Stories are powerful. Stories are interesting. Stories are fun. And most importantly in the business world, stories are effective. They grab your attention, and then help you remember.

Think back to the best speaker presentations you’ve ever heard. I bet many of them involved a story or some anecdotal information that helped you relate to the speaker, and thus to the speaker’s overall message. Maybe it was a narrative about a particular innovation, a customer relationship, an overall mission, a business idea, whatever.

A website, like a good bag of potato chips, must stay fresh in order to be enjoyed. An updated website lets customers know you’re an active business.

Here are my top five tips to make sure you’re not letting your site go stale:

1. Keep your homepage up to date with the latest news about your business or company.

2. Maintain a Press Room that includes the latest media coverage you’ve received.

3. Maintain a blog on your website and post to it consistently.

4. Keep photos and visuals fresh, vibrant and interesting.

Yesterday I had a meeting with an executive at a huge East Coast retail chain. We were talking business, selling techniques and practices, when he said something to me that really resonated.

“When I’m in the store and I see our customers loading their carts with a particular item, I let them know if we have upcoming sales on those items before they purchase them.”

Wow.

Sometimes the secret to gaining a competitive edge for your business is thinking outside of the box. You know, get creative! This is my colleague Deb’s specialty. Whenever I need a creative title to a press release or transition in a sentence, she’s the gal I call. Here are a few fun and creative ways to promote business that we’ve done and seen. Perhaps one of them will work for you.