kabongo kids reading (Photo credit: GoodNCrazy)

Story time on the blog today.  Stories aren’t just for films and books, they’re for businesses too.

Sharing the problems you had, the obstacles you overcame, and how you did it can be a powerful selling tool.  It’s even better when your customers tell great stories about how you helped them.

Here are some tips on how to tell a story.

Pixar story telling rules – the brilliant people at Pixar share how they make so many hits.

The hero’s journey – the entire process (from ordinary life, through challenges, and finally success).

Why a business needs story time – why businesses need to emulate Pixar and tell great tales.

What stories do people tell about you? – the stories that others tell about you can be even more important than the stories you tell yourself and more believable).

Rock climbing (B&W) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today’s Tuesday Travels focuses on social media tips. We all know social media is out there. Some of us are rock stars, others are cautiously dipping our toes in the water.  These social media tips can help both social media newbies and veterans.

How to Be a Social Media Rock Star – Kristi Hines shows you how to stand out on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.  I particularly like her suggestion to bookmark the URLs of  your profiles for easy access; an “obvious” tip which I never thought of!

Google Hangout on Air Comment Tracker – An extension that lets you see (and respond to) Google+ post comments right inside your Hangout.

Google+ and Flipboard – Google+ streams are coming to Flipboard (tablet app that turns RSS feeds into a “magazine” format). You’ll be able to comment, +1, and share to your circles.  It should look better than the current G+ app too (which is just awful on tablets).

(Oh, and the head of Google+ just said it will never have ads!).

How Photos Attract More Viewers on Social Media – pictures attract eyeballs (people especially like to look at people).  Here are some tips on how to get more viewers to your posts.

Card file cabinet, restricted section, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris. Français : Fichier, réserve de la Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ever try to send a big file to someone, only to have it get stuck because your email provider won’t let you send anything over a certain size? These services can help fix that. They’re also helpful, in a pinch, if your e-commerce service has a hiccup and your customers don’t get the ebooks or files they paid for.

Each service works a bit differently. Some limit the number of times you can send files for free, others have storage limits, and several levels of paid services. If you’re willing to pre-pay for the year, you can often save money.

Dropbox -saves your files, and automatically syncs them to all your gadgets (PC, laptop, smartphone). And, you can share directly from their handy desktop app. You can invite people to share particular folders, or just share specific files. 2 GB free (to start); and this is clever, you can “earn” more free storage with a referral link. They get extra free space too. If you need more space, there are several tiered plans (from $9.99 to $19.99 monthly), which are also eligible for free referral upgrades.

Dropsend – send files up to 2GB; 5 per times month for free. After that, they’ll charge you, but paying also gets you online storage, faster transfer speeds, and tracking (at higher levels).  The paid plans cost $5-$99 per month, depending on which one you choose.

Yousendit – 2GB of free storage. and send files up to 50 MB for free (no limit on number of times you can use it). Higher levels let you control when the links to the files you sent expire. The highest level offers unlimited storage. Monthly plans from $9.99 to $19.99 per month (less if you pay annually).

Google Drive – no link because it’s not live yet (though rumor says it may be live today). It will, apparently, offer 5 GB of free storage, with a fee for higher amounts. I’ll update this once something happens. Aha! 5 GB of storage for free, works on PC, Mac and Android, and you can upgrade to 25GB for under $2.40 per month. You can send files directly from Gmail (with a link), and they’re searchable too.

If you’ve got a favorite (that I missed), share it in the comments.

Paging Danger (Photo credit: jbcurio)

Sometimes, a blast from the past can be just the thing to get your design wheels turning. Here are some links to advertising, and photographs from long-ago eras, plus a bit about how the poster got started.

The History of Posters -Background of poster typesetting and production (they had to use wooden type for larger type sizes), plus some marvelous illustrations as examples (thanks Mary Louise Penaz for this link).

Wacky stuff – A personal collection of ephemera on Flickr (thanks to +Isabel Fortin for the link and the inspiration for this post).

Duke digital collection – Early advertising in America from 1850-1900, and some of those brands are still around.

Library of Congress Memory Collection – Transportation – Photographs from the world’s transportation commission – railroads, camels, elephants, sleds, horses, and even sedan chairs.

(Some of these are public domain, some not.  Check before you use any of them directly).