Do you like TV ads? How about magazine ads? Do you pay attention to them or do you just skip them?

Now let me ask you another question: Do you like stories? Do you enjoy being immersed into an exciting narrative allowing you to escape reality and enter a new world?

I like stories. I like to let my brain follow the imaginative flow of a good story and visualise the narrative, the heroes, the actions and happenings of what I am reading, watching or experiencing. 

As a marketer you are probably used to relying more on hard facts and lists of benefits rather than engaging stories. That might have worked in the Mad Man era, but in the world of real-time, non-stop social interactions and online content it no longer does.

Don’t believe me? Check out some facts from a Nielson study:

Sustainability... What a difficult word, don't you think? And how about social media?

Can you describe the two in a short sentence? No? You are probably asking: "What does social media have to do with sustainability?"

A lot, actually.

Social media and sustainability are both paradigm shifts. The challenge is how to leverage them and do so in synchrony in order to create business value. Utilising social media could transform any sustainability initiative. And because the foundations of social media and sustainability are guided by the same values of community, transparency, authenticity, innovation and collaboration, combining and aligning the two concepts could have a powerful impact on effectively balancing the triple bottom line.

To help you see the connection, let's go back to school and make things a little bit easier to understand. Below you'll find my list of ABCs with each letter representing an important characteristic that ties these two seemingly unrelated concepts. Additionally, you will find multiple actionable tips you can deploy in your business.

So pay attention now!

Thanks to Nikolay Chakarov from www.mengear.bg for this guest piece!

Have you ever wondered how to start your own online venture? What are the steps and how to accomplish them?

Don’t worry if you don’t know, because today I will give you a quick introduction of the basic terms and steps you need to think of when you are planning your first online business.

10 Things to Consider When Starting on Online Business:

1. Brand name

Most people are already of the common mistakes they need to avoid when choosing a brand name. These include long names, spelling mistakes, using words that are not related to their business. This simple and important task could cost you days and weeks of planning. As an entrepreneur you are well aware that time is a valuable resource and you shouldn’t overspend it on details. Better done than perfect – right? 

In order to save time and money, make a list with all of the possible and not so possible words and expressions.  Then start combining them. You can do this either alone or with friends or your business partner. The last time I needed a name for our online store, we did it in 25 minutes. Remember – if at any point you decide that your current brand name somehow decreases your rate of success and sales – you can always change your business name. In fact, back in 1996 the number #1 search engine was called “Back Rub”. In 1998 the founders decided to change its name to “Google”. So why bother? Just start today!

Believe it or not, I am still seeing many businesses shying away from social – either not even getting on it or, yes, having profiles there, but doing nothing. Why? Are you scared? Of what?

To be honest with you, the pros far outweigh the cons.

Today, platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn are your most powerful instruments for two-way communication and digital relevancy. This means, they offer you the opportunity to talk directly with your customers, but most importantly your customers have the means to talk back to you too, anytime, anywhere, about their needs, their wants, their pain points. And this is where the power of social media lies – in communication that is meaningful. 15 years ago were able to ever come so close to your customers? Did you ever have the opportunity to be so relevant? I’m guessing no.  

72% of marketers believe that content marketing is essential for their business; 33% of them say that it brings them at least double the return on their original investment and 86% are planning to spend more on content in 2015. These are some staggering statistics from a research by wyzowl, showing that content marketing works.

However, it’s one thing to know that something works, it’s another to actually make it work.  

Content marketing is entirely about different types of quality content created and distributed to meet the needs of a relevant audience. The major drivers for successful content marketing that marketers and communicators use are blogging and effective storytelling.

To help you become a content expert, here’s a list of all the things you need to know as well as some inspirational ideas around creating content, storytelling, blogging and writing.