Bill Baker defines storytelling as “an exchange of meaning shared from one person to another for a purpose.”
“For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn.” Hemingway’s (supposedly) shortest story.
It means something to you because of your life experience and what you imagine it to be. For most, it speaks of tragedy. Some, however, may just think the baby never needed them.
Your creative business exists to create meaning, to be the story. What that story is, how you want to tell it and who you want to tell it to are your decisions. This is what Bill does and if you are able to be in Toronto on April 14, 2016, you should come to The Business of Weddings whether you are in the wedding business or not. You will learn something that will help you improve how you tell the story of your creative business. No doubt.
Me – I am all about the underneath of the story; how your business acts as the foundation to the story it is wrapped in. To paraphrase Seth Godin, no creative business is built for everyone. It is built for a “you”. The you who will resonate loudest with your creative business’ mission, its purpose, its why. The story of the creative business with the foundation set amplifies the story as a speaker would standing above the crowd. It is how I see the interplay between what Bill and I do and what I will talk about at The Business of Weddings.
The point of your creative business is to sell unused baby shoes to those who most want to see the light in the purchase, not the dark. Meaning shared for a purpose – Joy. Joy is what you get paid to create, to use to transform, to inspire.
Joy only comes to those who want and are able to receive it from you, your art and your creative business. The rest will look for the dark (can I get it for less, it isn’t brain surgery).
Ignore them. Your story is not for them. As with all things, storytelling is a skill. You can learn to be more effective at it. You need to acquire the tools available, but then you need to use them in a way that is radically yours.
In the spirit of Hemingway: if you create the same way for a $5,000 project as you do a $50,000 one (i.e., process, contract, etc.), you need a better story.
