#GreaterSTL - March 30, 2021 -

StorySMART has launched #mySTLbiz , a free “in their own words” video brand journalism series profiling start-ups and small businesses throughout the greater St. Louis metropolitan region.

Led by courageous entrepreneurs, small businesses are driving innovation, investment and job growth throughout a bi-state region that spans 15 counties. #mySTLbiz is about sharing some of those inspiring stories by hearing directly from their leaders in their own words.

#mySTLbiz is a way for StorySMART to give back to the community while also showcasing the company’s brand journalism approach to storytelling. The #mySTLbiz small business profiles are videos running about 2 minutes in length that are the result of an interview conducted with the business owner or key company leader.

We learn about the business directly from the business. We launched the series by sharing a profile of Cicadea Biotech , which is located in the Helix Center Biotech Incubator in Creve Couer.

In the short video, Lucy Burns, the Founder & CEO of Cicadea Biotech , tells us about the innovative and important work the company is doing in providing custom PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing strategies and services for gene and microbe detection.

I am grateful to the entire team at the STL Partnership for connecting us to Lucy and to other businesses you will be hearing from soon.

Each week we will share at least one #mySTLbiz story, posting the story to storysmartnews.com and to our various social media channels.

We will also encourage the profiled business to share the story directly through their website and social media.

If you own a small business somewhere in our region, I encourage you to reach out to us to have us profile your business. I’ve included all our information at the end of this post to help make the connection.

We work directly with each business owner in telling their story. While it is a free video, the business becomes our client for purposes of the profile. Our approach is brand journalism. We work for the brand using a journalism model like we do with all clients.

Right now, we are doing all of our work virtually. That means we interview the business owner over zoom and produce an “in their own words” video story and companion written story so it can be shared online.

I conduct the interviews and do much of editing. I also have help from two talented StorySMART interns – Ethan Bacott and Connor Schwinn – both seniors at Webster University.

#mySTLbiz is win-win. You could actually say it is a win, win, win, win.

To start, most importantly, it is win for the businesses we profile. They get a high-quality professional video and written news story for free that they can use to promote their business.

It is a win for audiences online because they get to learn about these amazing businesses.

It is a win for StorySMART because we get to showcase our brand journalism work, while we refine our approach to virtual production.

Finally, it is a win for our interns who are helping me with #mySTLbiz.

They are joining us as innovative pioneers in the realm of direct storytelling. Connor and Ethan are learning about brand journalism while getting real experience with editing and building their portfolio.

Every business we profile gets a free video and a written news story they can use to share directly with their brand community via their website and social media.

#mySTLbiz is an example of how we roll at StorySMART.

We specialize in honest, authentic, and credible brand journalism. Telling not selling. We adhere to a brand journalism credo to ensure integrity in our work.

Every brand should be blogging and sharing videos on their website today. More media is created by the masses than mass media today. All brands should be acting like media outlets online by sharing content consistently via their website blog. We help brands do that professionally and ethically using journalists. We think that is important in this day and age because there is as much misinformation on the internet as information.

We wanted to create this #mySTLbiz series because it is much easier to show people what we mean when we say brand journalism than to explain it. As a small business, we know how hard it is to run a business and get noticed. And not just during a pandemic.

We know you are out there plugging away with your business just like we are.

We want to help you share your story. That is our specialty. We want to help other small businesses grow their business in a high-integrity way. We won’t lie – we would love to earn your business. We would love for you to hire us to help you promote your business. But we know that is not realistic for many companies right now.

We created #mySTLbiz to be a win-win all the way around – allowing us to show you brand journalism in action while helping others. Along the way, we also promote the community we love. How cool is that?

Our goal with #mySTLbiz is to profile small businesses throughout our entire region – from Jersey County Illinois to Jefferson County Missouri and everything in between. We are looking for all types of businesses in every industry.

We value diversity and inclusion. We want to help MBE/WBE and DBE companies, as well as majority owned. Everyone.

If you own a small business in one of the 15 counties in our bi-state region, I’d love to share your story. It is that simple.

Businesses operate to serve a market. That market isn’t limited by some line drawn by politicians who died long before I was born. The fact is we are one region, competing within a global economy. We are #greaterSTL. We are all in it together.

Forgive me for my soapbox moment, but nothing annoys me more than when we act parochially and at cross-purpose with one another in this region. We must do better and act as one region. And when I say region, that isn't just St. Louis city and St. Louis County. It is inclusive of the eight counties in Illinois and the six counties and city of St. Louis in Missouri.

I’ve headquartered my business in Clayton because I work from my home, not because I don’t like other areas. I'm a start up on a budget that didn't want to pay rent to anyone as I get my business going. I have been working from home (#WFH) long before the pandemic made it cool.

Many of our journalists do the same thing - and they are from a variety of neighborhoods around our diverse, expansive and awesome community. We are committed to being inclusive and showcasing businesses in neighborhoods throughout our diverse region.

Get these facts about our #greaterSTL: as the 4th largest economy in the Midwest, the #GreaterSTL region is home to more than 80,000 businesses employing over 1.4 million people. The region has one of the fastest growing startup scenes in the country.

Those facts underscore how important small business is to our community.

If you own a small business and want to be profiled, let me know.

You can email me directly at ron@getstorysmart.com or you can go to storysmartnews.com and fill out the #mySTLbiz form. It is that simple. In the meantime, to see more #mySTLbiz small business profiles bookmark storysmartnews.com.