I was listening to National Public Radio (NPR) in my car and a story on All Things Considered really grabbed my attention. "Baseball Fans Can Take Team Spirit to the Grave" was the name of the interview with Eternal Image CEO Clint Mytych.

I think that Mytych has hit upon something different and unique such that he is creating his own market.

His website underscores just this fact. From the "Where we come from…" page on the Eternal Image website: "In an industry as unchanging and static as the funeral business, Clint Mytych is an unlikely CEO. At 26 he is poised to change one of the world’s oldest industries through a very modern technique: licensing.

How did this happen? Mytych challenged himself to find an industry where branding – and licensing – had little or no impact to date. After months of research, Mytych hit upon what may be licensing’s last frontier – the funeral industry. Together with his partners, Nick Popravsky and Donna Shatter, Mytych crafted a business plan to bring top licenses to the funeral business.

Then he set out to acquire the rights to key licenses. Almost every company EI [Eternal Image] approached immediately saw the opportunity. The true challenge was in convincing a handful to be the first to have their marks on urns and caskets."

From the "What we stand for…" page on their website: "We are focused on bringing top-quality funerary products to consumers who want their own passing (or the passing of a loved one) to reflect a life well-lived."

His passion, drive, and business message have resonated with Major League Baseball and the Vatican Library. He has also tapped into our deep culture of having pets with the American Kennel Club and the Cat Fanciers’ Association line of products.

With big brand names like these, I am sure that other brands will follow. Wait…they are. Star Trek urns and caskets are coming late 2008.

Incorporated in January of 2006, Mytych is certainly creating a buzz. With interviews by NPR and others, Eternal Image will be an interesting company and stock to follow.

Copyright (c) images from Eternal Image, Inc.

About two weeks ago I posted an entry, "I am Honored to be a Washington Business Journal Guest Columnist for 2008."

Today, my first article as a guest columnist appeared titled, "Everyone has a Story to Tell, and You Need One Too." (article reprinted below)

The initial announcement in the January 11th issue summarized the series nicely: "The Business Smarts Section strives to offer readers top-shelf analysis and advice on entrepreneurship and workplace matters. We cannot do it alone. So for 2008 we are introducing a brand-new slated of Business Smarts columnists, all local experts…Taken together, these 12 columnists are akin to a pro-bono board of advisers for readers."

During the course of 2008, the journal will be publishing about a dozen of my articles related to business storytelling. I am honored and delighted to be one of the journalists. Thanks Tim!

If you have any preferences or requests for topics, contact us by telephone, email, or leave a comment on this blog entry.

To read other articles in The Chief Storyteller Blog, select the category, Articles.

Everyone has a Story to Tell, and You Need One Too
© 2008. Washington Business Journal. Used by permission.
Ira J. Koretsky
January 18, 2008

So, what's your story? Four words that are simple to say and complex to answer. And the answer could change your life.

Even before humans had words, they had stories. Cave paintings gave way to more sophisticated forms of expression — plays, folk tales, poems, speeches and novels. We still appreciate some of the great stories created generations ago.

OK, so an explanation about your business or your great idea might not be studied in English literature classes 500 years from now. But today your story could be the talk of the town, get you the sale, get you the perfect job or cement an important relationship.

Stories bind relationships. Think about Monday morning at the office. What do you talk about? What you did over the weekend, of course. When you answer, that is a story. Helping someone fix his flat tire on the Beltway is a story. Regaling colleagues about your vacation is a story. Talking about your favorite scene in a movie is a story. It is not necessarily what the story is about; the value is the interaction, and ultimately, how it is received.

Simply put, great stories travel. In business, people can leverage the power of stories every day. Great business stories have the same characteristics and potential as personal stories. They transform facts into ideas and ideas into action, which can generate the recruiting, sales and marketing results that you are seeking.

Each of us is a business storyteller. Even if you are not a natural storyteller, you can learn to combine your passion and your business message into a story that is entertaining, memorable and compelling.

Your organization's business story is power. Are you leveraging this power across all your communications materials?

You only have one chance to make a first and lasting impression. The $64,000 question is: Are your story tools getting prospects to say, "I need that!"

Over the course of my career, I have noticed one ubiquitous trait of people who are good at communicating details and facts. You need to both think and act like a storyteller – a business storyteller.

Telling your story in the right way can get you sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) in your marketplace. If you get the message across that you are the best, for instance, at managing government contracts or procuring research grants for arthritis research, then the story will endure and spread.

Appealing to your audience's emotions can go a long way in overcoming their perceived switching costs. Even if your product is superior, there will always be those who are cynical about moving from the status quo.

When organizing your story, do not just think about what you can do for their company's bottom line. Explain how it will make them feel, what they will be able to do, and what others will think.

If you are making a presentation, you can help your audience and yourself by offering an active message in which you interpret the data, form a position and make recommendations. This way, your story will educate, entertain and inspire.

The route to effective storytelling starts well before the presentation. Determine your goals by incorporating "it's all about them" analysis.

Knowing your audience means doing the research. Find out if there are any cultural barriers or taboo topics to avoid.

Another key to a powerful story is to have an attention-getting headline. Think about the nightly TV news or the morning paper. The news uses powerful visual and verbal images to draw you in so right away you know what the upcoming story is about — they whet your mental appetite and get you excited about the next story.

Your core message should take less than 30 seconds to say. Think of it as your advertisement. Consumer companies have learned through billions of dollars of advertising how to open our hearts, which in turn means opening our wallets.

You never know when you might be sitting across from the CEO of a company that would be key to meeting your sales goals or the hiring manager of the business where you dream of working. If you have 30 seconds, a firm handshake and a compelling story, your life can change. Great relationships begin with great stories. Opportunities abound to meet people. With a compelling story, they will want to call you back, set up a social meeting or set up a business appointment. This is how 30 seconds can turn into meaningful opportunities.

