Stories Mean Business - Nick Warren
1,464 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 months ago -One idea a day from a geek business builder.
After 1,000 episodes, the jury is in – this is the world's slackest podcast. 5-minutes a day on story, strategy or whatever's yanked my chain. No guests. No ads. No apologies.
This is me thinking out loud, putting things together, going down dead ends and making mistakes.
———
www.StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
795: Stupidity Is Everywhere!
November 15, 2021 05:00 - 4 minutes - 4.11 MBIt may be, but it's probably much closer than you think! Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/795:-Stupidity-Is-Everywhere!
794: You MUST Be On Social Media
November 14, 2021 05:00 - 5 minutes - 4.71 MBWrong. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/794:-You-MUST-Be-On-Social-Media
793: How You Do Everything
November 13, 2021 05:00 - 3 minutes - 3.61 MBI love the story and mythology of craftsmanship... but many (including myself) have taken it too far. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/793:-How-You-Do-Everything
792: Just Get Them On Your List
November 12, 2021 05:00 - 4 minutes - 4.29 MBI can tell you from experience that ’just-getting-people-on-your-list" does not lead to riches. This is a business myth that common sense should strangle at birth, but rarely does. (Part of the 2021 Throwing Stones Series) Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/792:-Just-Get-Them-On-Your-List
791: Take A BIG Swing
November 11, 2021 05:00 - 4 minutes - 3.97 MBThe incessant pressure to make big changes stops us making any change at all. (Part of the 2021 Throwing Stones Series) Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/791-Take-A-BIG-Swing
790: Do What You Love
November 10, 2021 05:00 - 4 minutes - 4.57 MBMan ... I wish this was true. It's not ... but maybe there is a more grown-up way of thinking about this... (Part of the 2021 Throwing Stones series.) Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/790:-Do-What-You-Love
789: The One True Truth
November 09, 2021 05:00 - 5 minutes - 5.5 MBWe're beset by people trying to sell us THE ONE TRUE SOLUTION to our problems ... but that's never true. Part of the 2021 Throwing Stones series. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/789:-The-One-True-Truth
788: Does Relationship Marketing Scale?
November 08, 2021 08:00 - 6 minutes - 6.02 MBYesterday, I was chatting with a mate who works in a company I love. They do their marketing the old-fashioned way, through quality, word of mouth and building long-term relationships. But this was his question – can relationship marketing scale if we want to significantly grow the business. I think yes ... but you need the foundations in place. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/788:-Does-Relationship-Marketing-Scale
787: Noticing Things
November 07, 2021 05:00 - 7 minutes - 7.29 MBOne of the most fascinating things about the birth of behavioural economics is that the leaders weren't in some complex lab ... they were testing and noticing what happened in their own brains. Here's a couple of things that I've noticed about my brain. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/787:-Noticing-Things
786: Thinking With A Story
November 06, 2021 05:00 - 9 minutes - 8.35 MBYesterday, I mentioned Daniel Kahneman's book, Thinking, Fast and Slow. This is an accessible but serious look at the science of attention, effort, judgement under uncertainty and other aspects of Behavioural Economics. But, what I find equally fascinating is the way that Kahneman explicitly accepts and leverages the power of story to communicate his scientific work. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/786:-Thinking-With-A-Story
785: The Undoing Project
November 05, 2021 05:00 - 4 minutes - 4.48 MBSome thoughts on The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis ... and the use of Anchoring by mattress salesman. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/785:-The-Undoing-Project
784: Bollocks
November 04, 2021 05:00 - 7 minutes - 6.71 MBIf you listened to episode 781, I'm about to eat some humble pie. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/784:-Bollocks
783: Succession
November 03, 2021 05:00 - 7 minutes - 6.52 MBIn Succession, the HBO series, the characters are self-centred, mean, greedy, petty and uncaring. And yet, the quality of the writing and acting keeps me (and millions of others) glued to the screen. Here's why. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/783:-Succession
782: Small Stories and Coffee
November 02, 2021 05:00 - 6 minutes - 5.62 MBSomewhere around 10 years ago, we gave a client a bag of coffee... because not all stories need to be blockbusters. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/782:-Small-Stories-and-Coffee
781: The Ballard of the Bloody Bed
November 01, 2021 06:53 - 6 minutes - 6.34 MBSometimes it’s hard to be calm.
