Online business owners increasingly realize the power of storytelling for website content, blogs and even teleseminars. Storytelling for business has become a hot topic.

Independent professionals increasingly use stories to promote their services. They realize that readers relate to narratives rather than straightforward essay type content because

– stories create suspense, compelling readers’ attention

– when readers pay attention and hang on for the “what next,” they’re not multitasking

– readers and listeners remember stories far longer than they remember abstract ideas.

Stories are particularly helpful for professional services such as coaching, where marketers face challenges simply explaining what the service offers. Clients often have no idea what to expect and don’t realize the value of hiring coaches, massage therapists, healers, or even certain types of psychotherapists and lawyers.

So lots of people are jumping on the story bandwagon. But that’s not enough: you need to understand how to tell your story most effectively to motivate readers to consider hiring you. For example, here is one story told my a professional (all details disguised):

“When Jane called me, her home office was a disaster. She was spending lots of time filing papers but she couldn’t find anything. After we talked, she realized that filing papers was not a good use of her time. Or maybe if she really had to file, she needed a way to make that filing become a revenue-generating opportunity.”

What’s wrong with this story?

This story is what I call a client success story. It’s got some of the ingredients, but is missing a few key pieces. How about this:

“When Jane called me, her business was stalled. As we reviewed Jane’s schedule, we realized her day disappeared around 9 AM when she took up the task she dreaded most: filing.

“I talked to Jane about her goals for the business. We discovered that Jane was overwhelmed by paper, including some papers she didn’t need to create, let alone store. I showed Jane my unique 5-step system for handling paper.

“Jane told me she felt like she gained two hours each day. We identified other tasks she could be doing that would lead more directly to revenue generation. After six months, Jane reported, her sales increased and she had three new clients.”

Business storytelling calls for an understanding of business as well as the storytelling process. Get instant access to information about using stories for your own business, with detailed examples. Download an audio file and learning guide at Story Telling For Profits. From Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., the Website Makeover Coach MakeWebsiteProfits.com.

Hosting a free teleclass is one of my favorite ways to increase my subscriber base as well as get to know members of my community. Setting up your teleclass is relatively straightforward too – all you need is a:

• Registration page
• Teleconference bridge line
• Follow-up system usually via an autoresponder

And you’re good to go. And hosting a free teleclass is low to zero cost to you too!But once you’ve got your registration page all set up, the bridge line booked, and have invited your list to attend your free teleclass you then need to get people to sign up for your event. If it’s a hot topic you’re presenting on people are usually clamoring to sign up, but there are steps you can take to significantly increase the signup rate, and also ensure live attendance on the call. Today I’d like to share with you five ways you can do this:

1. Offer the recording

Just this one step alone makes all the difference in the number of registrations that you have for your call – notice I said registrations, not participants live on the call (more on that in steps 4 and 5). There are two major reasons why you should offer the call recording:

• If someone can’t make the live call then they know that by signing up they’ll be able to listen to it at their leisure and so benefit from the information you’re sharing.
• Due to different time zones the actual teleclass time may be the middle of the night for some participants and, unless they’re really dedicated, they’re not going to want to get up in the middle of the night to listen to a teleclass! Again, knowing that they can listen to the recording at their leisure will make the difference between them signing up and not signing up.

2. Add class notesAs well as offering the audio recording of the call, you can take the notes that you’ve prepared for yourself and offer them to the participants. Just add some extra details such as a header/footer, ensure the layout is neat, and then convert the document to a PDF file. This means that your participants can follow along whilst listening to your call – people have different learning styles and you’ve just given them two options with this simple step.

3. Create a workbook

If you’d like your participants to actually take something away from your call you can create a workbook for them to fill in as they’re on the call with you. This way they can apply and implement the information you’re teaching as you’re teaching it.

4. Build in a Q&A session

This is a really great way to encourage interaction from your participants, and also get to know them too. And if a potential participant knows they’re not going to spend the whole time muted out of the call and are going to be given the opportunity to get their questions answered they’re much more likely not just to register for the call but to attend live too!

5. Get questions beforehand

This is a really great step to get people to attend the call live. If you ask them on the registration page a series of questions that determines where they are now, where they want to be, and what they most want to learn on the call, you’re not only gathering valuable market research and content for your call, but there’s every chance that they will show up live for the call because they’re going to get their questions answered.

Next time you host a free teleclass implement at least two of the steps I’ve outlined above, and watch not only your registration rate increase, but live attendance on the call will significantly increase too!

(c) 2009 Tracey Lawton

Online Business Development Strategist, Tracey Lawton, supports professional speakers, coaches, and authors to operate an efficient, organized, and profitable business. Learn how to create an efficient and organized office in 7 EASY steps, and receive free how-to articles at http://www.OfficeOrganizationSuccess.com