Story creates networks.
A World of Opportunity
Creating New Opportunity
What opportunities can schools give to high school students in order to provide opportunities to become engaged community members and entrepreneurs?
This was the question posed by Craig Lindvahl. His solution: the Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship. This groundbreaking program faced its first mountain just a couple of years into its fruition. Mr. Lindvahl, the heart and the soul of the program, was diagnosed with cancer.
While he operated in the background, the organization hired new leaders to steer the day-to-day operations. The small team needed someone to see their ideas through to product. That’s where I came in.
Digital Products
The CEO program is a ground-roots program designed to grow by word of mouth. This was Mr. Lindvahl’s vision. But as new leadership saw the program’s potential, they set big goals that needed another mechanism.
While they had a website designer, the team needed a content creator to highlight the program’s mission and results in order to draw people in. I was responsible for writing press releases, email documents, web pages, social media posts and taking photographs to draw new investors and program leaders in.
Creating a Funnel
We were focused on creating a funnel for prospective communities to follow as they decided whether or not the CEO program was the right move for their students. As our team targeted communities in small towns with thriving businesses, the marketing team was tasked with nurturing the prospects with emails and stories that highlighted student success.
Working alongside the leadership team, I created campaigns that led to presentations for business owners and school officials. I was then tasked with follow-up that included program statistics that led to programs that are still thriving today.
Storytelling
There is no better way to captivate an audience than through story. The moment when one can connect to another through story, data, and statistics become real and life-changing.
Telling the stories of how businesses, investors, communities, and students were changed (and even catapulted) through CEO was paramount in breathing life into a changing foundation while highlighting the backbone of what the program was built upon.
I interviewed students and community leaders, and then wrote stories for their website and social media platforms. Students talked about how the CEO program opened the world up for them while business owners talked about how the program made their community viable again. These testimonies spoke to what other communities were looking for.
Breaking Down Big Ideas
Business owners are always ready with big ideas for growth. But sometimes, they just don’t know how to break those big chunks into smaller, obtainable pieces.
Over the last decade, I have become skilled at listening to big thinkers, working to understand where they want to go, and then giving them a roadmap on how to get there.
While I worked with the CEO program, there were at least four big thinkers who all disagreed on how to get from point A to point B. I worked with their marketing manager to collect each vision, find common themes, and come back to the table with concrete actions for forward movement.
Track and Measure
The great thing about marketing today is that we have data to show what works and what doesn’t. Through social media campaigns, email marketing and website data, we were able to provide invaluable insights into consumer behavior, preferences, and engagement patterns. By meticulously analyzing data from various touchpoints, we made informed decisions on how to optimize campaigns and tailor content to specific audiences, boosting overall efficiency and effectiveness.
