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Telling Your Story

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What if your slogan is true? Slogans never change anything. They don't grow market share or find you a job or win you an election. Underneath the slogan, perhaps, is a story. And the slogan well told is a symptom of that story, a shadow of what you're truly up to. A slogan might be evidence that you have a story, but it isn’t a story. A story is something you live and connect with and come back again and again and again. If the story of your work is consistent, if it resonates with your audience and if you can defend it, then you're likely to succeed. Apple has had various slogans through the years, but in every successful iteration of the company, the story has been remarkably consistent: Apple’s story is that they are idiosyncratic artisans producing beautiful products for smart people.

So sure, start with a slogan. 4 Characteristics of Effective Communicators. Listen to most presentations and you will hear a litany of stories half submerged in what might be major points—or maybe just another story. Regardless, 75 percent of the people leave a presentation with no idea what the point of the message was. Even worse, 50 percent of speakers can’t identify the objective of their own talk. During my thirty-five years as a professional speaker, I have been constantly asked the secret to being a powerful communicator. My experience with audiences of all sizes and from all walks of life have taught me that, whether speaking to twelve people in a board room or fifty-five thousand in a stadium, effective communicators share four characteristics: Effective communicators know how to prepare a message with a singular and crystal clear focus.

No secrets there! That’s the secret! I developed the SCORRE System™ to teach people how to develop all the skills above. Michael here again. Here’s the deal: The registration fee for the conference is $1,497. Introducing yourself to young clients. Recently, I met with the partners and associates of Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp., a boutique advisory firm in Mobile, Ala., about marketing to their next generation of clients. Baby boomers Jim Aull and Earl Monroe founded the firm in 1990 with six clients and about $5 million in assets to manage. Now they have more than 100 clients and manage more than $200 million in investments.

They built their business through word of mouth. They didn't advertise much. In a traditionally staid and discreet business, they let their work speak for itself in their close-knit community. After 22 years, Earl and Jim are looking to the future. Aull & Monroe is one of many firms undergoing this type of transition.

The company's leadership has taken on the task of retaining its long-standing and loyal older clients while targeting the next generations of prospective clients, Generation X and the millennials. Existing clients may prefer the discreet and traditional style of the firm. Mr. The Five “B’s” of Social Media Success. Social media isn’t supposed to be difficult or complicated. But lately it seems everyone is an expert with all kinds of strategies and rules and methods to achieve success in business using social media. Some days my inbox fills up with so many differing and conflicting opinions and strategies that I feel like my head is going to explode.

I’m not a complicated person so my social media strategy is a lot less complicated. Though each one could certainly be expanded upon, I’ve distilled my social media theory down to five simple “B’s.” Be authentic Don’t try to be someone you’re not or try to adopt some online persona that you think will make you more interesting, appealing and attract more followers. Be useful.

Share more than random trivia through social media. Be specific Don’t beat around the bush. Be focused This goes along with the last one. Be nice Thumper’s mother said, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” So, those are my five B’s of social media. Marie Leslie.

Personal Branding

Fearless Speaking | Does Your Elevator Speech Take You To The Penthouse? You know the drill. You’re supposed to follow your mentor’s formula for writing your “elevator speech” or 30-second intro. And then deliver it with enthusiasm to everyone who will stop long enough to listen. Right? OK. You’re following instructions. Try Something Different It’s possible that what you really need is a new approach – not a new speech. Focus on how you can serve the people you talk with. What About My Elevator Speech?

Your turn will come – don’t worry. Relaxing Into It You may think the problem is that your words aren’t perfect. So it’s not your words that really connect you to people. 10 Resolute Ideas To Start Your New Year. Put the punch back in your purpose. There is power in the perspective that comes from revisiting why you exist as a business and exploring the beliefs and operating values you live by. While the bottom line is a non-negotiable, how you get to it is. Make sure your entire organization understands your reason for being and that leading with values is what will make the journey one to be proud of beyond the dollars and cents.

