baby chick getting bold.

How Can Storytelling Techniques Build a Strong Brand?

while doing some work for a consulting client, I found this excellent article about storytelling and branding. It seems that storytelling techniques and a discussion of storytelling for business branding were high on the list, and it is no wonder!

It seems everyone is getting more and more into storytelling.

Target stores are adding boutique lines to their offerings, and their tV commercials feature stories of little companies making it big at Target. KMart features their clothing designers’ stories to build interest and loyalty to the brand. (OK I really LOVE buying clothes at KMart. I can always find clothes that I like and that are sized for REAL size people!)

When one company brings in a line from another company, they are licensing or “borrowing” the brand.

This article from Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association gives insight into just how big storytelling for business has become. This is a professional association, and if THEY are talking about storytelling techniques and storytelling ideas, then YOU as a business owner need to pay more attention to the power of storytelling.

After the article, I’ll share storytelling techniques you can use to get you started.

Original Article Source

Storytelling at forefront of LIMA Conference

Posted by Marty Brochstein

One of the most striking themes running through this month’s LIMA Retail & Branding Conference was the importance of storytelling in building a strong brand. Whether it’s the positioning of Iconix’ Material Girl fast fashion juniors brand at Macy’s around Madonna’s 14-year-old daughter Lola, or the attempted reinvention of Kmart’s apparel and home business as KmartDesign, or the development of businesses around such celebrities as Twiggy, Queen Latifah and Mary J. Blige on HSN, an authentic story gives the brand substance.

HSN’s Executive VP Bill Brand, for example, told of the company being approached by ‘60s modeling icon Twiggy about mounting a fashion business. It began with a meeting at HSN’s Florida headquarters. “For us, it’s really important that we have that face-to-face meeting, that we really spend some key quality time together, and really understand, is this about making money, is this about media placements, what is this about? How authentic is this?”

A subsequent meeting, he said, involved HSN’s design director rooting through Twiggy’s closet in London, “going through her favorite things and what inspires her, and from that, 6-9 months later,” the Twiggy London brand was launched on HSN, where it stands as one of the company’s top apparel brands in under two years.

For Jeff Fagel, Director of Brand Development at Sears Holdings, the ongoing challenge is help Kmart gain credibility (and sales) in the apparel and home categories. The marketing challenge involves a three part process, he said: “How do you get people to pay attention [to the message]? How do you get people to care? How do you get people to act?” The goal is to spark “curious disbelief,” or put another way, to spark the following consumer reaction: “No way, this can’t be Kmart.”

Acknowledging the perception of Kmart’s apparel as being of “low quality and style,” the brand development team set out to “build consideration and credibility for the brand… in a disruptive and differentiate way.” A key element has been the work done with a team of documentary filmmakers who followed Kmart ‘s design team in their New York and Chicago offices, and on trend-shopping trips to London and Paris. The footage was rapidly cut into four pilot videos, and show to consumer panels.

“This wasn’t about [simply] creating viral video; this wasn’t about going out and shocking. It was really about being true to the foundation of Kmart, being honest and authentic and speaking in a different voice, and really trying to bring in a new apparel and home customer,” Fagel told the conference attendees. “We had a great story to tell…. Part of it is product – improved product, quality, better design, expanded assortments, new brands, great value for the price, but everyone can say that. We have a 250-person design team in Soho and Chicago, which nobody knew about, and we felt it was an opportunity to tell our story in a unique way and cut through the clutter.”

Over the past two years, the company has been attempting to build buy-in for the KmartDesign effort via social media, with dedicated Facebook page, YouTube portal, Twitter feed, etc. Lots of content has been created. Fagel says that it’s “about building digital relationships and building relationships, not about getting 25,000 Facebook fans. It’s about how do you connect with people on a daily basis, and looking at whether the conversation has shifted.”

Initial results are promising, but it’s an ongoing effort that needs to be sustained in many ways. “It took Target 10+ years to get to where they are right now, and for those who are in retail and know a lot about retail, it starts with product and instore. Those are the two key components. [It has to happen] over time. It’s not going to be overnight.”

