What the Unsolved Mysteries TV Show Can Teach You About Owning Your Own Business

Owning a business is hard work for anyone, but it's especially difficult when the business owner is also the sole employee. That's when you need determination, perseverance, and patience that you can muster. You also should take all the help, advice, and innovative ideas that you can get, even if those ideas come from unusual places. Perhaps, even from one of the most popular 90's TV shows.

Before the era of the Survivor and Big Brother and all their hype, there was a different type of reality show, the reenactment show. These shows focused on something that had actually happened, a crime, an accident, an usual story, and reenacted it for the public to see.

Unsolved Mysteries was one such show, reenacting stories of crime, kidnapping, miracles, lost loved ones, and even more out there stories of the paranormal. They always ended each story by asking for the publics help in solving the mystery. What does this have to do with business, you ask? More than you realize.

#1 Make Sure You Have The Right Presentation

One of the reasons millions of viewers tuned into Unsolved each week, was the host Robert Stack. Robert had a unique voice, it was low and deep, and he spoke in a mysterious, somewhat creepy tone that fit the show perfectly. In business you also have to make sure you are using the right voice, and you also have to be careful as to what that voice is saying.

If you have a website make sure it fits the tone of your business. For example if you go to schools and host class parties, you wouldn't want to be to serious in your promotional material, you would want to convey a since of fun and play. Likewise if you are marketing new technology to business clients, you wouldn't want to use paper with squiggles on it, or kiddie looking folders. Sometimes it is all in how you look.

#2 Show Don't Tell

Sure Unsolved Mysteries could have simply recounted what happened in a certain story, but that wouldn't make a very exciting TV show would it? Part of the shows' draw is that it dramatizes the stories, often using people that were actually involved.

This technique will work in your business as well. Don't just tell people that you can cater their next dinner, bring pictures or even videos to show. In addition to showing people what you can do, having customer testimonials is also a big boost for your business.

#3 Get Your Customers Involved

Another reason that Unsolved was so interesting is that it not only showed the viewers the story, it asked them to get involved. It challenged people to pay more attention to their surroundings, to think things over more clearly, or to take a second look at strangers.

While you probably shouldn't go to those extremes, getting your customers involved in your business is a great idea. Instead of simply having them buy something from you, and then never seeing them again, why not keep your customers coming back. A few ideas of how to do this are:

Hosting contests and give aways on your website or blog.

Starting a Facebook page for your business and inviting customers to join.

Starting a community or social network site specifically for your business.

Hopefully this has showed you how a great TV show can inspire your business. Not only was Unsolved groundbreaking television, that is still aired in re-runs and can be found on Youtube, it is also an example of what happens when you mix good ideas and creative thinking with new and unusual methods. We should all keep trying to do the same.