The power stories in business • Curly Top Media

Media:

A powerful and compelling story is the most effective way to attract press attention. Editorial is shown to be three time more effective than advertising because someone else is endorsing your business. The inboxes of newsrooms are flooded with hundreds of press releases every hour – the challenge is to make yours stand out. Creating a great story around your business is the best way to get journalists calling you.

Pitching and presentation:

Turn your pitch into a story. Capturing an investor or customer’s interest and conveying your passion is crucial. Studies show that the design of a pitch can significantly improve the probability of obtaining funding. Telling a great story will increase the impact of your pitch, helping to attract the best customers, staff and investors.

Website:

The “About” page has the highest hit rate of any website. It is the first place that people go to learn more about you and your business, so it better be engaging. Turning your resume into a compelling story will create a personal brand that sets you apart. When people search for you they are going to find a story, by being in control of that story you will set yourself apart from your competitors.

Thought leadership:

Thought Leader: “One whose views on a subject are taken to be authoritative and influential.” How do you achieve that? By attracting media attention, having an engaging online presence, networking and speaking engagements. Central to achieving all of these a compelling and engaging story.

Use your business story to influence, inspire and grow.

Storytelling Workshops – Business Growth through Storytelling

In today’s digital age, a compelling story is vital for attracting customers and investors. This course teaches you how to discover your story and tell it in an engaging way that will help to grow your business through increased engagement with customers and investors. A powerful story will also help you to become recognised as an expert people can trust through increased media coverage and speaking opportunities. Start building content that is engaging and powerful by harnessing the power of story.

Media Skills Mentoring

Learn effective media strategy including how to prepare for interactions with the media. Learn how to pitch to journalist with a story that is much more than just a press release. Identify the best media market and channels of distribution for your product.

About Me Development:

Your “About” page is the top page people visit on your site. It is an important channel for helping people to know, like and trust you. People do business with a person not with a company, most people visit this page to decide if they will do business you. Which means your story should be compelling.

Presenting with Impact:

The best presenters are good storytellers. Learn how to tell an inspirational story to achieve engagement and connection with your audience. Learn how to make the most of speaking opportunities. Learn how to write and deliver important messages and prepare for media interviews.

Storytelling will be the number one leadership and communication skill for the next decade

“As a tech start-up we knew that in order to grow the business we needed to increase our profile with customers and investors. We were in our second year of operations and needed to really nail our pitch and get some good publicity. We engaged Curly Top Media to help us to get a clear picture of who we were and where we were headed. Emma worked with the team to craft a great story around the business. She was able to turn our technical information into engaging stories. In less than a year, I was interviewed twice for national TV news stories, The Financial Review wrote a feature article on CIM and our business was featured in several entrepreneur online newspapers. Finding our story and our voice had a huge impact on our ability to connect during pitches and resulted in CIM raising series A funding. Having a great story helped us to propel our business into a whole new league.”

David Walsh, CEO & Founder

“We had been struggling to articulate who we were and what we did for a long time. Emma gave us a fresh perspective, new language and positive energy that allowed us to break-through. Working with Curly Top Media on the redesign of our website brought a new dimension to our work, creating a more personable, human focused approach. Emma’s talent lies in being able to quickly craft a story that’s both relatable and easy to read. Above all, her flexibility and commitment to ensuring that we achieved the right outcome make her a pleasure to work with.”

Adam Sanford, Director

“Emma made me feel so comfortable when interviewing me, it felt like I was talking to a friend. Her professionalism and enthusiasm to create a story that people connect to is paramount to her integrity as a journalist and storyteller.”

Stephanie Lorenzo, Chief Executive Officer

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From small town Ireland to US Presidents

We can all be master story tellers, when we discover the story inside.

Growing up in a small fishing village in rural Ireland, I came from a family where stories were gold. My mother was a writer and encouraged us to read vociferously, write stories, act them out and entertain each other. I spent my childhood going to writer’s workshops and poetry readings, surrounded by people for whom story was everything. I learned early on that our story is our own unique currency.

My career as a journalist began at 15 in a local radio station. After more than a decade of working for leading broadcasters in Ireland and the UK; BBC, RTE and TV3, I believed that my career as a TV journalist was over when I moved to Sydney with nothing but a backpack, however the best was yet to come.

My 11 year journey as a senior journalist with SBS TV News has taken me across continents; from the highs of Barack Obama’s historic election and the coronation of Tonga’s king to the lows of Sydney’s siege and broadcasting live on CNN on the sex abuse Royal Commission.

I have learned that the most compelling part of any story is not where you are in life, but who you are. Your story is much more than the sum of your parts or your resume. How did you get here? What makes you tick? How do you feel? The crux of a story lies in the humanity, the emotional commonality that connects us all.

Years of experience has taught me how to identify the parts of a story that audiences will engage with. After interviewing countless people in all kinds of situations I have learned which questions to ask to help people to open up and uncover the gem of a story that is inside all of us.

In the new world of entrepreneurship, the business with the best story will be king. Shaping a story from the raw material is something that is open to us all if you know how to look for it.

Why do I need a business story?