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If you want to highlight a product, build a landing page. If you're an internet marketing guru, make a squeeze page. But if you want to start on online movement -- and maybe sell a few books, speak... No comment yet.
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In “Storytelling in Web Design,” I explained the three most basic aspects of storytelling — character, setting, and action — and offered ways to begin including storytelling in web design using basic design elements. In this article, I will examine ten sites that use storytelling and list the character, setting, and action found in each story.
Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:
Thanks to fellow curator Gregg Morris for finding and sharing this post! Bringing storytelling into web design is challenging. I like this post because it identifies 3 elements of stories that we can bring into web design -- character, setting, and action -- and then gives us examples demonstrating these. What I really like is that for each website, all the elements are identified. It started giving me plenty of ideas for 'storifying' websites. I hope you get lots of ideas, too. This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on busines storyelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it
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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 ...
Dr. 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:
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 
Laurent Brixius's curator insight,
February 27, 2013 3:16 PM
Les dix commandements à suivre pour rédiger, ou faire rédiger, la page A propos de votre site web, une page trop souvent sous-utilisée. 
Dr. Karen Dietz's comment,
February 27, 2013 3:40 PM
Thank you Rowan! Yes, I just re-did my website and am now going to take this list and re-look at it again :)
Dr. Karen Dietz's comment,
February 27, 2013 3:41 PM
Rhonda and comeja, glad you found the article useful!
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"From annoying pop-up ads to often completely irrelevant video pre-rolls, the clutter is causing consumers’ “BS meters,” as digital rock star Gary Vaynerchuk has called them, to become more sensitive and accurate than ever before."
"So while the speed of technology is increasing, it’s interesting to note that one of the hottest trends in online marketing might just be the age-old art of story-telling."
"What does this mean? To cut through the clutter, businesses need to stop annoying, and start telling stories." - Lisa Ostrikoff Via Ken Jondahl
Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:
Ken Jondahl's review below says it all. Whenver I see a cluttered website I know people are lacking storytelling skills. Novice storytellers always add too much detail. So if your website is too cluttered, it can't tell a great story. So polish your storytelling skills and upgrade your website. It's essential to gain business growth. After the article makes this main point, the rest we already know. And yet they are good reminders for us. And I like the quotes. Thanks for finding and sharing the article Ken! 
Ken Jondahl's curator insight,
February 14, 2013 8:46 AM
The article focuses mostly on the visual marketing via web/ads/etc and is dead on in the conclusions. However, think about your sales people.
Are they really prepared to go out and have conversations with customers which include great stories around your company, the people and how you help customers?
If not, the next time an annoying pop up ad hits you in the face. Think about how your customers feel when your sales person visits and goes on and on about the product features and benefits.
It is not about it, it is all about how it is used. In sales we need to get to the point and tell a great story around the product usage. 
Free Web Designer's comment,
February 14, 2013 11:43 PM
Write For Guest post Free backlink http://su.pr/AlIGhb
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Since my column about the Power of the About Us page (remember 2006 when MySpace was really popular) was written, not a week goes by that I don’t receive a comment about it.
Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:
Hey folks -- if there is just one small thing you can do to prep for more business in 2013, it's upgrading your About Page on your website. I really like the point the author, Bryan Eisenberg, makes -- "'About Us' is often the most neglected page on any website; if the page exists at all. It can put a human face on an otherwise technical, dry, and impersonal website. Properly written, it can provide some serious buying resolve to certain customer segments." To help you get your story skills revved up to tackle this project, Eisenberg asks several really awesome questions at the end of the article. I know these will get those wheels turning in your brain. And don't forget to give yourself time for several iterations. I just updated my year-old LinkedIn profile. My focus was on integrating several different aspects of my career and this time, it just came flowing out as a narrative that I now really like. But trust me -- it took time to ask and answer to myself the same kind of questions posed in this article. Am I done? No way. I realize I can change and update my About Me narrative as I need to. That is the beauty of storytelling -- our stories shift and change as we do. Our work as storytellers -- particularly in business -- is to remain authentic, engaging, and uplifting. So what story(ies) are you going to be sharing in 2013 to grow your business? This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it 
's comment, December 27, 2012 1:34 PM
You Poet! :)
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Online conversion forms like PayPal’s registration page (right) are invariably formatted exactly like printed forms such as this credit card application (left)—approximately as fun to complete as a hazing ritual, despite having exactly the opposite... I love love love this article because it points to another new application for using narrative or story elements in your business. Specifically here -- by re-designing the web forms on your site. Or frankly ANY form you ask a customer to fill out. Who knew??!! The examples here are terrific and so are the tips. It is a very thorough article and one you will get a lot from. So go read it and start changing those forms! Link to original article: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/narrative-web-forms/ 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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Based on my work with clients and the content I curate on business storytelling, figuring out how to write you 'About Page' effectively is hard to do. Here's my latest blog post on creating 'About' pages on your website. Here are the top 5 articles I could find on creating storied bios for websites. With the volume of material I curate, it is sometimes hard to find the best articles on any given topic. So I thought I would make it easy for you when you are wrestling with, or upgrading, your website. I hope these help you! 