The Power of Stories in Business, Super You Costumes, Walt Disney marketing, Blogs at Marriott Hotels, MindMaps with WiseMapping and More! – WPYP #09
September 24, 2008 4:47 pm Who Pops Your Popcorn VideosJoin in as Shahar and Nash talk about The Power of telling Stories in Business marketing, Super Your Costumes, Walt Disney, Marriott Hotels, MindMaps with WiseMapping and much more! Who Pops Your Popcorn?! Episode #09
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SHAHAR: Welcome to “Who Pops Your Popcorn”.
NASHLAH: Where you learn to market to the right people at the right time, the new way.
SHAHAR: Yes, I’m Shahar.
NASHLAH: And I’m Nash.
SHAHAR: Okay, before we go on, I need to put my book down.
NASHLAH: Oh, what book is that?
SHAHAR: You know it’s a children’s story.
NASHLAH: Oh, yeah what…
SHAHAR: Yeah.
NASHLAH: What … Tell me about it?
SHAHAR: I like to read stories. It’s something since I was very young.
NASHLAH: Really?
SHAHAR: You know I do have memories of spending hours in my room just reading story books.
NASHLAH: Wow.
SHAHAR: But I was not the kind of child that would go too much for, you know, princess stories and things like that.
NASHLAH: Yeah, me neither.
SHAHAR: I was kind of a rebel. I like darker stories.
NASHLAH: A rebel.
SHAHAR: I liked darker stories.
NASHLAH: Oh, I see.
SHAHAR: Um, Brother’s Grim, Aesop.
NASHLAH: Oh, okay.
SHAHAR: I actually remember one story, where the boy he had a spell…
NASHLAH: Uh-huh.
SHAHAR: …so his whole body was covered with hair. So he was this ugly creature but he was really nice inside. I remember reading that story like 100 times.
NASHLAH: Really.
SHAHAR: Yeah.
NASHLAH: Oh, wow.
SHAHAR: It was really cool. I also remember going to the movies to see a Walt Disney movie was a big thing for my family. I don’t think I ever lost a release. We would always go together and watch the movie. It was a big happening for us.
NASHLAH: Wow that’s really, really nice.
SHAHAR: Do you like stories?
NASHLAH: Well yeah. I love stories.
SHAHAR: You know stories are really important. People don’t really realize how important it is to be a business storyteller. You know people, most of us, we all grew up with stories. We all grew up with story books and movies and it’s very engaging.
NASHLAH: It is. It is.
SHAHAR: Once you start telling a story people will need to go and figure…
NASHLAH: They want to figure it out.
SHAHAR: Yeah! It is really engaging. We had to… You know what’s funny?
NASHLAH: What? Tell me?
SHAHAR: Is because when people think about advertising and promoting their business…
NASHLAH: Uh-huh.
SHAHAR: …they usually think about making the story—sorry—they, we usually think about making this beautiful piece of award winning…
NASHLAH: Yes, I’ll say.
SHAHAR: …picture. Perfect with the very clever phrase.
NASHLAH: Very clever.
SHAHAR: And they never sell anything.
NASHLAH: Well…
SHAHAR: Right? Because there’s no story there.
NASHLAH: It’s not engaging.
SHAHAR: You need… Yeah, as a business owner, you need to tell a story in every single thing you do. People don’t buy products and they don’t buy services, they buy the story.
NASHLAH: Yes.
SHAHAR: And you need to engage that…
NASHLAH: More than anything…
SHAHAR: …more than anything.
NASHLAH: …they buy the story.
SHAHAR: Yeah, and they pay whatever you ask them to pay if you tell the right story. Provided the product or service has…
NASHLAH: Has value.
SHAHAR: …has value and quality. Now uh, I think with the story thing is that you need to craft that and sometimes even the whole business is about that. Remember that Web site we took a look at awhile ago called superyou.com?
NASHLAH: Superyou.com? Oh! Yes I remember. I remember.
SHAHAR: See, had a good story.
NASHLAH: Yes, it did. It had a great story.
SHAHAR: Yeah, the lady… She is a woman owned business, she makes costumes for kids.
NASHLAH: Costumes for kids.
SHAHAR: The cool part is…
NASHLAH: The kid goes there…
SHAHAR: …and the kid is the hero. And so it’s customized. He or she, the kid is the hero.
NASHLAH: Yeah, I know I was saying he.
[LAUGHTER]
SHAHAR: So they customize that superhero for that girl or for that boy.
NASHLAH: The way she or he wants.
SHAHAR: Yeah, so when you go to the Web site, you choose what color of outfit.
NASHLAH: Yes.
