I’m going to be honest:  I’m not entirely sure what “hypo-allergenic” means.  I could look it up on Wikipedia, but that would disingenuous- I didn’t know what it meant when I chose to buy the Seventh Generation brand.  More importantly, I’m not entirely positive the gradation of difference the level of “non-hypo-allergenic-nous” the Seventh Generation brand “has” over the pure run of the mill bleach brand either.  I know I could incline myself to say “well, bleach is bad…and of course this stuff is clean…it comes in a white bottle and it says so” but that would miss the point.  I’m not sure what “non-toxic” means and even though I know they are a Native American Indian tribe, I’m not quite sure the whole story behind the Iroquois either.

So why did I end up paying double for “Seventh Generation”?  Because I like the story!  I’m not sure to what extent I helped to save the environment this morning as I cleaned my deck and brushed the run off down the pipes, but it was sure worth the extra $3.00 I spent to know:  “At least I did my best to do right by myself and environment”.  It ‘felt’ clean.  It’s a good story.

I admit whole heartedly:  I’m not a scientist and to be totally honest, I’m not sure what all the green verbiage means.  And if pressed, neither do most.  The point is not how much we know about it – the point is the story!  People are buying a story when they walk into Whole Foods and when they buy a Prius.  Sure you can try and coordinate rational differences between a Prius and  Hummer:  miles per gallon, fuel efficiency, etc.  But really – tell me the difference?  What is the REAL difference to you – the atoms that compose the structure that is your body – in eating organic v. conventional?

Lewis Black said it best: “And for all we study about health, we know nothing!  Is milk good or bad?”  Not a hand amongst sold out, silent hall went raised.  “I rest my case” as everyone burst into laughter.

We love the story.  We buy the story.  And I’m happy to do it.  I feel better:  physically, mentally, and spiritually.

As a small business, take heed:  define your story.  The story about you and your business is already there – it’s not a question of that – it’s a question of how much you want to participate in the active formation of what that story is.

What is the story you’re telling every day?

Carreira has distinguished herself in a variety of capacities online: “Cyndy Aleo-Carreira is a former web developer turned technology writer. In addition to contributing to The Industry Standard, she is also Editor at the Web 2.0 blog Profy, and discusses tech and start-up issues at Wife 2.0.”

You can read the two links posted above regarding the “story”, but she deemed the incident one of the most surreal days she has had online in over 15 years.
Why?  I’m betting human…

Among other things this was very human story in a fray of online media and information – “the fire hose” – fraught with an over abundance of technical and business information, making this post stand out from the norm. This was a very human story behind a piece of “technology” that has a very real world and human application: in this case, putting babies to bed! Talking to people, explaining stories, showing the ‘behind the scenes’ aspects of life…or, I daresay…business.

She let us into her life with this story and it paid off huge dividends.