Dillanos Coffee Roasters from Sumner, Washington, is taking specialty coffee to a new level. Dillanos offers well-rounded blends and special seasonal offerings from small farms in Africa and Latin America. The DCR line is a well-curated menu of coffees that include limited release micro-lots and single origins that are meant to be ground and consumed as soon as they arrive in the mail. They’re that fresh.
Six Steps for Building a Successful Storytelling Strategy
Engaging stories can help to connect people to your company. Through your stories, you can establish trust. People can learn what your company values and how you do business. In today’s marketplace, the most successful companies are the ones that create a brand image that their customers can identify with and relate to directly.
Whether your organization is new to storytelling or if you want to take it to the next level, here are some tips for creating a winning strategy:
1. Look at what you’re already doing. Analyze your various content channels. Where is your company’s content being disseminated and how often? Are you telling stories on any of your content channels? Is anyone clicking through to read them? Look at what’s working and expand on those positive results.
If you have stories posted that no one is reading, take the time to analyze the content. Are you sharing engaging and emotionally-resonant stories? Are you sharing new information? Are you motivating and inspiring the reader with content that they might want to act on or share?
Read the full blog post here.
In Solidarity: RAWI Creative Writing Workshop – Saturday, March 18
RAWI (The Radius of Arab American Writers) is sponsoring a one-day workshop in Washington, DC. As part of a series of workshops held in different cities, the In Solidarity: RAWI Creative Writing Workshop is designed for Arab-and Muslim-American writers, writers of color, and writers from any marginalized communities.
“What Are You?” “Where Are You From?” Personal Essay Writing Workshop
By Willona M. Sloan
This personal essay workshop will focus on the theme of writing about racial and cultural identity. Through a combination of reading, discussion and guided writing exercises, we will explore issues of discrimination and assimilation, while also celebrating our unique racial and cultural identities. Readings will include texts by Elmaz Abinader, Joseph Boyden and Toni Morrison. We will discuss strategies for writing a moving personal essay and develop new writing in-class. Open to writers of all levels.
Strike a Prose: Writing Workshops at the Portrait Gallery
I’m teaching six writing workshops at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in connection to groundbreaking media arts exhibition, Bill Viola: The Moving Portrait. We will use videos, images, and installations to generate creative writing.
video still: The Raft / Bill Viola Color / Bill Viola Studio
There are two of the same workshops per session. So, you can come to all three sessions!
Continue reading “Strike a Prose: Writing Workshops at the Portrait Gallery”
Corporate Storytelling: 10 Ways to Find Your Story
This is the second post in the three-part storytelling series. To learn about why your company should be investing in its storytelling strategy, please read the first post.
Now that you’re onboard with storytelling, it’s time to think about how to generate the best stories to tell.
Without even realizing it, you have a wealth of content that will serve your strategy. Start developing a year-long editorial calendar by looking at the different buckets where you can develop content.
Find out 10 topics every company can use to develop a storytelling strategy. Read the full blog post.
Stories Sell. Are You Telling Your Company’s Story?
How well are you telling your company’s story? How often do you update your clients on your new services? When do you tell people about your successes?
In the current marketplace, ads aren’t enough. Facebook posts aren’t enough. Twitter isn’t enough. For the best results, these pieces should work together with an integrated storytelling strategy.
Stories sell. Companies like Hurley (owned by Nike), Google, Starbucks, and Boeing use strategic stories to build brand loyalty, promote their products, and share their company’s mission and vision.
Your company should be using storytelling (both print and video stories) to communicate core corporate values, to highlight your products and services, and to let people know about all the ways that your organization gives back to the community.
Storytelling should be part of your company’s overall marketing and communications strategy, but it should also involve every member of your organization. As you plan for 2017, think about how you can integrate a storytelling culture into the way that you do business.
Learn six corporate storytelling best practices to get started at read the full blog post.
5 Coffees We Love From Coava Coffee
Portland’s Coava Coffee Roasters has gained a reputation as a local favorite around town, and even launched into the national scene when their coffee shop featured on Jerry Seinfeld’s endearing series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. During the episode, Seinfeld took Portlandia star Fred Armisen to this quintessentially Portland café for a little coffee talk.
How good is their coffee? Really, really good. Coava’s sustainably grown coffees come from Latin America and Africa and are produced and processed with care. Whether you visit their two locations in Portland, or buy beans online, here are five of the best Coava coffees to check out.
Raise More Money with Creative Content (Onsite Training)
Creative content has become a critical part of doing business. How well are you telling your organization’s story?
Whether your goal is to motivate your current donors, reach out to new donors, or secure grant funding, you need stories that convey the impact of your programs and services. If you’re not telling stories, you’re leaving money on the table.
In this one-day training, your team will learn:
- Best practices for developing stories that inspire and motivate donors.
- How to find and identify compelling stories.
- How to plan an annual editorial calendar and production schedule.
- How to track and evaluate how well your stories are performing.
Willona Sloan has several years of experience as a writer and content developer working with nonprofit organizations. Learn more about how to create a content culture at our organization.
Contact Willona about bringing this training to your organization.
Take 5: Coffee in Downtown Toronto
Toronto is a vibrant, multicultural city full of art and adventure. There’s a lot to see, but exploring a new city can be hard work. Sometimes, all you want to do is chill by a window and sip a cup of coffee. Do it. You can take in the sights with some of the city’s best coffee at these downtown cafes. From west to east, here are five specialty coffee spots to check out.
9 Coffee Subscription Services for the Home Barista
Do you want amazing coffee in your mailbox? I certainly do. Several excellent specialty coffee roasters can make this dream a reality. There are a lot of good options out there, but which companies offer the best value, variety and home brewing experience?
Here are nine specialty coffee subscription services that will deliver delicious coffee and also help you step up your home barista skills. From single origin coffees to blends, I tried them all. The services range in price and frequency but quality is the key across the board.
Willona M. Sloan 