780: The BIG Idea (Again)
October 31, 2021 05:00 - 5 minutes - 5.04 MBEvery so often, I come across Michael Simmons Blockbuster Mental Model for Viral Content, and kick myself that I haven't done it ... yet. Maybe this time will be different, but I also cut myself a little slack... Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/780:-The-BIG-Idea-(Again)
779: Fear-Setting
October 30, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 6 MBIn his book The Four Hour Work Week (and later in Tools for Titans), Tim Ferris set out his simple, practical method for taking big swings. Imagine the worst case scenario in detail. He called this Fear-Setting, based on the Stoic idea that we should inhabit the worst case from time to time. (Seneca supposedly spent days wearing rags and going without food.) In Ferriss's case, the dream, was a trip around the world despite the fact that the company he'd created consumed all his time (and ...
778: Magic Goes Wrong (and right!)
October 29, 2021 04:00 - 4 minutes - 4.44 MBIn many ways, Stories Mean Business is an ongoing argument for depth. Yesterday, Wendy and I went to see Magic Goes Wrong, a show by the Mischief Theatre Company ... but co-written with Penn and Teller! As in all their plays (so far) the audience is treated to actors playing ... actors (or in this case magicians) who are putting on a show that is falling down before their eyes. Often literally. And as things fail, in funnier and funnier ways, what we get is ... depth. The sense that we a...
777: We Few, We Happy Few
October 28, 2021 04:00 - 7 minutes - 6.64 MBA couple of day's ago it was the anniversary of the battle of Agincourt, where the battered English army of 6,000 defeated a French force of five or ten times the size. But how? Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/777:-We-Few-We-Happy-Few
776: This Funnel Doesn't Exist
October 27, 2021 04:00 - 8 minutes - 7.99 MBWhy do people buy your thing? Commonly, we point to our ’sales funnels’ – our ads, and landing pages and check outs. But is that really why they did it? There's a myth in business that we can map the "sales cycle step by step." Usually, this is visualised as a funnel. We pour a load of traffic in at the top, and the proportion that come out at the bottom is your Conversion Rate. The stages in between – which we track via analytics - are the points where prospects are 'leaking’ out. So we...
775: The Two Sides of Honesty
October 26, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 5.62 MBI've been circling the ideas laid out in the last few episodes, and we have another brick for this thing that we're building. Vulnerability – which I've talked about often – is honest, but so is the anger and frustration we sometimes feel. Both come out of the darkness, and both – over time – build attention. Not the thin, brittle attention of short-term tactics ... but deeper attraction of people sharing their reality. More importantly, consistent honesty builds trust ... and trust is roc...
774: Does All Creativity Come From Darkness?
October 25, 2021 04:00 - 9 minutes - 8.6 MBA friend of mine thinks it might. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/774:-Does-All-Creativity-Come-From-Darkness? See also: https://storiesmeanbusiness.com/277-casting-your-shadow/
773: What's the Reality?
October 24, 2021 04:00 - 7 minutes - 6.75 MBSo anyway, I've been wondering about the nature of reality, and how bad I am at understanding it. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/773-Whats-the-Reality?
772: Theme Is Your Foundation
October 23, 2021 04:00 - 8 minutes - 7.68 MBA client of mine was struggling to thread some work together ... overwhelmed all the directions he could go, and going nowhere as a result. A couple of days ago, we talked about the value of choosing a theme. Not the scary, confusing "theme" of English literature ... but the reassuring foundation of a simple, controlling idea. The theme for my first thriller was right there in the title – execution is everything. I built the book around that idea. For my second, it took longer, but eventu...
771: Attention is a Trap
October 22, 2021 04:00 - 9 minutes - 8.82 MBAs I've mentioned before, I do a lot of my best thinking on the page. Yesterday, I was writing the sign-up copy for my mailing list ... and a whole lot of stuff came out ... including this idea that attention is a trap. I'm not going to repeat it all here, because it's all there on the page ... but you can see how this works. Telling stories. Taking readers on a journey. Demonstrating proof. Opening loops for later. Getting them to nod their head through shared experience. Filtering out t...
770: One True Sentence
October 21, 2021 04:00 - 4 minutes - 4.57 MBA week ago, I had a down day – but it wasn't writers’ block. Having written for years – including 120,000+ word thrillers – I don't believe in it. There were certainly days that my writing was terrible, but there were never days when I just stared at the screen. I think the ’block’ happens for some people when they let the ’vision’ of the thing get in the way of the reality. In reality, nothing is created in your head. Sure, you have ideas, concepts and ... perhaps ... thoughts of the ad...
