In May 2013, I was asked by &company to speak at Vivid Ideas 2013 as part of their day-long event 'Design Your Day Job'. I presented this presentation on content marketing, the role of storytelling in business and how creative professionals can learn to tell their story better to customers, clients, the media and others. ----- Organised by &company and part of Vivid Ideas program, 'Design Your Day Job' explored how designers and creative professionals can run successful enterprises. The premise was that designers can learn from people outside of the design industry who have turned their passion, ideas and creative skills into a business. The event featured successful entrepreneurs and organisations from design, food, collaborative consumption, social enterprises and more. It explored business basics and new ways to approach customers, promotion and sales, whilst upholding the integrity of creative work.

1. Beyond the Press Release:
Everyday Storytelling and
Your Business
By

2. I am NOT a marketing person.
I am an arts writer & editor
& a terribly unsporty person.
So why was I doing marketing for
a health and fitness company ?!?
Good question…

3. I am a storyteller.
An incredibly curious person.
(Curious about all things, but especially
nosy/passionate about people).
Plus I want to work with brands I think
have integrity AND share their story.
And it turns out I am…
A born content marketer.

4. Content marketing is the
art of communicating
with customers and prospects
without selling.
Say BYE To
!! BUY !!!
!! BUY !!!
!!! BUY !!

5. You need to start a conversation
with your customers – past,
present and future.
And keep that conversation
going.

6. Don’t become a hermit FOR AGES
when you have something going
on.
Then POP back out when you are
done and expect people to pay
attention!!!

7. How do you build & sustain interest
in your brand/business?
Well, you need to create new things
& work on new projects.
PLUS you need to continue to talk to
people & engage them.

8. Be generous. Learn to share.
You ARE interesting.
Let people into your world
so they can LEARN how interesting
(& talented) you are.

9. Instagram
is a
platform
My friend Kirra
Jamison: artist,
,mother to Lulu the
French Bulldog, fantastic
cook… Dynamo,
accidental content
marketer?

10. Faye Toogood: designer & master storyteller.

12. gan
ton:
, writer,
l curator,
R
onate
on,
her, lover
neapples,.
gram
ard.

14. Everyone has a story.
You just have to find yours.

15. Everything has a story too.
Henry Wilson’s ‘A-Joint mini’ trestle table (Sydney, AU
Studio Toogood ‘Spade’ trestle table (UK)
De La Spada ‘Bow’ trestle table (EU)
Tressel Table Co. plywood trestle table (Melb, AU)

16. Communicate the details – the
consideration – and you
communicate value.

17. If YOU can’t communicate your own
story well.
How do you expect anyone to
communicate it for you?

18. An Exercise to Find Your Story/
Help You Share It Successfully
1. Sit down with a stranger (or friend) with a recording device.
2. In 3-4 minutes tell them what you do.
Get them to interview you – don’t just talk at them.
Within that conversation make sure to tell them: what you do, what’s different
about you, and your products and what you believe in.
3. At the end of the conversation, get them to tell your story back to you - the key
ideas. The 2-3 main things they got from it.

19. What did you discover ???

20. An Exercise For AtHome:
Write the first two sentences of a press release.
Two sentences. Nothing more.
Why?
If you can’t get people’s attention in two lines, well, then you can’t get their
attention at all.
It’s called THE HOOK. Practice by being concise on Twitter!
I swear it will help.

21. Thank you!
Get in touch at www.mhinchy.com or
madhinchy@gmail.com.