There is a saying among marketers that “storytelling is SEO for the human brain.” Of course, when this saying was first coined, it had nothing to do with social media stories.

But perhaps it should have done. Social media stories in fact have HUGE potential to engage audiences, to build authority and trust, and to generally boost your brand. Not only that, but they’re also gaining in popularity all the time. Social media stories took the internet by storm and they’re not showing any signs of slowing down now. In this book, you will learn precisely what a story is, how to create them, and how to have huge success using them to grow your audience and increase brand loyalty. Four out of five major brands report using stories to promote themselves, and that should tell you something about how big this is going to be going forward.

The first social network to use stories as we know them today was Snapchat. In fact, this was the core feature of that app and the one that set it apart. Snapchat was a surprise hit, despite being built on some slightly shaky code, and so it wasn’t long before the other major players had jumped on board. YouTube introduced reels, and Facebook brought us Stories (also available on Instagram). Twitter gave us Twitter Moments, and Skype created Skype Highlights. The idea behind a story is unique and quite unlike other forms of content found on social media. A story is a post that is usually delivered through a different feed than the rest of a user’s content, and that is only available for a short period of time. After this, the story will disappear and no longer be available.

Stories can take a number of different formats. Often they will be videos, but they can also be still images. Also a common trope for stories on multiple platforms, is to allow the use of stickers and text. These are usually placed on top of the main media, giving them pride of position and leading to very impressive engagement and open-rates. Why More and More Companies Are Using Stories

There are a number of compelling reasons that many brands are starting to rely more and more on the use of Stories. One is that the organic reach of business accounts on a number of social platforms is decreasing – and this is something we’ll encounter a few times in this book. Another is that stories provide a great ROI in terms of the time and effort they require and the benefits they offer.

The great thing about Stories is that they are temporary – normally lasting just 24 hours. That means that they don’t leave a lasting impression on your page, feed, or account. That gives them a much more personal and off-the-hip feel that customers and fans really dig, but it also means they can afford to be a little less polished and tailored. That means you don’t need to shoot a product using studio lighting and a DSLR camera: you can just snap it on your phone and send it off. For businesses, this can be seen as a revelation.

Finally, Stories are also extremely popular with customers and users right now. While it’s better to stay away from such terms in marketing, stories are undeniably “trendy.” In fact, Facebook introduced Stories to its platform for that very reason. At the time, the site was seeing fewer and fewer members of the younger generation sign up, as the demographic began to skew upwards in age. Meanwhile, Snapchat was enjoying a lot of success for a new option – and particularly among the younger contingent of users. Snapchat provided a way for kids to share messages that couldn’t be held for posterity, and in a very immediate and fun manner. Facebook had to adapt or risk becoming obsolete. And as marketers, we need to do the same!

So how do you go about using Stories for marketing? How do you take a form of communication that is designed to self-destruct like the start of Mission Impossible, and use that as a way to draw in more visitors and to make more sales?

Well, that’s where you’re going wrong to start with!

If you’re used to traditional forms of marketing, and if you have been creating ads and posts for Instagram and Facebook for a while now, then you might be accustomed to thinking in a more straightforward and direct manner. Marketing makes leads, and ads make sales.

But in truth, Stories are not for either of those things. Stories are perfectly suited not for increasing the number of followers you have, OR for selling directly to those followers. So if that’s the case, what is this form of marketing for? The simple answer is that it is for building stronger relationships with your existing followers. It’s about deepening that connection – and that’s huge when it comes to increasing profits in the long term.

You might have heard of the book 1,000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly. In it, the author describes the value of creating meaningful relationships with your followers. He describes how as long as a business genuinely manages to obtain 1,000 TRUE fans, it will likely be able to succeed.

What is this based on? Simply the notion that a true fan is not only someone that will buy nearly every one of your products, but also someone who will like all your posts, and who will rave about those same products to anyone who will listen. In short, a TRUE fan is a brand ambassador. And it’s through brand ambassadors that your business can begin to grow exponentially.

