The goal of marketing campaigns today is no longer simply about convincing the target audience to buy your products or services but also about allowing them to relate to the brand.
Most businesses can present all the data and facts concerning the efficacy of their product, but brands that can reach their audience at an emotional level will more likely be the ones that stick.
This is where storytelling as a marketing strategy comes in. Stories can help businesses build trust among their target audiences. What were the humble beginnings of the company? What challenges did the team overcome? How does the business impact the community? These are some angles for a good story that audiences can relate to.
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at storytelling as a marketing strategy: what it is and why you should use it. I’ll also offer you tips on how to use storytelling effectively to engage your readers and make your brand memorable.
Continue readingIf you’re about to query a book-length memoir like I am, perhaps you’ve heard about having a platform—what author Jane Friedman defines as “an ability to sell books because of who you are or who you can reach.” As I discovered this summer, you can reach more people, and let them know who you are, by speaking at a conference.
The experience of speaking to an audience was at first daunting. Terrifying, even. Nonetheless, it showed me that public speaking is an excellent way for writers to build an audience for their book.
In this post, I’ll share with you my experience speaking at a conference and what I learned from it. I’ll also show you ways in which you could leverage the power of public speaking to create an audience, at the same time offering unique contributions.
Continue readingStorytelling has been part of human activity for many thousands of years. It is a fundamental part of our human condition. We tell stories every single day because they have the power to inform, persuade, elicit emotional responses, and build relationships. These are lofty achievements for any medium.
The power of storytelling can have both positive and negative effects. The stories we tell ourselves about our goals, achievements, and perceived flaws can facilitate limiting and self-sabotaging beliefs that hold us back.
On the other hand, stories that tell of success and overcoming challenges can be inspiring. The power of a great story can be limitless.
But it’s not enough to simply tell a story to engage an audience. Storytelling is not a tool of information dissemination, rather it is a tool that uses rhetorical strategies that have the power to move people. It is in the nuanced crafting of stories where you create a willingness to receive the message.
Continue readingOn June 24, 2020, the New York Times published one of my essays on their website for the first time.
Soon after “All We Can Do Is Sudoku” appeared online, an executive editor from Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, followed me on Twitter. As a writer of nonfiction seeking representation, I was thrilled. I’d written the memoir To Have and to Hoard: How I Found Treasure in My Husband’s Trash and planned to query agents soon.
Publishing in a goal publication is a confidence-booster. But even reaching for your goal pub can increase your confidence and improve your writing—whether or not your piece is accepted. I didn’t know that when I dove in, so I want to help other memoirists and novelists use their time wisely.
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