Who says you cannot derive business ideas and models from storytelling? Yes, you can, if you understand the story, get revelation knowledge from it, and apply them to your own business.

Storytelling is no longer just for fun and entertainment; it is now a big business which you can also use to make your business bigger.

Just look for where good stories are told, build models from them, and see how you can apply them to your business, you will win. In two instalments of this column, we shall discuss a business model from a story in the bible. It is the story of the sbiblical Moses and the burning bush.

Think about this. “Is your bush burning, or has it burnt?” A burning bush you wonder. What has that got to with me and my business? Mind you, I did not say, burning bush. I asked a question: Is your bush burning? If this is not straightened out, you may not benefit from this discussion.

Now consider this! You are working on a footpath bound on both sides by shrubs with fresh foliage. Something catches your attention. One of the shrubs is burning, but the fire is not consuming the leaves and stems. What kind of burning bush is this you wonder? You are curious as you move closer to examine the fire. The spectacle that completely arrests your attention is very unusual. Then a voice calls your name from the burning bush, what would you do? Answer and wait? Few of us would do that. Not in the present world with worsening security of lives and property, demonic oppression and rituals. If you hear your name from a burning bush, you would definitely think your enemies are after you. You may be paralyzed by fear, at least for a few minutes. Some of us would react that way. Or you may sprint away like a 100m Olympic gold medalist and never look back. Many of us would react that way too. Please, don’t blame any one who runs away for dear life.

But what the runaway person does not know is that the burning bush experience is the beginning of a great story and deliverance of a people, community or customers from poverty, unemployment, unhappiness, oppression and economic hardship, and directing them to their promised land, which as is said in the Bible, is the land that flows with milk and honey. Every consumer has a promised land. Can your business take consumers to their promised lands? This is a challenge for you. You can do it, and always remember, storytelling can help you do it.

If per chance you go through the burning bush experience, it is nothing new. You are enacting the experience of the biblical Moses and the burning bush. He was tending the livestock of his father in-law, when God, in an unusual circumstance, got his attention and interest and sent him to deliver the children ofIsraelto their promised land.

For corporate managers and professionals, how does the burning bush principle apply to your business today? What plays out here is a unique storytelling and a communications strategy. To move the consumer to action, marketing experts teach us to use the AIDA principle: Attention-Interest-Desire-Action. This is exactly what happened when God used the burning bush communications model to get the attention of Moses, and empowered him to deliver a whole nation from a foreign land to their promised land. And what did Moses use? The power of storytelling and the Rod in his hand. Though he stammered, God placed his brother Aaron beside him, to help him. They were mandated to speak to Pharaoh, and tell him, “Let my people go!” That was a life changing story.

So what are the lessons for us in the present day? We should strive to use attention-getting communications strategies such as storytelling, which speaks and empowers the audience or object of communications.


Eric Okeke is a storyteller, editor, business writer, motivational speaker and author of the best selling book: I Want a Husband. He is one of Nigeria’s most experienced financial journalists. He has published several articles in local and foreign publications and in websites such as http://www.ezinearticles.com, www.ezinearticles.com and www.writingcareer.com. He is currently running Infomedia Company, a media consulting and information marketing company. Visit his blog at http://sallywantsahusband.blogspot.com

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