all telling you WHY storytelling is so important: Stories help our brains make...
read moreDeep Fried Kool-Aid: a Marketing Parable
5 Ways to Make Your Marketing Stick
Strut Your Stuff: 9 Examples of Edutainment Branding
Nine Ladies Dancing! It’s Day 9 of the 12 Days of Branding. If you missed any of the series thus far, you can find them here. In today’s installment I've got 9 great videos for you. These are excellent examples of how you can use the strategy of "edutainment" to...
read moreSolopreneurs 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...
read moreClosing the Deal: Building a Business that Generates Income
This is a guest post by Zeus Many of you, like me, are putting in a lot of time, energy, and money into developing an online business. And yet concrete outcomes (substantial business income, successful products, etc.) sometimes seem so far away. We're taught to be the...
read more#Follow Friday Much? My Love-Hate Relationship with Fan Base-Building Tactics
Yes, we all know it's about quality, not quantity. But still. It's tempting to want to take shortcuts with building your connections on social media. After all, at some point, you DO need a critical mass to help you get traction. But when we stoop to buying Facebook...
read moreOn Teaching: An Interview with Jennifer Louden
I stumbled on Jen Louden about a year ago, while researching different classes on teaching. I've found her credible and genuine and full of heart. She is an "A-lister" who doesn't take herself too seriously and is always willing to share something that matters. She's...
read moreTrue Confessions: I’m Afraid You’ll Find Out I’m a Marketing Fraud
There, I said it. One of my deepest fears laid out for the whole world to see: I'm not really who you think I am. Mostly -- like 99% of the time -- I'm actually pretty confident. I know that I know my stuff. But every now and then something happens to trigger the ugly...
read moreCase Study: How to Conquer the Blank Page and Write Better Sales Copy
Writing copy for your website or other marketing materials isn't always easy. And unless you're a professional copy writer (and sometimes even when you are), the blank screen of your computer can feel like it's taunting you: You've got no idea what you're doing, do...
read moreBook Review: Epic Content Marketing
The Big Promise: How to tell a different story, break through the clutter, and win more customers by marketing less He's the head of the Content Marketing Institute, so Joe Pulizzi should know a thing or two about content marketing. And in this book, he gives plenty...
read moreBook Review: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook
The Big Promise: How to tell your story in a noisy, social world. My biggest problem with this book is its core metaphor. Boxing? Blood sports? Knocking out your prospects? What the hell were you thinking, Gary? It took everything I had to just get through the intro....
read moreIf You Had Clients Like These…
...You'd Be in Love, Too Few business owners are as lucky as I am. I don't talk about them often enough, but I have some of the BEST clients in the world. Each of them are doing amazing things -- changing and shifting, growing into more confident and glowing versions...
read moreFind Your Purpose in the Tiny Details and Make a Big Difference
Ever wonder what the heck your purpose is? You've got a little business that you'd like to grow and sometimes you wonder if anyone really cares, right? If what you're doing matters in the larger scheme of things? If what you have to offer would ever prompt someone to...
read moreApril Blog Challenge: Teachable Moments
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...
read moreSeditious Much? Why Your Industry Needs You to Rock the Boat
When was the last time you said something provocative? That you knew might make waves with your peers and colleagues? Or with your clients or potential customers? And not just in your head, but out loud? If you're like me, you're probably -- mostly -- watching your Ps...
read moreAugust Blog Prompt: Tutorial
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...
read moreGet People to Hate You
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 moreShow 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...
read moreCase Study: How the Jansens Regularly Fill Their Virtual, Local, and Global Workshops
Meet Holly and Mark Jansen. This husband and wife team owns and runs a photography business: Jansen Photo Expeditions. Specifically, they teach photo enthusiasts how to get just the right shot, with just the right equipment, no matter where in the world their cameras...
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