Episode 6: The Power of Story-Telling Using Instagram Stories with Baby Mac
The history of storytelling goes back thousands of years. Cave dwellers used pigment to paint on walls with their hands to create stories and myths. The ancient Greeks carved their language into walls to tell how history was moving forward.
Telling stories is one of the number one ways humans create connections to each other, to our communities, to our culture or to ideals. We use stories to find a common thread, to establish trust, to entertain, to give us another perspective. You can tell a story with words, or with images, or both.
Story-telling is in every aspect of our lives, books, movie plot lines, newspapers, conversations with friend, songs, plays, in an artwork on the wall, in our education…and now social media.
As business owners, especially if you’re not social media savvy, being active on those social channels and telling your brands’ story can feel like a chore. Even if you are familiar with how it works, it’s yet another task on your “to-do” list in the operations of your business each day, and it’s relentless…it’s 24/7.
In my opinion, every business whether you’re 100% online, a bricks and mortar business or a combination of both, can’t afford NOT to have a social media presence today.
You don’t have to be an “influencer”, overshare or just post randomly for the sake of it. You know I’m all about working smarter, not harder.
You just have to understand what makes a great story. And the good news is it’s pretty simple. Once we know that - we can use social media to our advantage to keep our story front and centre for our customers, every single day and, even better, we can do it for FREE!
Today’s guest on the podcast is someone who’s been at the forefront of storytelling since before social media even existed (sorry, I’m making her sound old, she’s not old, she’s 44, same as me, and I’m not old!)
Beth Macdonald or Baby Mac after her original blog from 2006 (and now her Instagram handle) suggests, is one of Australia’s OG bloggers, and still going strong 16 years later.
Beth began blogging as a means of keeping in touch with her two interstate sisters, but over the next decade and as her family circumstances changed it evolved into a showcase of stunning photography; honest, heartfelt writing; and entertaining storytelling.
In 2018 Beth decided to start an online shop, Add to Cart, with her sister Lucy from their homes in Burrawang, in the NSW Southern Highlands. The shop was a way to showcase and curate products Beth has loved and used over the years on her blog and on social media. It’s been a huge success selling to customers and readers all over Australia and around the world.
Beth is the master of Instagram stories, and she can make even the dullest household chore look sexy on the Gram. But she’s not a “look at me” influencer who’s selling a dream that doesn’t exist and that’s what I love most what she does. She’s honest and authentic, knows her brand and what she stands for and simply shares that on her stories each day.
She creates a picture of a life that people ultimately want a piece of, and then she sells from her interiors and accessories business from there.
It’s kind of genius. It’s consistent, organic, real (no filters here) and a fabulous example of how story-telling sells so well.