SHAHAR: And the kind of thing you’re going to say here (pointing at torso). Really the story behind all this is that she’s working on the self esteem of those kids. Because, the hero is that kid…
NASHLAH: Yeah.
SHAHAR: …it’s not just the guy that can fly.
NASHLAH: Yes.
SHAHAR: …or any other superheroes. It’s you.
NASHLAH: Yeah.
SHAHAR: And that’s a very good story.
NASHLAH: And it’s not some dude whose flying that you can never meet.
SHAHAR: Yeah.
NASHLAH: It’s you. And you.
SHAHAR: It’s you. It’s your friend.
NASHLAH: And you.
SHAHAR: Uh, even when she delivers it comes…
NASHLAH: It comes in…
SHAHAR: …like in uh… How do you call those little cases?
NASHLAH: Like in a little, it’s like a little…
SHAHAR: Spy cases.
NASHLAH: Oh, yeah, spy cases. That’s it.
SHAHAR: It’s a black case.
NASHLAH: Very…
SHAHAR: So the story goes from the concept of the business to the way the business is done, so very personalized; which is very important today. So they can customize the costumes and then the way it’s packaged and it’s delivered.
NASHLAH: Right. Now, Shahar, here’s the thing. A lot of people when we give them those examples they say, “Oh, well my business…you know, it’s not, we’re not selling costumes. It’s kind of hard to do that.” No.
SHAHAR: In any business you need to find the story.
NASHLAH: It’s up to you to be creative.
SHAHAR: Yeah. And in every single piece too; even if you’re going to send a press release today.
NASHLAH: Uh-huh
SHAHAR: Or you’re going to give uh, or write a blog post.
NASHLAH: Yes.
SHAHAR: You know, start with a story, that’s engaging. Start by telling about something that happened to you today. I want to give another example.
NASHLAH: Wait—essentially, we’re telling you please, don’t be boring.
SHAHAR: Yes. Boring, boring is really bad for your marketing.
NASHLAH: Yeah, it is.
SHAHAR: I want to talk about a blog
NASHLAH: Okay, talk about a blog.
SHAHAR: It’s funny because it’s a big business and you wouldn’t… I mean it never crossed my mind to read a blog in this kind of business.
NASHLAH: Okay what is it? I don’t know.
SHAHAR: But it’s a very successful business.
NASHLAH: Very successful. Oh, are you talking about our blog.
[LAUGHTER]
SHAHAR: No it’s another one…
NASHLAH: Oh, okay.
SHAHAR: …that is very successful. It belongs to the Marriot Hotels.
NASHLAH: Oh, yes. Yes.
SHAHAR: Yeah, you’ll find the blog at marriot.blogs.com and it’s called the CEO blog; where the CEO of the company blogs about the hotel and about his life.
NASHLAH: Yes.
SHAHAR: Well if you pay attention when you go to that blog you will see many comments.
NASHLAH: Many comments.
SHAHAR: Yeah. Which we know is not that easy.
NASHLAH: It’s not that easy and it’s a hotel, I mean, it’s…
SHAHAR: I mean it sounds boring.
NASHLAH: …I mean it’s hard to find interactions when it’s an exciting subject.
SHAHAR: Yeah.
NASHLAH: I mean it’s a hotel.
SHAHAR: Whoever has a blog knows that the comment is—to start getting comments is a challenge. It’s not that easy.
NASHLAH: No.
SHAHAR: It’s the moment people read that they really start to interact with you…
NASHLAH: Right.
SHAHAR: …and get that conversation going. So sometimes you go for month’s blogging without a comment and that’s normal.
NASHLAH: Yeah.
SHAHAR: And that’s okay.
NASHLAH: Yeah that’s fine.
SHAHAR: Because people, nobody wants to be the first one.
NASHLAH: Yeah that’s right.
SHAHAR: So they go when the conversation is already started which is okay.
NASHLAH: People are busy and they’re doing their thing and sometimes they just don’t have time. Or you’re not—you know it’s a process and its fine.
SHAHAR: Yeah.
NASHLAH: But it’s really surprising that Bill Marriot is able to have comments in a blog that’s talking about a hotel.
SHAHAR: Yeah. Well the thing that—it’s not only that he has tons of comments…
NASHLAH: Tons of comments.
SHAHAR: …in his blog post.
NASHLAH: Well why is that Shahar?
SHAHAR: Well he talks about the cool things at the hotel. He talks about issues with the hotel and he talks about his life.
NASHLAH: Yes.
SHAHAR: He tells the story.
NASHLAH: Like his grandchild was born and he talks about it, ahh.
SHAHAR: People go there and compliment him.
NASHLAH: Yeah.