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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How to use two basic plots to define your business’ content strategy, while keeping the customer as the hero of the story. I love this article! It puts anyone's content strategy into a fabulous storytelling context, and gives all of us a way to think about our websites from a narrative perspective. The ideas here are very helpful and fun to play with. The author, Kat French, did a good job. Using The Quest story format, you can easily share your customers stories. Using The Boy Meets Girl format, you can evaluate your website and tell/share your biz stories much better. The other blog post links at the end of the article look worthy of exploration also. So go enjoy this delightful -- and helpful -- piece! 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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We can all agree that the work we do should inform, be appropriate to the client and their audience, and, of course, look good. But there’s a bonus third attribute worth aiming for—creating a lasting impression. This article is long but a fascinating read -- especially for anyone who is working with stories in an organization and wants to know about creating visual memories. Storytelling is creating art in the air. That means it is ephemeral and only lives on in the person who heard the story. That means the story we tell has to be compelling in order for it to stick in the minds of our listeners, and be repeated. This article on faciliating visual memory is provacative on several levels.
Once you have a compelling story to share, then start thinking about how you can create visual memories to have your stories stick even longer and more powerfully in the minds of your listeners. 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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2012 Global Players takes a look back at how corporate websites have evolved over the past year, to uncover why today it’s imperative for businesses to invest more time, imagination and resources in creating a corporate narrative. Now here's an interesting article! The material that peeked my interest the most dealt with how the Internet creates fragmented stories which leads to businesses losing control over their narrative. But then the article goes on to suggest that the typical ways companies create their websites does not work anymore in this fragmented environment. Then the authors offer a link to a free downloadable study that show what companies can do to combat this fragmentation, develop and share their narrative, and succeed in today's Internet world -- with examples! I checked out the study and it looks really good. I think as I study it I'll get lots of ideas for re-tooling the website which is going under another iteration of improvements. I bet you will learn a lot too! Original link: http://www.berghindjoseph.com/knowledge-bank/2012/06/exclusive-study-the-power-of-storytelling 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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My first ever interview for a sales job consisted of one question and lasted less than a minute. How I answered that question, and what followed, was one of the defining moments in my sales career. It just happened to occur before that career had even begun. Now here is a great example of effective storytelling and story selling by sales professional Andy Paul in several ways:
LOL -- Andy's a client -- can you tell?! And I love that the story is about sales, but is not trying to sell you anything. Yet after reading the story, I bet most people would be very interested in purchasing and reading Andy's book. You too can do this in your blogging and on your website. The more stories you can tell following the points above, the more trust (and sales) you will gain. Thanks for sharing one of your stories Andy! This review was written by Karen Dietz for her Just Story It Scoops at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it
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Brand storytelling as part of your website and content marketing efforts can make the difference between success and failure. See why Crop Ventures got me. Love this example of a well-crafted website that shares the companies stories, and I like this review about how/why it works. Follow the tips given at the end of this article and get working on storifying your website for greater impact!
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In the past year or so there has been a trend in web design towards the use of scrolling, which can help to engage visitors and provides a feeling of movement and animation. Hah -- don't believe the title! What an amazing opportunity (scrolling websites) and what terrible storytelling. Because there was none. OK -- there was a little. The site on Fracking site tells a story. The Bagigia and Apologie sites sort of do, but fall short. Several other sites are totally slimy because once you get on them, you can't press the back-button to leave. That annoys me to no end! So where does this leave us? Please -- don't do what these companies did! If you are going to use a scrolling website, you have a HUGE opportunity to actually share your story using this very cool technique. You can share stories about how you got started, what happens with your customers, the future you are creating in the world, and back stories of your staff/product creation process. Don't bore us with product features like these websites do! Haven't we learned that lesson yet??? Imagine how much money they spent, and wasted! You can do waaaaaayyyyy better than these folks. |
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Stories vs. Personas Sarah Doodley (@sarahdoody.) explores the difference between user stories and personas. She correctly identifies the problem with personas is they can be poorly crafted and so become caricatures of themselves. Via Martin (Marty) Smith
Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:
I agree with the comments above and whole-heartedly endorse the use of personas in business. But unlike the article I think that personas do have a place in business -- if done right. Now that's the trick. Let's take a page from the world of writing: no well developed characters, no story. "What," you say???!! Yep, plot is important. But the secret to great storytelling is good character development. Know your characters and the plot unfolds. Know your customers stories and your business plot unfolds. For example -- Hollywood crafts most of its films these days around a boilerplate plot filled with special effects. Love the special effects. But the plot and characters? Same old same old and mostly boring.
