Business Of Story

“One of the most important commodities in our industry is truth.”   In a world where almost everyone’s personal struggle revolves around the approval from others, it’s always been easier to say what we think people want to hear instead of what things actually are. Truth is the most powerful tool every storyteller can use when they want to win the hearts of their audience.  Director Randy Murray is the man behind the scenes and success of Dr. David Brill's political ad featuring six siblings who rebelled against their brother, Paul Gosar, and encouraged the public to oust him as their Arizona Congressman. These 6 siblings used nothing but pure, honest words, and told the public a story of a family and how they struggled with the truth they all had to live with. They wanted to tell the world what is really happening in the hopes that the rebellion will end up saving not only the people of Arizona, but will also put a permanent end to their brother’s evil ways. Today, Director Murray will teach us how we can tu

Brand and business storytelling is all of the rage today. And for good reason. It works. But while most storytelling experts tell you to tell stories, these six content marketing and communications leaders will show you how. This week's show previews the latest storytelling tips and techniques you’ll learn from leading brand and business storytellers who are coming together for STORYco, a FREE storytelling conference on October 25, 2018 at the historic downtown Los Angeles Theatre Center. This is your opportunity to receive the most invaluable free advice you can get on the art and science of storytelling to grow your brand, your personal influence, your people and your career. So you might ask, why would all of these speakers appear at STORYco for free and share their wisdom? Well, because we’re all trying out new material, filled with the latest insights on brand, business and leadership storytelling, and we’re recording our sessions for our own promotional purposes. But you receive the greatest benefit. Be

The primaries are approaching and we’re inundated with the typical screeching political attack ads. But a surprising thing happens when you replace vitriol with ingenious storytelling. People take notice. And in this rare case, laugh. Patrick Hunt, partner in Minneapolis ad agency Hunt Adkins, shares how they created the viral Bigfoot ad for Dean Phillips for Congress Campaign. They married truth with brilliant brand storytelling to call out five-time incumbent Erik Paulsen, a Congressman with a strong aversion of interacting with voters. “How can you have tens of thousands of people looking for you all the time and not one of them find you?” asks a clearly impressed Bigfoot. “I started to wonder, does Erik Paulsen really exist?” Hunt reveals how his team managed to get their client to take a chance with Bigfoot and create this viral ad on a shoestring budget in just three and a half weeks. Get a peek into the nuances of ad production, where you can learn about different production aspects that went into maki

40 years back, Forever Living was a scrappy startup operating from a garage. Today, it is a multi-billion dollar organization with a presence in 150 plus countries. Their success can be attributed, in no small way to their genius brand story telling prowess. In order to come up a magnetic brand story, you need a FIRM focus on authenticity and selflessness.  In this week’s show, Nick Woodward-Shaw, Vice President of Communications for Forever Living Products, Int’l, shares how you can create emotional experiences that affect lasting change for your customers. And how these special moments can help spark brand stories that spread like wildfire. Nick shares how Rex, the founder discovered the powers of Aloe Vera – which ultimately propelled Forever Living to being the powerhouse that it is today. Nick shares some heartwarming anecdotes that eventually became powerful storytelling experiences – allowing Forever Living to transform into a magnetic brand. How did Nick manage to put up a mesmerizing brand experience

Whether you are a multi-billion dollar business or a brave little startup, the struggle to connect with your audience is a difficult and often, unsuccessful one. Presenting your brand story through a narrative lens will help facilitate effective translation, allowing you to reach your target audience. In this week’s show, you will discover how you can you can use your own personal narrative to create a magnetic brand story. Andrew Robinson, creator of the narrative thinking framework is a “Brand Anthropologist” who helps companies know and tell their story. Andrew reveals his powerful philosophy which has allowed him to help businesses across the world make a genuine connection with the audience they want to connect with. Andrew also shares how asking your “Who” can ultimately lead you to your “Why”, “How” and “What”. Real world examples he shares show how personal stories can inspire businesses to create their own authentic brand stories and maintain strong fidelity to it are sure to keep you hooked. What ma

As I've learned from my associates at Anecdote, character trumps credentials every time when you are trying to connect with people. But when looking for a job or reinventing a career, we often make the mistake of leading with our resumes rather than our personalities. After 15 years as a communications executive with a multi-national mining firm and ready to make a change, Jennifer Russo realized that her powerful resume is just the cost of entry into being considered for the high-level job she was seeking.  If she's going to be successful landing the position that will help define her legacy, she needed to clarify her own brand story. In this week’s show, Jennifer, brand building specialist and former General Manager of Communications and Communities globally for Rio Tinto, reveals how you can define your personal brand story. Growing up in Long Island, Jennifer was influenced by her educator father. She shares how he instilled in her a relentless passion for learning and strong justice, which led her to pur

