Tell Us A Story
As part of my work I do a lot of conferences, and meet a lot of people. One of the moments which stood out last year for me was listening to founder of Temple Spa, Liz Warom, tell the story of how she came to start the business. I'm not going to go into it here, but it was an inspiring tale of self-belief and pure determination and impressed the hell out of me. It made me think how important stories are - from getting people to bond with your brand, to attracting the attention of that Features Editor who thinks your story is so interesting it's worth carrying in the next Women In Business section.
There are big stories - we've all possibly heard of Richard Branson being chucked out of the car at the age of four so that he could find his way home. But there are also smaller stories - our own stories of how we decided we were no longer going to cow tow to that bullying boss any more and start our own business instead, or, for one recent client of mine, how she was determined to resist the lure of big money in a banking career and follow her dream and start her own jewellery business.
One exercise that could be very valuable is to take time out with a cuppa and think about your own story. How did you get here? And why? The bullying boss story is mine by the way, and I have found it to be a common one amongst business owners. And especially common in PR, I hate to say.
Are you following your dream? Was it a light-bulb moment? How did you come up with your business name? If you're in a partnership, what's their story? Is your story a triumph against odds, an ode to hard work - or an example of great luck? Who else might play a role in your story, for good or bad?
If you want to do this properly, write your story, in third person and consider adding it to your website, or using in your press material.
Go on, tell me a story...
Paula Gardner is a PR and media coach and the author of Get Noticed: How to Boost Your Small Business Profile in 30 days. For a free PR resource pack and ten day trial of our media request service follow the link...
http://visitor.constantcontact.com/optin.jsp?v=0018aaLHdu4GfSgHuhbQI8XADfgnJ0W-pKZ
As part of my work I do a lot of conferences, and meet a lot of people. One of the moments which stood out last year for me was listening to founder of Temple Spa, Liz Warom, tell the story of how she came to start the business. I'm not going to go into it here, but it was an inspiring tale of self-belief and pure determination and impressed the hell out of me. It made me think how important stories are - from getting people to bond with your brand, to attracting the attention of that Features Editor who thinks your story is so interesting it's worth carrying in the next Women In Business section.
There are big stories - we've all possibly heard of Richard Branson being chucked out of the car at the age of four so that he could find his way home. But there are also smaller stories - our own stories of how we decided we were no longer going to cow tow to that bullying boss any more and start our own business instead, or, for one recent client of mine, how she was determined to resist the lure of big money in a banking career and follow her dream and start her own jewellery business.
One exercise that could be very valuable is to take time out with a cuppa and think about your own story. How did you get here? And why? The bullying boss story is mine by the way, and I have found it to be a common one amongst business owners. And especially common in PR, I hate to say.
Are you following your dream? Was it a light-bulb moment? How did you come up with your business name? If you're in a partnership, what's their story? Is your story a triumph against odds, an ode to hard work - or an example of great luck? Who else might play a role in your story, for good or bad?
If you want to do this properly, write your story, in third person and consider adding it to your website, or using in your press material.
Go on, tell me a story...
Paula Gardner is a PR and media coach and the author of Get Noticed: How to Boost Your Small Business Profile in 30 days. For a free PR resource pack and ten day trial of our media request service follow the link...
http://visitor.constantcontact.com/optin.jsp?v=0018aaLHdu4GfSgHuhbQI8XADfgnJ0W-pKZ
posted by Paula Gardner at
5:08 PM
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