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Here is the textbook that I created/curated for teaching my New Media Technology class during the Spring semester of 2012 at Hannam University's Linton Global College. I took great effort to give credit where it is due. I aimed to show my students how they could access enough free info on the web that was of equal or greater value than the wonderful information found in expensive textbooks. Feel free to share and please support the true authors of this book in any way you can (money, likes, blog comments, links, etc.) I am simply the currator of this content. If you would like a free tablet-friendly PDF file, just email me at kenmorrison30 @ yahoo.com (no spaces) P.S. There are some typos and honest mistakes in this textbook, but I am comfortable sharing it as is. I am excited to redesign it for next semester. Ken
Via Ken Morrison
Content Marketing has been remarkably exposed over marketers’ activities the last couple of years. However, companies seem to struggle upon the development
Via Martin (Marty) Smith
The Marketing Automation Problem
Rocker Amanda Palmer worked with Red Maxell, the brand doctor, to create ASK and GIVE magic at TED last week complete with lessons for all marketers.
Via Martin (Marty) Smith
A very good friend of mine, Real Estate Coach Darin Persinger wrote a post this week called Storytelling Isn’t Marketing poking some holes into how we can be quite guilty of buying in to the ‘new shiny tool’ or in this case the ‘new shiny idea’.
This post is from author Teri Conrad and is an excellent reminder of how storytelling is re-shaping marketing. Teri makes great points here: Success in marketing is about applying systems and following through. Even if you have compelling stories, without a system very little is going to happen. People buy the Why of your product/service, not the What (features). Embody the "what can I give?" perspective. Focus on creating fabulous experiences for customers/clients. Know and communication your purpose -- get clear on that. Points 2-5 are all about how you frame your stories and then convey them. I would add one more -- make sure you are authentic! Using stories in your marketing can be very powerful. Follow these principles to ensure success with your business storytelling. Now go read the full article for all the other insights to be gained here :) This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it ;
Via Karen Dietz
To really know customers you must engage them face-to-face.
This is a handly little article reminding us all that data and "likes" can only take us so far. If we really want to know our customers to help guide for innovation, marketing, business relationships, and ultimately business growth, then face-to-face interactions are imperative.
OK -- now we've gotten that message, and we are in front of a customer, now what? How do you maximize your time together?
The practical answer is to ask for, and listen to, their stories! That is what this article does not say. Yet that is your path to success.
What stories do you ask for? Ask them to share with you their experiences of your product/service, your company, your marketing/branding, or whatever burning question you need an answer to.
Just remember, most people ask information questions where they get lots of description but little story. That's not so helpful. They will ask someone to describe what they like about their product. In return they will gets answers like, "I like the blue color, and how it fits in my hand." interesting, but not so helpful.
Ask for EXPIENCES instead: "Tell me about the first time you used our product and what that was like ..." In return, you will receive a story rich in material and meaning: "One day I was really struggling one day to open a jar. For some reason my arthritis was really bad that morning and I couldn't get the strength to open that jar. I didn't want to ask my daughter for help because i hate feeling dependent on someone just to open a jar! A friend had given me your handy opener as a gift but I hadn't even taken it out of its packaging yet. That morning I grabbed it but had a devil of a time getting it out of its plastic wrapping! I finally took a scissors to it, which means I probably have blunt scissors now [HINT for changing packaging]. But I finally got it opened and used it on that jar I was struggling with. Voila! It was so easy! I had that jar open in a jiffy. Your design made it very easy in my hands. I checked out your website to see if it came in other colors so I could give it as a gift to friends. Was kind of disappointed in the color selection but I'll make do. I'm sure they will appreciate its ease and cool design like I do."
You get the picture -- haven't customers share experiences is much more valuable. From the little story above you can now dig deeper into the story, or keep asking for later experiences.
Enjoy this process. Take your time -- no need to schedule 20 interviews to aquire tons of material. A handful will do to get you started. Remember you are going for quality, not quantity. You will learn as you go and interviews down the line will be richer and more complex because you will have gotten better at evoking stories from your customers.
I would love to hear about your experiences doing this activity!
