
Growing from Startup to Scale-Up
Starting a business has never been easier, but growing a startup and scaling it to become a big business is harder than ever. Most who try get stuck or hit…

The ROI of Business Storytelling and the Cost of Being Boring
The business case for brand storytelling: Inspired leadership, employee engagement, greater retention and growing sales. Rags or riches? Your storytelling ability will lead to one or the other Steven knew…

What Stories in Your Business Presentations Say About You
Storytelling with your brand, business or in your presentations lets people into your world I present Business of Story workshops around the world, and I teach sustainable storytelling in the…

Grow your brand with three insights from Oracle’s Modern Customer Experience
Waste not, want not, with your story marketing to create epic customer experiences I had the honor of being invited as an influencer to Oracle’s Modern Customer Experience event this past week…

7 Habits of the Highly Effective Storytelling Marketer
How to place story marketing at the core of your content strategy It was the summer of 2006. I was standing in the middle of the convention floor in Anaheim,…

What is Story Marketing and How You Can Master it
The 3 acts of story marketing that’ll make your content king (or queen) When was the last time you retold a listicle to a friend? How many parties have you owned…

Brand Storytelling is not About What You Make, but What You Make Happen
I was in Washington D.C. on Nov. 2 and 3 hosting a Business of Story mastermind class for the American Marketing Association. Nine of their member brands were in attendance to…

10 Brand Story Elements of REI’s Disruptive #OptOutside Black Friday Campaign
When I was a kid growing up North of Seattle, my dad would take us downtown to Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI). This was in the 1970’s, and REI was…

10 surefire questions to ask when creating audience personas for your purpose-driven brand
Every story starts with empathy I love Jack Handey. His Deep Thoughts from Saturday Night Live always cracked me up. I came across the one above last week while reading Originals, How Non-Conformists…

4 Easy Steps to Clarify Your Brand Position Statement
Every epic brand story starts with a positioning statement that differentiates you from the masses Leo Tolstoy, the famous Russian author, wrestled with the existential crisis of finding meaning in…