Over the coming months, I will be sharing with you articles that blend storytelling and observations about human behavior with proven sales and marketing techniques — techniques that help you become a more compelling business storyteller — techniques that help you build stronger and more profitable relationships.

The bottom line is the opportunity to tell your business story is a happening all around you. Are you maximizing the time you have?

Ira Koretsky is the president of The Chief Storyteller®, a firm that turns your business stories and messages into results, with keynotes, workshops, training, and consulting. Contact Ira at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.TheChiefStoryteller.com.

© 2008. Washington Business Journal. Used by permission.

In December, The Nielsen Company "released a year-end look at the most popular trends among Americans during 2007. The Nielsen Company delivers and integrates the most comprehensive media and marketing measurement systems in the world. Media and consumer spending trends monitored by Nielsen include: television, internet, movies, DVDs, music, mobile, books, consumer purchasing trends, advertisers, and video games."

I am sure that organizations, both public and private, are closely looking at lists like these. Access the PDF of the entire report here.

There are over 25 Top 10 lists.  Some of the titles are listed below.

- Top 10 TV Programs – Regularly Scheduled – 2007
- Top 10 Websites in the U.S.
- Top 10 TV Programs “Buzzed” About Online
- Top U.S. Markets for Adults who have Read/Contributed to a Blog within the Past Month.
- Top U.S. Markets for Avid Movie Goers
- Top U.S. Markets for DVD Purchasers
- Top 10 Most Digitally Downloaded Songs
- Top 10 Internet Brands Accessed via a Mobile Device
- Top 10 Audio Book Sales – Includes Adult and Juvenile
- Top 10 Consumer Package Goods (CPG) Sold in U.S. Retail Stores
- Top 10 Brands: Product Placement, Broadcast Network TV
- Top 10 PC Game Titles in the U.S.

I am honored to be a guest columnist for the 2008 Business Smarts series for the Washington Business Journal. The announcement came in the January 11 issue in a quick article titled, "Meet the 2008 columnists."

Rewind about three years when I met Tim Burn through Washington SmartCEO Magazine. We connected on a number of professional and personal levels. Over time, we built a strong relationship based on the various connections.

With Tim at the Washington, DC Business Journal, we chatted several months ago about the prospective of me being a guest columnist. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity.

Fast forward to today and my first article will be appearing in the January 18th issue. I'll link to the article when it comes out.

Thanks to patience, planned randomness, and deliberate personal and professional relationship building with Tim, I look forward to a great year with the Washington Business Journal.

To read other articles available in the blog, select the category, "Articles."  Here are the Washington Business Journal article links.
. "Everyone has a Story to Tell, and You Need One Too"
. "Say What you Want, Say it in Under 30 Seconds"
. "Step Away from the Urn, and Other Networking Tips"
. "Getting to Yes: Make Body Language Work for You"
. "Drop the Dry Presentation, Tell a Compelling Story"
. "Presenters Must Prepare Like Orchestra Conductors"
. "Keeping it Real: Learn to Heed Your Authentic Voice"
. "Great Leaders Know How to Put their Words to Work"

One of the more popular questions posed to me is, how do we attract more [blank]? The answer likely seems easy to answer and in reality, has many levels of depth and complexity.

Start at a 50,000 foot level–How DO YOU attract, win, and retain everyone important to the success of your organization?

Whether you are a non profit/association, government organization, or corporation, my question to you…how DO YOU attract, win, and retain [blank]?

For non profits and associations, how do you attract, win, and retain members, advertisers, consultants, partners, board members, volunteers, and staff?

For government organizations, how do you attract, win, and retain partners, consultants, other government organizations, interested non profits and associations, volunteers, and staff?

For corporations, how do you attract, win, and retain prospects, partners, staff, and clients?

One of the best ways to answer these questions is to walk in the shoes of your [blanks from above]? Then begin to answer these specific questions…

- What are they thinking?
- What are they reading?
- What are they talking about?
- Where can I find them?
- What are they interested in personally and professionally?
- What are their next challenges, personally and professionally?
- What can I do to reach them?

One of the best parts of speaking across the country is catching up with friends while on travel. I took a quick hop from Palm Springs to San Francisco to spend time with Jeremy, a dear friend, after the World Water Park Annual Convention.

We were on our way to lunch and walking. I do not remember what we were specifically talking about. Something prompted him to say "sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug."

I distinctly remember stopping. I looked at him and said, "what did you just say?!" He repeated the quote. I asked where it came from and he shared from a Dire Straits song "The Bug" (Mary Chapin Carpenter also sang a version of the Dire Straits song). {read more about the Dire Straits on Wikipedia)

The quote resonated with me as soon as it passed Jeremy’s lips. It is really amazing how powerful language is and can be and truly amazing how powerful metaphors are and their impact on thought.

There are days when I’m the bug and other days when I’m the windshield. And days when I’m both!

What would you do if you were known by SUX? Change it? Embrace it? Hide from it?

Well, the good folks from Sioux City, Iowa tried twice (1988 and 2002) to change the airport three digit code from SUX to something different, something more friendly and inviting. None of the suggestions from the Federal Aviation Administration were acceptable to the officials at Sioux Gateway Airport and the city.

So what did they do? They embraced SUX. The website is www.flysux.com. They have t-shirts and hats proudly displaying SUX in big and bold letters. SUX is the center of the marketing campaign!

What a great example of creativity, innovative thinking, and truly making the best out of what seems to be an undesirable situation.

- Airport website
- Official souvenir website
- Airline t-shirt souvenir website

A recent Associated Press article sent to me prompted this blog entry.

