Standing out and differentiating yourself from the competition in business can be a huge challenge in this ocean of social media.
Fortunately, like an ancient mariner, you have tools to navigate this voyage. Among them: storytelling.
Carmine Gallo, author of “Five Stars: The Communication Secrets to Get from Good to Great, said that an investor behind some of the hottest IPOs of our time told him “Great storytellers have an unfair advantage.”
How does that strike you as you even as read that sentence? Did it catch your attention? That in itself, is telling a story.
Gallo goes on to say business leaders can become the “Chief Storytelling Officer” for their company. You can share personal and business stories of overcoming obstacles. You can also share your customer case stories along with your company’s history.
“It’s an ‘unfair advantage’ that you can use to stand out in a sea of average,” Gallo says.
Sit For A Word Portrait
So, where do you want to begin to cultivate that “unfair advantage?” My suggestion, start with you.
Leaders are stars of their companies: Jeff Bezos. Bill Gates. Warren Buffet. Martha Stewart. Sure, the media has found their stories and success compelling and has illuminated them.
But your personal story is no less compelling. As Joe Namath famously said, I guarantee it. You know how I know? Because after 25 years of writing profiles for national publications, books and doing ones for companies through my own business, I know everyone has a story.
To differentiate yourself from the crowd, to stand out as Gallo says, in a sea of average, to cultivate a competitive advantage from your competition, create an executive business profile for your website and social media.
Now this isn’t a replacement for your resume and bio; it’ a great complement to it.
It’s also your 24-hour marketing and sales advantage featuring you.
We call these Mink Impact Executive Profiles.
Who/What/When/Where? No, WHY!
A standard resume or bio show people you are qualified and is necessary.
But additionally, a profile on yourself for your website, Facebook and LinkedIn pages, etc., highlights your business philosophy and helps potential clients understand why they should do business with you.
It will also tell your story and put a face to the person who is accountable for delivering what your company promises. Anyone who meets you in person would want to do business with you, and you can transfer that competitive advantage to written content and even a short video.
It’s not that everyone will read the profile, but those who do may become clients and customers faster than those just reading a bio or summary of qualifications.
Also, long form information articles also help a company get ranked higher by Google search engines due core SEO criteria.
This Is a Job For….?
Who should write your personal profile? Well, not you. It can be someone in your company who has that kind of experience, such as a corporate communications person. It can be anyone who has the relevant kind of experience — it’s just that it can’t or shouldn’t be you.
Being authentic means revealing yourself to someone else and letting them see you through their eyes.
Here are three key elements that will help with a profile on you, or really any written communication from your company:
- First, be a good storyteller. What does that mean? In short, be interesting. What’s interesting? It can be a lot of things but it must be relevant to the reader.
- Second, there is no good writing, only re-writing. The more the writer reads their work, the more they will eliminate redundancies and unnecessary words.
- Third, read the story through the reader’s perspective. Blank your mind, go into reading it as though you have no idea what is coming next or where it ends. This will tell you what you need to add or clarify.
Mink Impact
You can contact Mink Impact if you’d like help writing your profile. We also offer a writing workshop for companies. It’s titled “Taking Your Writing from Good To Great: The Eight Secrets Hiding In Plain Sight.”
Mink Impact is here to help you with all your writing needs in addition to an executive profile. We also tell your story through video. Please see our website for video examples.