The more you know about your customers, and can craft personas based on good character development skills, the better off you will be. The author of the article suggests forgetting personas and just focusing on your customer stories. Do both actually -- they are important. Customer stories give great insights into needs. Personas represent the emotional core of your customers. Two sides of the same coin. Make sure you read the article so you'll know a bit more about how to gather your customer stories. From there you can craft your personas so they are meaningful and help you generate the results you are looking for. Crafting personas and developing characters requires excellent listening skills -- not just to understand, but to listen for needs. That means developing empathic listening skills. Search this curation using the 'listening' tag in the filters tab above to get solid articles on how to do this. Thanks for finding and sharing this Marty and Gregg! This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it 
Martin (Marty) Smith's curator insight,
March 30, 2013 7:31 AM
When In Doubt, Gather Customer Stories 
malek's curator insight,
April 4, 2013 7:16 PM
so true"t's rare to come upon an article focusing on character development"
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The practice of persuasive copywriting is a necessity, if you want to sell products, services, or ideas online. While great writing is truly an art, thos
Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:
Even though this article is framed for copywriters, it is all about business storytelling! As you create content for your website, promotions, emails, presentations, or electronic materials these 7 tips are essential to pay attention to. You will create more engaging stories. Actually tip #7 is to use stories, which I hope you already do. But I like how the author, Gary Ciotti, talks about stories as transporation. It is a good way to think about them. Use these 7 tips as a checklist when you are creating content just to make sure you are hitting all the storytelling notes you need to. Story on :) This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it 
Denyse Drummond-Dunn's curator insight,
March 6, 2013 5:24 AM
Useful tips for anyone - we all have to write documents of some sort, don't we? 
Ignacio Conejo Moreno's curator insight,
March 6, 2013 7:00 AM
7 trucos para una redacción persuasiva: Interesante, son habilidades que hay que entrenar y poner en práctica, sólamente con la experiencia se aprenden. 
Mike Ellsworth's curator insight,
March 6, 2013 1:59 PM
Another great find by Karen Dietz.
If you're not concentrating on storytelling on social media, perhaps this article will convince you.
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Bravo: this is precisely the sort of factual corporate storytelling that might persuade us to buy a bespoke shirt from them. To intrigue us further, we'd love to see diagrams or photos that contrast the details of a shirt from Taylor ...
Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:
Examples and reviews like these are so helpful -- I wish I could find more to share with you. Tauylor Stitch is a company making shirts. They have a website. CorporateHistory.net reviewed their 'About Us' page. And gives the company several grades:
Learn what they did to earn a B for telling their story, and what they could do better. And how'd they wind up with a 'C' for personality??!! Compare your story to theirs to see what grade you might receive! 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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Ethan Allen Global, Inc., is one of the largest furniture manufacturing companies in the United States, with almost 300 stores and revenue of over $700 million. Founded in 1932 by brothers-in-law Nathan S.
Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:
Now here is an intrepid author, Marian Calabro, who takes on furniture maker Ethan Allen by rating their website "About" page. The company's grade? A big fat "D". Why? No stories! And a video that holds you hostage. Yikes! Periodically we need blog posts like this because there is nothing more illustrative of what NOT to do than a review like this. So go read why Ethan Allen received such a poor grade and make sure you are not doing the same. And also use the article for ideas on how to fix/upgrade your current website using stories. 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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Dr. Karen Dietz's insight:
Hey -- this isn't about storytelling per se. But it is about spicing up your website with a little bit of humor. Perfect for a Friday afternoon! Let a little bit of humor be part of your business narrative :)) Enjoy the article and the ideas shared here. I hope it brings a smile to your face, and smiles within your community! 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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Sallee design shows how well words and design can work together to tell as story. Design your words effectively to guide your visitors' line of sight and draw them in. Invite them to listen to your story and to enter your site. I like this concise and easy-to-read article about various storytelling elements you can incorporate into your website for greater connection and impact with customers/prospects. In addition to words and images, the author mentions mascots and personality. Then there's parallax scrolling and interactivity. These later two might break a small business' budget but they are still good to know about. Enjoy playing with these ideas and upgrading your website! 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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10 Ways Customer Stories Help Companies Sell http://t.co/3JwGufQB via @Savvy_B2B... Woo hoo! If there was any doubt about the necessity for crafting and promoting your customer's stories, then this quick post will dispell them all. Customer case study specialist Casey Hibbard shares some research from Gartner about the impact of customer stories on sales, and then lists specifically how customer stories can lead to business growth. As I'm rebuilding my website, I'm taking Casey's advice -- and hope you do too. Oh -- but make sure you are actually writing customer stories to share and not testimonials. Testimonials are critical -- yet they are mostly valuable opinions from customers about their experience with you. That's part of your 'story' but they often are not really stories. Soooo -- write mini-stories or storied case-studies about your work with customers to receive the full impact of your customer stories! 