Can everyone answer what difference are you making in people's lives, why you exist, and what you believe in as a brand? Start your own love fest. Fed up reading stories about Zappos being the best company on the planet for customer service and culture, Southwest for their brilliant simplicity, or TOMS for their generosity? Unleash your inner pirates. Complacency comes from comfort and following all the rules. Wake up stupid every day. Talk to the people who matter. Get out of your all day internal meetings and get into the lives of your customers. The world’s a stage. No one ever bought anything in an elevator. Useful Free Open Office Templates To Make You More Productive. The program can be freely downloaded on PC, Mac, and Linux machines. The best part? It can open files from any other program! Read more about Open Office here and here. If you need inspiration or want to produce a specific kind of document, never fear! Their free user-created Open Office templates are awesome, and can save you lots of time and money!

Truly, there is no reason to spend your hard earned cash on expensive software when you can get everything you need right in the Open Office suite. If you need a word processing program, use OOO’s “Write” program; if you need a PowerPoint program, use their “Presentation” software. In addition to their powerful tools, they also offer a sweet repository of Open Office templates. This article will highlight some of the most useful templates available in each of the three sections. Business The Business section is stuffed full of excellent and resourceful templates. Business Cards Every person needs to have a business card.

Event Posters Time Cards. Five Tips To Create A Cool Looking Personal Landing Page. While it’s possible to manually build a landing page using one of the available general web builders, or maybe modify a page of your existing blog to fit the purpose; the quickest and easiest way to build a personal landing page is to use one of the available web services specializing in that genre such as Flavors.me and About.me. These services provide you with the tools needed to build a nice looking, free landing page. You just need to add a little mixture of personalization and creativity to the ingredients to make it look cooler. Choosing The Creator Both About.me and Flavors.me offer similar services and tools, but I chose About.me for my landing page project, because the Flavors.me free account is more limited. But feel free to choose the service that you like for your project. We briefly discussed About.me in the article about a virtual business card.

This is a sample of landing pages from the About.me “Inspirational” directory: This one is from the Flavors.me “Featured” directory: Double Your Income. In the spring of 1999, when I was halfway through my Master’s degree, I started sending out my resume in an attempt to land my dream job. At that time in my life, it meant writing to the General Manager of every single team in the National Hockey League (NHL) because my number one career goal was to become an NHL Strength and Conditioning Coach. I scoured the Internet for their mailing addresses, made a list of the GM’s I had contacted, and sent out twenty-eight resumes along with a follow-up letter four weeks later.

Months went by and, miraculously, some of the GM’s even replied. Each time they did I would mark off the communication in a spreadsheet. That was my first experience with building a contact list and while I never did get a shot at working in the big leagues, I discovered the value of having this simple little networking tool. This is the list you need in your life. The premise of the list is simple. Read those three steps again. Start building your contact list today. [Ed. Making Your Voice Heard as a Small Business Owner. Politics has been on everyone’s mind lately due to the recent midterm elections.

In California, where I live, there was much debate (as always) about whether certain propositions on the ballot would actually help citizens—or were simply smokescreens for big businesses to profit. And two of the candidates, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, touted their former experience as corporate CEOs as a good reason to vote for them as politicians, though neither one won. We all know the role that big business plays in politics and the influence large corporations have on government via lobbyists and donations. But did you ever consider that your small business could have the same kind of influence? Of course, one small company cannot hope to wield the influence of a massive global corporation. But by banding together to make our voices heard, small businesses can make a difference.

Making your voice heard can start as small as working to get a zoning variance so you can run a business from home. Expanding the circle of 'missed' Porcelain Unicorn.

Article Marketing

Content Marketing. Reputation Management. Opt In - Nerd2Offer. Hey you, It’s Nerd #2. Today I’m showing up with gift in my hand (as usual)and an opportunity you may or may not have been waiting for... that you probably shouldn’t take advantage of unless you’re the perfect candidate. In my journey to fuel my writing with uniquely familiar elements that lead to higher conversion for myself and my clients, I’ve come across a cutie named Pilar Alessandra. She’s a screenwriting instructor / script consultant who has helped hundreds of writers finish their screenplays, win major writing competitions, and make script sales to studios such as Disney, DreamWorks, Warner Bros. and Sony. It's her business to turn writing into money. People Spend Big Cash & Big Time In Pursuit Of Entertainment... Today, I’m letting you in on how I adapted one of her awesome story telling formulas for writing movie scripts and converted it so it directly ties to cultivating an engaging story that you can use for any salesletter or a video script.

