I help missionaries, leaders, and organizations tell powerful and effective stories that inspire action. My emails have tips to help you share the stories that matter.
Write like this fish
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After finishing your year-end campaign, I know you're thinking about all those thank-you cards you need to send. You ARE sending thank-yous, aren't you? I promise, it doesn't have to be hard. Even a fish can do it. See, I recently received this postcard: The image instantly got my attention. Why is that ridiculously happy man waving a fish at me? Oh! I bought some fish from him. Now he sent me this card, and I feel special! That's how our supporters should feel, too. Notice how simple the message is: "Hi Kay! Welcome to the Community!" Perfect! That's all I need. No history of the business, details about their mission to provide sustainable, wild-caught fish to consumers, no sales or deals, or requests to leave a review. Sometimes a simple message makes a bigger splash than fancy newsletters — especially when someone has just made a first-time gift. Take the pressure off and keep your thank-yous and welcomes simple. You'll share more with your people later, when you've had a chance to catch your breath. God bless you! –Kay
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Kay Helm
I help missionaries, leaders, and organizations tell powerful and effective stories that inspire action. My emails have tips to help you share the stories that matter.
Hello Reader, Season 4 of the Life & Mission Podcast is here! Over the next few weeks, I'm doing a deep dive on the Six Building Blocks of Storytelling: who, what, where, why, when, and how. Simply including these in your content isn’t enough. Starting next week with "Who?" we'll explore the different ways you can bring all the essential "who"s into your storytelling, and why you should. The overview episode is out now, along with new features available to podcast listeners: The podcast is...
When you talk to people about funding your mission, do you get a “yes” every time? Does that make you hesitate at the next opportunity? I think it's important for us to remember even the best don't succeed at every try. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes won the Most Valuable Player award (again) at this year's Super Bowl. He threw 46 passes in the game, but only 34 were caught by teammates (and one was intercepted). During the season, "just" 67% of the passes he threw were completed. In school, 67%...
In the Food Network show Chopped, chefs compete to cook the best dish based on a basket of mystery ingredients. Just before contestants present their first dish to the judges, they must answer the question: What would it mean for you to win? The winner gets $10,000, but winning Chopped means so much more than money. This is the story element of the show. Each chef is playing for something personal to them. Some play in hopes of winning seed money for a new venture. Some play to prove...