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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THE ORIGINAL LINK IS BROKEN: HERE IS THE NEW ONE: http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/2-key-resources-for-crafting-and-telling-your-story/ Want to up your marketing game? Then here are two resources for you recommended by a a great Internet marketer Dan Schawbel. Both are books that look really intriguing. One is about a visual guide to writing effective website copy, which I think is quite a unique take on how you put together your website text. The other book is about seven ways to tell the story of your personal brand. Go read Dan's reviews and see if these books would be helpful to you. Enjoy! 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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Are you a headlines person? You know, the kind who reads the first few chapters of business books on Google and then move onto the next? Are you probably going to scan through this post for bolded phrases and numbered lists and then retweet it before really digging into the details? What an interesting take on sharing stories on the Internet! I just love this new twist, and the ideas shared here for creating content. And with valuable points to take to heart. The premis of this article is that many people will simply scan the content you create for your blog, website, social media posts, etc. Yet storytelling requires reading, not scanning. So what's a person to do? Follow the advice here! Make your stories scannable, also. Seems like an oxymoron and there are times when it might not work. But then there will be times when you can follow the advice here and still have your stories be effective. How do you do that? This author suggests saying the same things lots of times but in different ways, and using visual shortcuts. Read the article to understand her points and think about what you might want to do. Then share with me what your next steps are. I'd love to hear them! Link to original article: http://www.bigspaceship.com/2012/07/offline-storytelling-for-online-scanners/ 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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Every use of your website is a conversation started by a site visitor. Think about it: why do people come to your site or app? If you read my review and article on this same page ("Forget About Content Management...") about moving away from content management systems to developing audience development systems, then this article explains more about how to do that. Yeah! I really like the specific examples and concrete steps laid out in this post. It all makes sense to me! Once again, while never mentioning storytelling per se, the article is all about using stories and story elements to generate conversations and engagement with customers/prospects. Like: converse with personal prounouns, invoke action using verbs, and write visually. Sounds like storytelling to me. So go grab this article and its tips so you can continue developing audiences and engagement to build business success. Review written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it
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Websites are incredibly versatile as a medium, to be used to display information and other content, and if well designed they can do this in an enjoyable way... I really like this article because it approaches websites as a total narrative which all starts in its design. Notice I did not say text! Yep -- design comes first and that is where the narrative for your business starts. Ultimately your website needs to move the viewer along a story arc that leads them to take some action -- like buy your product/service. Treating your web pages as discrete pages is not creating an overall narrative. Sure -- the content of each page needs to be crafted as a story. But all the pages need to link together to create a narrative. This is more than just page linking in technical terms. So read this article for the insights about designing your entire website as a narrative. The author has great ideas and tips, along with examples. This review was written by Karen Dietz for her Just Story It Scoops at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it
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Emotional design has become a powerful tool in creating exceptional user experiences for websites. However, emotions did not use to play such an important role on the Web. Such a cool article! Every entrepreneur, biz executive, and nonprofit needs to read this one. Why? Because emotion is at the heart of effective storytelling. And websites can be imbued with stories and story elements --particulary emotion. Now this is not about being 'emotional'. It is about understanding what triggers emotions within your viewers/readers that creates connection, fosters trust and loyalty, and moves them to action -- while being authentic and true to yourself. This article is rich in ideas and how-tos -- and very complete. Take the time to savor it. Then start thinking about your website and how you can upgrade it with both stories, and imbueing it with emotional elements for max effect. |
Now here is a new and revolutionary way to actually design a website that is a story, and tells a story.
Wow -- how great! As author John Koetsier says, Eric Ries of The Lean Startup and author Tim Ferris of The 4-Hour Body have figured out how to do this. The article explains the new way to design websites, and gives examples so you can see the difference.
This is not about taking a website and adding stories to it. That's old school -- taking a structure and trying to fit stories into it. This is about changing the website structure so the entire design matches storytelling.
Go read the article to get the full explaination and the examples. It is really cutting edge. Hmmmm -- this is making me rethink my website once again!
What do you think?
This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling atwww.scoop.it/t/just-story-it