That’s great for Target or KMart, but what about you as an expert, author, entrepreneur or business owner?

The answer is you do the same thing! Here’s how:

3 Powerful Storytelling Techniques to Build a Strong Brand

1. Tell the story of how you got started.

The Knot, a hugely popular wedding site, came to be because the founder had every disaster known to woman happen at her wedding, and she didn’t want other brides to go through what she did.

That is a powerful story that attracts the attention of her ideal customer. It conveys caring and instantly builds trust.

What story can YOU tell that will engender a feeling of know, like and trust in your ideal customer?

2. Be human.

OK unless some Visitors from other star systems are reading my site for some reason, I can safely say that you are human. Is that human touch in your company? Do people feel they can connect? In other words, tell the HUMAN story not the product story.

Add the human element to your communications, whether in email, online, in space ads or anywhere else. Think of all the Facebook pages for even the biggest brands and you become aware of the importance of the human touch.

3. Tell the STORY about solving a big customer problem.

Share how someone’s life changes with your solution. Don’t just say, “WE solve this problem all the time.”  Tell the story of how Jo suffered with a problem, then searched endlessly for a solution, then found you and then reaped an amazing result.

Story Power DVD cover image

And form ore help with storytelling techniques, Story Power guides you through understanding the one story format to which every human alive responds.  During the 90-minute training, you discover how to tap  into the power of your story.

You also get the journal and other resources that the live seminar participants had.

Claim it now at www.ProfitableStorytelling.com/dvd

Follow your bliss!

Ronda Del Boccio, the Story Lady

#1 bestselling author & Celebrity Author Mentor

it may not be easy to see what this is. These are the baby chickens all in
a pile. adorable!

baby chicks as well as the adult chickens are often sources of
inspirational thoughts for me.

I love watching them do what chickens do. It is forever the source of
wonder and entertainment for me. I never renew how much fun chickens were
until I started raising them.

Raising the new baby chickens is especially meraculous to me. Tonight, the
babies went from there little box into the big coop for the first time.

Here they are moments after they all arrive in there big new world. And as
much as they cried out for freedom, once they got it they did not quite
know what to do with it.

Never let yourself get so caught up in whatever you do during the day that
you fail to know what is the wonders of nature that are all around you.

Follow your bliss,

Ronda Del Boccii
#1 best selling author and Celebrity Author Mentor

Inspirational thoughts often come to me in conversations. And my chickens also provide me a lot of inspirational thoughts.

I raise chickens for their eggs and their insatiable craving for bugs.  The variety of chicken bodies is such fun. Some are more streamlined while others are more squat. Yet all are chickens. Likewise, a chihuahua and a great Dane are both dogs despite their enormous differences.

When I commented about the astounding variety to my friend, who is a scientist by nature, she shrugged it off. “Well I would expect as much,” she said. As if it were beneath her to notice such a thing since it is part of life.

Yes, of course I know that a lion and a housecat are both cats, and yet I am still in awe of the variety. That is the inspiration for today’s Miracle Mindshift Moment Podcast.

Listen to this episode.

You can subscribe in to the Miracle Mindshift Moment Podcast in iTunes or Subscribe in another reader.

Commanding the atmosphere of miracles means not taking the seemingly mundane aspects of life for granted.

If you BLAH your way trough life, you close yourself to the miraculous, because you are not in a state of awareness.

You could be experiencing miracles in any area of your life within the next 30 days. Find out how people just like you are opening to the miracle flow with the Miracle Mindshift Month, which you will find at www.ProfitableStorytelling.com/shift.

Follow your bliss!

Ronda Del Boccio, the Story Lady

#1 best selling author & Celebrity Author Mentor

These inspirational thoughts on focus mike just help you get where you want
to be in life!

This picture of my dog is a beautiful example of focus. Molly sees a
critter moving around on the ground, and she wants to play with t! She is
laser focused.

She does not for 1 moment lose sight of what she wants. What about you?

Put your attention on what you want. Imagine yourself already having that
experience. and start livingi t!

If you find that you are not certain what you want or how to get it, then
you might need to get in better touch with your purpose in life.