Hey, I’m looking for an automobile mechanic? Can you recommend a good one?

So, you are about to plant some vegetables? My favorite tomatoes are…

My friend just got back from a vacation in ________. I’m going there because of him.

Sound familiar?  We are always making recommendations, solicited and unsolicited. And when we make recommendations, they are generally passionate, colorful, rich, and fully favor either negative or positive.

Why is it then that so many business professionals overlook the power of word of mouth? of referrals? of testimonials?

As human beings we crave connection. And connection is almost always in the form of a story.

What stories are being told about your
- organization
- products/services
- people
- reputation
- customer service
- delivering on promises
- etc., etc.

And the next question, which is sometimes more important, what stories are not being told that should be told?

Next time you have an opportunity to be a recommender, think about how you can help others simply with a referral or recommendation. It is a real pleasure to call someone and have them say, "I was expecting your call and looking forward to connecting."

Here is a new one to add to the "congratulations, I have tons of money to give you, no obligation" scams. I literally just received the email a few minutes ago. It was so fresh in its approach, I was excited to read it from top to bottom

I looked for how they positioned the message, embedded the call-to-action, teased my curiosity, and of course, the word prose itself.

My grade: 
- 3 out of 4 stars for creativity
- They used Microsoft as the source–something new and fresh
- The language seemed technical enough, which improved the believability factor
- Address on the bottom is Microsoft’s
- Call-to-action was specific and did not require too much personal information. Just enough to show that you are interested…this is the hook!
- Prose was sound, with no obvious "I-am-from-a-foreign-country" bad grammar and spelling mistakes

Could be Improved:
- Microsoft would never use Bonanza. They always create clever and well-thought out campaigns
- Magnitude of the prize. 500,000 pounds sterling–never in a million years. 
- There are many more suggestions that could be shared and will not be for obvious reasons

*** Way to go spammers! Please continue to be more creative and clever so as to dupe more unsuspecting people into sharing their financial information.

Here is the highly offending email…

We are pleased to inform you of the results of the just concluded Microsoft® quarterly Promotions which drew your email address as one of the lucky winners of this quarter’s Platinum Vacation Trip Card.

Being one of the lucky winners of the Microsoft® Bonanza, you are therefore a recipient of the Platinum Vacation Trip Card which affords you the opportunity to tour round five major cities in Europe, America and Asia as a special vacation plan, arranged by Microsoft® Inc., your accommodation and feeding cost are all inclusive in your winning Platinum Vacation Trip Card.

The Vacation Platinum Card has an instant cash value of £525,000.00 GBP (Five Hundred and Twenty Five Thousand Pounds Sterling), which is redeemable in cash.

Winners can either redeem the Platinum Vacation Trip Card, to engage in the Microsoft® Inc. Round the world vacation trip, or its equivalent Cash amount of £525,000.00GBP.

All Email Addresses where collated from our world wide data base and other database like aol.com, yahoo etc, and electronically extrapolated, and after a random computerized ballot selection by our secure MICROSOFT® ORACLE DATA BASE raffle system, five MSN® Hotmail® email addresses emerged as the 2nd category lucky winners of this quarter MSN® Hotmail® Promo and 2 lucky winners from non MSN® Hotmail® email addresses in which your email address was randomly selected as one of the lucky winners.

To redeem your claims please contact any of the following Microsoft® Claims Redemption officer.

DIANE WHITMORE
PAUL ANDERSON
MSN CLAIMS REDEMPTION OFFICE.
Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way , Redmond , WA 98052-6399 .
Email: [omitted by us]
Personal Email: [omitted by us]

When you contact him/her, please provide him/her with your secret pin code
x7pwyz2007 & Ref: No: MSN/17336ITTL/GRCC/07. You are also advised to provide him/her with the under-listed information as soon as possible:

1. Name in full:
2. Address:
3. Nationality:
4. Age:
5. Occupation:
6. Phone/Fax:

Please endeavour to quote your Secret Pin Code & Reference number in all correspondence with the claims redemption officer and you are also strictly advised to keep your winning particulars from the public, until you have redeemed your claims.

Note: Do not write to this email account respond to the above mentioned officer.

On behalf of members and staff of Microsoft® Round Trip Promo.

Please accept my hearty congratulations.

Best Regards,

Ronda Shultz
Microsoft® Inc. Promo
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved

I subscribe to tons of blogs and newsletter lists. As I am sure with all of us, we do not read them as fast as we can or would like to read.

I had the pleasure of speaking at The Urban Land Institute (ULI) in Denver in October 2006. It was truly one of my favorite and most memorable speaking experiences. Today, I have kept in touch with more people and made more friends from the ULI conference than any other.

The ULI Blog, The Ground Floor, is an example of a blog that I do not read as often as I would like. I missed the write-up in The Ground Floor blog after the ULI Fall Conference in Denver.

Here is the write-up link.

How did I get introduced to ULI? Through ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership. The story is a picture perfect description of business networking. Ann attended my workshop at The Great Ideas Conference. We connected afterward and found that we were kindred spirits (smile). The rest, as the saying goes, was history.

Thanks to Dave in Maryland for the link to this article.

Cathie Black is releasing a career book later this month titled, "Basic Black: The Essential Guide to Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life)." In today’s Advertising Age, an excerpt from her book appeared telling the story of "How George Louis Took USA Today from Y&R."

It is a great read. I was engrossed and couldn’t wait until the end. Now that’s the type of writing that makes me excited and want to buy the book.

One of the key messages is encapsulated in this paragraph…
"Any time you shake up the status quo, you’re going to face opposition. People don’t like change, especially if that change involves undertaking new tasks without absolute certainty of success. There will probably be immediate negative repercussions — say, a bumpy start for the new employee or grumbling from colleagues who don’t want to learn a new way of doing things. But stay the course, bearing in mind that the only result that matters is the end result. Learn to ride out the flak you receive in the interim, because attitudes will change quickly when your risk ultimately turns out well."

