Successful Blog

The Intrinsic Value of Stories and How They Change Lives

by

By Tiffany Matthews

Why do we tell stories?

In the olden days, stories were told around campfires to pass time and to pass on the history of our people. They were lessons wrapped in myth, meant to teach us about the ways of the world and principles that our ancestors before us once stood for. Today stories continue to be an influential medium especially through clever storytelling.

As children, we grew up listening to and eventually reading fairy tales, only to be told later by adults that these classic tales are not true. Real life is no fairy tale and that we should not believe in happily-ever-after. Neil Gaiman refutes this and has emphasized the importance of stories, even fairy tales, through this statement:

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

In his children’s book, The Graveyard Book, Gaiman further reiterates the value of stories and how one story can change a person’s life.

“We who make stories know that we tell lies for a living. But they are good lies that say true things, and we owe it to our readers to build them as best we can. Because somewhere out there is someone who needs that story. Someone who will grow up with a different landscape, who without that story will be a different person. And who with that story may have hope, or wisdom, or kindness, or comfort. And that is why we write.”

Another author, Stephen King, confirms the power of stories and how they can influence lives. Writing tales that resonate with readers goes beyond fame or wealth. In On Writing, King said:

“Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life as well.”

Stories allow us a brief respite from the daily pressures of life, an escape into a place where anything and everything is possible. Though these tales may revolve around fictional characters, they reflect the same struggles that we go through and inspire us to overcome these challenges just as they were able to. This is why I agree with Gaiman’s sentiment, that one story could change your life forever.

A story about a woman reconciling with a long lost father may seem ordinary to people, but to one person, it could be the catalyst that would launch him or her on a quest to find an estranged parent. That touching tale could spur you into action and hunt for that missing parent through Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn (this is more on the professional side though), a social database like Mylife.com or whatever means you could find. It could take you on a journey you never expected and discover the infinite possibilities you never considered before.

Stories are powerful things, portable magic that you can share so that others too can find the inspiration they need to defeat–both literary and real–dragons.

Author’s Bio: Based in San Diego, California, Tiffany Matthews writes about travel, fashion and anything under the sun at wordbaristas.com. You can find her on Twitter as
@TiffyCat87.

Beach Notes: Living the Dream

by

By Suzie Cheel and Des Walsh

This was a wonderful greeting that met us one Saturday morning at Rainbow Bay Beach where we walk and swim most mornings.

The sign Beach Report is put out each morning to tell swimmers the current state of the swimming conditions.
We don’t normally see the addition of words like Living the Dream.

These words remind us to ask:

Are you living the dream with your life and business?

Living the Dream

– Des Walsh & Suzie Cheel

Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh

5 Ways to Use Vine To Grow Your Business

by

By Marcela De Vivo

When it comes to social media, Vine is a relatively new tool, and many business owners aren’t even using it yet. If you’re already familiar with Vine, you’ve got a leg up on the competition.

However, just because you know about Vine doesn’t mean you know how to use it the right way.

Vine can be an incredible tool for helping you grow your business, but you have to know how to make and share videos that are effective.

Follow these five simple tips for using Vine to grow your business. You’ll probably be surprised how quick and effective they really are.

Vine videos boost business

1. Use Tags In Your Videos

When you make videos to share on Vine, it’s important that you use tags just like you would when making and sharing images for Twitter and Instagram. Before you pick which tags to use, search for relevant tags to apply so that users can find your videos.

Adding tags to your videos doesn’t take long at all, and it can really increase the amount of views that you get, which can in turn increase the amount of visitors you get to your website.

2. Be Social

One important but often overlooked aspect of Vine is the social media aspect. Making videos you can share is great, but you also need to make friends, find and comment on videos and generally get a dialogue going with consumers and other businesses. Once you start engaging people on Vine, they’ll start following you back, which will help to create exposure for your content and business.

3. Work to Humanize Your Brand

For very large brands, using Vine is a quick and easy to way to create behind-the-scenes videos that can make your company seem less like a faceless entity and more like the passion project of a few successful individuals. Make videos that tell a story about where you work, who you work with and why your company is special.

