Having just freshened our own website, we felt it was timely to repost our 10 Commandments of About Us pages. Need a PDF to share with decision-makers at your organization? Glad to oblige. Commandment 1: Know thy ...
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Scooped by Karen Dietz onto Just Story It |
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Karen Dietz's insight:
LOL -- love these 10 commandments to follow when creating/updating your About Page.
Truly, About Pages are one of the most underutilized parts of a website. But your About Page is a fabulous place to share your story, chat about your products/services, and win more business.
I also like how under each commandment in this post, questions are asked to help you figure out how to apply the commandment.
Now then -- DON'T do what CorporateHistory.net has done on their own website:
- Their web pages take awhile to load using Chrome
- This post has no author listed (who wrote this post, anyway??). Hey, we want real people behind posts!
- Their "Our Story" page is not written as an engaging narrative. Time to go back to the drawing board.
- There are no images/visual storytelling in the post -- I had to go find my own. That's not an included commandment, but it should be. Add at least one pic!
Ay yi yi. It's a classic case of 'do what I say, not as I do.' Oops, credibility slips! Since their business is all about storytelling, I hope they make these fixes soon.
There is one other Commandment I would offer: Thou shalt not attempt to write your About Page by yourself. It is just too hard to see the forest for the trees. Always get outside help, even if it is just friends and business colleagues giving you feedback and insights.
Despite these modeling flaws, the list is good so keep it handy for easy reference.
If you want more fab info on creating/updaing About Pages, just use the Filter tab near the top of the screen and click on 'aboutpages'.
This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it
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Storycode is a non-profit community hub for independent cross-platform storytellers and an incubator for their projects. We are proud to host a community of creators who share their projects in great detail. Our creators share both successes and missteps in their process with a candor that members find invaluable. StoryCode documents these process-driven presentations, serving as a repository of cross-media project case studies. Oh, no -- what a missed opportunity! And full of irony, to boot!! When I stumbled on this page by Storycode (an organization devoted to immersive storytelling) and their page of case studies I thought, "Oh goody! Cool stories about cool story projects!" Then I read the case studies and was so disappointed. I had to keep drinking my coffee to stay awake while plowing through the descriptions -- not stories! -- of these amazing interactive story projects. Hence the irony. I was sooooooo disappointed! What's the take-away here? Well first, go check out the videos of these really interesting/fun interactive storytelling projects. Think about ways you can use these ideas and tools in your biz storytelling. And hang out with their community. Second, please please please don't get stuck thinking there's a model for case studies to follow that is as boring as these. Third, write storied case studies that share experiences and engage the reader. Or don't use case studies at all and just tell the story about the project. There is nothing sacred about case studies. Storycode is doing great work out there in the world. If you want to hang out with a community devoted to immersive interactive storytelling, then check them out. This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it Delete the scoop?
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Traditional advertising can get lost in the daily media blitz. Give people what they really love: stories. Yes, absolutely. I like this article because it covers all of the 'why' questions -- about why you would use case studies. These are really good points showing how they are a powerful marketing tool. The author then shares the 'rules' to follow to create your case study. Well, they are OK as far is it goes. But here are the critical rules that were left out:
If you miss including these three rules, you will create case studies that are dry dry dry as toast and as boring as watching grass grow. And frankly, boring case studies are the norm in business. I deal with this every single time with my clients. So follow these 'rules', but make your case studies come alive as stories using all the storytelling tools available to you. That's the way to stay out of the quicksand and bring more customers knocking on your door. 
Karen Dietz's comment,
March 7, 2012 10:55 AM
Thank you for re-scooping this article! Have a great week -- Karen
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If you enter the phrase “storytelling as a marketing tool” into Google search, you will get 1,650,000 results. Obviously a lot of people are talking about the value of storytelling in building awareness and trust for your marketing message. Well, the title is an excellent question. And the author has the right idea in the solution he offers. But then everything goes haywire. Yes, a case study is one way to tell your brand story. And the author makes good points about why. Yet the key elements he identifies for a case study will most likey generate text that is dry as desert sand. You'll get a half-baked promo and not a story. So what do you do? Check out this article: http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/05/08/25-things-writers-should-know-about-creating-mystery/ I didn't curate this piece because the translation from this post for writers to the business world would have taken a long time. However, pay attention to at least these points (the others are great too): #3 -- the case study elements in this post will read more like a news piece. Avoid this at all costs. #4 -- the audience wants to work. Effective storytelling is about connection and engagement. People want to work for the story. Follow the advice here. #9 -- Sue Spence & the Mystery Squad. Create suspense & mystery (yes! even in your biz stories this is critical). It is not hard. #14 -- have a plot and a character OK -- there are more insights in the second article. Not all the points in this second article apply to business storytelling, but they sure will get you a lot further along than the original advice about how to build a case study. And you'll have a lot more fun in the process! Delete the scoop?
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Les dix commandements à suivre pour rédiger, ou faire rédiger, la page A propos de votre site web, une page trop souvent sous-utilisée.