Discovering and living your life purpose has many wonderful benefits. You
are less stressed, more connected, and overall more joyful.

You are less likely to need medications, and scientific studies have shown
that living your purpose in life will make you a happier person!

Begin your first step on the journey by taking the free Life Purpise Quest
at www.Profitablestorytelling.com/quest.

Follow your bliss,

Ronda Del Boccio The Story Lady

#1 best selling author & Celebtity Author Mentor

gloria’s full moon lights the way!

Originally uploaded by The Story Lady

the moon is so huge tonight! You can see it’s just barely lighting the
tree. It is truly miraculous!

Follow your bliss,

Ronda Del Boccio
#1 best selling author and Celebrity Author Mentor

Tomorrow, the moon will be even bigger and it will achieve super moon
status!

Pinterest for Authors: What Are 3 Ways Authors Can Use Pinterest for Book Promotion?

As an author of fiction and/or nonfiction, Pinterest is a tool that will definitely boost your visibility and your book promotion efforts.

Pinterest Is a bit like Twitter for photos. It is the fastest growing social network around. Rather than sharing words, people share pictures on Pinterest.

Thanks to Caitlin Muir for your  article about Pinterest for Authors that inspired this post. Here is what Caitlin wrote. I add some thoughts afterward:

3 Ways Authors Can Use Pinterest Guilt Free

By Caitlin Muir In Platform Building Tips, Social Media Tips, Website Tips

I should probably confess this right now.

I’m smitten with Pinterest.

I avoided it for a few months but then I feel prey to the pinning site. If Twitter is public text messaging, think of Pinterest as a public personal pinboard.

After joining the site, I believe that every author should be on Pinterest. I’m not alone. Gini Dietrich wrote a compelling piece on three ways you can use Pinterest for business. Gini is a marketing genius who is highly respected in her field. Bloggers from every sphere are writing about the new opportunities Pinterest is providing.

Here’s why you as an author should be on Pinterest:

1. Inspiration

Are you working on a novel? Are you populating a world? Get inspired.

Find the house that your main character lives in and put it on a  board. That’s what I do on my Book|Places board. There are something about the pictures on the board that speak to me.  I know that a scene from one of my stories will fit into those pictures.

How do you populate your worlds? Where do you get your inspiration?

2. Directing Traffic

My friend Ashley writes Domestic Imperfection, a DIY blog. She regularly shares photos from her blog to Pinterest.  Her design photos get repinned hundreds of time. Every time that happens, her blog is introduced to a new set of people. By using Google Analytics, Ashley has been able to track where her viewers come from. A large chunk of her viewers come from Pinterest. So she keeps using the site. It’s a great strategy that is paying off.

How can you use Pinterest to direct traffic to your site?

3. Sharing Character Details

Nicole is an author who writes historical novels that feature horses. By having a board dedicated to the horses that populate her books, she’s giving readers the opportunity to connect with her stories in a deeper way. She also wrote a great blog post on why authors should use Pinterest.

What if you created a board for your main character? What makes them unique? Put it on a board and share it with your readers.

There’s a Board For Everyone

Populate the world you are creating. Collect character pieces from all over the internet and share them in one place. Post your board to Facebook. Let your readers visualize your world and encourage them to get creative and build their own fan boards. Then encourage them to share those boards on your fan page.

What kind of boards do you create? Where do you draw your inspiration from?

Author Media can help you create a social media strategy that will help you maximize your impact while minimizing your time. Ask us how. 

Example of Pinterest for Authors

Here is a fabulous example of Pinterest for authors by my friend Velda Brotherton, who herself is a prolific author. repinned or shared. View her entry on Pinterest here.:

Source: thehawksbillcrag.com via Velda on Pinterest

(Note: Here is the text “behind” the picture that the author entered.)
In 1865, Union Army Captain Nelson Paintier returns under military orders to his boyhood home, bushwhacker ravaged southern Missouri.His orders are to pardon or kill the raiders riding there under the black flag of “Give No Quarter.”

