By watching this interview physicians will:

1. Discover the impact of compelling brand storytelling on your practice
2. Learn how doing good in the world is your best marketing
3. Explore 3 case studies that any physician serving women can learn to build a community around a shared experience
4. Learn what you can do to reignite the growth of your practice by reviewing the rebranding of a struggling community clinic into a leader in sustainable health care
5. Weigh Park’s advice on how reluctant physicians can implement compliant social media practices

I’ve added the above links to give you a deeper dive into the subjects that I cover in the interview. Let me know what I missed, or what is working for you.

Michael Gass Skyped to life on my computer screen yesterday. My friend and social media business development mentor was popping in to see how business was going. “Great,” I said. “We’re busy as ever.”

Three and a half years ago, Michael came to town to help me and my agency pull together a social media strategy to let the world in on a little secret: Park&Co has been a leading sustainable marketing agency since 1995, long before “green” was cool. Online social media was the ideal platform to share our stories of sustainability and to expand our thought leadership in this growing niche. And it’s MUCh more than just about being geen.

Here’s how it all came together.

Our social media efforts have created opportunities for ourselves and our clients, including:

• We launched Coca-Cola’s SmartDriver ecodriving training program among their 60,000 fleet drivers and operations folk
• Our agency insures that the Water – Use It Wisely campaign generates increasing conversation around water conservation and securing its place atop all significant organic search engines: Google “Water conservation” and you’ll see what I mean.
• We partner with Resolution Copper Mining to give voice to the residents of rural Arizona that represent 90 percent of citizens in favor of a new mine that will satiate 20 percent of America’s cooper needs in our growing renewable energy economy
• We are launching this week a new website for Goodwill of Central Arizona that features intense customer engagement.
• And we’re whipping up our online following in the creative community to rage against logos that are too large, how IE6 destroys families,  and the promise of Pantone 3:16 in our Occupy CoLab movement.

We have found that the best social media strategy happens both online and off.

Thanks, Michael, for your call yesterday, and for this terrific article on your blog: Fuel Lines.

Now for the rest of you, how has social media helped build your business?

Some blog topics are very popular and seem to be able to attract a wider audience. This is a superficial impression.

These are two main reasons why you should not abandon the idea of dedicating your blog to a less popular topic:

• Cultivating your real interests through your blog makes you personal, genuine and worthy to be read

• Most popular can also mean hackneyed and overused. You may find it easier to grow an audience interested in a topic that is not extensively covered already

All that is well known to Park Howell, the blogger who calls himself sustainable storyteller and that we interviewed to get to know his blogging story. His posts are never trivial but always full of interesting news and original opinions.

When you finish reading one of Park Howell’s blog articles you know something useful that you did not know before.

How and why did you start a blog?

I started to blog about green marketing and sustainability to further define our ad agency’s position in this growing niche. We’ve been creating cause-related and environmental movements since 1995, long before being green was cool.

When the recession hit, I realized that we needed to do a better job of communicating our unique strategy and creative capabilities relative to sustainability. Blogging and using online social media was one of the best ways to share our agency with the world.

As our mission states: “Park&Co ignites the growth of people, products, companies and causes that dare to make the world a better place.”

How much time do you spend working on it and what are the usual tasks?

When I first began blogging over three years ago, I spent between 15 and 20 hours per week listening online, researching, writing and promoting my posts. My goal was to reach 50 posts as quick as possible, because it seems the search engines start taking you seriously after 50 posts.

This meant three to four articles per week, and I believe I wrote nearly 200 in my first year. It still is a ton of work, but your knowledge of your niche, social media and the world at large compounds itself through your blogging efforts.

What is the best lesson learned that you would like to share with people who want to start blogging?

Despite popular belief, blogging is not a popularity contest. If you fixate on the numbers of your followers and feel like a loser if they’re not growing as quickly as you like, then the whole process becomes a psychological train wreck.

I focus on writing about industry information I find interesting, and to help others see a different point-of-view, whether they agree with it or not.

