I have to admit, I was curious. When I saw previews of a new show called “The Apprentice,” it made me want to at least watch premiere to see what was going on. Immediately, I was hooked. The whole idea of candidates - from all walks of life, not just college grads fresh from their commencement ceremonies - vying for a position in one of Donald Trump’s organizations piqued my interest. What kept my interest were real-life advertising lessons every business owner needs to be reminded of.

Take, for instance, one episode where teams were challenged to create an ad campaign. I was, needless-to-say, on edge of my seat for entire show. One team immediately decided to phone client and setup an appointment to find out about product, end user, and other aspects that would make a big difference in creating campaign. (Smart move!)

The other team, however, said they didn’t have time to talk with client. They were running behind schedule. Meeting with client - in their opinion - would just waste an hour or two that could have been spent on more important tasks. (Excuse me?)

What happened? First of all, my husband came charging into living room asking, “Do you believe that? Even *I* know you have to talk to customer first!” Yes, he had been listening to me after all.

In end, campaign from team who did speak with client won challenge. Once losing team arrived in boardroom, project leader, Jason (Mr. “We Don’t Have Time To Talk With Client”), really got it from all sides.

Donald Trump’s assistants, George and Carolyn, made a point of bringing up fact that client was not contacted. Jason’s own teammates made a point of bringing up that client was never contacted. And Donald? To quote, Donald said, “That was a HUGE mistake… you’re fired!”

"Of course greatest power Sara possessed and one which gained her even more followers than her luxuries..., power that Lavina and certain other girls were most envious of, and at same time most fascinated by in spite of themselves, was her power of telling stories and of making everything she talked about seem like a story, whether it was or not." A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

It was a dark and stormy afternoon when newsletter arrived in my inbox. It was most recent issue from Dan, a new client, and he wanted scoop on why his newsletter wasn't working.

You've seen newsletters like his--attractive design, polished articles, but something just seems missing.

He had all basics covered in his newsletter--it balanced promotion with information, he had specific goals, and he published on a consistent basis. He was even starting to integrate some advanced newsletter techniques like storytelling.

And it was precisely storytelling that was tripping him up.

See, he'd tell stories about his clients and problems they faced. He painted great pictures of where client was before working with him.

But that's where story ended.

He was consistently ending story in middle.

...................................... When telling a story, make sure to share ending ...................................... The first rule of storytelling is to start at beginning and tell it straight through to ending. If you choose to share success stories with your readers of great work you've done for readers, stopping in middle only leaves readers wondering if you were actually able to solve your client's problem--not exactly question you want to leave readers with.