This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it
Via Karen Dietz
Beth Kanter wrote a very complete and interesting piece in NTEN's latest edition of their quarterly journal for non-profit leaders. You have to download the journal but it's worth it and it's free (you just need to register). Jan Gordon: I agree with Guillaume, Beth Kanter knows what she's talking about and her article is definitely worth reading. Guillaume Decugis wrote this commentary: "It's been fascinating for me to see how non-profits seem to embrace Social Media in general and Content Curation in particular - Beth of course being a key advocate in that move. The broader take-away that I see for those of us in all sorts of organizations, as independant professionals or SMB-owners is the validation it brings to the model. When tightly-budgeted NPO's embrace a practice as a group, you can bet they're not wasting their scarce resources on a hype. They have to be efficient and as Beth puts it in the article: "Putting content curation into practice is part art form, part science, but mostly about daily practice. You don’t need to do it for hours, but 20 minutes every day will help you develop and hone the skills." This is precisely where we see the opportunity with curation for professionals: building up a good practice that fits with one's daily routine and that -as Beth puts it - brings great "unexpected benefits". Selected by gdecugis and Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond" Read full article here: [http://tinyurl.com/75ucphe]
Via gdecugis, janlgordon, Tom George
Robin Good: If you are a company looking for quality content from prestigious and reliable news sources, from which you can pick and choose which stories to publish on your web site, Hearsay may be the solution you are looking for. Hearsay Social Content Exchange aggregates content from Thomson Reuters, Tribune Media Services and Demand Media.
This new content curation platform makes it quite easy for marketers and sales people to discover engaging third-party and custom content feeds. In fact, in addition to premium third-party content, Hearsay Social customers can create and integrate custom news channels on the platform such as your company blog, a YouTube channel, or a custom RSS feed tailored to the interests of your organization. From these they can pick and select their preferred content and share it directly to multiple social media networks such as LinkedIN, Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Check out this review of Hearsay: http://www.marketingtechblog.com/hearsay-content-exchange/ Schedule a demo: https://info.hearsaysocial.com/ContentExchange_LearnMore.html More info: http://hearsaysocial.com/product/content-exchange/
Via Robin Good
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Via Martin (Marty) Smith
U.S. clothing retailer AE Outfitters released a new -- and likely faux -- video ad Wednesday that has gone viral for its daring take on the derriere.
Via Martin (Marty) Smith
The hottest social network on the scene is Pinterest, which offers visually dynamic and interactive boards for people and businesses to bond over shared passions. Hey...even Spark & Hustle has a Pinterest board.
Via Martin (Marty) Smith
There's a rather interesting new study out of Ohio State University that says that consuming media may affect us more than we think. Stories are very powerful. The stories we read and tell ourselves influence how we be and act in the world. The stories we share with others influence how others be and act in the world. This article talks about a recent Ohio State University study showing the link between stories and behavior. Which is why the hype about storytelling in the worlds of marketing and branding give me a queasy feeling sometimes. On the other hand, if we as leaders, business owners, entreprenuers and heads of non-profits choose to do good in the world, understanding the power of stories can allow us to create our worlds and those we interact with more consciously. If you want to be a certain way as a leader or business owner, read stories that support that. As a small business or enterprise, what kinds of customers do you want to attract and work with? What kinds of employees do you want to attract to you? Figure that out and share stories in alignment with those desires. This sounds simple, is not so easy, yet there is great truth and wisdom to these notions and the conclusions of the study shared here. Makes you wonder and take pause about some of the video games out there. This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it ;
Via Karen Dietz
Fab Biz Story Example for Marketing!
