I love that storytelling really does create opportunity.

February 11, 2020 / in Blogging / by Jason Terry

Happy Valentine’s week! Taking a cue from Izzy over at MEDiAHEAD, I thought I would share some things I love. Some of these include my wife, Southern Scholar socks, and that Tesla stock is doing well. But my primary focus for this story is another real-world example that storytelling (blogging) creates real opportunity for your business. I love the process, and I love the results.

How it all began.

I wrote a blog post on October 2nd called, “Yes, Even I Needed to Update My Professional Headshot.” In that story, I shared how I chose Kathleen Straub to take professional photos that I could use on LinkedIn and my website. And I shared a few of them so people could see her work.

An important thing to note here is that I spent a good amount of time in that story talking about Kathleen… not Blue Gurus. I talked about how I connected with Kathleen… she is the wife of Matthew Straub, a former client. I talked about what it was like to work with her. And I showed off the results because I was happy with the photos.

Key Takeaway: By celebrating others, you create opportunity for them and for yourself.

Fast forward to February 2020.

I got a call from the President of a civil engineering firm in Kansas City. (Let’s call him Tim.) Tim had been Googling professional photographers in Kansas City and found my blog post about Kathleen. He hired her to update the headshots for their entire staff.

I could end my story right here… the simple truth that I wrote a blog post that turned into a new client for Kathleen’s photography business is fantastic. It’s the goal of your marketing efforts. That opportunity wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t write about my experience.

But the story gets even better.

Tim noticed in their industry that half the competition is doing regular content updates on LinkedIn and their websites… and the other half doesn’t. He wants to be in the first group. But they need help.

They’ve created a new website and now they’ve gotten professional headshots for employee profiles. It’s time to focus on LinkedIn and sharing their stories. Tim said that they have great stories to tell… they just need help getting started and executing the process ongoing. He said that’s where I come in.

We had an initial meeting scheduled for 30 minutes that ended up going for 90 minutes. This is always a good sign. We both enjoyed the conversation. And Tim has proposals in hand for LinkedIn training and blogging. (I chose to call him Tim because he hasn’t signed those contracts yet. But I have a good feeling we will be doing business together.) All of this happened because of a blog post I wrote last October.

Key Takeaway: Clicks don’t tell the whole story. You never know when a story you write will help someone take action, even months later. The important part is writing consistently… every week at a minimum or you will probably get lost in the shuffle.

Are you telling your stories?

The storytelling journey isn’t about marketing products and services. The goal is to have fun telling everyone what’s going on in your business and community. By telling your stories regularly, you will stay top of mind. This will absolutely move the needle when it comes to the number of referrals you get.

If you need help hitting the ground running with blogging… I know someone wearing a blue shirt that can help.