769: Nick Warren's Strategy Map
October 20, 2021 04:00 - 7 minutes - 7.24 MBYesterday, we talked about Walt Disney's strategy map, and how he explicitly connected his empire's assets to grow his business. In this episode, I discuss how I'll be bridging the gap between my podcast and my my course. The scale is different, but the principle is the same. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/769:-Nick-Warrens-Strategy-Map
768: Walt Disney's Business Map
October 19, 2021 04:00 - 10 minutes - 9.6 MBIn 1957, Walt Disney produced something extraordinary. But it wasn't a movie or a TV show or an animation ... It was a map of his business strategy. In some ways, it's exactly as you might image. Mickey, Donald and Pluto are all on show providing personality ... but they don't distract from the insight. Disney understood franchises. He understood how the movies fed the theme parks, and how – in turn – the theme parks promoted the movies. But that was far from the only symbiotic relations...
767: Engines of Energy
October 18, 2021 04:00 - 7 minutes - 6.66 MBLet's see how the experts do. We're searching for contrast in the opening lines of Dracula, On The Road, The Sandman, The Prophet, War of the Worlds, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and Die Trying. Not a bad bunch of mentors. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/767:-Engines-of-Energy
766: Robert Fritz on Contrast
October 17, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 5.91 MBEarly in his book, The Path of Least Resistance for Artists, Robert Fritz talks about the fundamental engine of art – contrast. We talked about Fritz's work back in episode 681, but here he relates the the example of Paul McCartney writing "Hello Goodbye". If you check out the lyrics of that song you'll see that it's a masterclass of lean contrast ... and each line is a little engine that moves energy forward. Remember: Contrast creates tension, tension creates conflict, conflict creates ...
765: Ted Lasso - Season 2
October 16, 2021 04:00 - 5 minutes - 5.26 MBWe've just finished watching season 2 of Ted Lasso, and loved it. The whole show – from the basic premise to the interplay of characters – is a study in contrasts. You can see it in the basic premise – American Football Coach vs. British Soccer. You can see it in the tone, American Enthusiasm vs. British Cynicism. You can see it in the dialogue ... schmaltz vs. swearing (often in front of kids). The contrast creates tension, conflict and drama ... not to mention huge amounts of laughter. ...
764: Can You Draw Your Business?
October 15, 2021 04:00 - 3 minutes - 3.1 MBIt's a pretty simple idea ... if you can't draw your business on a single sheet of paper, you don't understand it. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/764:-Can-You-Draw-Your-Business?
763: Selling By Not Selling
October 14, 2021 04:00 - 7 minutes - 7.01 MBThere are two ways to sell stuff. First, sell harder. Make your signs or buttons bigger. Make them flash. Do discounts. Do time limited promotions and tripwires. Make people more afraid, or more angry. You know the drill. Or, you can create an environment where the right people want to buy. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/763-Selling-By-Not-Selling
762: Interpretation Versus Action
October 13, 2021 04:00 - 5 minutes - 4.91 MBNote: I'm NOT a doctor. Do not take mental health advice from storytellers! Yesterday, I was feeling blue and inneffective and the Stoic thinking WASN'T WORKING. So, I fell back to my second strategy, taking action. This episode of the podcast is about the difference between interpretation and action, when we need to tell ourselves a better story. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/762:-Interpretation-Versus-Action
761: Feeling Blue
October 12, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 6.05 MBIt feels like one of those days, but I’m doing the work… Just not the work I should be doing!
760: Amazon's Flywheel
October 11, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 6.17 MBThe strategic model that underpins Amazon's growth contains just 11 words. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/760:-Amazons-Flywheel
759: Working Backwards
October 10, 2021 04:00 - 3 minutes - 2.86 MBWhat if we didn’t start with the product or service we are selling? Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/759:-Working-Backwards
758: Thinking Around Corners
October 09, 2021 04:00 - 7 minutes - 7.21 MBAt the Be World Class Leadership Conference, Simon Hartley told three quick stories to illustrate creative, entrepreneurial thinking. I love this type of thing, because it opens a window in our mind. Hear them in the podcast. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/758:-Thinking-Around-Corners
757: It’s Just Not Cricket
October 08, 2021 04:01 - 2 minutes - 2.53 MBI’m outside Lord’s Cricket ground, but it’s not what you think.
756: Terrible Brilliant Feedback
October 07, 2021 04:00 - 5 minutes - 5.05 MBYesterday, I got a fantastically honest voicemail from a client. She was feeding back on a first draft I'd done for her. It's not just "wrong" she said, "it's REALLY WRONG". Then, at the end of the call, came the line that mattered. "This is why I love working with you, Nick. I know I can be honest." Three reasons this matters: A relationship without honesty is useless (business or otherwise). Most clients find it easier to push against something than define exactly what they want. In ...