Videos that humanize a brand are generally very successful, and they can work wonders for the public image of your company.

4. Integrate Customers

If your business routinely interacts with its customers, putting some of them on film and then sharing those videos is a great way to build your brand. Of course, you’ll need to ask your customers ahead of time, but many will be happy to participate.

You can also announce a video contest for your customers, allowing them to share videos about using one of your products or your service. If you do this, make sure you include a prize for the best video to really entice people.

5. Have Fun With It

Not all of the videos that you create for Vine need to be totally focused on your business.

Creating humorous videos that you can share with humor sites is a great way to get huge numbers of visitors, which will certainly help attract new customers to your site. Your video might even go viral, which is always a good thing.

Vine is a unique tool that you need to start using in your business. It may not seem like six seconds is enough time to really say anything about your company, but you’ll be surprised how much Vine can really do for you if you embrace it.

Have you tried making a Vine yet?

Author’s Bio: Marcela De Vivo is a freelance writer from Los Angeles. Her background is in online marketing and in specializes in a variety of topics, from social networking, search marketing, web hosting and content development.

Call for Donations for Liz Strauss Fundraiser

by

Earlier this month, many of you had the opportunity to attend the tenth SOBCon event in Chicago. It was a fantastic weekend, and we were thrilled that SOBCon’s co-founder Liz Strauss could join us. As many of you know, Liz has been dealing with throat cancer for the last few months. So it was wonderful to see her out and about, proving that Liz doesn’t back down from any challenge.

Following that event, a group of SOBCon folks and other friends who couldn’t be in Chicago had an idea. Liz has given so much to so many in the community, what if we did something for her?

Liz’s diagnosis of Stage 4 cancer last fall came with both physical, emotional, and financial burdens. To fight the cancer required extensive chemo and radiation. On top of her treatments, Liz also suffered a fall that broke her hip and shoulder. As a result, Liz was confined to the hospital from December through March. She has been through the crucible.

So while a recent CT scan and laryngoscopy both showed no signs of cancer, Liz is still dealing with the fallout of cancer treatments and broken bones. Liz’s ability to travel and speak professionally, her primary source of income, has been placed on hold as she continues to heal. For the next few months, Liz finds herself in the incredibly frustrating situation of needing to work, but not yet having the physical strength to do so.

So when we asked the question, what can we do, here’s what we came up with. We can’t help Liz heal faster, but we can ease the financial stress. To that end we’re creating an auction fundraiser with all proceeds from the fundraiser going to Liz.

We’ve received some wonderful and generous donations. In fact, a few items that came in were so generous that it just confirms how much people love Liz and want to show their support. And based on the response we’ve gotten to our initial request for donations, we wanted the community at large to have the opportunity to participate and show their support, too.

If you have an item that you’d like to donate for the auction fundraiser, please fill out this form on Podio.

The auction will launch in early June, and we’ll provide more details shortly on when and how you can participate. We’ve also received requests that we make an option available for people to donate directly. That donation link will go live in early June, too.

Again, thank you all for the support and know that Liz appreciates all the many kindnesses that have been sent her way in the last few months.



Our webform is powered by the best tool to manage projects in the business: PODIO.

3 Steps to Finding Your C-Spot

by

I’m talking about blogging, people.

Your C-Spot is your creativity spot, your happy place, where you feel your flow, mojo, juices, ideas, you get the picture.

Sometimes it feels as though great writing is like lightning in a bottle–fleeting and electric. But I think you can do some specific things to capture the lightning.
Writing is like capturing lightning in a bottle

This is our homework assignment for the coming week.

Step One – Find the Perfect Time of Day to Create

Let’s use a sample writing prompt (in case you need one). Write for 30 minutes on the subject of “what I learned from my first job that I’m still using today.” Liz has written some inspiration for finding your writing voice. When you’re ready:

  • Day 1, write first thing in the morning, right after you eat breakfast.
  • Day 2, write in the afternoon, after you’ve already gotten your non-writing tasks done.
  • Day 3, write just before bedtime, when it gets quiet in your house.
  • BONUS Day, if you normally write during the week, try a weekend (or vice versa).