How do you get to this point with your followers though, and what does it have to do with Stories? There are lots of ways you build true fans. One is by having a very clear mission statement for your business. One is by knowing precisely who your business is “for” meaning that you understand the psychology of your buyer persona.

But the other is through meaningful interactions. And in the case of Stories, that can also mean building a personal brand.

Stories for Trust, Engagement, and Personal Brands

It is common knowledge that most buying behavior is based on emotion rather than logic. We buy things because we see them in the store, think they look desirable, feel tired, and are worried we’ll miss out if we don’t buy. That’s why, often when we go away and really think about a purchase prior to making it, we decide better of it.

With emotion being such a key factor when it comes to spending, it should be no huge surprise to learn that we are more likely to buy when we feel that we really know, understand, and like the seller. Better yet if we feel that the seller has views that agree with our own.

This puts us at ease. We feel better about buying from someone we know because we feel it’s less likely they’re going to try and con us. Likewise, we often want to please the seller. Finally, if we feel that their beliefs are aligned with ours, then we might feel as though buying from them will in some way “align” us with them and help to strengthen our sense of identity.

And that’s where Stories come in.

Many businesses will create a lot of marketing and advertising that is highly polished and staged. Products look perfect with ideal lighting and professional-looking backdrops, while the personality selling the product is never shown. We feel very detached from these kinds of brands, which is why the average person doesn’t exactly shed a tear when they feel that a big corporation is going bankrupt.

This is even MORE true when it comes to selling B2B a lot of the time.

This method is getting increasingly old-fashioned though, as the company in question fails to build any trust, to demonstrate anything that would make it unique or stand out, or to demonstrate any personality.

If you run an online business, then your Instagram account might have the same problem. It might well be filled with lots of stunning looking images of products, or perhaps lots of inspiring quotes, or photos of your lifestyle that are designed to look perfect. This is the image you want to portray, and you know that by including even one unpolished looking photo, you will make the entire account look less messy.

But this is where the nature of the Story is ideal. This is a TEMPORARY image that will never be included on your profile. That means you can include anything you like here, and in 24 hours it is going to be gone. This in turn means you’re permitted to peel back the curtain just a little, and to show your followers “how the sausages are made” so to speak.

Stories can be the kinds of insights that you would never include on the main account, but that help to give you a little personality and help to make you seem much more approachable. Let’s say for example that you were a high profile lawyer, you could use Stories to share aspects of your life – not only the travel and nice hotels, but also your preference in sandwich, your gripes with the queues at your bank… you know normal stuff.

Likewise, a local business might share a Story about a fun customer who came into their store. Or about the parade outside that is driving away customers. They might even include a photo of their dog, or a short post about how they loved the latest Marvel movie.

Things like that might not sound like strategies that would gel with traditional approaches to business… But that should be considered a GOOD thing. This is not a traditional approach to business, but a much more modern strategy for improving relationships.

These posts don’t need to be on-topic, but they do need to be on-brand in as much as they should show a side of you and your business that you want to be seen.

In the next chapter, you’ll see just how this kind of interaction can not only strengthen relationships, but also invite meaningful interactions that translate to sales.

If you’re worried about being too personal, then you can use this as a kind of “behind the scenes” to show you setting up the shop, or your staff enjoying drinks out. What’s even more effective though, is if you choose to create a “personal brand.”

Stories for Personal Brands

A personal brand essentially means a brand that puts the owner (that’s probably you) front and center. Rather than promoting X company, you instead promote yourself as a sole trader.

This doesn’t necessarily reflect on the size of the company, or even it’s structure. Most companies began as one or two people. It’s rather a conscious decision early in the business’s life, to push the individual. And for all the reasons we’ve discussed, this is a very powerful thing.