Sometimes writing is just therapeutic, and I don’t care if the post gets a bunch of hits. Sometimes you can be a mad scientist and test your followers’ paradigms. Sometimes you can just be jovial, or pissed off, or obtuse and simply let it fly. But all of the time, be you.

I happen to follow the same philosophy that Seth Godin noted in this recent post. He wrote in part: “I’m not writing to maximize my SEO or conversion of even my readership. I’m writing to do justice to the things I notice, to the ideas in my head and to the people who choose to read my work.” Amen, brother Seth.

What is your best advice on how to grow a blog?

Write with a unique voice. Don’t regurgitate existing content unless you make it WAY more interesting than the original. Test, poke and prod your readers’ mindsets, and try to nudge the world in whatever direction you choose.

And by all means, keep this book by your side: Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer.

What is your biggest success and biggest mistake as a blogger?

My biggest mistake was listening to the so-called social media experts. There are really only about three or four, and I count Jay Baer as the Gustavo Dudamel [look him up] of social media. I must also tip my hat to Michael Gass and his early mentoring – as well as his ongoing friendship – to help me become better at social media to build our agency’s business.

Unfortunately, I initially bought into the need to have massive amounts of followers and be loved by all. That just lead to superficial drama in my social media life, and I quickly abandoned the hedonistic practice.

I enjoy blogging so much more now, and my followers are more authentic in their interest of my work. I just realized that my biggest mistake has become my greatest success: Be at peace with your blogging, and your audience will find you.

Now I have a question for you…

What works for you and your blog?

The same holds true in telling stories. Especially in the nonprofit world. We’re all so bombarded with requests for our attention, we tend to zone out the long and involved. If you’re asking for my money or my time, please, get to the point.

That is exactly the point of the second annual Fast Pitch event produced by Social Venture Partners AZ. SVPAZ is now taking applications from local nonprofits that would like to compete for tens of thousands of dollars in funding. If your organization is fortunate to make the final eight, you will compete onstage at the Tempe Center for the Arts on March 6, 2012, to become the next SVPAZ investee.

All you have to do is tell your story in less then three minutes. That’s what P.O.P.S.I.C.L.E. Center did earlier this year to win the inaugural Fast Pitch. Here’s their story, as well as the other seven finalists.

Now, we’d like to hear yours. The deadline for registration is October 31, 2011. Register Now!

The Power of Story Part II: “Social Media and the Storyteller” from ParkHowell.com on Vimeo.

Do you feel cornered by social media? “Like” this. Tweet that. Friend me. Poke you. Give me some link love-in’. It seems the virtual online world is more frightening than the real one.

These were just some of the social media fears and myths we explored during the Power of Story training at Forever Living Product’s International Super Rally in Washington DC. The first part of the training focused on how to craft and tell a compelling story to increase the success of sales and marketing. You can view the video and Keynote presentation on how to structure your 9 beats of story here.

Once we outlined the structure of every great tale, we did a social media training on how to share your story with the world. We had to be very visual in our presentation, because I was in front of over 3,500 distributors from more than 140 countries.  Even though it was translated in 10 languages simultaneously, much of the meaning in one’s words can get lost in, well, translation.

Your social media command centter

Instead of a PowerPoint filled with typical social media icons and website captures, we commissioned illustrations from the remarkable French artist (He lives in Phoenix), Christophe Jeunot. He captured the character of each social media channel we covered in a single frame using the same hero character we featured in Part I of our Power of Story training.

We began by describing a social media command center that includes your website/blog. All other social media channels feed into and broadcast out of this command center. We then separated each channel by one of two functions: Utility or Promotion?

Utility Channels

Feature your story on YouTube.

Channels like YouTube, Flickr, and SlideShare are used to capture, archive, embed and share video, photos and PowerPoint presentations. They have online communities, but I really use them more for the utility of organizing and embedding different kinds of audio/visual content into my blog, as well as increasing the search engine optimization (SEO) of my site.