Here is the big take-away…
"Think of it this way: If you’re convinced your idea is a good one — or at least, that it has a high enough potential upside to offset the risks involved — why would you expect others to torpedo it? Believe in your own instincts and sell your idea. If you don’t, who will?"

Background on Cathleen Black
Cathie Black, president of Hearst Magazines, started as an ad-sales assistant for Holiday magazine. Her career eventually moved her on to sell bigger titles like Travel & Leisure, New York and, eventually (the extremely challenging), Ms. Later she would spend time in the newspaper industry, becoming president of the Newspaper Association of America before she returned to magazines to run the Hearst unit. Now she’s channeled her varied experiences into a career-advice book, "Basic Black: The Essential Guide to Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life)."

In 1983, Ms. Black left magazines to become the president of Gannett’s USA Today, hired on by its colorful founder, Al Neuharth. She was the third in a relatively short period as the fledgling operation was struggling to build a brand-new media category, the national daily newspaper. Here she recounts just how it came about that George Lois, a radical adman who had just started his own shop, upended established agency Young & Rubicam to win the USA Today account.

My friends at European Language Industry Organisation (ELIA) sent me a note about their recent program in Rome.

Patsy shared that delegates from 24 countries Met in Rome for a wonderful three days of jammed-packed events, networking, socialising, and business-building.

Here is the note from Patsy…

"The European Language Industry Organisation’s (ELIA) three day programme of Workshops and Networking Events was seen as a huge success by the record numbers of delegates from 24 countries, some of whom had come from as far as Vietnam and the USA.

Held between the 26th-29th of September at the Hotel Metropole in Rome, Italy, subject topics included CRM and document management technology, how to best approach gaining EN 15038 quality certification and the very popular Executive Sales Management Workshop, led by Industry expert Renato Beninatto, and which due to severe oversubscribing will be repeated in Paris at the next ELIA event.

Networking Day 3 topic on growth and exit strategies was fronted by both Renato Beninatto and Hans Fenstermacher, President of the ArchiText division of Translations.com and was concluded by a cocktail party at the famous Caffetteria Italia on the Terrazza Ara Coeli affording its magnificent views over Rome.

Representatives from The Association of Language Companies (ALC) and The Globalization and Localization Association (GALA) were also in attendance and discussions were held regarding a closer association between both these organisations and ELIA in the near future.

The event was sponsored by EUTECert, SDL Trados Technologies, The Language Technology Center Ltd., MultiCorpora International Inc.and also supported by SFS Standardization, Inspecta Ltd., IQ Net Association and Multilingual Computing, Inc..

ELIA will be holding their Networking Day 4 in Paris on 13-15th March 2008 the details of which will be announced shortly."

Visit the ELIA website to learn more.

Here are some of our other blog entries on the language industry.
- How’s Your Story Across the More than 40 European Countries? (July 31, 2007)
- Globalizing your Website: Increasing your Market Reach (Guest: Marla Schulman) (July 25, 2007)
- Are You a Leader in the Language Services Industry? (June 27, 2007)
- Speaking Multiple Languages is a Huge Benefit (August 1, 2006)

Tonight was the annual dinner for the Economic Club of Washington, DC. Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman and CEO of American Express Co, presented the after dinner keynote to a record number of guests.

Chenault talked mainly on the concept of brand…how important it is, what it is, and how to maintain it.

Here are a few highlights:
- "A brand is a collection of values"
- "A brand has personal meaning that helps people achieve their goals"
-"It is build steadily, day after day. It meets their expectations always keeping their faith"
-"The power rests with the customer, not with me, the CEO. The brand experience is defined by the customer’s experience"
-"Listen to your customers"
-"In a flood of choices, a great brand always stands out"
-"I want everyone at American Express to be our brand steward, to take personal responsibility in keeping our brand strong"
-"Our customers don’t just talk about us, they feel us"

He runs a ~25 billion dollar company with more than 60,000 employees. He helped American Express regain its position as a worldwide brand that exudes trust, credibility, and the highest ideals of customer service.

It was a nice feeling to know that many of the ideas I espouse are similar to Chenault’s. You just know in your gut when you meet a kindred spirit. How about you?

Selected Articles & Biographies:
- wikipedia
- TopBlacks.com (positive profiles of people of color)
- CNN in 2002
- Reference for Business
- 50 Who Changed America (Ebony, 1995)

I can not remember when I was introduced to the concept of "lorem ipsum." It was likely 20+ years ago when I first began my career as a public affairs officer where I had to do a lot of writing.

Over the past few days I have been working on some articles. Whenever I get stuck or know that I need to add more copy, I insert the "lorem ipsum" passage. For some reason, I was prompted to do a little research and find out exactly what it means.

According to Wikipedia, "In publishing and graphic design, lorem ipsum is standard placeholder text used to demonstrate the graphic elements of a document or visual presentation, such as font, typography, and layout. Lorem ipsum also serves as placeholder text in mock-ups of visual design projects before the actual words are inserted into the finished product. When used in this manner, it is often called greeking."

The most common lorem ipsum text reads as follows:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

I have always known both of these facts.

As to the passage’s history, Lipsom.com says "Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lorem Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC."

And the most interesting part of the history to me is that "today’s popular version of lorem ipsum was first created for Aldus Corporation’s first desktop publishing program Aldus PageMaker in the mid-1980s for the Apple Macintosh." (Wikipedia)

Funny thing…I used both PageMaker and an Apple Macintosh in the late 1980s and of course, the lorem ipsum passage! And a little secret, I sometimes inserted random phrases in the text just to see if anyone was reading them (big grin).

