Is ‘everyone’ your target market? Extremely unlikely is the answer – unless you’ve found a way to sell happiness! Even then there’s likely to be people who are content to be grumpy. So, given that everyone is not your customers, having a clear idea of who they are makes your messaging much more definable. Whether … Continue reading Why you’re a mug to try to appeal to everyone
It can be a tricky beast to uncover your why. And while ‘to make a living’ may be part-truthful, it doesn’t differentiate you from 95% of other businesses out there. If you’re struggling to provide a reason why someone might be interested in your product or service, try using ‘because’ after your ‘what’. You might … Continue reading Use ‘because’ to help you find your why
The story a business tells about itself heavily weights our opinion of it. Indeed, purely based on its story we may or may not purchase its products or service. We quickly read beyond its what…what it sells. This is the ‘head’ bit we readily take onboard. We really want to know who the business is. … Continue reading Your first story should reveal your purpose
Your first story after the business name, a value proposition, has to do a lot of heavy lifting. And there may be a temptation, driven out of desperation, to merely state what you do. But a business (or an individual for that matter) should always try to move beyond such a ‘what’ statement. Potential customers … Continue reading How to perfect a heart and soul and value proposition statement
It’s all too easy to complicate the plan(s) we have for our business. ‘Strategy’ can often devolve to a knotty mishmash of ‘goin to’. For many people though, a clear statement, in your first story, of who you are, what you do and why you do it – is also a very succinct business master … Continue reading Your story is your strategy, your strategy is your story
A problem shared is a problem halved as they say; even more so for our story telling. This can be the situation if you’re trying to name something – a report, a caption, a value proposition. But the trouble with attempting to uncover such names by yourself is…yourself. It is near impossible to be dispassionate … Continue reading Rope someone else in to help with your story
A business is, inevitably, many stories. But we can tell only one story…at least initially. Your first most important message therefore has to shoulder an awfully large amount of heavy lifting. Because, this first story is essentially the promise we make to our customers. It is a headline that invites a website visitor to explore, … Continue reading It’s unearthing your one story, of many, that’s important
Whether it is a value proposition, report heading, speech or heading for a web page, saying one thing well is always a challenge. Often those involved are too close to the ‘action’ as well. Refining your message to a single point is difficult. There’s always new angles you think of, other tacks you could take. … Continue reading How to get a message out of a mess
The carpenter’s dictum of “measure twice, cut once” is both a time and resource saver. It’s very difficult to add to a length of cut-too-short timber. The same ‘consideration’ aspect applies to nailing your first most important story. It’s all too easy to rush, and accept the first (what initially may seem like good) words … Continue reading Measure twice, cut once
It’s a daunting challenge for anyone to invent a new value proposition, or change a slogan. Whether big or small, capturing the essence of who you are and what you represent in as few words as possible is mightily difficult. This is particularly the case when your flagship product is a bad boy in the … Continue reading Pepsi’s new generic ‘for the love of it’ slogan underwhelms