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 I Grew Site Traffic by 60% in Three Months: A Peek into the Small Biz Branding Contest
As many of you noticed, we recently wrapped up the First Annual Tastiest Small Biz Brand Award campaign. The event/marketing efforts lasted nearly three months and worked to accomplish (or surpass!) several goals. These were: Help establish Word Chef authority in the...
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True 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...
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Your 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...
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Be 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...
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Be Incomplete
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 Reach Your Target Market in a Down Economy
Recently, I wrote a post called It’s All About YOU. (That’s the page you might want to bookmark and visit later as it was made especially for our readers to share themselves and their questions -- no expiration date!). Today, I address a question from Karen Vaisman of...
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Case Study: Using Email Marketing to Deepen Relationships
Last month in the Digital Dining Room, the group's mission was to create a welcome email that would help them get to know their subscribers on a deeper level. Here's how we got them there: Step One: Brainstorm three questions they could ask a new subscriber...
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Uncorked: 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...
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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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Brand Turnaround: An Interview with Karen Post, the Branding Diva
Karen Post, aka the Branding Diva, has a great new book called “Brand Turnaround: How Brands Gone Bad Returned to Glory...and the 7 Game Changers that Made the Difference." I spoke with her earlier this week on the Word Cafe podcast. Here are the highlights. You can...
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Bigger Bang for your Marketing Bucks (and grocery dollars)
A guest post by Nicole Fende, the Numbers Whisperer™ We’re going to start by talking groceries. Don’t worry, I’ll sneak in the finance. Since Tea is the Chef, groceries seem appropriate. When you go to the grocery store you may be like me, and have a list. Big shout...
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Game-changing Dynamite: Why I Feel the Need to Blow Something Up
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 --...
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We’re All Guinea Pigs Now: Life and Business as Continual Experiments
A guest post by Zeus Yiamouyiannis. What if, underneath it all, your carefully planned and wished-for life was nothing more than an adventurous experiment? Would that free you or strike terror into your heart? What if you were both the guinea pig and the dude in the...
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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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This Week’s Marketing Dish: Tiramisu
Laurie Nylund, a writer extraordinaire from Sandy, Utah, emailed this week’s suggestion. Here's what she had to say about tiramisu: This Italian dessert means "carry me up" or "to heaven," which is an apt description for how I react whenever I find a piece worthy of...
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Your Bank Account is Half-Full Because Your Marketing is Half-Hearted
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...
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A 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...
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Share the Real You — in Pictures
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 Eat Your (Marketing) Artichoke
Wordification: Cook Up a Creative Title, Brand or Product Name
You've seen other people do it. Stephen Colbert used to do it all the time. George Bush (Jr) is probably still doing it. Both of them got pretty famous for their efforts (although, for different reasons). That word they create is sometimes called a portmanteau, but I...
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My Personal Battle With Comparisonitis (and How I’m Making Peace)
She's a gnarly bitch that Comparisonitis. She and I bump heads at least once or twice a year. (When I was younger, it was more like once or twice a month.) You'd think I'd be less surprised now when she sidles up beside me. And not-so-innocently whispers in my ear,...
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The PB&J Guide to Building a Tasty Brand
Peanut Butter and Jelly. Two simple, timelessly appealing ingredients. Like most of us, you probably became a fan in childhood. Of the PB&J, I mean. I know it was the only thing my little brother would eat. Period. White bread, creamy peanut butter and grape jelly...
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Is Your Ideal Client Trying to Tell You Something?
Last month in the Digital Dining Room we focused on Market Research. Specifically, how the heck do you find out what your Ideal Client is ready and willing to pay for? Because there's a difference between them needing and wanting something. Traditional business folks...
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Lizard 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,...
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Your Signature Dish: How to Create a Product or Service that Sizzles AND Satisfies
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...
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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...
read more