I hope you find my writing and business tips and observations useful. My business and blog are dedicated to helping businesses communicate clearly and reach their potential.
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What is your passion story?
Last week, I heard Valerie Khoo speak about her new book, Power Stories, within a ‘booked for lunch’ webinar.
She summarised the eight stories she covers in her book, being stories that are important to know and tell to make a successful business (or organisation or project).
I tweeted tips throughout the webinar, as I do, but thought I’d expand on one aspect of her talk here as well.
The first story is your passion story.
As I shared a few weeks ago, I started my business to share my writing skill. It was designed around two passions – flexibility to be with my children and the drive to have clear communications all around us.
I like helping people not only write well but to communicate effectively. The difference between ‘you can buy widgets from us’ and ‘you will get back two hours a week once we install a widget for you’.
Sharing my writing skills isn’t my passion story. Helping others communicate clearly and effectively is my passion – writing copy for others is just one way I put my passion into practice.
Valerie made it very clear that it is a valuable use of time to sit and articulate your passion story.
Do you know your passion story? Are you telling it enough?
My copy of Valerie’s book arrived today – a sneak peek had me hooked, too, so I am really looking forward to sitting down and reading this book.
I intend adding a review of the book once I’ve finished, but I may well end up sharing various tips from it as I go, too.
Media release stories
Writing a media release for your own business is quite possible, or you may want to get a professional writer/PR or marketing person to do it for you.
The key of a good media release
The key part to any release, however, is the story in the release. It must be newsworthy if it is to gain any interest or publicity. And it must be newsworthy for the media outlet you are sending it to – an article about an innovative tractor part would be newsworthy in an agricultural magazine but not so much in a women’s fashion magazine.
With a bit of spin or a changed perspective, many stories can be made more interesting than they first appear, but a journalist still has to get an article out of the story for them to follow up the release.
I have seen instances where the interest of the story, its newsworthiness, is listed as the be all and end all of a media release. But there is one other important factor in a successful media release.
The story in your release must be relevant to your business if it is to benefit your business. So you could write a release about that great tractor part, grab the attention of a journalist and see the part get some publicity. How does that help you if you sell shoes or books? Of course, if you sell food and can add “This new tractor part means we harvest sooner so your food is fresher” or if you are a web designer and can add “Since we redesigned their site, this tractor part has sold millions” it has relevance.
Planning your media release
So before starting a media release, you need to ask yourself:
Will this story interest a number of people?
Is there a media outlet that will reach those interested people?
Is this story relevant to my business?
If they are all ‘yes’, get writing! Or hiring!
Dreams
So many of our dreams
at first seem impossible,
then they seem improbable,
and then, when we summon the will,
they soon become inevitable.
~ Christopher Reeve.
I have read the first of Reeve’s autobiographies, which gives this quote even more power to my mind. The man struggled to do anything much after his accident, yet he exercised for hours every day (not exercise as the rest of us take for granted) so if he could keep reaching for his dreams, and get acting roles, and help charities and inspire people when he was immobile from the neck down…
I think we can take his ideas about dreams seriously and confront the difficult challenges with the belief we CAN do it.
~~~~~~~
My dreams story:
Some years ago, I had a dream of not working for anyone else. Then I had a mortgage and that dream seemed highly unlikely if not impossible. But I worked hard, saving money and reducing my debt, interest rates fell and I sold the shares I’d been given at work for a good price. The mortgage was no longer a reason to work for someone else.
But then I doubted I had a marketable skill so my own business was still improbable. Until I did a few writing/editing projects for friends and appreciated I had a skill with words that others valued.
Suddenly, I had a business doing something I love and working for myself was inevitable. And I wouldn’t give it up for a job, either.
What is your dream story?
Telling the tale…
I’ve heard of a fun way to write a story and find a lot of new blogs. It’s as simple as each person writing one sentence and building the story as we go – and there will be multiple versions of the story in the end, too.
Here’s what we have to do…
Here is the way it works:
1. Copy these instructions and the following story into a post on your blog.
2. Read the story so far and add your sentence to it. It must make sense because this will eventually be a real story.
3. Add your blog link to the links listed. Every time a new sentence and blog link is added yours will receive some link love too.
4. The only rule is that no smutty sentences are allowed!
“Telling the Tale
I really don’t remember how we came to be here. I am not sure that I really want to know!
However one thing that I do remember is that we followed a really bright light, that flashed every once in a while. We followed it blindly for some time and then when we came to a stop we were utterly amazed!
Looking down into a valley, we could see it wasn’t just one light, but hundreds of them converging.”
Contributing Authors:
The Tall Poppy
Just Delete That.
madmadmummy
Small Business Diva
Word Constructions
Have fun – I look forward to reading some great stories!
Word Constructions ~ for all your business writing needs
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