Why Social Media Matters

By David Mills
on March 02, 2015

Social Media. It Matters.

The average person will tell forty-two people about a great social media experience (1). Forty-two. And yet, only 36% of people report their problems being solved when they inquire via social media (2). Most marketing and sales specialists understand the power of a conversation. From the first time a customer encounters your brand -- maybe it's a billboard, an article in a magazine, or a post on Twitter -- your brand is beginning a conversation with that customer. So, where is the disconnect?

Facebook, Thanks for Reminding Me to Be Human

By David Mills
on January 05, 2015

The coming Facebook changes

If you are a small business or a nonprofit, you may be aware of the changes that Facebook is making to the way it distributes posts into our follower's news feeds. If your posts have been promotional in nature, even those that were intentional and creative, Facebook changes will result in "organic distribution" that will "fall significantly over time," starting in mid-January. That means that business and nonprofit pages will reach fewer and fewer of those who follow us if we are using language that looks or smells like advertising. Facebook's solution for that is simple, if it is advertising, then they want you to pay them for it.  Some painfully respond that they already "paid" with significant effort to build the "likes" on their pages, but those complaints aren't getting much response.

Scrooge's Specters in the Night: A Timely Story

By David Mills
on December 24, 2014

I recently watched the classic Dickens Christmas Carol, the one with George C. Scott.    I feel moved every time I watch it-- it touches on something that is a deep part of our human story.   The  various characters speak to the hopes and struggles of our lives-- the desire for closeness, challenges with money, health issues and interactions with powerful people.  A rich contrast plays out between someone who has everything but is miserable, and those who have little but who are generous and joyful.  The core message of this story is timeless.  It asks, can people change?  Can they awaken from lives of cruelty and selfishness to care deeply about the welfare of others?  Unlike Scrooge, I am afraid that we may not get the benefit of a visitation by ghosts, offering a more eternal perspective that allows us to see the world in a new light.

Make Your Business a Gift: Unleash Your Storytellers

By David Mills
on December 16, 2014

I grew up watching a local car dealer advertise with a big white cowboy hat and a parade of farm and zoo animals.  He was giving us the gift of amusement.   It was memorable, but I was dubious about the kind of car buying experience I might have on his lot, because the elephant wasn't telling a story that created confidence in his auto expertise.   When we come to realize that we need to use a story-based approach for our organization, we can feel pressure to put ourselves in the movie business, or recruit a family member to become our amateur (and often ineffective) television spokesperson.  Storytelling should be a priority for every business in the this era of social media, but it doesn't require filming your own reality TV show, because an army of storytellers are already available to you-- they are your customers.

Insights into Story-Based Marketing

By David Mills
on November 25, 2014

Story-based marketing is a primary focus of the Story Collaborative.   Story-based marketing includes skills, practices and technology, but more than anything else it moves us toward a new way of thinking.  As we undergo a story paradigm shift, we can transition from antiquated and ineffective approaches of marketing, based in a rapidly expiring perspective about people and communication, toward a viral and powerful approach that places our goods, service-- our value-- into the lives of consumers directly through their story.

Demystifying brand Stories

By David Mills
on November 25, 2014

The word "story" has become a buzz-word in the last couple of years. Everyone seems to be using the vague concept of story in reference to marketing strategy and brand equity. But, what is story in a professional context?

Is Failure in the Story You Tell? Maybe it Should Be.

By David Mills
on June 24, 2014

You can get to know a company, department or organization by the stories they tell.

Failure isn't usually the topic of most organizational stories, but maybe it should be.

Marketers Ruin Everything: How to Become a Storyteller

By David Mills
on May 13, 2014

Being in business or organizational leadership doesn't leave us room to be romantic about the way we wish the world would behave. That romantic view of the world causes us to hesitate in moving into new marketing and communication realities because we are too busy observing how we wish things would "not be." We want the methods that we have learned to work and continue working. But the truth is, things have changed.