What sets your business apart from the competition? Really—think about it. It’s easy to spew out generic answers like “customer service” or “attention to detail,” but don’t you think your competitors are claiming the same things? No, what sets you apart from your competition is the story of your business, the narrative of how it came to be and what it represents in the world.

Look at your website. Does it have an “About Us” page? If not, a heads up: You’re losing potential clients! Because no matter how impressive or professional your website is or how many testimonials it boasts, it could still be just any website, representing just any business. I’m assuming that’s not what you want.

Meanwhile, a page dedicated to sharing the story of your business is Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s face it. Your customers don’t want to hear that deep, echoey radio voice holler at them to get to your car dealership TODAY, TODAY, TODAY! There are better ways to get your message across.

There are authentic ways to get your message across.

What are your business’s core values? Core values are the guiding principles that define what your business represents and hopes to achieve—and thus sets it miles apart from the competition. If you haven’t done it already, sit your overworked butt down and write them out. I don’t care how many other things you have to do. If you don’t have a defined set of core values, you’re doing business on a platform that could cave at any minute. So aim for five core values. Ours at Writers of the Round Table are Read the rest of this entry »

Unless your customers live underground, they are inundated with advertisements from the moment they wake up to the moment they drop gratefully back into bed. There are bold-lettered newspaper ads and unnaturally upbeat TV commercials during morning coffee. Loud-voiced radio announcements on the way to work. GoogleAds when they’re researching a project—even blog banners when they’re sneaking some Perez Hilton! Not to mention the sheaf of junk mail they glance at once before tossing it into the recycling bin at night. All these advertisements are designed to grab your customers’ attention, and to do so each ad screams louder than the last.

Annoying? Hell yes. Effective? Not anymore.

Wake up! Traditional advertising is Read the rest of this entry »

I’m proud of this one.  It’s very honest.

Posted by Annie Hart

June 23, 2009

This is the Courage Award. It goes to Corey Blake for his courage and tenacity to tell a story that has never been told.

He did so with all his effort, all his might, and all his energy.

This wasn’t easy.

Stories like this can live inside us forever and never be told.  But Corey had the knowing that he needed to bring it to the light of day, and he did.

What was the real breakthrough here?  Was it the product or was it the process?  Who’s to tell?  Corey chose to dive in to some emotionally difficult places and that wasn’t easy.  But those are exactly the stories that need to be told because they are have the most juice.  And they have a universal meaning for all of us.

The pearl of Corey’s journey is the turning point moment between “The Critic” and “The Wimp”.  Each of us has these two seeming opponents inside of us.  One is very weak and the other a kind of brute that tells us to ‘just get up and move on with it.”  That is a common theme in the psyche.

In Corey’s journey when we were drawing out this story, there was a very tender and emotional moment when he Read the rest of this entry »

so be nice! This is me discussing what happened to my psyche in LA.

June 22, 2009

Corey left his morning and Miss Sweetie and I took him to the airport to say goodbye.  Miss Sweetie was very sad to see him go, she was napping in his lap on the way to the airport!

Did we accomplish our goal which was to create a compelling emotional story journey?  I believe we did.  I think Corey now has at least many of the pieces that will drive his story forward.  And with his immense Read the rest of this entry »