If you would like to generate your own passages, Lipsom.com has a great tool.

Sources for Tools, Widgets, Add-ons, & More Information:
- Lorem Ipsum generator and history
- Wikipedia explanation in English, Italian, German, Dutch, French
- Straight from the source, someone who contacted Professor McClintock
- Widget that generates Lorem Ipsum text from Apple.com
- Firefox/Mozilla add on

Web seminars are always interesting. Why you ask (grin)? Because there is virtually no interaction with the audience and certainly no physical interaction. One of the great aspects is how easy they are to attend and to watch. You can be in your pajamas or a business suit and no one will ever know!

On September 4 I gave a Web Cafe with Office Depot titled, "What Do YOU Do? 3 Steps to Tell Your Story in 30 Seconds or Less." You can find the longer and more descriptive blog entry here.

The folks at Office Depot made the event easy and seamless. Check out all of their upcoming events as well as their archive that goes back to 2005.

My Web Cafe is archived and you can watch it at your leisure. Click here and then scroll down once you arrive at the site.

CEO Express has so much information in terms of links on one page that you will at first likely be overwhelmed.

Touting itself as "The Executive’s Internet," CEO Express is chock full of links to a very diverse grouping of resources across a wide range of industries and interests.

For example, here are some of the resources (Lots more on the site):
- Daily News
- Business News
- International News
- Online Television News
- Time & Weather
- Business Magazines
- Business Knowledge
- Lifestyle Magazines
- Health
- Newsfeeds
- Internet Searches
- Financial Markets
- Government Agencies
- Small Business
- Company Research
- Office Tools
- Speech & Writing
- Airlines
- Travel

College Scholarships, an organization that has been "helping students pay for college since 1999," is in its second year of offering a blogging scholarship.

According to its home page, "We’re giving away $10,000 this year to a college student who blogs. The Blogging Scholarship is awarded annually." Requirements are strict and are posted on its website.

Why a Blogging Scholarship? "We believe passion is important. As the world gets more competitive, those who are passionate about what they do, and work close to their passions, will be able to become and stay successful even as technology and automation eat away at many business models. Those who are willing to share their experiences with the world help make the world a better place, even if most bloggers only consider blogging a hobby. We believe those who freely express themselves are far more likely to find their true passions and connect with people to bring on large scale social change."

This is a fantastic idea. Create buzz about something that you are passionate about. And promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

Deena from Tennessee shared with me an article describing an interesting and clever approach to safety.

The Tennessean Newspaper tells the story of Sgt. Andy Miller, head of traffic enforcement, for the Smyrna Police department and his novel approach to reduce speeding in a pedestrian-heavy area.

The article states, "the city commissioned a life-size, corrugated plastic cutout of Miller, posing with his radar gun, a menacing scowl on his face. They post the cutout in high-traffic areas, hoping that it will deter speeders."

"The cutout was actually the brainchild of Jim Gammon," the reporter writes. Gammon is "the owner of a sign company on Front Street. Gammon approached the city to suggest it and donated the sign. It’s working so well that the city is having another cutout made this week."

The article shares a lot more including a few stories from motorists.

How is your creativity? How is your team solving its most challenging issues? Do you have the right mix of people in the room that can offer different perspectives while brainstorming?

United Parcel Service, commonly known as UPS, produced an eye-catching, headline-grabbing advertisement in the July 2007 issue of Entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurs and small business owners are accustomed to the roller coaster days of business. In fact, working with and speaking to groups of entrepreneurs, I would emphatically say that every day for them is a roller coaster day! Of course, some days come with the small twists and turns and other days come with three or four upside down loops and turns that smoosh your face (big smile).

UPS let the powerful roller coaster image draw the eye in, then the word TODAY draws you into the headline of "Looks like it’s going to be one of those days? We can help with that." I would suggest to UPS that there should be some kind of call-to-action. Ask the reader to do something and act after grabbing his or her attention.

Compelling and engaging visual imagery is much more powerful than words by themselves. When you are creating your website, advertisements, presentations, and marketing materials, examine critically where you can replace text with an image. The image should instantaneously convey a story while complementing, reinforcing, and perhaps extending your message.

I will be Web Cafe’ing on September 4. Office Depot sponsors "a free web-based seminar series focused on successful business strategies." My friend Jerry Ervin from Paragon Strategies connected me to the good folks at Office Depot; another great example of networking and helping friends/colleagues.

One of my all time favorite presentations is the topic for the first Fall Web Cafe. "What Do YOU Do? 3 Steps to Tell Your Story in 30 Seconds or Less" is designed to help participants:

- Learn proven steps to help you increase revenue with your core message
- Discover the key ingredient to get people to say, "Wow! Tell me more"
- Become confident and comfortable telling your 30-second story in any setting, in front of anyone
- 10 attendees receive complimentary advice on developing their core story. The Office Depot team will send me randomly selected contact information for the participants selected.

It will be a little bit different than your typical web seminar. During most web seminars the presenter talks while you listen. My web seminars have hands-on exercises that you will be doing at your desk to get your creative juices flowing and that will help you achieve the objectives above.

You can watch the archived version (scroll down). They also have archived web seminars dating back to 2005.

I’m in Chicago for the annual American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) conference. Today is a beautiful day so before the conference started, I walked around.

I found a great spot over the water where I took some really nice pictures. This spot was on one side of the bridge. When I turned around and began to walk up the street and over the bridge, the homeless person sitting at the beginning of the bridge stopped me in my tracks.

He said, "excuse me, I have to tell you something."

I smiled and said in a questioning tone, "Yes?"

He responded, "I just wanted to tell you that this is a toll road."

My smile broadened and I said in a fun way, "it is?"

