Trafcom News Podcast

Trafcom News Podcast 104: Insights on storytelling with P.W. Fenton

I’m delighted to bring you these insights from renowned storyteller P.W. Fenton. He publishes the award-winning Digital Flotsam podcast, among others, and has a long history as a broadcast engineer, actor, photographer, musician, songwriter and video producer. I’ve learned a lot about telling stories from listening to P.W., and I hope you will too.

You can download this podcast to listen later or subscribe to listen to it in iTunes or you can listen right now with this player:

Trafcom News Podcast 104: Storytelling with P.W. Fenton by donnapapacosta

Here are the shownotes:

00:01 Introduction and welcome; how I was first introduced to P.W. via Shel Holtz on the For Immediate Release: Hobson and Holtz podcast

01:55 About P.W. Fenton

03:20 How P.W. Fenton became a storyteller

05:05 Early influences on P.W., including radio, particularly Jean Shepherd

07:05 Keys to a good story: beginning, middle, end; start by doing something to get the listener interested; narrate in a way that keeps the interest going and that anticipates the ending and supports your conclusion; need to experience your own story as a listener.

08:44 P.W. has lived all of his stories; the best stories come from our own experiences.

09:58 How P.W. produces Digital Flotsam; the importance of editing.

12:07 P.W. has to enjoy his own stories.

12:35 P.W. shares advice about the art and craft of storytelling; the importance of reading and listening to stories and finding your own voice.

13:40 Advantages of audio storytelling vs. written storytelling; much easier to convey intent with spoken words; must write for your own voice and work to your strengths; difficulty of attempting to put P.W.’s own stories into a book.

16:37 My insights about relevance of P.W.’s comments to storytelling in a business context: Enjoy your own stories; listen to others’ stories; structure counts; best stories come from your everyday experiences.

18:27 Reminder to visit P.W.’s website and Digital Flotsam

18:35 Your comments are welcome; where to send comments: Email: donna AT trafcom DOT com, or comment on the show blog: Trafcom News Podcast 

Look for the Trafcom News Podcast on Blubrry.com. Theme music is "Beneath Your Surface" by the Elisabeth Lohninger Quartet from the Podsafe Music Network

 

Trafcom News Podcast 103: Social Marketing to the Business Customer

People in the business-to-business (B2B) world finally have a book about social media marketing just for them. In this 26-minute podcast, I interview Eric Schwartzman, co-author (with Paul Gillin) of Social Marketing to the Business Customer. My favourite sound bite from this chat? “B2B buyers want steak; B2C buyers will settle for sizzle."

Listen to Eric explain how to grow that steak. You can download the MP3 audio file for this podcast if you wish.  Or you can subscribe to the Trafcom News Podcast in iTunes. Or you can listen with the player below.

Trafcom News Podcast 103: Social Marketing for the Business Customer by donnapapacosta

Here are the show notes:

00:01 Intro and welcome; about Eric Schwartzman
01:30 Eric cites  B2B social media statistics, and says that B2B social marketing is where the action is; greater opportunities abound for B2B vs. B2C in marketing today
04:00 Book includes many social media tools, not just Facebook and Twitter; it is the first book devoted to B2B social media
05:00 Rational approach to social marketing; need management buy-in; steps to success include socializing the organization, building strategies based on where the action already is taking place; the social media monitoring dashboard
06:46 Blog is the Swiss army knife of social media; allows you to include text, photo, audio, video. Fact that many marketers have switched to Twitter is a good thing for bloggers!
08:12 86% of business interactions begin with Google; importance of search
08:30 How Eric and Paul picked examples for the book; difference between B2B and B2C case studies
09:20 B2B buyers want steak; B2C buyers will settle for sizzle
10:20 B2B decisions are often made by committees
11:13 In B2B market, it’s not about making a splash; you have to swim a marathon because of the longer buying cycles
11:43 Relationships more important in B2B buying decisions
12:40 Podcasting can generate remarkable success in B2B; Eric explains why and how
14:15 News-oriented podcasts vs. feature-oriented; features have a longer shelf life
15:40 His favourite case study from the book: SAP Communities Network; they built a white-label social network with 2 million members, mostly system integrators; helping people in full public view
17:50 Counter-intuitive star ratings demonstrate confidence
20:00 Case studies in the book are NOT all technology oriented
21:22 How to be successful today in B2B social marketing – humanize your business, experiment openly, be tolerant to risk
END of interview
25:22 Listen to this interview with Donna by Jennifer Tribe on “How authors and other experts can use audio products” (links to blog post, which links to MP3 and PDF transcript)
26:01 Where to send comments: Email donna AT trafcom DOT com or comment on the Trafcom News Podcast blog
Look for the Trafcom News Podcast on Blubrry.com. Theme music is "Beneath Your Surface" by the Elisabeth Lohninger Quartet from the Podsafe Music Network (Music Alley)