Why Story Power
A Buddhist temple in Thailand has temporarily shut down after every one of its monks admitted to smoking meth. Talk about Breaking Bad-dah! The sheriff and village headman visited the temple, 150 miles north of Bangkok after villagers tipped them off. When drug tests came back positive, the temple’s four monks confessed. The temple’s chief…
Good morning. Iām back in my home office for the first time in two weeksā¦ ā¦sipping a mug of black coffee (not as tasty as the double espressos I drank in France, but good enough)… ā¦eating a piece of leftover pie for breakfastā¦ ā¦and wondering what e-maily goodness to send you. (Pause while I rest…
Last month, an accomplished, intelligent business woman named Brooke told me I make her grimace. And good golly, Miss Molly, that made me feel warm and fuzzy all over. Once upon a time, I might have sulked if someone put āTom Ruwitchā and āgrimaceā in the same sentence ā especially a female someone. But not…
Yesterday, I heard Troy Broussard dish some dirt on marketing jackasses who resort to stupid tricksā¦ ā¦such as ending mass emails with āSent from my iPhone.ā Those cunning tricksters want you to think theyāve sent a personal email, composed one thumb-tap at a time, just for you. Troy said, as I often say: You donāt…
I crossed paths with a desperate marketer yesterday who craves more followers for his companyās LinkedIn page. A competing company recently gained 1,600 followers in 30 days, and Desperate didnāt want his company to fall behind. So he posted his story to a marketing forum and asked for help. Then the rotten advice began to…
My new neighbors are making me look bad. They moved in over the summer and immediately began pumping big bucks into their century old house. A new roof. Fresh paint. Landscaping makeover. And thatās just what we can see from the front of their house. Yesterday, as I returned from walking my mutt Moose around…
It happened again yesterday. Another expert-in-his-field told me he doesnāt have what it takes to generate creative content and powerful business-building stories. Another struggling business owner who wants to be a stand-out in a crowded market but decided, without trying, that he is a storytelling washout. Another man left on the sidelines watching others play…
Thereās an old legend about an up-and-coming motivational speaker who joined the National Speakers Bureau and hired an agent to book gigs. The speakerās name: William Boring. The agent begged the speaker to change his name. āNo one will put you on stage with that name,ā the agent said. Reluctantly, the speaker hired a lawyer,…
I spoke yesterday to a business owner who doesnāt like getting emailsā¦ ā¦so she doesnāt want to send them. āI’ll be honest about email lists or subscriptions,ā she said. āI don’t really like being on them. because I always feel like I’m being bombarded by emailsā¦So I’m only intending to send (email) out once a…
Raise your hand if you feel an emotional connection with Amazon because youāre drawn to founder Jeff Bezosās origin story. (Me neither) Why do I ask? Because I read yet another article about storytelling in one of those big-time business magazines that dished out rotten advice. The article saidā¦ āOnline shopping behemoth Amazon is another…