Smiling and beaming, he said, "it is!"

He stood up from his seat and started walking with me. He explained that the "water had a reverse current, it was chilly, and green. So don’t jump. I don’t want to have to save you." He then said, "this is a good toll, no? I have kept you entertained from the beginning to the end. You can’t shut me up. Not bad for a 54 year old man, eh?"

I said, "you earned your toll" and gladly paid him for a highly memorable moment.

Advice from a Homeless Man: Remember to be nice to everyone. Tell some good stories. And don’t jump off the bridge (perhaps for this piece of advice, you should have been on the bridge with us).

While doing some research, I began to read some of the fascinating articles on Premiere Magazine. One article that I knew would be a great read was, "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time."

While I was reading the list, it made me think of all the people that I meet. While meeting them, I can remember likely 5% and that is probably better than most. Soooo, is your story memorable, both from the mind and the heart? You do not need a pool of professional screen writers to make your story standout. Mix in a pinch of passion, inspiration, what’s in it for them, facts, persuasiveness, intelligence, creativity, credibility, balance, and communication. And like any great Hollywood movie, you will have to rewrite, rewrite, and rewrite some more.

Have some fun recalling some great memories. Starting with 100, Roger "Verbal" Kint of The Usual Suspects, there is someone for everyone. Here are a few of my favorites:

- 89. Sandy Olsson of Grease
- 84. Darth Vader of Star Wars
- 70. Judy Benjamin of Private Benjamin
- 64. Rocky Balboa of Rocky
- 62. John Shaft of Shaft
- 44. Jules Winnfield of Pulp Fiction
- 38. Willy Wonka of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
- 35. Dr. Evil of Austin Powers
- 30. King Kong of King Kong
- 26. E.T. of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
- 17. Dorothy Gale of The Wizard of Oz
- 16. Robin Hood of The Adventures of Robin Hood
- 12. Charles Foster Kane of Citizen Kane
- 8. Ellen Ripley of Alien
- 7. Indiana Jones of Raiders of the Lost Ark
- 5. James Bond of Dr. No

From my list of the top 100, I would readily add these and likely a lot more. In no particular order:
- Godzilla from any of the Godzilla movies
- James Bond of any James Bond movie
- Captain Nemo of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
- Jerry Mitchell of Three O’Clock High (this is a childhood favorite)
- Simba of The Lion King
- Bruce Lee of Enter the Dragon
- Eliza Doolittle and Professor Henry Higgins of My Fair Lady
- Caractacus Potts of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
- Dr. John Dolittle of Dr. Dolittle
- Long John Silver of Treasure Island
- Morpheus of the Matrix

If you want to find out more information on any movie, my favorite website is the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Its tag line is "Earth’s Biggest Movie Database."

In 2006, I was introduced to a fantastic group of passionate, smart, and forward-thinking organizations. These organizations have been embracing the "globalization" of our world for years. I know how important culture, traditions, language, etc. are to people. The Association of Language Companies (ALC) opened my eyes even more to the importance and why organizations should use highly professional interpretation, translation, and localization services.

I presented at the ALC 2006 Annual Conference (see blog entry) and the recent 2007 Annual Conference (see blog entry). I can’t say enough about how enjoyable both conferences have been from making new friends, making new partnerships, and exchanging business, within the United States and Internationally.

During one of the conference breaks on the patio at the 2007 conference, I met Tova Ichai of MilaTova International Translations. Tova is the Treasurer of The European Language Industry Association (ELIA). What started as a casual hello ended up being 30 minutes of great conversation. And Tova kindly offered to introduce me to the program chairs of ELIA to be a potential speaker for the 2008 conferences.

You have no way to know where, when, or who will randomly cross your path to help create exciting new paths. Over time I have come to know more and more about ELIA. It is a relatively new association with professional development, sales and marketing, and industry experts sharing knowledge, tips, and best practices. ELIA is building a community across Europe and the world.

If you are seeking to build new relationships inside Europe, ELIA is an organization to visit! They have an upcoming event in September in Rome and February 2008 in Paris.

What a great evening. I had the pleasure of speaking to a packed house of business owners. The host was Smart Business Ideas™ magazine and the event was for the Ready, Set…Grow! series.

Tonight’s topic was one of our newer keynotes. "Poke Your ‘I’ Out: Using the Right Business Vocabulary to Increase Your Company’s Sales" offered 10 mantras for helping you build stronger and more profitable business relationships.

Here are the mantras:
1.    Tell Your Story in 30 Seconds or Less
2.    Sink or Synch: Why a Unified Message is a Must for Success
3.    Measure Twice, Cut Once: The Right Ideal Client Profile Increases Sales Success
4.    Excuse Me, Excuse Me…Important Coming Through
5.    Leave Your "But" at Home and Bring Your And Out
6.    Be a Deliberate Networker: Build Stronger and More Profitable Relationships that Last a Lifetime
7.    Poke Your “I” Out: Move From What’s in it for Me? to It’s All About Them
8.    Treat Everyone Like a CEO
9.    Create a Magical Day…Every Day: Deliver the Expected Experience
10.  Great Stories Travel™

Each of the mantras was accompanied by a verbal (Yes And and Poke Your I Out), physical (Treat Everyone Like a CEO card game), or written exercise (Be a Deliberate Networker).

The group was lively, offered some insightful comments, posed some challenging questions, and mixed in some well-placed humor and moments of mirth.

If you are looking for knowledge that inspires success so that you can grow your business, read Smart Business Ideas Magazine. If you are looking for people and ideas to help you grow your business, attend their events and begin to make your own lasting relationships.

