[Ep#297] How to Tell a Story: 4 Stories to Engage Your Ideal Customers with Marie Zimenoff

How to Tell a Story:  4 Stories to Engage Your Ideal Customers with Marie Zimenoff

As you try to create a niche for yourself in your industry, it’s inevitable to find yourself up against multiple competitors. To stand out from the rest, you need to share your story to draw in your ideal clients. But do you know how to tell a story that engages your target audience?

In this episode, Marie Zimenoff talks about the four stories you need to engage your target audience. We share some strategies on how to tell a story about your experiences and the questions we need to ask ourselves as we sit down and think about what we’re going to share. By telling these stories, you go beyond services and into creating a connection. Additionally, she also mentions the value of consistency understanding how to tell a story on the right platform.

Listen to the full episode to gain an insight into career branding and management.

Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode:

  1. Learn the importance of hiring a professional consultant in creating your portfolio and resume.
  2. Discover the four questions Marie asks her clients to help them evaluate their personal and career challenges.
  3. Find out the best methods to tell a story of motivation, passion and other successful career experiences.

LISTEN NOW: (and check out the Resources and Episode Highlights below): 

WATCH NOW (and check out the Resources and Episode Highlights below): 

Resources

Episode Highlights

[02:45] What Attracted Marie to Her Career

  • While working at a university, Marie knew that she liked helping people launch their careers.
  • Marie worked with a woman in this space and was inspired to continue doing it.
  • When you are not happy and successful at work, these feelings usually flow to the other areas of your life.
  • Marie also shared her experience in training career services providers.
  • At this time, Marie’s local workforce centre needed help with their curriculum during the 2009-2010 recession. She enjoyed training some of the staff there.

[04:47] Breaking Through the Online Noise

  • Marie talks about how online engagement in every social media increased last year.
  • Since there are more businesses online, the focus should be on getting people’s attention.
  • It’s essential to ask yourself about what you can offer. Additionally, ask yourself what motivates you to focus on your space.
  • The first question is: why do you do what you do? Through this, you’ll know how to tell a story of your origins.
  • Tune in to know more about the process of honing in on your client and their stories.

[07:50] The Next Story You Need to Focus On

  • Determine how to tell a story of motivations and passions. The second question is: What is your opinion about what you do?
  • Marie shares her motivation and passion story. It started from interacting with people who did not value counsellors.
  • From then on, Marie put herself on a mission to make other people understand the power of career development.

[10:52] Thinking About How to Tell a Story

  • You have to think about the stories that you want to tell.
  • Tell your story in an in-depth manner. These stories help people realise their value.
  • As you sit down and connect the dots, you can determine why your clients would care about the story.
  • Through this, you build rapport with the client. Show your client that you have been where they are.
  • As you think through your story, you realise the value that you provide.

[13:35] Teaching People How to Tell a Story

  • It takes a while for people to find their voice and be comfortable with sharing their stories.
  • People may feel timid sharing their stories online.
  • The third question is: What conversations do you want to be having with your clients online?
  • This question entails knowing your clients’ pains, challenges, and level of comfort.
  • Identify conversations that are helpful and engaging to your clients online.

[16:04] Building Your Online Community

  • When Marie posts online, she tailors them depending on the platform to enhance engagement with her audience.
  • In LinkedIn, for example, she allows her audience to share their expertise.
  • For deeper questions, she would usually post them on Facebook because limited people can respond.
  • When you struggle with creating content, think about your clients’ needs. What would be helpful for your customers?
  • It also helps to do a little bit of research about the different social media platforms. Think about your content, customer, and strengths.

[21:43] Doing Something Well Consistently

  • Instead of doing a lot of things sporadically, focus on doing something well consistently.
  • The laws of marketing suggest that you need to get in front of people at least seven to nine times.
  • Marie also encourages you to pick at least two platforms. This way, you can increase your presence and connect to people frequently.
  • In the content world, you need to spend 20% of your time creating. You should spend the other 80% on sharing and repurposing. You do not need to create content every day.
  • Pick one thing you like and need to do. And have other people do the rest of the work. Listen to the full episode for more of Marie’s advice on doing your work consistently.

