School of Stories

We get what we put into it - that can be your motto for content marketing. Give up - dismiss - say it doesn't matter because it's free, and you'll reap your reward. No reason for people to care what you do. Nonprofits and marketers alike struggle with this one - do you?

If it's not clickbait, we're probably distracted by trying to please every body else - all those random moments of attention that make us change how we market to everyone's personal drive. But, hey, sometimes we see a squirrel and just can't help ourselves...right?!

Clickbait - everyone hates it (but we only hate it because it works... sometimes). Mindless, Pavlov-induced behavior of 'liking' anything and everything is what drives us crazy. So, what SHOULD we do about clickbait?

Social media marketing is free like a free puppy is free. But because anyone can access social media, we downplay it's importance - especially when it fails to market our business, restaurant, nonprofit or drive traffic to our website. How do people make a living social media marketing if it's free? And why should I pay someone to do something that I can do for free?

The complaint is social media is going to ruin civilization, crumble great governments, and destroy our sociability. But new media has given us unprecedented access to information and opinion and eliminated barriers to expressing ourselves. The fools are those who still try to control what counts as news or marketing.

It's so easy - too easy - to forget to love your customers when you're struggling with your business. But that frustration comes through loud and clear and tells everyone you'd be happier without customers. And they'll oblige! Any marketing with 'we' or 'us' or 'our' and phrases like 'You need to understand' are a death sentence to your marketing.

Nonprofit Narcissism - that's the best way to describe how nonprofit organizations lose focus (and donors) by talking about themselves instead of their donors. Confusing their mission with their message, they lack empathy - and it's hurting nonprofits.

Donor friendly marketing (like customer friendly marketing) is NOT that difficult if you really care about your donors. Instead, most nonprofits are more concerned with their own reputation and mission, and that's a problem. Here's a start to changing nonprofit messaging.

Virtue is a problem for many nonprofits - not because they lack it, but because they try to use it to control, influence and explain almost everything they do, from their mission to why their donors give. Fear of marketing and believing a lie about organic followers on social media are just two famous examples of virtue gone wrong.

Social media marketing is working for everyone... but me. What should you do if your marketing isn't working? It's time for something new, something different, something that will save your business.

Trying to go viral is like planned spontaneity - it just isn't real. Instead of going viral, try going honest - as in, tell your story, have fun with it, and learn what makes your marketing world go round.

Media and marketing are EVERYWHERE. So why do we fight against our greatest need: telling our own stories? What can we learn from rural America and media?

Too much noise! That's the complaint of everyone competing for attention on social media today. So how can we break through the overwhelming volume of information and connect with our best customers and supporters?

Selling - Marketing - Advertising - are all about your customers. It's not about the product, mission, or change-the-world wish we might have. Discover what people want, what interests them, and you'll be selling more than your product or nonprofit.

Sell me this pen! This is the salesperson's nightmare - a test of how you'll connect and show the world you know your stuff. And if you're in the nonprofit world, you HATE the very idea that what you do is selling. But it is, and this may help - it's not about the pen. It's about the story you tell that makes someone want to experience what only that pen (or you way of changing the world) can give them.

What makes a good story good? Your business - your nonprofit - you social media depend on knowing how to create a good story. We begin to explore how stories change our lives in School of Stories.