Take note of how your “flow” feels in each time-frame. Was it easy to write, or did you stare at the screen for a bit?

Step Two – Find the Perfect Physical Location to Create

Using the same writing prompt (substitute your second job), choose three different locations where you can write. Try your dining room table, your desk at work, in bed with your laptop, out on the porch, wherever you feel comfortable.

Did this affect your writing?

Step Three – Add Ambiance for Creative Flow

Some people need to have music playing in the background, and some need to write in absolute silence. Using what you already know about your style, experiment a bit with your writing environment. Light candles, turn the TV off or on, put on noise-canceling headphones, try writing with pen and paper instead of a keyboard…go crazy.

How did that work? Did changing the ambiance change your attitude? Did it spark new ideas?

At the end of the experiment, you can try mixing and matching your time of day, physical location, and ambiance to find your perfect “C-Spot.”

Want to share yours?

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Image: Flickr CC

Do You Have The Skills to Lead?

by

Whether you run a large corporation or one of the smallest businesses in town, how would you rate your leadership skills?

There are probably a large number of individuals who would have trouble answering that question, with some being too modest to even take a stab at it. Either way, knowing what kind of leader you are, especially how effective you can be in leading your employees, is important.

You have probably read a book or two, perhaps perused an article or two, on what it takes to be a great leader.

So, did you learn anything from those readings? If the answer is no, don’t feel like you wasted your time. In fact, having what it takes to be a great leader really varies from person to person.

Keep in mind that not everyone is blessed with or born with leadership skills. Some acquire them over time, while others never seem to quite get to that point of having what it takes to lead a team of one, dozens, hundreds or even more.

In order to be a great leader for the company you own or the one you work for, consider these following attributes:

* Commitment – First and foremost, do you have the commitment to lead others? Leading others on a daily basis means that not only are you responsible for overseeing your work, but also the work of others. The key here is to be able to do that without being a micro manager, someone who can’t help but literally stand over others while they do their work. Keep in mind that you were chosen or chose to be a leader not to babysit other individuals, but to help guide them so that your company is second to none. Being a leader means going past the normal day-to-day duties, working harder than everyone else, and making sure the buck stops with you. Ask yourself, are you committed to this principle?

* Responsibility – Being a leader often means you get the better salary, some extra perks, and lots of commendations. It also requires that you hold yourself accountable for the performance of others. Some leaders like to take all the perks that go with being a leader, but they are missing in action at times when it comes to accepting responsibility when others make mistakes or flat out fail. In order to be a true leader, stand up and take responsibility if you report to someone higher up than you when one of your workers fails. It is easy to let them take the hit, but a true leader is a team player, not willing to throw someone else under the bus.

* Vision – Leaders should always be thinking about how to take their companies to the next level. Whether it involves improving customer service, being more active online with social media and blogging, or finding the right employees to fill each seat on the company bus (meaning each individual has a talent, finding where their seat is to best serve your company is the challenge), leaders are always required to think ahead. It is easy as a leader to sit back and just go with the flow, but that will ultimately spell doom for the company you own or work for. Always be thinking about the next day and the next day, giving you and your business the opportunity to stay one step ahead of the competition.

* Character – Lastly, what would people say about your character as a leader? Leaders need to set the tone for their offices, showing others that hard work does in fact pay off. Are you a leader who is the last one to go home at the end of the day or the first one to arrive in the morning? Are you a leader who looks for solutions to problems and does not create more problems for those around you. Finally, are you a leader who wants people to like you for being a strong but caring leader, not someone who tells people what they want to hear or does what they want them to do?

So, are you a leader or a follower in the business world?

Photo credit: task.fm

About the Author: With 23 years’ writing experience, Dave Thomas covers a variety of business and consumer topics, including the rise and fall of gold and silver prices.