[26:37] How to Tell the Fourth Story

  • Marie helps her client figure how to tell the story of why your target audience should hire you.
  • The fourth story is a call-to-action type of story.
  • Additionally, this includes testimonials, case studies, and other pieces that show the impact you have.

10 Powerful Quotes from the Episode

[03:13] ‘We know we spend so much time in our lives at work, why not be happy and successful. And guess what, that overflows to the other areas of your life. When you are unhappy at work, it usually comes back home with you.’

[05:35] ‘When you get down to that motivator that focus, one, there's usually a story behind it. And that story is memorable and connective. And two it makes you unique. Very few people are going to be motivated by the same things that you're motivated by to focus on your ideal client.’

[09:39] ’That put me on a mission to help other people understand the power of career development. And for career professionals to be the best that they can be so that every individual who interacts with one sees the value of career development and career coaching.’

[11:14] ‘That depth is what really helps us have stories that distinguish us and are memorable.’

[16:29] ’It's not about me coming across as the expert. I’m posing this great question that shows my expertise without having to be, you know, I'm the only one that knows this. And I invite other people to share their expertise.’

[19:10] ‘“What would be helpful for my customers? What problems have they been coming to me for that I could share some insights here, you know, on LinkedIn, or on Facebook?” And when you flip that focus, it makes it a lot easier to share.’

[19:37] ‘You're telling stories that show your clients as that hero or writing posts that let your clients be the hero by engaging and responding.’

[22:20] ‘I'd recommend that people choose at least two or three ways that they're connecting with people, so that you can get those connection points more frequently.’

[25:14] ‘It's not about creating a ton of content. It's about getting that content out there consistently.’

[26:46] ‘It's really clear that this [a call to action story] is what you can help someone with. It's that focus story, it's the call to action of this is why you'd come and work with me.’

About Marie

Marie Zimenoff is the CEO of Career Thought Leaders Consortium. It is a platform aiming to help career professionals build credibility and effectiveness in their work. Here, she also trains multiple coaches and writers to boost their businesses.

Marie is also the CEO and Lead Trainer at the Resume Writing Academy. This company is where she provides comprehensive training in creating portfolios and resumes. Marie helps career professionals with the knowledge, strategies and resources to write exceptional profiles.

As a full-time branding and career expert at A Strategic Advantage, Marie also helps individuals and organisations build unique value on their brands. She has been active in dealing with workplace relationships to help employees and leaders resonate with their audience.

Marie also worked as a host in Voice America, where she interviews national leaders and reviews career management tools to help her listeners fund successful careers.

As an entrepreneur, speaker, and leader, Marie focuses on providing top-tier career management services. She also has strong background and expertise in job search, social media, and leadership.

If you want to hear more from Marie, you can connect with her on LinkedIn.

Enjoy This Podcast?

To get your ideal customers, you must know how to tell a story. By building a clear and consistent brand that provides value, you attract your target audience. You need to focus on your strengths and positive qualities. Just like how Marie Zimenoff helps her clients rebrand their professions by sharing her stories.

If you enjoyed today's episode of Ambitious Entrepreneur Podcast, then hit subscribe now!

Post a review and share it! If you learned something by tuning into this podcast, do not hesitate to write a review and share it with your friends, so they can find out more about consulting with a career expert and why it is essential to rebrand your portfolio and resume.

For more updates and episodes, visit the Ambitious Entrepreneur Show website. You can also subscribe through Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Email, RSS and more!

You can also follow us through Facebook.

Want to build a scalable business you are passionate about? Join The Influence Alliance – the Business Building Community for Change Makers.

Want to launch your own Thought Leader Podcast? Access my ‘Are You Ready to Launch Your Podcast’ Quiz here, and have a chat with me.

Have any questions? You can contact me through these platforms:

To staying ambitious,

Annemarie

2021-05-30T04:33:47+10:00

Leave A Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.