I was at a meeting today and my friend Barbara showed me this postcard (see photo above) she received in the mail from the motivational products company Baudville. Barbara runs Mind Masters, a small business coaching enterprise. As we passed around the postcard we all remarked at how personalized the card was -- mentioning Barbara and her company by name. Now that impressed us! But even better yet, I love Baudville's creative use of story for promo purposes. From what I know about Baudville, it seems their culture is in alignment with their marketing -- which is what we want. Anyway, this is a terrific idea and story! We were all smiling as we read it. If you are not able to read the text on the photo above, here is the story: "Once upon a time, a company called Baudville offered Barbara $25 to give their products another try. Barbara accepted the offer, but saving a bundle on some amazing employee recognition tools was just the beginning. As Baudville products circulated Mind Masters, joy erupted, scattering polka dots and moonbeams throughout the air. Goodwill became contagious, productivity soared, and spirits rocketed into the stratosphere. Some even say a unicorn was spotted that day. A miracle? Nope, we get that all the time. And that's how Barbara saved the day (and $25)." What a hoot! And you can do this too for your biz :)) Have a wonderful holiday weekend everyone and chat with you next week. Keep sharing your stories! This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it ;
Via Karen Dietz
Here are the best articles from across the web that I can find on using stories and storytelling in business.
I've chosen them because they actually make a contribution to our knowledge and wisdom about stories, show us how to apply stories to growing our businesses, or give valuable how-to tips. I weed out all the junk. And besides, who needs another post in why storytelling is important?? Where's the beef?? We want the meat! I've written reviews of each article to share what I like best, what you can get from reading the article, or what may be missing in the article. How To Find A Topic: Click on the Filter tab above, and type in a keyword. All the articles with that keyword will appear. I may occassionally review an article that I think is problematic as a way to educate us all, although most I will simply pass over. If you wonder if I've seen an article that is not included here, send me a message and I'll respond.
After doing biz story work for over a decade (and with a PhD in Folklore) I hope you find many great insights and tips here. Many thanks for visiting and enjoy the articles! And I hope you will also visit my website for more tips and tools, & take the free Story IQ assessment so you can see how well developed your storytelling skills and knowledge is: http://www.juststoryit.com/storyiq ;
Via Karen Dietz
Who tell stories to the outside world about the heart and soul of a company and what it's really like? Employees are among an organization's greatest brand champions. If employees aren't happy, customers won't be, either. I love this quick piece by Kathy Klotz-Guest full of sound wisdom. You can't tell effective biz stories in the marketplace if the culture of your company culture contradicts your stories. Why? Because stories build trust and if you are not 'walking your talk' you can't build trust. The story shared in this post is a gem and perfectly illustrates the point of the article. I am sure I will be sharing this with my corporate clients so they really 'get it.' It's great when marketing comes up with fab stories to share about the company's products/services. But the BEST kind of stories come from employees themselves. That's why the best business storytelling is from the 'inside out' as this article advocates. No matter if you are a micro-entrepreneur or a mega enterprise -- the inside and outside gotta match. Well of course, that begs the next question: how do we gather employee stories? I recommend getting a firm grasp of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a process and tool to help you evoke those stories. If you are a solo-preneur, asking yourself AI questions can be very illuminating. As an enteprise, AI will have casdacing positive effects on your culture. Google AI and you will be deluged with resources. So get busy making sure your inside and outside stories match for the best biz storytelling experiences that lead to consistent growth and raving fans. Link to original article: http://www.keepingithuman.com/blog/great-marketing-starts-inside-out-storytelling-penguins-elephants/ ; This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it ;
Via Karen Dietz, TourdeForce
Here are the best articles from across the web that I can find on using stories and storytelling in business.
I've chosen them because they actually make a contribution to our knowledge and wisdom about stories, show us how to apply stories to growing our businesses, or give valuable how-to tips.
I weed out all the junk. And besides, who needs another post in why storytelling is important?? Where's the beef?? We want the meat!
I've written reviews of each article to share what I like best, what you can get from reading the article, or what may be missing in the article. How To Find A Topic: Click on the Filter tab above, and type in a keyword. All the articles with that keyword will appear. I may occassionally review an article that I think is problematic as a way to educate us all, although most I will simply pass over. If you wonder if I've seen an article that is not included here, send me a message and I'll respond.
After doing biz story work for over a decade (and with a PhD in Folklore) I hope you find many great insights and tips here. Many thanks for visiting and enjoy the articles! And I hope you will also visit my website for more tips and tools, & take the free Story IQ assessment so you can see how well developed your storytelling skills and knowledge is: http://www.juststoryit.com/storyiq ;
Via Karen Dietz
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This is a course created by fellow curator Ken Morrison. It contains enough information on social media that everyone will find something of interest. Thanks for sharing, Ken!