Day 129: How Do I Tell My Story?

Day 129:  How do I tell my story?  As referenced in the post, economic development needs to do a much better job telling our stories.  The funny thing is I have seen several clients get in some sort of trouble when they tell their stories.  The City or some organization takes issue when your organization takes credit for a project.  I would suggest you never take credit for any project.  Clark, you just said to tell our story.  How do we do that and not take credit?  As I have stated several times, economic development is a team sport.  When you have a success story, tell the story, but make sure all the players get recognition in the “story”.  To be a great economic developer, you must be an inclusive person that works well with everyone.  You must always have the bigger picture in mind.  What is best for your community?  Not, what is best for your organization.  The part economic development organizations seem to forget is that what is best for the community is also what is best for your organization.  Whenever you have a success story, shout it to the roof tops.  Give credit to everyone that was involved and use these successes as learning opportunities.  First, we don’t create jobs or build buildings (most of the time).  The business does these things, so they need to be the lead in the article.  The story should be all about the business.  But ask them to make a statement about how everyone assisted them.  It’s simple really.  But for some reason we make it hard.  Stick to the facts and you can’t go wrong in telling the story.  Next:  Where do I tell my story?

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