So instead of being RXPlumbing LTD, you might instead be John Dandy and Co Plumbing. The difference is that the John Dandy is a person that you feel you can “know” rather than a faceless company. Even if you never deal with John Dandy, the implication is that he’s there, and that if you had a serious complaint you could talk with John Dandy. And this opens up huge potential for marketing that otherwise would simply not exist. You can now, for example, do a live Q&A with your followers and they can actually speak with the owner of the company! Likewise, you can show them some of the homes that you’ve visited and how you’ve helped them, and they’ll not only get to see a demonstration of the great service you can provide, but will also get to see even more of your personality. Have you ever found that one plumber or electrician who you know does a good job and who you know will turn up on time? And then you never feel the need to use anyone again?

What if you could become THAT service provider, even without ever having met the customers yet?

Stories for Social Media Influencers

There is one more group that should definitely sit up and take notice of Stories: social media influencers. Scratch that. Most influencers are already ALL OVER stories because they know just how important they are. The group that should get involved then is the aspiring influencers group. The people who want to become influencers, but haven’t quite got there yet.

And this goes for bloggers too, because like it or not, you’re essentially just an old-fashioned type of influencer. An influencer is someone for whom the personal brand IS the business. That’s someone that inspires, entertains, or educates an audience to the point that the audience trusts their recommendations implicitly. The creative doesn’t necessarily sell a product of their own (though they may) but they have so much clout that they can generate huge amounts of cash from simply wielding their influence.

For example, did you know that the going rate for a sponsored post on an Instagram account with 200,000 followers is $1,000? On YouTube it’s $1,000 for every 100,000 followers!

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There is nothing more stressful than having a billion things to do during the day without having even just a second to yourself. The hustle and bustle of everyday life can get to be very overwhelming. There are so many demands placed upon us that it can feel like there is nowhere to turn when we feel like we just need a little bit of breathing room and a chance to relax.

Fortunately, there is a solution. No matter how many demands you have placed upon you during the day, meditation is an option that you can easily make the time for. Even just setting aside five minutes for yourself can make the difference between a frazzled, miserable mess at dinner time and a balanced, calm person who is ready to take the next step, no matter where it leads!

Meditation has become a very popular subject, and for good reason. Everybody is feeling the pressure to succeed and do great in their lives, but the work involved in becoming successful can be enough to make anyone exhausted. We put so much energy into trying to create our best lives that, ironically, we can easily lose sight of the most important part of that; ourselves!

By taking the time to learn about meditation and allowing it to be a part of our lives, we can begin to channel our thoughts into more productive patterns and give ourselves the recharge that we need when it seems like life has gotten to be a little bit too much.

Meditation is a huge part of a healthy lifestyle. Many successful people swear by its effects. It can help us to completely re-map our brains from thinking destructive and negative thoughts to remembering how to see the possibilities in every moment. Not only that, but knowing that we are putting our own mental health first and foremost can be a huge relief. Instead of engaging in negativity, we can take a time out and re-center ourselves to guarantee that no matter what is thrown at us, we are capable of getting where we want to be.

Most people aren’t sure whether or not they are even able to meditate. They picture themselves having to go into the Lotus position and holding it for a long time while not thinking about a single thing. That is a lot of pressure! However, the Lotus position is actually a yoga pose that is only meant to enhance the serenity of practitioners of yoga who have utilized it as a training toward a deeper awareness and calm. Beginner meditators do not have to do anything quite that advanced in order to receive the same effects.

Rather, meditation can be made very simple! The more often you do it the easier it becomes. And while it may seem impossible to clear your mind, especially when there is a lot going on in your life, once you get the hang of it, you will be able to recharge in just about any situation. Centering yourself is not as difficult as it sounds. There are not any difficult yoga poses necessary.

So if clearing your mind and improving your life sounds like something you would like to do, then you’re in the right place. This guide will show you how! So, let’s get started!

Meditation is an ancient practice that can be traced to biblical times and beyond. Like many things spiritual in nature, it can be traced back to ancient India, where their healing arts were summarized in texts known as the Vedas. These spiritual books were meant to teach the masses about enlightenment and ways to live your life that can lead to a greater understanding of yourself and the world around you. They were meant to impart wisdom and encourage everybody to live their lives in a peaceful way that benefitted not only themselves, but society as a whole.