In 2005, Clinica Adelante was an organization struggling to stay afloat. Today, they are a 500 employee-strong community health center serving more than 75,000 patients every year. What makes this transformation even more amazing is that they have achieved this without losing sight of their noble philosophy of providing affordable healthcare for all. In this week's show, the incredible Avein Saaty-Tafoya, CEO of Adelante Sustainable Healthcare in Phoenix, Arizona, describes how crafting the not-for-profit’s brand story helped the community health center achieve 300% growth in just five years, and where they are today as a national leader delivering sustainable healthcare. This inspiring episode starts off with Avein sharing her story. She got her first lessons in entrepreneurship at the tender age of 4 while working at her Iranian father's jewelry store. But Avein's strong passion for eliminating health disparity can be attributed to her Middle Eastern origins. Fostering strong community ties is an integral p

Word of mouth marketing is incredibly effective – if done the right way. A talk trigger or story starter is a tool that can be used by businesses to carve a distinct brand identity via powerful word of mouth marketing. Creative and purposeful implementation of talk triggers is necessary to garner customer traction and propel your business forward. In this week's show, you will learn how to do just that. Jay Baer, Maestro of Word of Mouth Marketing and Daniel Lemin, a leader in reputation management, join forces to discuss their latest book Talk Triggers: The Complete Guide to Creating Customers with Word of Mouth. What does Cheesecake Factory have in common with a tire dealer in Sacramento? Or, for that matter, a New Jersey dentist with Mailchimp? Jay and Daniel talk about these businesses which have been astute enough to develop an intimate understanding of their customer expectations. This has allowed them to figure out remarkable yet relevant talk triggers - which have translated into brand differentiation

  Everything starts and ends with listening. Ultimately, it’s more about listening than storytelling. If you or your brand are telling a compelling story but no one is listening, then what is the point? How many times have you gone into a meeting to present something that you are passionate about only to find that very few people are engaged and listening? It happens way more than we want to admit that we are those disengaged listeners.  Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own lives that we forget to just sit back and listen to the people around us. When you aren’t fully engaged and listening in a conversation, it is easy for the conversation to become hollow and meaningless. It’s time we surrender our agendas in order to truly be present in the moment and listen.  Murray Nossel is a guru when it comes to listening. He is the co-founder of Narativ and the author of Powered by Storytelling: Excavate, Craft, and Present Stories to Transform Business Communication. If you’re struggling to get your audience to

How does a customer experience your brand? Do they leave an interaction feeling enlightened and empowered? Or do they leave feeling disconnected and disenfranchised? Understanding consumers' personas and journeys is critical because at the end of the day, brands need to truly connect. Because if you don't, you're likely losing customers and employees for life. Any business with customers needs to focus on the journey experience and work to constantly improve it. But customer-centricity needs to be built into the culture of the organization from the start. If you're not always considering your customers' next step in the sales process (even after they've purchased) and retaining them, then you need a champion for your customer experiences. Your business leaders and employees should be asking, "How do I make sure that everything we do incorporates the customer and their thinking?" And, don't think that the customer journey ends after a purchase. A customer journey map analyzes all the interactions the customer

Nowadays, businesses are starting to realize how truly vital it is to have a purpose-driven brand. That's because when your brand has a true purpose behind it, your potential for success increases dramatically. Co-founder of China Mist Tea, John Martinson, saw that success firsthand in his very own business. He saw an inconsistency in the market and took advantage of it. Now, fast forward 36 years and China Mist can be found in just about any place that you can dine in. John has since developed a strong passion for sustainability and finding ways to incorporate it into every aspect of life. In light of his passion for sustainability, he and his son, Neo, are in the midst of a 6,000 mile road trip to spread the message of sustainability. On today’s episode of Business of Story, John shares with us how he built his company from the ground up and made it into the purpose-driven, sustainable brand that it is today. Become a Master Storyteller Grab your free copy of The 5 Stages of Grief in Telling YOUR Business

Have you ever overheard a conversation between two teen girls gushing over the latest and greatest Kylie Jenner Lip Kit and you think to yourself “Wow, those girls are not even speaking my language.” But maybe those girls simply aren’t your ideal customer. It’s not that you’re disconnected from them, it’s that you don’t know their lingo. To know someone’s lingo is to know their values and emotional triggers. And when it comes to your customers, if you’re not speaking their secret lingo, then you’re probably leaving sales, margins and loyalty out to dry.  Not only is Jeffrey Shaw the king of lingo, but he is also the author of LINGO: Discover Your Customer’s Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible. He has truly has mastered the art of identifying and understanding the lingo of your ideal customer. And on today’s podcast, he shares how to get into the head and heart of your audience by understanding how they tell themselves their stories. And the hope is that, at the end of it, you too will be the k