Caught up in a bushwhacker chase, he must help them or lose the schoolteacher love of his life. She alone understands his guilt for causing the death of a fourteen year old slave girl years before.They ride a path that leads straight towards death on the cliff.

Here is another example of using Pinterest for authors:

One way to use Pinterest is to use a screenshot. That’s what I did to celebrate the success of my student Tim Bennett with his book Cracking the Entrepreneur Code. He published his book, and 5 days later, he was #1 in Hot New Releases on Amazon.

Here are 3 additional tips to keep in mind when using Pinterest for Authors:

1.Be educational and interesting, as in the example photo that Velda Brotherton “repinned ” (shared) in the included example. Don’t be pushy-promotional. And remember it’s ok to add a link or book title. In fact, it’s a good idea for you to do this!

2. Use Pinterest gently for book promotion but don’t ignore the opportunity. Mention the name of the book if you have it or your website. You can also say your book is available everywhere or available on Amazon.com.

3. Use Pinterest to share photos that will touch the hearts and minds of your ideal customer. Let the pictures tell a story for you and be sure people know how to purchase your book and got o your website. Make everything about the reader, not you.

Meteoric Rise of Pinterest

If you’re not using Pinterest, you WILL be left in the dust.

According to Gayle Falkenthal of the Washington Times Communities:, Pinterest  ” is the fastest growing social media website in Internet history. Yes, even faster than Facebook.”

According to Business Insider, traffic to Pinterest has increased by more than 40 times since December of 2011.

Watch for more articles about Pinterest for Authors on ProfitableStorytelling.com.

Don’t Let Social media Distract You from Writing Your Book!

It’s easy to get caught up in “doing social media” or running your business or doing anything else OTHER THAN writing the book that will be:

• Your best lead generator ever!
• Your best credibility tool EVER
• Your Instant VIP Status!

It’s time to get around to writing your book, and now your excuses are gone.

No longer can you complain things like…

• I don’t know how.
• I don’t have a system.
• I don’t know what to do first.
• I don’t know how to publish.
• I am not a good writer.

You can write and publish a book in 30 days and finally say, “I’m a published author!”

How to Write and Publish a Book in 30 Days – FREE

Join the FREE 30 Day Awakened Author Challenge and you will get a step-by-step system for how to write a book, plus book promotion techniques and more. You’ll have a book in print and on Kindle or Nook when you follow the lessons in the Challenge.

You have just seen social proof of the system…the screenshot I posted on PINTEREST!

Are you up to the challenge?

Get “around to it” at last! Write and publish that book with the help of the Awakened Author Challenge  at www.ProfitableStorytelling.com/challenge

Follow your bliss!

Ronda Del Boccio, the Story Lady

#1 bestselling author and Celebrity Author Mentor

the conference room is what I call the swing outside my house. The view
from the conference room today included the chickens wandering around and
doing what chickens do best.

I love my life!

Follow your bliss.

Ronda Del Boccio, The Story Lady
#1bestselling author & Celebrity Author Mentor

The baby chicks are an endless source of inspirational thoughts. They have
decided that they like riding up and down on there feeding trough. feeding
them everyday is an adventure that brings much laughter and joy to me!

Be sure to take time every day to enjoy life. Do not rush headlong through
all of your many activities and responsibilities.

There is always time for joy and happiness!

If you are feeling constant stress and pressure, first take time to
breathe! put your attention on your breath as you inhale and exhale.

Never get so engrossed in anything that you failed to notice the natural
world around you. is there a bird singing? Is there a beautiful flower? is
somebody smiling?

Laughter and play mead not be line items in your calendar, because quick if
you can laugh, smile, and to be aware of the world around you.

Scientific studies are now cruising what the wisdom keepers of the ages
have always known: Living your purpose in life not only brings you
happiness, it decreases stress and improve your health tremendously.

Are you still trying to figure out your purpose in life? This will help.
Join the free Life Purpose Quest at www.ProfitableStorytelling.com/auest.

Follow your blidd!
Ronda Del Boccio, The Story Lafy
#1 bestselling author & Velenrity Author Mentor

Author Mentor,chickens,joy,purpose in life, Life Purpose Quest