When someone asks “what do you do?”, they’re (mostly) not simply asking for a job description. We want to know if your ‘what’ has a direct relevance to me when expressed as a why – and whether it is pertinent to myself or others I might know. It may not be that you want their … Continue reading Your story is your sell and your sell is your story
Category Archives: Marketing
We’re all complex. And our individual businesses usually do many things. Try telling that to a stranger though, and watch their eyes glaze over. That’s because we all crave understanding, immediately. Sure, later on you might expand the small list of problems you solve. But initially, at a cocktail party or as the first thing … Continue reading No really, what’s your business’s one thing
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
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
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
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
A good story is obvious…once you see it The best stories appear effortless. Whether it is someone spinning a yarn, telling you in less than 10 seconds why you should be interested in what they’re selling, or the first thing read on a website, a good story captivates us. As Lisa Cron outlines in her … Continue reading A good story is obvious…once you see or hear it
Occam’s Razor is a principle from philosophy which can be applied to writing – all writing, including your first most important story. In Latin Occam’s Razor is sometimes called lex parsimoniae, or “the law of briefness”. This Latin roughly translates as “more things should not be use than are necessary.” For example, if there’s two … Continue reading Applying Occam’s Razor to your writing
The worst possible brief for the lucky person who has the task of putting your messages down in words, is ambiguity. Trying to nail the first story, or 1001st, but not being clear what the one key idea is you’re trying to say is dead-on-arrival stuff for a writer.By being clear what it is you’re … Continue reading Do your copywriter a favour, only give them one idea to illustrate
The worst possible brief for the lucky person who has the task of putting your messages down in words, is ambiguity. Trying to nail the first story, or 1001st, but not being clear what the one key idea is you’re trying to say is dead-on-arrival stuff for a writer.By being clear what it is you’re … Continue reading Do your copywriter a favour, only give them one idea to illustrate