There is a raw energy in narrative and evolved leaders use story to empower people a catapult them to action. But we often look just upon the surface of a tale or anecdote without appreciate the story elements, like protons, electrons and neutrons, that power it. Until today's show. Our guest is Paul Skah,  who specializes in the "why" behind what really makes business storytelling work, and the actions you can encourage your audience to take through story marketing.  He knows how to engage the psychology of decision-making that nudges us to choose washing powder "A" over washing powder "B". This knowledge helps companies sell more, or sell the same products at higher price points. His expertise even ventures into the unknown world of AI and how that will impact our storytelling in the future, which he shares with us on this episode. Listen now to hear Paul's fascinating, scientific approach to brand and business storytelling, and some of the ideal elements formulated in "Goldilocks" conditions to help you c

What is it about TV shows, movies, or those viral Facebook videos that keep you glued to the screen? The answer is quite simple: story. And if you are able to create a story that the audience can truly connect to, you’ve struck gold.  But it takes hard work, focus and the ability to produce, edit and learn. Jason Ensler has mastered the art of striking gold with storytelling. On today’s show, he shares his evolution as a film director and storyteller and what you can learn from his experiences as you grow as a brand and business storyteller. Jason has a resume a mile long. You have no doubt watched shows that he’s has directed and executive produced including Hart of Dixie, Grace and Frankie, Brooklyn Nine Nine, The Goldbergs, and more. On this week’s show, you’ll learn what it takes to find those hidden moments in a story that will make your brand the brand that people are glued to. Become a Master Storyteller Grab your free copy of The 5 Stages of Grief in Telling YOUR Business Story: http://bit.ly/Storytel

Jen Dille wears many hats, she is a mom of four and project manager for Sure Spark Marketing. But one of her more recent hats that she has picked up in her “spare” time is that of the licensee and co-organizer of TEDxGilbert alongside her daughter, Mara.  Maybe you haven’t even heard of TEDx, so allow me to explain –TEDx is a local TED talk event that is put on independently by a member of the community. Just this past March, Jen put on the first ever TEDxGilbert event here in Phoenix. Sounds easy right? Well it’s actually no easy task. There’s more to it than just booking a venue and selling a few tickets. From finding speakers to getting permits, it is easy to feel like you’re drowning. And no one knows that feeling better than Jen Dille. In today’s episode, Jen shares with us what really goes into putting on a TEDx event. And I share what went into delivering my first talk at the TedxGilbert event and all of the trials and tribulations of making both of them a hit. Become a Master Storyteller Grab your fr

In 2016, Avantpage, a language translation company, set out to give their already successful company a revamp. They wanted to start standing for more in the world. They did this by redefining not only their brand strategy, but their brand story. Avantpage has been able to really hone in on their brand voice as activists in order to adequately spread their message and motto –empathy beyond words. On today’s show we have Luis Miguel, international translation expert and owner of Avantpage, with his director of marketing, Sabra Rubentstein. We have had the opportunity to work with these two over the last couple of years and through that, have gotten to work alongside what I think is one of the strongest brand stories we have been involved with. They will show you how their business has improved by more than 30% as they found their activist brand voice to differentiate themselves from their competition, and how you can, too.

Parker Howell, award-winning virtual reality filmmaker and director of Red Bull’s first stereoscopic first-person V.R. music video, shares his experience in virtual reality storytelling and how to push the envelope with your brand storytelling.   Become a Master Storyteller Grab your free copy of The 5 Stages of Grief in Telling YOUR Business Story: https://businessofstory.com/telling-business-story-ebook/ Like what you hear? Bring Park to your next event.

Kylie Slavik, former slam poet gone "accidental digital marketer," shows you how long-form storytelling can generate millions of dollars for your clients in the fleeting online world.

You grow up in school writing stories paying attention to the structure of the stories you’re telling. But when it comes to business, you may need to be doing just the opposite. Have you ever sat through a presentation that is packed full of statistics and numbers that it nearly puts you to sleep? We’ve all been there. Sometimes, no matter how passionate the presenter actually is, it gets drowned out by all of the numbers and statistics. And that’s because they are too hung up on the structure of the story rather than the story itself. Today, Lynn Ferguson, self-proclaimed “Entertainment Mongrel,” with her eclectic background as a comedy writer, stand-up comedian, playwrite, director, producer and sister of the former host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, helps you go beyond that structure and find the heart and soul in your business storytelling. Lynn says that in business, it all comes down to honesty. Successful stories come from a place of truth. If you are honest in your storytelling, people w

Nick Westergaard, author of Brand Now: How to Stand Out in a Crowded, Distracted World, describes how to craft a brand story that will help you rise above the noise using seven brand storytelling dynamics.