This wasn’t easy. Great question. P.S. ‪Morgan Freeman: The Power of Words‬‏ FranNet Offers “Entrepreneur’s Checklist” to Reveal Aptitude for Small Business Ownership. Louisville, Kentucky (PRESS RELEASE – January 11, 2011) - As the economy continues to struggle toward recovery, the opportunity presented by franchise ownership continues to grow in appeal for many with an entrepreneurial spirit, according to the franchise experts at FranNet. “Small business ownership isn’t for everyone,” said Jania Bailey, President and COO at FranNet.

“But, for the right type of person, in the right circumstances, owning a business can bring financial and personal rewards far exceeding those offered by more traditional job paths.” For individuals interested in exploring the idea of small business ownership, Bailey offers this short “Entrepreneur’s Checklist” to help evaluate their readiness and aptitude for taking on this challenge. Understand your own motives. Make a list of the positive things you expect to gain from small business ownership, and then make a list of the disadvantages of being in business for yourself. Be specific, and be honest. About FranNet. Back to the Basics...How Do You Define Success? - SUCCESS magazine. In my previous columns, we've discussed getting "back to basics. " If you have been following along, you have upgraded your thoughts, cleared your clutter, gotten organized, and decided what you want and why.

In this last column in the Back to Basics series, I want to challenge you to get clear about what success looks like for your life. Write down your answer to this question: How do you define success? Society, in general, tends to equate success with material wealth and possessions. And while those things can be an outward sign of your own career or business success - or that of your family - it reflects only a small piece of the bigger picture that is your life.

A successful life should encompass far more than your work or finances, although they are a part of the big picture. A fulfilling life in all areas is a successful life. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Rather than allowing others to define success for you, take time today to create your own definition. Small Business Rules: The Green and Greener Rule : Innovation. Naive or professional? The naive farmer farms as his parents, grandparents and great grandparents did. She plants, hopes and harvests. Anything that goes well or poorly is the work of the gods. The professional farmer measures. She tests. I didn''t use the word amateur, because money isn't the point. Mostly, the professional asks questions... [By the way, it's possible to be naive and happy. I spent the last week working with Western Seed and Juhudi Kilimo, two vibrant companies that are helping small-plot farmers in Kenya (and beyond) dramatically increase their yields, their income and their well-being.

Before you can sell a service, a product or an insight to the naive, you need to sell them on being professional. Too Old To Learn? Hogwash. You’re Never Too Old To Learn Something New. It never ceases to amaze me the number of times I’ve been told that erroneous quote, “I’m too old to learn”. It is utter nonsense for anyone to think, let alone actually say to themselves or outloud, that they’re too old to learn something new.

What’s even more odd is the age range of people who’ve been saying they’re too old to learn things, to educate themselves and grow or expand their knowledge once they’ve reached a certain age. Men and women (mostly women) saying they’re too old to learn new things when they’re only in their forties, fifties, sixties and so on. Hogwash. That ridiculous quote has got to be one of the biggest cop-out’s of all time. Over the last few months, that cop-out excuse has been used more times than I care to remember by parents struggling with “ empty nest syndrome “, where their children have grown up and moved out on their own for one reason or another. “If you don’t like something, change it. Look, life is what you make of it.

Be Sociable, Share! Step-by-Step Templates for Mapping your B2B Content. Map out your future. Selling nuts to squirrels. James M. Lynch: You've Got Your Own Story, But is it TRUE? How to Score Press Coverage.

Personal Branding

The Best Advice Was a Purposeful Story. Using Stories to Persuade - John Baldoni - The Conversation - Harvard Business Review. Tell to Win with Peter Guber.