SHAHAR: Yeah, so he always ties everyday things with stories.
NASHLAH: Yeah, because, really that’s, you don’t want to be pushy. You don’t want to be—to just promote your stuff.
SHAHAR: That’s right, especially with social medium.
NASHLAH: Exactly. You want to engage and you want to tell a story and you want to be entertaining; even if you’re a serious business.
SHAHAR: You said a very key word.
NASHLAH: I did?
SHAHAR: Yes, entertaining. You know the cool part about a story is that it’s always entertaining.
NASHLAH: It’s entertaining.
SHAHAR: It keeps you just like this (look of being spellbound) wondering what’s going on. Well your business needs to be entertaining…
NASHLAH: It does.
SHAHAR: …even if you’re in a difficult kind…
NASHLAH: Yes, definitely.
SHAHAR: …kind of business to entertain. You need to find how to entertain people with your stories.
NASHLAH: Yes. Yes. Although Shahar, in the beginning of this conversation you even mentioned that you used to go to every Disney movie with your family. Well it was a family event and you wouldn’t miss one. But that’s exactly why; because they know how to tell a good story. They’re entertaining. They know how to captivate their audience. They’re very, very, very engaging.
SHAHAR: Yes. In every single thing they do.
NASHLAH: Yes. In every single thing.
SHAHAR: And that’s even a topic for another show.
NASHLAH: Yeah, it is.
SHAHAR: Call it structure everything.
NASHLAH: Yeah maybe we should do on that.
SHAHAR: Yeah.
NASHLAH: Because it’s not just on a movie that they’re engaging and entertaining, they do it in everything. They do it from the moment you go to Disney World and you’re sitting at their hotel, to the moment you’re walking down the street and you’re buying cotton candy or whatever it is. They have something that’s…
SHAHAR: And it’s the attention to detail as a good story, you know.
NASHLAH: Yes.
SHAHAR: Attention to the details in the whole process that your customer or your products—or prospect, sorry—interacts with you.
NASHLAH: Yes. Yes it is.
SHAHAR: Okay let’s go to our tool today.
NASHLAH: Alright.
SHAHAR: Okay.
NASHLAH: Our productivity tool, business tool, tool to make you a better person of the day; I chose was wisemapping.com. W-I-S-E-M-A-P-P-I-N-G-.-C-O-M.
SHAHAR: And what’s that?
NASHLAH: Well that’s a tool that allows you to do some brainstorming. Well you know we’re talking about telling a good story and being creative and all that.
SHAHAR: Um-hum.
NASHLAH: Well you do… It’s great if you have things in your mind; but it’s really more productive when you have them down on paper. Because that’s, you know, that’s when you’re getting things done.
SHAHAR: Yes.
NASHLAH: So brainstorming allows you to do that and you’re not… Sometimes, sometimes we’re thinking and we’re trying to get things done. We’re being very critical, you know. We put something down and uh, we’re not going anywhere because we’re being very critical of ourselves. Now brainstorming allows you in a way to get loose of all those strings because you put the main word uh…
SHAHAR: The mindmapping thing.
NASHLAH: …mindmapping. Yes. What did I say?
SHAHAR: You said brainstorming like four times and I was thinking like um, what — where she going with that.
NASHLAH: Well, isn’t mindmapping…
SHAHAR: Mindmapping! Yeah.
NASHLAH: …brainstorming. Well anyway. Shahar.
[LAUGHTER]
NASHLAH: You put in the main key word… I’ll talk to you, excuse me.
SHAHAR: Alright.
NASHLAH: Anyway you put the main key word on there…
SHAHAR: I’m being ignored.
NASHLAH: …and then you can with it… You can go how are we going to market our business and you can put market our business in the bubble. And then you put a little thing and say, well I’m going to start a video show. Well I’m going to start blogging everyday. Oh, I’m going to do this. And then, you know, I just had an idea about the video show, maybe we should do it this way. And you can creative.
SHAHAR: You go branching out.
NASHLAH: Well you can do that on paper of course, but there’s a tool that’s called wisemapping.com that allows you to do it online. I personally prefer to do my maps online; because I have it accessible anywhere. I can access it over here. I can find it over there.
SHAHAR: When we’re traveling…
NASHLAH: If I’m at a trade show at Vegas I can do it there; whatever, wherever, I can access it online and I can do it and it’s online, and I can do it. I love it.
SHAHAR: Yeah, and papers when you’re doing mindmapping…
NASHLAH: I have…
SHAHAR: …you tend to lose them, write them on napkins…
NASHLAH: Yeah I tend to… That’s how… I’m the kind of person when I’m sitting and I’m talking to you in a conversation, when I’m not ignoring you that is.