Promtional Channels

I view the likes of Twitter, FaceBook and LinkedIn as social media channels that publish and promote your blog and website and build conversation around your business, while helping others grow their businesses.

Twitter is the Pied Piper of social media to help you attract followers.

Twitter is the Pied Piper of these social media channels. Used properly, its 140-character “Tweets” can present an intriguing headline to beckon followers into your post. You can provide quick updates on promotions, events, new product launches and other quick hits of interest to your online community.

Twitter is also great for listening in on conversations to gain insight on what topics are of most interest and will resonate with your readers.

We talked about Facebook as your personal international media center, while LinkedIn is it’s professional cousin functioning as your online business portfolio and contacts list.

Facebook is your international media center

All of these social media channels can instantly share your blog content with a single click of a button, helping you become an international online publishing and broadcasting magnate for your personal content.

This was a fun training that made the most of storytelling. The cartoons resonated well with the international audience and were powerful visual aids to amplify the narrative of my training.

You can watch the entire training on the video at the top of this post.

How would you illustrate your favorite social media channel?

Over 3,500 entrepreneurs had flown from more than 140 countries, most arriving the night before. They gathered in the ballroom of the Gaylord National Resort in Washington DC for Forever Living Products’ annual International Super Rally. The three day event of awards, company announcements, new product launches, and distributor recognition was kicked off by my training. No pressure.

The Power of Story Part I: “How Stories Sell” from ParkHowell.com on Vimeo.

The storytelling training was presented in two parts. We first explored the nine essential beats that make up the structure of every great story. Do you know them?

1. Who’s your hero?
2. What’s at stake?
3. The inciting incident.
4. Obstacles & antagonists.
5. The sidekick and/or love story.
6. All is lost.
7. Victory!
8. Anchor your audience.
9. To be continued… (Your sequel)

Storytelling workbooks were handed out to what’s essentially the United Nations of network marketing. Forever Living is the world’s largest grower, manufacturer and distributor of aloe vera-based health and beauty products; a $2.5 billion operation with millions of Horatio Alger stories. Our job was to help these distributors bring their unique experiences to life… in three minutes or LESS.

Using the workbooks, the audience outlined their stories as the training progressed.  Some of the Forever faithful even found the gumption to come on stage and share their journeys to demonstrate the power of well-told tales. You can view an abridged version of the presentation on SlideShare.

Where you tell your story is as important as how you tell it.

The second part of my Power of Story training explored ways to share your stories with the world using social media. We discussed how your blog becomes mission control for your social media universe, and how six primary online communities work as both utility and outreach channels. I’m using the utility channels of Vimeo (I prefer it over YouTube), SlideShare and Flickr to embed and share video, PowerPoint and photos respectively through this blog.

We then covered how to push or broadcast your blog content out through Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. You can connect with me by clicking on any or all of these links and see how I’ve used them to promote this article. I’ll go into greater detail on the social media portion of storytelling in my next post.

After nearly two hours on stage in front of these engaged and delightful distributors (The presentation was simultaneously translated into 10 languages and was also webcasted), my character arched from a chrysalis of nerves to an unbridled enthusiast for The Power of Story. It was affirming to watch business men and women from every imaginable metroplex and distant outpost on our planet embrace the universal form of narrative that propels our individual stories forward.

I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts on storytelling with this world-class audience, and I hope you found it as rewarding as I did.

Thank you.

That’s how you talk with teens. It’s also how you help change behavior in their parents.

This haunting spot about teen driving from Allstate is one of the finest examples I’ve seen that communicates one clear thought and asks for one precise next step from the viewer. The surreal beauty of the setting, accompanied by the perfect song, creates a narrative that captivates and activates parents into action. No scare tactics. No barrages of mind-numbing stats. Just thoughtful, compelling storytelling.

Do you agree?

Ryan La Rosa of Hill & Knowlton, NY, with 50 of his newest fans from Camelback High School

I’ve been quiet on my blog the past several days due to chaperoning 50 DECA students from Camelback High School around Manhattan. A giant shout out to Linda Shaub, Ryan La Rosa and the incredible folks at Hill & Knowlton for sharing your afternoon with us.