This ancient art can be traced back to 1500 BCE, as far as written evidence goes. It had its origins in a system of schooling, where students would follow their teachers out into the world, generally isolated and natural places with dense forest and fresh air, so that they could be guided in the art of meditation. It was a very important spiritual practice, then and still, and is linked to Buddhist teachings. Indian Gurus and their students would study and practice this art of clearing the mind and ultimately passed on the knowledge to the surrounding countries.

Meditation was thought to be incredibly important, and taught around the world because of the positive results it yielded in daily life. It is a practice that has proven so beneficial that it has survived thousands of years and been passed along from culture to culture. It is incorporated in several different religious sects, and continues to be a source of peace and understanding even into the modern age.

Modern day gurus teach classes on meditation all around the world. The best part is that there are several different ways you can meditate, so if one way doesn’t work for you, then you can try another and see if that is going to do the trick. Some people meditate in pure silence, others with peaceful music and candlelight. Some people might prefer a guided meditation, where someone helps them to focus their thoughts in a direction that is most beneficial to them, while others may choose to hold certain thoughts or intentions in their minds so that they can attract those energies to themselves almost unconsciously.

However, you choose to use meditation, the implication is clear that it is a practice that works, and it has for a very long time. This art is thousands of years old, and when utilized properly, can really change the way you view yourself and the situations in your life. There is a reason it has survived this long, and that reason is that it is incredibly effective. If it wasn’t, it would have died out by now. Are you ready to learn the basics of meditation? This guide will show you how!

If you’re not quite convinced that meditation is the way to go, that’s fine. Just because it’s been used for thousands of years doesn’t mean you should jump on the bandwagon. If it’s scientific evidence you’re curious about, then there is plenty of that too.

Studies have shown that meditation can not only help to reduce stress and anxiety symptoms, even in people with anxiety disorders, but there is also a correlation between meditation and lower blood pressure. Other scientifically proven benefits of meditation include sounder sleep and even a better memory. And if you are suffering from chronic pain symptoms, or any aches and pains in general, meditation has been shown to help manage these and improve your quality of life.

Not only that, but people who meditate are less prone to low self-image. They tend to gain more insight into themselves that can help them to structure their lives in a productive way and make choices that truly benefit them and their goals. Meditation can increase your level of emotional understanding and help you to healthily compartmentalize your thoughts and emotions in a way that is constructive. If you find that you are often times overwhelmed by the world around you, meditation is a great way to let go of those stressful feelings and take a moment to recharge and get yourself back on track.

Because of the stressful state of the world we live in, a lot of people turn to negative coping mechanisms. It can be very easy to gain access to things that claim to ease our stress, like cigarettes or alcohol or other addictive substances. And a lot of people do turn to these things as their escape. It is easy to do and these negative things are very accessible in our culture. It is unfortunate how easy it can be to become an addict. Even if your addiction is something as innocent seeming as an addiction to unhealthy foods.

However, meditation can prove an even better coping mechanism. And, if you know you or someone you love has an addiction, meditation is actually scientifically proven to help redirect the attention of an addict from a negative substance to one that is not so harmful. Meditation is a great way to help you change the course of your thinking and reprogram yourself to be more mindful and focused on positive changes rather than negative.

Addiction can be difficult to get through alone or without resources, but utilizing meditation as a resource for recovery is a great tool. It can help you look inwardly, hold yourself accountable for your actions, find insight into why you may act the way you do and the triggers that cause you to reach out to your addiction, and also provide you with a healthy outlet for your stress and anxiety that helps you to feel refreshed and renewed with a better outlook on life without resorting to negative coping strategies like the thing you are addicted to.

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Introduction

What does beauty mean to you?

It’s a concept that has been somewhat lost along the way in the digital age. Companies trying to sell products with photo shopped women wearing far too much makeup, Instagram accounts run by “influencers” who spend their time pouting at the camera and taking selfies.