SHAHAR: Yeah.
NASHLAH: I start doodling.
SHAHAR: Which happens very often.
NASHLAH: …you know I loose my papers. So…
SHAHAR: Yeah, me too all the time. And then I go Nash do you have that MindMap about that meeting we had?
NASHLAH: Yes.
SHAHAR: And she always has them. And I try to keep mine too.
NASHLAH: Right.
SHAHAR: Well MindMapping is a very interesting tool in itself.
NASHLAH: It is. I love it. I really do.
SHAHAR: You should really Google MindMapping and get to know a little bit more…
NASHLAH: Get to know more about it.
SHAHAR: …because of course, just talking a few minutes it doesn’t translate…
NASHLAH: I ramble a little bit so it might not make sense.
SHAHAR: Yeah, it’s hard, it’s hard just talking about it.
NASHLAH: Yeah, if you’re not familiar with it, it could be… It’s a different concept.
SHAHAR: It’s a different concept but it’s a very cool tool to increase your productivity.
NASHLAH: It is.
SHAHAR: And really when you get the…
NASHLAH: It gets the creative juices flowing.
SHAHAR: And really when you get the gist of doing that you’re doing that every single—all the time…
NASHLAH: Yes.
SHAHAR: …for ideas you have or project or everything.
NASHLAH: Yes.
SHAHAR: And once you learn how to do that you need this tool called Wise Mapping.
NASHLAH: WiseMapping.com. And it’s easy and it’s fast.
SHAHAR: It’s accessible from anywhere, that’s the cool part of…
NASHLAH: It’s accessible from anywhere.
SHAHAR: … technology. You’re traveling you can access it from any computer.
NASHLAH: Right.
SHAHAR: You want to be able to take your business with you everywhere.
NASHLAH: Everywhere.
SHAHAR: Yeah. So it’s very cool, I think
NASHLAH: Thank you, yes.
SHAHAR: I want to—just one tip. When you’re doing the Wise Mapping and using Mind Mapping uh, uh, as a productivity tool think about Disney again…
NASHLAH: Think about…
SHAHAR: …and they’re creative room.
NASHLAH: Yes. Think about this allows you to be more creative.
SHAHAR: Yeah when we’re in—the creative room…
NASHLAH: The creative rules…
SHAHAR: …the rules were no rules…
NASHLAH: No rules.
SHAHAR: …no criticism.
NASHLAH: No criticism just to…
SHAHAR: Just put out there what you’re thinking.
NASHLAH: When you’re being creative, when you’re in the creative room that was their thing. It didn’t matter if it was possible or not; right now we’re being creative let’s put it all down whatever it is. Then we go somewhere else and analyze it and see the viability of all those things.
SHAHAR: Yes. When we go to seminars and workshops we use that a lot. Instead of keeping writing all the time and not really paying attention to the speaker…
NASHLAH: It’s easier than taking notes.
SHAHAR: You just do the Mind Mapping and…
NASHLAH: Yeah.
SHAHAR: …ask the main topics… It works like crazy.
NASHLAH: Yeah. And the way that the keyboard and everything—you just click insert and it goes. You don’t need to keep getting your mouse.
SHAHAR: Yes, it’s very…
NASHLAH: It allows you to do it without loosing focus which is…
SHAHAR: Yeah. Which is very important.
NASHLAH: Yeah, it is.
SHAHAR: If you are attending a seminar, you’re paying a lot of money don’t waste your time just writing everything…
NASHLAH: Yeah.
SHAHAR: …pay attention. Cool. Well I think today we talked about stories how important they are to engage…
NASHLAH: Yes. Very important that you engage.
SHAHAR: …and to use humor. And the Mind Mapping concept.
NASHLAH: Mind Mapping
SHAHAR: The Wise Mapping as a tool.
NASHLAH: WiseMapping.com.
SHAHAR: So these are some more tools you have to, to be able to interact with your customers and prospects.
NASHLAH: Yes.
SHAHAR: You Pop Your Popcorn. You talk to your customers and prospects.
NASHLAH: Yes.
SHAHAR: Don’t let anybody else do that.
NASHLAH: No because You Pop Your Popcorn.
SHAHAR: Yes. Who Pops Your Popcorn?
NASHLAH: You do!
SHAHAR: You do.
NASHLAH: And you got to do it right to the right people.
SHAHAR: Yes.
NASHLAH: At the right time, the new way.
SHAHAR: Yes.
NASHLAH: We’re showing you the new way.
SHAHAR: Okay..
NASHLAH: Alright.
SHAHAR: See you next time.
NASHLAH: See ya.
[END VIDEO]
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