Tip for speakers: Be a generous listener with prospective clients. They will often offer clues into what matters to them and their audience. Tonight’s event is the perfect example of random kindness. One of my friends and clients Pramod invited me to be his guest to an event. At our table, he introduced me to Juan (Publisher) and Tracey (Vice President of Business Development) of Smart Business Ideas Magazine. We "connected" in just a few minutes. An hour later we were brainstorming on a topic best suited for their audience. I could have said, "Here is my list of standard topics" (meaning, take this or leave it) and potentially miss out on a nice speaking opportunity. Or, be a Yes And’er to develop what has become one of my more favorite keynotes.

* More native speakers of languages other than English currently access the Internet than do native speakers of English.

* The U.S. currently accounts for less than half of total e-commerce spending and according to IDC this share is expected to drop to 36 percent by 2005.

These statements show why perhaps Internet News said it best when they wrote, "for US companies, multilingual e-commerce and business sites are no longer optional".

Still not convinced? Read on to find out why the Internet is already serving as an international business medium for many companies and why you may not want to be left behind.

To consider whether or not to take advantage of the Internet as an international business tool you first need to consider the possibilities it may hold. Consider these questions:

- Who is on the net?
- Where do they live?
- What languages do they speak?
- What regions represent the best opportunities for
your organization?

Although the numbers given in answer to these questions often raise questions of collection and tracking methods, research shows that all of the various statistics and information point towards the same trends. It is these trends that will be highlighted here.

Here are some very, very interesting statistics and trends associated with the approximate 480 million people online throughout the world:

- About 35% of them are located in the U.S.
- About 27% are located in Europe
- About 24% are located in Asia
- About 264 million (~55%) are native speakers of a language other than English
- About 144 million (~30%) are native speakers of a
European language (mainly French, Italian, German and Spanish)
- About 100 million (~25%) are native speakers of an Asian language (mainly Chinese, Japanese and Korean)

If your site is still English-only and is only geared towards U.S. visitors, you are not alone. Yo  are actually in the company of 75% of businesses.

As a U.S. company you need to remember that because of the Internet, you could have a competitor you don’t even know about, located in Europe or Asia, reaching out to your customer base via the Internet.

And that’s not all. Not only might you be losing some business by not reaching out to foreign markets now, you may even be risking some potential future business as well. Remember that if you have a presence on the World Wide Web, you have already, by definition, "gone global". Don’t be surprised if there are some who reach your site and are offended at not having their linguistic and cultural preferences addressed.

If all of the above information isn’t enough to convince you that the market demand exists for you to globalize your website, then consider the natural advantages the Internet offers as an international business tool:

- You automatically have a potential client base of 480 million people worldwide, mainly consisting of well-educated 25-50-year-olds.

- By virtue of being on the web, your company is already accessible 24 hours a day regardless of time differences.

– Research shows that even Internet users who have never made an online purchase often use the web to research products and services.

– The advent of the Euro can make it much easier to break into the European market.

It actually may not be as expensive or as complicated as you may think to create a multicultural website offering. And most importantly, if U.S. companies wish to avert the potential of European and Asian dominance of Internet business, they best consider addressing the world on its terms – with multilingual, multicultural website offerings.

To both localize and globalize your website, it is highly suggested to seek the services of certified and professional translation and interpretation firms. It is a common practice of these high-end firms to have two and sometimes three rounds of quality assurance checks to verify meaning, idioms, phrases, intent, word choice, etc. Two great sources are The Association of Language Companies (ALC) and The European Language Industry
Association (ELIA).

http://www.schreibernet.com

http://www.alcus.org

Associated Press Writer Jill Lawless recently published a richly detailed article on J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter Series.

"It has been an extraordinary journey. When Rowling created Harry Potter, she was a struggling single mother, writing in cafes to save on the heating bill at home. Now, at 41, she is the richest woman in Britain — worth $1 billion, according to Forbes magazine — with houses in Edinburgh, London and the Scottish countryside."

I did a few searches on the Internet with staggering results: 
- "Harry Potter" yields over 165,000,000 results 
- "Harry Potter Books" yields over 65,000,000 results
- "J.K. Rowling" yields about 6,000,000 results with her personal site appearing first
- "Harry Potter Movie" yields over 55,000,000 results with the official movie site here

Lawless writes, "The novels have produced five movies, mountains of toys, a riot of Internet fan sites and scores of companion books — from academic studies to parodies to pop psychology. A theme park, complete with Hogwarts castle and Forbidden Forest, is to open in Orlando, Fla., in 2009."

In a second article published on Friday July 20, Lawless writes from London, "At midnight, like magic, Harry Potter appeared. Bookstores across Britain, and as far away as Singapore and Sydney, threw open their doors to sell "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and final volume of the young wizard’s adventures."

"Potter-mania spans the globe." Reuters published an article just past midnight talking about the fans and the books. As did the Associated Press and the New York Times.

It is truly amazing what imagination can do. Rowling has for some, reintroduced books. For others, the Harry Potter series has provided the reason to read. And for others still, the series has inspired with heroes and heroines abounding. Each audience has found a story within the Harry Potter books. A personal story that has touched both heart and mind.

Rowling responds to a query about what she will do after Harry Potter by saying, "I just really want to fall in love with an idea again, and go with that."

I know only a handful of people that have embraced their passions. When they do, it is infectious. Other people want to be involved.

Some questions to ponder…
- Are your goals and passions aligned? 
- Are your goals keeping you up at night because you are so excited to be thinking about them? 
- Do you have friends, colleagues, clients, and members on board your passion train?

Restrooms, let’s see. I’m a guy. There’s a restroom. That’s all I need to know!! While tongue-in-cheek, this sentiment is generally true across the male gender. And the opposite is generally true when it comes to women and men with families.

