When I work with companies on case studies, press releases, web copywriting one of the first things I ask them is "Can you describe your company's ideal story?" If they can't, the second question is "How are we going to create that story?" and "What activities can you do that will consistently reveal that story?"
This relates to how important it is take all your marketing or PR collateral and pull it together in a consistent, congruent and complimentary manner.
If you have a ton of content that is created and you want to raise the level of your company story, the easiest thing to start out with is simply sitting down with your top brainstormers and making a list of what you have in content and what story it tells. You'd be surprised at the incongruency that you can find if it's all pulled together in one place.
Another great tool for brainstorming on how to advance your company message is to do a short survey within your company with only one question, "What is our company's ideal story?" - another surprise will come when you see how disparate folks might be at conveying what you want them to about your company.
Here is your assignment and email me if you want and I'll post some of your answers. Answer these three questions:
1. Can you describe your company's ideal story?
2. How are you going to create that story?
3. What activities do you do that will consistently reveal that story?
And while we're on the topic of story, here's an interesting twist to my career and my story. I was lucky enough to be asked to interview around the topic of networking and the story that resulted is the first story I think I've ever seen that accurately describes how I've worked in my career. If you're curious, hit this link - and go down to the story titled, "How to Get Willie Nelson in Your Rolodex."
And if you're curious about how to get your company story to bloggers - tune into a free webinar interview I'm doing with Wasabi Publicity on October 25th at 1pm EST. To sign up go to this link and hit the very bottom of the page.
To be continued...