Each year, news producers, reporters, and journalists — including bloggers and podcasters — actively seek pitch stories to engage their audiences as they pursue new goals in various areas, such as health and fitness, business growth, financial success, and parenting. Producers receive numerous pitches that utilize the New Year’s resolution theme.
Celebrities often appear on national morning shows and various news formats, and the producers who book guests for these in-studio interviews typically see the arrangement as a “quid pro quo.” They provide guests with five to ten minutes of valuable airtime in exchange for engaging content — entertaining stories or insightful information that can benefit viewers in their personal or professional lives. This principle applies to many platforms, including radio shows, magazines, online information sites, podcasts and more.
Helpful Tips to Enhance Your Pitch:
Relate to Common Goals: Connect your story to the universal desire for self-improvement that comes with the New Year. Highlight how your idea addresses popular health, career, or relationship resolutions.
Create Engaging Characters: Develop relatable characters striving to achieve their New Year’s resolutions. This helps the audience connect emotionally with the story.
Incorporate Timely Elements: Mention how your story aligns with the start of the year, making it relevant and timely. Discuss why this angle is engaging at this moment.
Present a Unique Twist: Offer a fresh perspective on traditional resolutions. Consider how your story can challenge or expand upon typical narratives associated with this theme.
Emphasize Change and Growth: Focus on character development and transformations throughout the story. Illustrate how resolutions can lead to unexpected outcomes.
Resolve to Up Your Game This Year
Demonstrating your expertise in helping people stick to their New Year’s resolutions is an excellent way to build a connection with a larger, appreciative audience. In the process, you might also attract new customers or clients!
Happy New Year’s Resolutions!!! Sure, we’re now halfway through the month of January, but most people believe it’s perfectly acceptable to keep using ‘Happy New Year’ as a greeting all month long. In fact, some might even stretch it into February if they haven’t seen you in a while. At the end of the day, it’s your own personal judgement call.
Since it’s still perfectly acceptable to say ‘Happy New Year,’ it’s also a great time (if you haven’t already) to set new goals or resolutions for the year ahead! Let’s dive into the origins of resolutions, different types of goals and tips for staying on track.
When did New Year’s Resolutions start?
Resolutions have evolved over time. According to history.com, the practice began over 4,000 years ago by the ancient Babylonians. Unlike today, their new year started in March and was rooted in religious customs. Later, Julius Ceasar established January 1 as the start of the new year, which still holds true today. And modern-day resolutions have shifted to focus on personal self-improvement rather than making promises to the gods.
Types of Goals
When we’re trying to decide on resolution(s) for the year, our minds probably all go to the tried-and-true ones on a lot of people’s lists.
Self-Care: hitting the gym, eating healthier, getting more shut eye, prioritizing mental health
Personal Development: getting that work promotion, decluttering, getting organized, taking up a new hobby
Relationship Goals: more quality time, expanding circles of friends, practicing gratitude
Financial Goals: saving money, creating a budget, paying down debt
But maybe the traditional list of resolutions isn’t for you. Maybe you’ve chosen a single word to inspire and guide you throughout the year. Think growth, gratitude or kindness. These one-word resolutions are becoming more common and can serve as a theme to help guide your actions for the year.
My personal favorite New Year’s resolution is the straightforward “less” and “more” approach. Grab a piece of paper and make a column for both. Less clutter. More family time. Less stress. More time in nature. Less screen time. More gratitude. “Less” and “more” resolutions are easy to incorporate into your daily life.
Keeping Your Resolutions
Now that resolutions have been made, the important question is how do we hold ourselves accountable to keep them? It’s sad to say that the percentage of people who successfully achieve their New Year’s resolutions is in the single digits. So, here are a few tips to stay on track.
Start Small. You don’t have to hit the gym seven days a week. Start with two or three days and work your way up if you choose.
Be Flexible. Life happens. Adjust your plan and keep trying instead of giving up completely.
Reward Yourself. Celebrate the small victories. Maybe it’s a new outfit if you’ve lost weight. Or a sweet treat at the end of the week if eating healthily is your goal.
Stay Positive. If things don’t go as planned be kind to yourself. It’s not about perfection, it’s about progression.
Your resolution can be as simple or as ambitious as you want. The goal is to start the year on a positive note, celebrate the wins and enjoy the journey. Happy New Year!!!
The narrative of your brand storytelling and messaging builds an emotional connection with customers and clients — and should not be overlooked. This is a powerful marketing tool you can use to differentiate your brand from your competition, and so much more. Once upon a time can grow a brand from a garage band to a full symphonic orchestra. From a video on a phone to a full-fledged blockbuster movie, and happily ever after.
Strengthening Brands Through Storytelling
Recently, two new clients reached out to us to strengthen and grow their brands. These two leaders — one a mid-sized manufacturer and the other a non-profit founder — realized their vision and mission weren’t being articulated strong enough. Their narratives were powerful, but were not being communicated in the most impactful way both internally and externally.
