Yes. But before diving into the topic at hand, it’s worth a visit to your Google Analytics. This doesn’t require a lengthy analysis. Click on the site content and pull up the pages with the most views. If you’re a B2B play, it’s likely that your contact page is a top producer of pageviews. It …more
Every interaction with the outside world is an opportunity to build your brand. Even those mundane interactions. One could argue that the “mundane” actually offers one of the best opportunities to stand out, since others are tracking to the status quo. This often leads to template communications, the opposite of communications guided by storytelling techniques. …more
Business communicators can learn from novelists and their storytelling techniques. I’ve always been partial to the Kurt Vonnegut advice: “Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them – in order that the reader may see what they are made of.” It’s never easy for a …more
What if I told you there’s an easy way to gain visibility in many media properties with relevance to your company, even mainstream publications? You don’t need to exhaust time pitching your story to a journalist who decides whether it’s a “go” or a “no go.” In fact, you completely control the storytelling even though …more
Every once in a while I’ll get an email or comment from someone calling me out for passing myself off as a storyteller. They’re right. I’m not a storyteller. My passion lies as a student of storytelling and applying the techniques that underpin storytelling in business communications. There’s a huge difference between the two. For …more
A recent post by Chris Brogan focused on a simple question, “How do I get people to care?” We are bombarded with information 24 X 7, often self-induced (hello, smartphone). Trying to cut through the noise often feels like a trek through a jungle with a dull pocket knife. Chris’s answer to the challenge – …more
Every company is a media company. Tom Foremski, ex Financial Times Silicon Valley bureau head before starting Silicon Valley Watcher, made this statement years ago. Intel has hired journalists to man the Intel Free Press. Cisco has gone down a similar path with an owned media platform called “The Network.” Observing from afar, one might …more
I am an unabashed fan of the anecdote. Not in the sense that when one shows up on the Ed Sullivan show I’m moved to shriek. There’s an intellectual argument for using anecdotes – namely journalists want them. Sam Whitmore – if you’re in the communications business and don’t subscribe to SWMS, you’re missing a …more
The Wired franchise has a gift for finding the fresh narrative in complexity. Even under Condé Nast with a nod toward mainstream, the property remains true to the Alpha Geek. When the UK Wired sent out the following ProfNet, I assumed they would get crushed with pitches. I am editing a special edition of Wired, …more
