As our topic today is “Storytelling,” I’d like to start with a story…

Several years ago, I paid a visit to some friends at a small ad agency with whom I’d once shared office space. On this particular day, I walked in to see a graphic artist friend using a digital camera to photograph their new client’s product: a device that would train your cat to use the toilet. Needless to say, not being a cat guy and naively secure in the knowledge that my clients would always be A-list megabrands, I quickly made fun of that crazy kitty contraption. In this pre-You-Tube era, my friend shared my dismay for the product and we spent a few minutes laughing over the potential market for such a device.

While I left happy that I didn’t have to write for a kitty commode trainer, by the time my car had left the parking lot, my mind had started wandering. Though the client had tied my friends’ hands creatively, insisting on a mundane, straight ahead approach, I immediately brainstormed a load of creative ideas to sell that feline flush facilitator. Some of them good, most of them bad, but all capable of doing a better job of marketing it than just playing it straight. In other words, adding some spice to tell the story of the product and the company.

This was all brought to mind recently when another client contacted me to help with their company blog. As they’re a business that does many things and provides many services, they’ve found it hard to aptly explain what they do. Thus, they want to use their blog to both tell their story and increase their web traffic (did you know a blog will increase return visits to your website by 51%?). In other words, storytelling.

So, my challenge to you is, what’s your story? Who’s telling your story and how is the world hearing about your company, product, or service? And finally, are you happy with your marketing results? If the answer is no, then maybe you need a new storyteller!