Storytelling Techniques: Do Your Stories  BOOST or BUST Your Business? I remember being at a seminar one time visiting with someone I hardly ever see. At one point, her husband went into this long story retelling the beginning of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. He went on and on…and on…and on…honestly, I could have watched the whole segment twice by the time he finished. I had to supress the urge to wander off. Now, this person is a good storyteller. I guess he simply couldn’t help himself that time! Several peole were looking around or wandering off. Go ahead and laugh.... (Read More ...)

“Master the Simple 3–Step Great Storytelling Formula &  EFFORTLESSLY—” Bypass the resistance, skepticism and doubt that typically cause people not to buy from you – even when they know you have their perfect solution! Gain deep trust, respect and rapport with your ideal prospects and watch in awe as they become your ideal customers!! Create word-of-mouth (AKA viral) buzz about you and your solutions! Sort out prospects before they buy to turn the divas and whiners and others not suited to your away before they become problem customers! Convey your most important... (Read More ...)

How Does Vlingo Combine Storytelling Techniques with a Wow Demo to Attract Customers? The best way to introduce people to a new technology or a new way of doing something is to provide a “wow demo.” This is what you see in infomercials such as the guy suspended high above the ground with his helmet Crazy-Glued to a girder or tarnex melting away rust with one quick dip. Wow demos can be worked into powerful and profitable storytelling ideas Vlingo, which is a phone application that lets you speak commands to your phone and make things happen, uses a wow demo along with storytelling techniques What... (Read More ...)

Can Storytelling Provide Business Writing Help? Meet an entrepreneur whom I’ll call Michelle. She is bright and insightful, and she works hard to ensure her clients get good results. She lives in Canada where she helps off-line business get online. Michelle has a problem. She loves what she does, yet she finds that she’s great one-on-one but not so good in writing. “I don’t know what to do,” she told me. Looking at her website and her printed materials, it took me only a minute to discern the nature of the problem. “I see what’s happening,” I told her. “I’m... (Read More ...)

Can Digital Storytelling Provide Useful Storytelling Ideas My friend Renee and I roomed together at a marketing conference this past weekend. She’s a technology-lover who thought it was just people like me and others who share the same mentor who stay up til all hours working on our websites and other technology. I asked her, “What’s the most important thing you’ve learned at the event?” “I found my bee people,” she told me. I had to ask her what that meant, and she told me about a movie in which a chubby girl dancing in a bumblebee outfit is trying to find people who... (Read More ...)

Storytelling Techniques for Blogging Success: Teaching with Stories I’m going to recommend that you print off a copy of this post, because it goes into depth and answers a lot of questions regarding storytelling techniques and blogging success. There is a “PDF” button at the bottom of this post that makes it easy to turn the post into a PDF and then print it off. The button looks like this (minus the highlighter): Now –  down to the topic at hand.   Recently, my good friend Andrea Woolf, author of Ignite Your Life, asked me about the use of storytelling in blog posts. Her questions... (Read More ...)

How Can Writing Help You Work Through the Stages of Grief? For anyone grieving the death of a loved one, the holidays can be tough. Military families remembering their fallen warrior have an especially difficult time. Though military wives and husbands know the dangers their spouses put themselves into, that doesn’t make the loss any easier. Grieving does not end after the funeral, and you go through various stages of grief. The Today Show ran a wonderful story about a girl from Texas named Kaylee Roberts who wrote a letter that changed her life. Kaylee’s dad Kasey died in Afghanistan... (Read More ...)

I got so excited when I found out that this week on Dancing with the Stars is  Story Week! That means I have an excuse to blog about the show right here, because I am using the dances to teach you about connecting with your audience –   your ideal customers –  through the power of storytelling. First, let me ask you to consider… What Are the Elements of a Good Story? I’m not going to answer yet, because I want to SHOW you not tell you. Here are a few samples along with a little instruction on how to tell a story. Margaret Cho said their story through dance is all about being beautiful... (Read More ...)

This email from my friend JP Maroney is an excellent example of storytelling for business.  He talks about the pain of a beesting as a metaphor example for the pain of dealing with negative people. Here’s his message: OOOOOOUUUUUUCH … Dang that hurt! I was just out in the driveway helping get my wife and girls loaded in the car so they can head off to dance, and *BAAAMMMM!* a stupid bee just stung the living daylights outta my neck. Came from outta NOWHERE! And, it HURTS. Bad. OK, so I WILL survive. But, it also got me thinking … Thinking about the FACT that NEGATIVE PEOPLE... (Read More ...)

Instant VIP Author e-Coaching Originally uploaded by The Story Lady If you’re a business owner, entrepreneur, speaker, coach, consultant or visionary messenger, writing a book is the best way to set yourself apart and give you a tool of leverage. Not to mention more customers, media attention and Instant VIP status! I literally wrote the book on becoming The Instant VIP author of your own business-boosting book, and I know that people have different needs. My experience is that people swear up and down that they can buy an ebook or take a self-study program and accomplish their goal. Recently,... (Read More ...)