Now that I’m back, the education continues with two speaking engagements next week for the American Advertising Federation – Phoenix, and the American Marketing Association.

Tuesday evening, the AAF invited me to share an encore storytelling workshop I ran for the national AD2 organization last fall called, “Storyteller or Marketer? It Pays to be Both.” It’s about using the power of story to develop their marketing careers. Here are event details, and a sneak peek at the presentation. Be sure to click on the presenter notes for the script.

On Wednesday, I will present at the American Marketing Association luncheon about how “Green” is NOT a sustainable differentiator.” It’ll be interesting because the panel discussion is on, “How Being Green Can Pay Big Dividends To Your Bottom Line.”

In two weeks, I will be working with AmeriCorp VISTA, a national service program designed specifically to fight poverty. We will review trends in social media for nonprofit development, and specifically how Social Venture Partner organizations world-wide can enhance the conversations around their causes.

If you’re a marketer in Phoenix, or care to visit from someplace like Bangladesh, I hope you come by and say hello. Feel free to bring your own tomatoes, too.

Q: The storytelling movement seems to be growing explosively. Why now? What is it about this moment in human history and culture that makes storytelling so resonant with so many people right now?

A: When was the last time you heard a really funny joke? When was the last time you took the time to practice and tell a terrific yarn at a party? The Internet is full of them, but like the world economy, our storytelling talents have been in recession.

When you see a cave painting created by the ancients of a person on horseback following a large beast with a spear in its side, what story are they telling? Why would they take the time to build the fire, burn the charcoal, and memorialize their victory on a dark and damp cave wall? Because story, no matter how it is told, is essential to bringing meaning and expression to life.

As the noise of advertising, media, and politics has increased over the past 50 years, our attention spans, and therefore our message delivery, has grown dramatically shorter. We have become experts at “low-resolution” communications: The sound bite, 30-second commercial, PowerPoint slides, Twitter’s 140-character character, thumbs-up liking, speed dating, and texts that replace whole words with single letters. The pendulum has swung so far in the direction of burping information like bullets out of a Thompson machine gun, that people are beginning to realize something is missing.

Storytelling is making a resurgence because the social animal in all humans craves context, depth and content in our interaction. A story that involves us as the protagonists, or at least presents a hero we can identify with, that has to overcome great odds to achieve their desires, absolutely parallels the quests in each of our lives. It is an elemental depiction of our most basic instincts and fight for survival.

We have all been in such a hurry to be heard that the dots and dashes in our high tech telegraph communication are losing resonance. We communicate in binary form like the computers we type on. I believe the pendulum is swinging back to what people are starting to long for again: Slowing down and being part of a greater story.

How did a prayer and this model plane change a life forever? View the SlideShare presentation below.

Then I challenged them to write their own personal story, and to focus on what truly great things they would like to accomplish. And when I say “Great,” I mean something out-of-this-world that is bigger than themselves. All compelling protagonists, “You!”, want to achieve something grand. But you’re going to have to go through hell to get it.

The essence of story is revaled in what tests your character, and those who help you along the way. I believe the sooner you begin crafting and telling your own story, the more powerful a storyteller you will become for your agency and your clients.

So I decided to do something different with my presentation. There is only one slide about our agency. There are NO slides showing our work. The bulk of the presentation was simply a tale;

The true story of a long-deceased fighter pilot who answers a prayer from his daughter following 9/11 in the most miraculous and tangible way.

What does this have to do with advertising? Read the story (be sure to click on the presenter notes for the script) and you’ll find out.

Following my presentation, I gave the crowd this StorytellingWorksheet to help them craft and tell their stories. Then I challenged them to post their stories below in the comments. Congratulations in advance to those of you with the industry and guts to share your story with the world. Believe me, it’s the only way you’re going to change it for the better.

If you got the strength, download the Storytelling Worksheet, (Here are the brief instructions) fill it out, and share YOUR story below. Then, see where it takes you.