In my last post I ended by the question that I will divide into two parts:
I am not talking about an elevator speech here, though those questions are the ones always asked when you learn to put together an elevator speech. Oh, an elevator speech is how you would answer those questions in a short period and in just a few concise sentences as your ride a couple floors up or down in an elevator.
I know, that happens so many times on elevators these days. It is good to know how to answer those questions without making it obvious you are a storyteller who tells only epic stories and needs 15 minutes just for the intro to the story.
An important part of marketing is simply being able to define those questions. They will help you gain focus on what you want to do as a storyteller or performer. They help you define who you are in the storytelling world. They are, in a sense your back story - that part of any story that the author knows but does not necessarily write into the story. Your back story also sets boundaries for your storytelling.
Take the "Who are you?" question;
In my case, I will answer that I am Appalachian, unashamedly Christian and a mountain boy at heart. For those reasons I do not tell creation stories from other religions, sometimes include hunting and fishing in my stories because I grew up doing those things and they are a part of who I am.
I will not play the dumb hillbilly, as you might have heard me say at some point, "I am not Jethro or Lil Abner. I come from a proud people. They were not ignorant, stupid, lazy or dirty. I will not dress as such and will not poke fun at my roots. I will also be pretty offended if you do."
That begins to define who I am and helps me determine the types of stories that I will write or tell. As I have mentioned before, I stopped calling myself an Appalachian Storyteller because it limited the types of stories others PERCEIVED that I told.
Asking "Who Am I?" can also help you to define your mission statement and begin to build your business and marketing plan. How? Simple actually because it can help you to identify groups and audiences that you have things in common with!
Define who you are and then start looking within a 30 mile radius around your home base for audiences!
Sort of makes sense, doesn't it?
WHO ARE YOU?
WHAT DO YOU DO?I am not talking about an elevator speech here, though those questions are the ones always asked when you learn to put together an elevator speech. Oh, an elevator speech is how you would answer those questions in a short period and in just a few concise sentences as your ride a couple floors up or down in an elevator.
I know, that happens so many times on elevators these days. It is good to know how to answer those questions without making it obvious you are a storyteller who tells only epic stories and needs 15 minutes just for the intro to the story.
An important part of marketing is simply being able to define those questions. They will help you gain focus on what you want to do as a storyteller or performer. They help you define who you are in the storytelling world. They are, in a sense your back story - that part of any story that the author knows but does not necessarily write into the story. Your back story also sets boundaries for your storytelling.
Take the "Who are you?" question;
In my case, I will answer that I am Appalachian, unashamedly Christian and a mountain boy at heart. For those reasons I do not tell creation stories from other religions, sometimes include hunting and fishing in my stories because I grew up doing those things and they are a part of who I am.
I will not play the dumb hillbilly, as you might have heard me say at some point, "I am not Jethro or Lil Abner. I come from a proud people. They were not ignorant, stupid, lazy or dirty. I will not dress as such and will not poke fun at my roots. I will also be pretty offended if you do."
That begins to define who I am and helps me determine the types of stories that I will write or tell. As I have mentioned before, I stopped calling myself an Appalachian Storyteller because it limited the types of stories others PERCEIVED that I told.
Asking "Who Am I?" can also help you to define your mission statement and begin to build your business and marketing plan. How? Simple actually because it can help you to identify groups and audiences that you have things in common with!
Define who you are and then start looking within a 30 mile radius around your home base for audiences!
Sort of makes sense, doesn't it?
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