These influences have warped our perceptions of what it means to be attractive in the modern age, and they have unfortunate, destructive impacts on our health and happiness.

And this is a serious problem.

Before we get ahead of ourselves and start attacking the health and beauty industry, we should first remember that this is nothing new. Culture has shaped perceptions of beauty for centuries, which has a huge impact on how we feel about ourselves, our aspirations, and our health. It guides how we treat ourselves, and ultimately what we look for in partners.

Unfortunately, it just so happens that this can be a toxic and harmful influence.

But there is a truer type of beauty that transcends trends and fads. It is the natural, glowing beauty that comes from being truly healthy and happy.

Because while you can try and hide or alter your looks with expensive products, they are ultimately all trying to emulate the appearance of natural youth, energy, and vigor (we’ll discuss this more in the final chapter).

When you naturally look and feel great, you don’t need to do this. You will simply look naturally healthier, more vibrant, and more attractive.

People will notice that you look different, but they won’t be able to put a finger on it. They’ll say you have a “glow.” You’ll feel and look great, and people will be drawn to you.

The best part? The journey it takes to get here doesn’t involve using damaging chemicals, or going through painful procedures. It is the very act of nourishing and caring for yourself that will lead to that organic beauty. That outward glow is simply a reflection or a projection of your inner state of being.

This is the appeal of organic, natural beauty. And it’s something that anyone can achieve.

In this book, you’ll learn more about what it means to chase after “organic beauty” and how it can change the way you think about your appearance and your grooming. Are you ready?

Chapter 1 Why Go Organic (And What It Means)

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s consider for a moment precisely what we mean by the term “organic beauty.”

By “organic,” what we really mean is “without using artificial products.” The term organic can be explained as “relating to or derived from living matter.” That doesn’t mean that the ingredients are necessarily alive, but means that they must be natural and “related” to living things.

Minerals count as organic for instance, but rocks aren’t alive! Because rocks are created by the tides however, and because they are found naturally inside the body (yes, your bones are made from calcium and magnesium just like that found in nature), they count as “organic.”

The fewer steps the product had to go through before it was packaged, the more “organic” we consider it to be.

How does this relate to beauty?

Organic beauty means creating the beautiful look that you want, but without resorting to the use of chemicals, compounds, and other unnatural substances.
Why you ask?

There are actually a huge number of reasons to go organic when it comes to your beauty. Let’s take a look at just some of them.

Synthetic Products Can be Harmful

One of the biggest and best reasons to go organic, is that non-organic products designed for health and beauty will very often include synthetic products that can actually be harmful. Here are just some of the dangerous compounds you might encounter if you rely on mass-produced cosmetic products:

ORGANIC BEAUTY

One of the biggest dangers when it comes to using non-organic products, is the large number of estrogenic compounds that are found in many cosmetics and even in our water!

Estrogenic chemicals are found in everything from shampoos, to Tupperware, to makeup. They include parabens (used as preservatives), placenta extracts and more.

So what’s so bad about this? Well essentially, it increases the amount of estrogen in the body. For men, this is particularly bad news as it means lower muscle mass, more body fat, lower sperm count and possibly even depression, lethargy and infertility!

Many of these compounds are even found to be carcinogens, meaning that they increase the likelihood of developing breast cancer specifically in men and women.

2 Aluminum

Aluminum is found in a large number of different products, including antiperspirants and some makeups. Aluminum works by temporarily blocking the skin’s sweat ducts but it can be absorbed into the skin where it will also have estrogen-like effects.

3 Parfum

Parfum is a catch-all that describes a large number of synthetic compounds used to add ‘fragrance’ to our products. That means products that are specifically designed to be fragrances and it also means other things like shampoos and fabric softeners.

These products are well known to cause a range of problems including headaches, dizziness, rashes, skin discoloration and more. Some studies also suggest that they can affect the central nervous system and lead to mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.