So what’s so special about the Best Restroom of 2007 contest? Two things. First, that the only reason I listened to the radio interview on the subject was because I’m having a conversation with a prospective client whose specialty is to create an amazing restroom experience for retail business’ patrons. Second, this is a clever idea to promote awareness for Cintas, the sponsor of the contest. Cintas took the concept of bathrooms, something that is not expected to have a contest, and created a story. The story generated buzz and help them achieve national exposure.

Since 2002, they have been running the contest. I am most interested as to the jump in website traffic and revenue directly and indirectly attributable to the Best Restroom contest.

Because The Chief Storyteller has clients from all over, from different cultures, countries, markets, etc. it is vital that we keep our idea antennas up, tuned to those in our social and professional networks. How can we share ideas, recommend articles, suggest places to meet other like-minded individuals, refer prospective members and clients, and so forth? How can we be a trusted adviser and resource? By being idea listeners, collectors, "suggestors," and "sharers."

I emailed Lawrence (the prospect) the link for the contest and this blog entry.

By keeping an open eye and alert ear, we can help out people in our network. What are you doing today to help build stronger social and professional networks?

Phew! It was a bit of a long weekend. Why long? We took the car and made a road trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to experience the KISS Coffeehouse. A year ago exactly, I posted a blog entry on the launching of the KISS Coffeehouse.

The trip was a lot of fun. Another couple joined us as well. We had some really terrific food, saw some interesting sites such as the massive miniature golf courses (capital of the world–more in another blog entry), and the fun statues and creatures adorning buildings such as two gigantic sharks, killer whale, Tommy the Crab, and others (more in another blog entry).

The coffee house experience was a blast. We all had a little taste of KISS (pun intended). Each of us bought some memorabilia such as a t-shirt or mug. It was especially fun talking to various folks and interviewing them as to their stories and why they were visiting the KISS Coffeehouse.

Here is a recap of the 1st anniversary from their website; a 6 minute podcast interview I did with Leah, one of the staff at the coffeehouse; and some pictures from the visit.

1st Anniversary Recap: The recap article, "Fans line up to meet guitarist for KISS," is a quick and fun read.  It has quotes from band member Ace Frehley and owner Brian Galvin. The press release states, "KISS is famously recognized for its foot-stomping
hard rock hits and the use of face-paint, elaborate costumes, and wildly over-the-top stage shows riddled with pyrotechnics. KISS has sold over 80 million albums, broken every box office record worldwide and is second to The Beatles in the number of Gold Records sold by any group in history."

Interview Podcast: I had a very nice conversation with Leah, one of the staff from the KISS Coffeehouse. She has been working there almost since day one. Leah shared some interesting background on the coffeehouse, some insights into the customers, a few "you-don’t-know’s," and a little bit more. To hear the podcast, click here (it is a ~6.5 megabyte MP3 file).

If you are a leader in the Language Services Industry, you should have been at the fifth annual conference of The Association of Language Companies. If you are not a leader and want to become one, the same suggestion, join ALC.

It was my pleasure and joy to be invited back as a speaker following last year’s great conference. I presented "How to Tell Your Story in 30 Seconds or Less: 7 Steps to a Perfect
Answer to What Do You Do (‘Elevator Speech’)?" To read the blog entry about last year’s conference, click here. On a personal note, as a speaker, I am sensitive to the logistics and operations of an event. Audience members want to be entertained, educated, and inspired. Most importantly, they want a smooth running event. I want to give "props" and kudos to Bob McLean, Executive Director, and his team for an wonderful experience in 2007.

Here are a some of the session titles among many others:
- Special Session for First-Timers
- The Art of Negotiation in Business an in Life
- Public Relations and Your Bottom Line: A Review of the ATA PR Initiative
- Branding Your Company

Craig Buckstein from Geneva Worldwide and I helped with the "social lubrication" during the Welcome Dinner. We facilitated a fun and rewarding hour of speed networking and tips for building stronger and profitable business relationships.

If you are a translation or interpretation organization or provider of services to this fast-growing industry, be sure to join us in 2008 in San Francisco for the 6th annual ALC Conference May 13-17.

If you are unable to attend the ALC conference in the United States, be sure to visit ELIA and ATA (see below).

The European Language Industry Association (ELIA) has exciting events throughout the year. The next big event is in September in Rome and then February 2008 in Paris. ELIA has a links page to more than 50 organizations throughout the world.

The American Translators Association (ATA) is another great organization. The ATA’s annual conference is October 31 through November 3 in San Francisco.

Whatever your choice, make it! The world is shrinking! Countries that seemed foreign just a few years ago are some of our best sources of new clients, members, partners, and referrals.

I enjoy reading all sorts of books and magazines. Us Weekly Magazine always has some interesting and fun stories. I was reading the June 18th issue when I came across this advertisement from Wet Ones.

First, the image grabbed my attention. It is not often you see a little guy with so much attitude. Then my eyes were drawn to the headline, "Even tough guys have a sensitive side." [Click on the image to view a high resolution version, ~500k in size]

I laughed.

This ad and if you visit the Wet Ones website are fully branded (e.g., same image greets you, messaging is consistent, colors are consistent, etc. and integrated with other kids in similar kid-typical situations). Find below a picture of the website.

The ad speaks directly to the readers, especially the Moms. Us Weekly makes the demographics of its readers available here. Readership demographics are always interesting from the perspective of audience analysis, advertising, and insight into the magazine subscriber base. Do you know your audience–your prospects, clients, partners, members, etc.? Can you describe the ideal client or ideal member for your corporation or non profit, respectively?

To highlight a few of the readership statistics:

- 71% women
- approx. 80% are between the ages of 25 and 44
- approx. 45% are married

Based on the ad, I would say that Playtex has a winning campaign with "Kids come clean with Wet Ones® Wipes."