Strategic Storytelling
Strategic Storytelling combines the power of storytelling with practical strategies for copywriting, and marketing. It's designed primarily for entrepreneurs, content creators, marketers, and copywriters. Most episodes are solo with occasional interviews by invited guests who bring unique insights to the topic. Host Cathy Goodwin is an online strategist, copywriter, and published author. The podcast focuses on the impact of business storytelling on the bottom line. When you start with a story, you simplify and strengthen your branding, content creation, and positioning. You also become a better business owner when you use stories to clarify your own objectives and gain self-understanding. Cathy started the podcast after she realized her clients were bewildered by what they were hearing about storytelling for business. Some of them simply couldn't understand how stories could help their businesses. Others got backlash when they dutifully followed advice to open up about themselves. As a copywriter, Cathy understood that stories for business need to be different from fairytales, campire tales and bedtime stories. That's the core focus of this podcast. Richard Branson said every entrepreneur must also be a storyteller. Cathy Goodwin adds, "But it has to be the right story."
Episodes
We've talked about the hero in your story. We had an episode about the villain. And today we're going to talk about the character nobody mentions: the cheerleader.
You can't be with the hero all the time, no matter how good you are. The cheerleader helps the heroes achieve their goals by just being there.
You as the guide can help the hero find supportive cheerleaders. Sometimes people have to pay for this support, but often that s...
In this podcast episode we are going to look at casting the characters in your story.
We’ve already talked about the villain. The other characters are the hero, the guide and the cheerleaders.
Who is the hero of your story?
The hero has a problem. Often it’s a serious problem. S...
Do you want to create a story that sells - a selling story?
In this episode of Strategic Storytelling, you'll see an example of the way we can transform a "good enough" story into a strong story that delivers sales.
The business owner (a financial executive - a corporate controller, to be exact) found a need for a product she could create. She needed a story to get prospective customers involved and motivated. Her first story w...
Are you having trouble with branding your business?
Maybe you've gotten tired of the whole process. You wonder if you need to bother with branding at all.
That's because you may be trying to "brand like the big guys." As a small, service-based business, you can't use the same approach.
You'll learn...
...why big companies use brands like a beach towel (and solopreneurs can't)
...why your brand starts AFTER you drop the beach to...
In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Michelle Mazur, a message strategist and marketing consultant. Her slogain is, "Make marketing suck less."
Let's face it: Most of us didn't go into business to be marketers. But it's something we have to do. It will always suck for a lot of people...but she helps make marketing easier and more fun.
Storytelling is one of the ways...
Business owners, especially those with small businesses that offer professional services, often get advised to, "Make your mess your message."
This is awful advice for marketing.
Read more
Online course creation has become a major industry. If you're a business owner, your course gives you new opportunities to grow your business, find clients and gain credibility.
Designing a course can be challenging. How do you know what to include? How do you figure out how to sequence the modules?
Explore a new way to design your course by starting with a story. You'll appeal to more students and have fun with the process.
My ...
Your story's location may seem trivial or straightforward.
"It's a beach story."
"One day I was in my home office..."
"Mary went home to apartment 3701..."
Don't those locations bring a special vibe to your story? The story's location tells a lot about your characters and about you.
If Mary lives in apartment 3701, she'll seem different from someone living in apartment 301.
She'll seem even more different from someone living on ...
Branding and selling are very different activities in business.
A branding story introduces you to your audience. It tells something about you and how you provide the service.
A selling story makes the audience say, "I want what she's having!"
In this episode I explain the difference and show that one story can be both. I illustrate with 4 powerful examples of good stories.
One story is purely a branding story. The three other...
It's really important to be innovative in your business.
Being innovative is one of the ways people realize you are credible. You've gone beyond the basics to develop your own framework or explain your ideas in a new way.
But will you market yourself as an innovator? That's a different question.
In this podcast we will ...
...explain the difference between innovation in business and innovation as an archetype
...show examples of b...
