Knowing the framework around which you’re going to build a house, or a website, make construction so much easier. The alternative is to start building, see what happens…and then have to change it all completely. Getting that framework right is the difficult bit. But once you have it, you’re filling in the gaps. For a … Continue reading The five-vital-pieces framework for website copy
Category Archives: million dollar message
Restricting yourself to 10 words, tell me about your business. Is it simple? Have you described why someone should be interested in your product or service? Is it succinct? Have you given me a what and a why? Does it resonate? Is part of the heart and soul of who you are evident along with … Continue reading Simple…succinct…resonating?
There’s an old saying that if you don’t tell your own story, somebody else will. Which means if we want to have a say in how someone else relates our brand or company, then it is in our major self-interest to deliberately craft that story. Such an intent starts with your first story – a … Continue reading If you don’t tell your own story…somebody else will
Well-known author of 19 best selling non-fiction books Seth Godin knows a thing or two about writing. He reckons we scan 10 words the first time we read a page, post, ad or memo. He recommends highlighting the 10 most important words of the 1000 (or 100 or whatever) words you originally write. Then start … Continue reading We scan a page and see 10 words
Sometimes, out of the blue, a song will trigger a memory. “The Otherside” by Breaks Co-Op came on the BizDojo co-working space Spotify playlist the other day. I can picture Jeff, a former work colleague and friend singing it at the top of his voice over a decade ago in an office we worked out … Continue reading A song triggers a memory of a friend who died far too early
Fiction is wonderful. Not only does it allow us to imagine we’re in a different world, era and situation, it enables us to safely become aware of different ways of thinking. When we’re reading or watching fiction, we know it is a made up story – even if it might be based on something real … Continue reading Why the most powerful element in storytelling is the truth
As much as we like to think we’re rational, coolly evaluative creatures, at our heart, we’re ruled by our heart. It is what we feel that counts. Sure, we’ll justify decisions we make, pointing out why something’s features and benefits are useful to us. But that’s after the intuitive gut-response. This comes first. This heart…felt, … Continue reading How does your story make someone feel?
We all get so wrapped up in our own business we can lose objectivity, lose perspective of what we actually do. It’s the not being able to see the wood for the trees phenomenon. Having someone else with which to bounce around your idea of ‘business self’ is an invaluable resource. Preferably you need a … Continue reading The power of another person’s perspective
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
Advertising is often the art, or deception, of putting a gloss on what we do. That is, trying to make a product or service bigger, or better sounding, than it really is. There’s an inherent danger in this approach. In the same way that if you tell a lie, you then have to remember what … Continue reading Tell an authentic story, not an imaginary one