I did a talk at the Foundation Center in DC this week about storytelling for nonprofits and in doing my research for the presentation, I had the chance to talk with a lot leaders inside nonprofits and outside of them to talk about how they use story to advance their mission and achieve their goals.
And, while I have been in the middle of this, I have been preparing for another talk in Pittsburgh at the ALSD Conference at the end of the month about being strategic in your marketing and selling efforts.
The combination of the two talks got me to thinking about things that destroy your ability to achieve your business goals and to reach the audience you want to reach.
And, that leads us to the concept of story.
A story when thinking about it from the business implications is basically a tool for us to differentiate ourselves from the rest of the world that is competing with us for customers.
Which should lead you to be very deliberate about what you do with your branding and your stories.
But that isn’t often the case.
Because all too many of the organizations I see seem to put too little or no thought into their marketing and branding and the story that they tell their prospects and clients.
And, I am fond of saying that if you don’t tell the story that you want to, someone else will fill that void for you and you won’t like the results.
So the question I challenge you with is, “are you telling the story that you want to be telling?”
Which means, are you talking about the value you create? How you are different? What makes you outstanding?
Or, are you following in the footsteps of others? And traveling down a road that you don’t want to follow?