You've probably heard that "your story must bring out emotion in your listeners."
And that's because you've also heard, "People buy on emotions."
But is that always true?
Lots of times people make buying decisions based on logic and rationality. They evaluate the offer coolly, based on their needs.
The truth is, sometimes people make buying decisions without bringing emotion into the picture at all. Educator archetypes rarely te...
Does your story contribute to your strategy? Is your story a part of your brand?
You get all kinds of advice to "be sure your content includes a story."
The real question is, what is the purpose of your story? Will you motivate people to buy? Or are you telling the story to get people to like you more? Or do you want to build their trust, so they believe yo...
Calling yourself a "healer" brings special challenges in marketing.
And in some ways, everyone is a healer. We all pay money to relieve our pain.
But when you call yourself a healer, people get confused. Just what do you do, anyway? You might be a reiki practitioner, EFT practitioner, a psychotherapist, a health coach...or just a "healer."
Have you ever told a story -- a brilliant story! -- and your audience just looked at you blankly? They just didn't get it. Or they couldn't relate: they couldn't put themselves into the story.
Stories succeed when people put themselves in the picture. They're in the airplane seat. They're in the room you're describing. They can feel the problem: their chest gets tight, their stomach hurts...it's real.
But here's the catch. It does...
“What niche am I supposed to target?”
That’s always a popular question when I meet a group of fellow business owners. Even if they’re experienced veterans, they wonder, “Did I let some people get away? Am I being too narrow in my focus?”
It’s a familiar struggle…and we keep going back to it. Even though we think we’ve got a ni...
So you've got something to teach people. You're the only one...or one of the few.
Read more
“I have many happy clients. How can I get them to share testimonials?"
That’s what my reader asked me when I was looking for new applications for. telling stories.
It's a complaint I hear from other service business owners too. Let's face it: if you're a small, service-based business, you need credibility. Nobody wants to be your first client!
There’s something appealing about telling stories. We all want to talk about what happened to us..especially the bad parts.
But when you're writing for business, it's important to tell your story only when you have a purpose for that particular story.
Too many people write stories for validation. They say, "My cat died. Here's how I feel." Or they say the busin...
Of the five archetypes I've identified, the Celebrity holds greatest awe and power.
***If you're new to my community, you can download a free report featuring the five archtypes when you click here.
Think of Taylor Swift and think of those folks in People magazine. We don't want to BE a Celebrity, but we can learn from Celebrities. It's no accident that real celebrities tend to be spokespeople for all kinds of brands.
So now let's...
As you know, I've got five story archetypes for basic branding for small, service-based businesses. You can learn more about them in my free report here.
http://cathygoodwin.com/archI talk a lot about the most common archetypes - the Role Model and Educator, and sometimes the Innovator. But I rarely talk about Celebrities or Passionate Advocates...with good reason.
You feel, "I'm already passionate about my work!" But that doesn't ...
Popular Podcasts
The Podium: An NBC Olympic and Paralympic podcast. Join us for insider coverage during the intense competition at the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. In the run-up to the Opening Ceremony, we’ll bring you deep into the stories and events that have you know and those you'll be hard-pressed to forget.
In The Village will take you into the most exclusive areas of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games to explore the daily life of athletes, complete with all the funny, mundane and unexpected things you learn off the field of play. Join Elizabeth Beisel as she sits down with Olympians each day in Paris.
Listen to the latest news from the 2024 Olympics.
The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are here and have everyone talking. iHeartPodcasts is buzzing with content in honor of the 33rd Olympic Games and you can follow Paris Summer Games to stay up to date on all things Olympics. We’re bringing you episodes from a variety of iHeartPodcast shows to help you keep up with the action. Follow Paris Summer Games so you don’t miss any coverage of the 2024 Olympic Games, and if you like what you hear, be sure to follow each Podcast in the feed for more great content from iHeartPodcasts.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.