755: Dreams or Memories
October 06, 2021 04:00 - 10 minutes - 9.5 MBIn his book, The Bed of Procrustes, Nassim Taleb writes: "Decline starts with the replacement of dreams with memories and ends with the replacement of memories with other memories." Three days ago, I came across a photo taken in 1992. It's me, with my girlfriend at the time, snuggled together on the edge of Timanfaya National Park in Lanzarote. It's a few weeks before I'm due to sail across the Atlantic, which will ultimately doom the relationship – but there's a wonderful sense of love, j...
754: You Are Not Your Offer
October 05, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 5.72 MBYesterday, I talked about the power of telling stories within stories. Today, I want to relate that to our world – to business. Why bother? What's the value? It's a good question, but I want to turn it around and ask you one. How do you show up in the world, right now? Here's how a lot of people do it. "I'm Nick, and I do X." If you jump onto LinkedIn and do some searches you'll see this all over the place. We show up as offers, not people. And that's a problem because a) everyone's...
753: I Beg Your Pardon
October 04, 2021 04:00 - 9 minutes - 9.07 MBI've talked about the power of callbacks before, but today we're talking about another way of layering meaning into your mythology ... telling tales within tales. You can find this in The Bible, Harry Potter or ... our subject today ... The Canterbury Tales. What is the power of stories within stories? Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/753:-I-Beg-Your-Pardon
752: Superman's Biggest Mistake
October 03, 2021 04:00 - 7 minutes - 7.37 MBIn Superman 2 (1980), Kal-El, does something that is both brilliant and terrible. And it shows why we need to bring our real selves to our work, day in and day out. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/752:-Supermans-Biggest-Mistake
751: I'm Proud Of This
October 02, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 6.22 MBA quick note to say that the Tell Your Story course is live ... and I'm really proud of it. It embodies 3 principles I’ve built my businesses on: Storytelling, Simplicity, and Momentum. And I know that some people are really going to hate it. There are no pretty worksheets, no video lessons, and no walled gardens to make us all feel cliquey-special. This isn’t about that. This is about the hard, honest work of crafting our origin story. 7 days. 8 emails. 11,000 words. 5-6 hours work. ...
750: Where Did We Meet?
October 01, 2021 04:00 - 8 minutes - 7.98 MBIn my origin story, I talk about the realisation that I'd built my first business by telling stories. You might think it a little weird that it took so long – given what I do now – but the truth is that ’our story’ didn't feel that remarkable at the time. We were a web design agency that built websites. You may also remember the metaphor I've mentioned before ... that a great brand is like a bell. Wherever you hit it, it rings the same note. The thing I'd missed back then, was that the st...
749: Thinking Outside The Body
September 30, 2021 04:00 - 6 minutes - 6.3 MBYesterday, a friend of mine sent me a link to a book called The Extended Mind, by Annie Murphy Paul. The subtitle was "The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain". I haven't read the book, but I will. I have a long history of manipulating the spaces about me to support whatever the work is – and I bet you do too. As this is the World's Slackest Podcast, I also talk about the process of creating the audio, and shout out to a couple of friends – Steve and James – who've helped make it better. ...
748: Identity and the Freshers’ Fair
September 29, 2021 04:00 - 4 minutes - 4.05 MB30 years ago, The Freshers’ Fair felt like a seething cauldron of possibility. It was my first week at university and all the clubs, cliques and societies were vying for my attention. But the other thing I remember – my clearest memory actually – is the huge stalls selling posters. Hundreds of cheaply printed, mass produced images of bands, movies and memes. But of course, they weren't really selling posters ... they were selling identity, signalling and status. And we – 18 years old – we...
747: Building Your Assets
September 28, 2021 04:00 - 3 minutes - 3.41 MBShort-term thinkers focus on tasks. Smart people focus on asset building. Episode home: https://StoriesMeanBusiness.com/podcast/747:-Building-Your-Assets
746: The Bad Review
September 27, 2021 04:00 - 2 minutes - 2.27 MBHere's a couple of reviews I just read on Amazon: Izzy wizzy, let's get bored really quickly. Three hundred pages of derivative, shallow and turgid prose for seven year old children from an author who seems permanently to wear a medium weight chip on her shoulder rubbish stuff them posh wizards going to a fancy school if only they would see proper english school personally i would take their wands and... oh DONT READ WHAT TOSH As you may have guessed, these were for Harry Potter and ...