And these business leaders knew Front Porch Marketing would activate their superpowers to propel their brands to realize business results. These results included internal alignment, engagement, increased brand awareness and increased revenues.
Over the holidays, I was reminded of the power of storytelling by watching movies and listening to music.
Storytelling Connects Us Using Music and Movies
Courtesy of my daughter’s prompting, she and I enjoyed watching movies and listened to great music over the holidays, among other things. These experiences always remind me of the power of brand storytelling. And the success so many brands have had by doing it well.
Memorable Storytelling From Past to Present
“Let’s go to the movies, Annie,” to quote the great Daddy Warbucks. Growing up, my parents took me to musicals at The Muny and The Fabulous Fox in St. Louis, Missouri. One of the many shows I saw was Annie. My middle name before I got married was Ann. My mom thought it was cute to call me Annie any chance she could.
Wicked … the movie vs. the musical? From an early age, I was hooked on The Wizard of Oz. It could have been the ruby slippers. Who doesn’t love a good shoe? I cast myself in the garage version of The Wizard of Oz. I still can recall most of Dorothy Gale’s lines. But I had no idea what happened before Dorothy followed the yellow brick road. Whoa, there was a lot. And thanks to Wicked the musical I know the story behind the story. It was genius storytelling.
And, then came the movie this year. And it was only part one. Sign me up for part two right now. And kudos to all things Wicked the movie. The actors, the sets, the music. All of it.
Stories I’ll Remember From This Year
Red One, I thought it was brilliant. Who doesn’t want the Rock and that Captain America to save Christmas? An E.L.F. — Extremely Large and Formidable — operative joining with the world’s most accomplished tracker. As well as all the other special forces for the tooth fairy and other mystical creatures. To quote Jimmy Fallon, “Come on, bud.” So good.
And, the explanation of the North Pole? “Beam me up, Scotty.” The North Pole is a much cooler place than I ever imagined — such imaginative storytelling in this movie. The portals in the toy shop! I told Audrey I was going to start working at one. She didn’t think that was a good idea. And as far as Santa’s reindeer go, this is the only movie that I can recall that portrayed them so well. They are true forces of nature. That movie was a master class in storytelling!
Oh, and of course, Taylor Swift was a highlight of our holiday experience this year, again due to my daughter. She brought Taylor’s music back into my life. Also, thanks to my sweet girl, we have a forever memory of attending The Eras Tour in Miami, Florida. Um, excuse me for this but, “It was rare. I was there. I remember it.”
Telling The Right Story Endears Audiences
Taylor Swift is the GOAT of storytelling. She somehow connects with both an 11-year-old and a, cough, 50- something adult, in similar and different ways. Long live her words, music, talents, vision, inspiration and engagement. She is the epitome of bold, memorable storytelling.
If you are in doubt, listen to The Tortured Poets Department, which much to my daughter’s chagrin I sometimes call The Tortured Poets Society, because of my age (Dead Poets Society). I am sure the great Taylor Swift knows the magic of this movie, and realizes the impact that it had on a generation.
Waxing lyrical about brand storytelling and messaging through the lens of my holiday happenings seems like a great way to start the year on a positive note. I hope this idea of storytelling resonates with you too. If so, let us know. Or, share it with a business or nonprofit leader you know who wants to grow their businesses beyond a garage band.
Looking to plus up your small business marketing in 2025? We’re ending this year with a wrap-up of blog posts that will help you do just that. From trade shows to content marketing, here’s a go-to of explainers, checklists and reasons to get started.
Build a strong relationship with the media that matters to the growth of your small business. Find out who to pitch to, what they’re looking for and best tips and tricks to grow your company’s voice-of-authority in your space.
Content Marketing for Your Small Business
What is it and why do you need to be doing it? When you create a content marketing eco-system of blog posts, social, newsletters and CRM you’ve got a winning content formula for attracting and keeping loyal customers engaged and informed.
How to Manage Your Small Business LinkedIn Profile
Not sure what to do to share your wealth of knowledge, attract prospective clients and employees and expand your presence in your industry? We’ve got quite a few tips on managing your LinkedIn profile.
Strong Branding for Small Business
From Brand Guidelines to tip for marketing your business with photography, a website refresh, a visual identity, or creating a powerful brand voice, Front Porch has you covered. Read up on building the brand you’ve always dreamed of with insider information.
The How-To for Producing Small Business Videos
Video marketing is the current gold-standard for social, websites, and more. Not sure how to plan and produce videos showcasing your small business or product? Use our checklist to get started highlighting your best features.
And that’s just the tip of the blog iceberg! In the new year, we encourage you to look for the answers to your small business marketing dilemmas on our blog — we try to cover every aspect of marketing to help you go further and accomplish more. And if you need help or have a question, we’re here for you! Here’s to a successful 2025!
