Many of us have struggled with what to call something or someone. In the case of a child’s name it can be a nightmare. After all, we don’t want to lumber our offspring with either too common a handle or something so obscure it invariably results in variations on ‘pardon?’. A business name is similar, … Continue reading Why your business name should start your story
After Michelangelo sculpted his statue of David in Florence in 1504, he was asked how he created such a masterpiece? “It’s simple. I took away everything that wasn’t David,” he replied. Viewing the magnificent more than four metre David, it’s obvious Michelangelo is being slightly disingenuous. But his ‘simple’ idea to remove the unnecessary bits … Continue reading Simple is better…but hard to achieve
In an age where the world’s awash with content of multiple kinds, what’s the use of blogging? An obvious-ish answer is because Google doesn’t like seeing static websites. From that point of view, regularly updated material in the form of a blog creates change, reminds the internet’s largest search engine that you’re still alive and … Continue reading Why bother blogging?
Many of us, myself included, are often guilty of over-wording our message. We use two words when one would do. We use generic words when our story screams for a metaphor. We use little known words that can embarrass people because they don’t understand their meaning. The key to creating your own Million Dollar Message … Continue reading Making your story simple yet profound
Most of us will have been at a function, and asked someone “what do you do?” “I do many things,” the reply. “You do many things and therefore nothing,” you tell yourself in your own mind, and instantly detune your listening. Now, it may indeed be the case that a business does do many things. … Continue reading How do you answer “what do you do?”
Do the first few words you use to describe your company accurately reflect who you are? Are you able to hold your hand on your heart and honestly say “this is us?” Or do you have a degree of embarrassment that your first message is closer to fiction than reality? Because the simple fact of … Continue reading Lipstick on a pig, versus naming your pet pig
Do you think you could put together 100 consecutive blogs over 20 working weeks? That is, publish a piece reflective of both your own thoughts and those of importance to your business? I’m not sure I could (hell, who am I kidding…I couldn’t). Which is why I’m tipping my hat to Christine Langdon, Co-founder and … Continue reading Could you write 100 blogs in 100 days?
Sometimes it it difficult to express your what and why in one sentence. The concepts you’re trying to express may be too different, or you can’t link them smoothly. Alternatively, you may have quite technical or complex products or services to sell. Don’t be afraid to play with an idea equation. Give yourself permission to … Continue reading Idea equations = another way to sell a story
A couple of 13 year olds were in the same room as me, where the television happened to be on. (Of course, normally they’d be head down over an internet device of some kind and wouldn’t be seen dead watching some ‘old’ technology). An ad came on, though I wasn’t looking at the time so … Continue reading And sometimes those sales messages fail to land
Once, the following terms were new and fresh. But, as everyone starts using them, abusing them, they become overused, they become ignored. These words actually make it harder for people to understand you – which is ironic because they originally were meant to do the opposite. Audit, tax and advisory services firm Grant Thornton recently … Continue reading Use these words at your peril (or…how quickly terms become overused)