Tag: messaging

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Is your brand carrying excess baggage?

Posted on by Red Slice

Guest post by Betsy Talbot, author of Strip Off Your Fear: Slip Into Something More Confident. She and her husband Warren write about the 5 Tenets to Live the Good Life at Married with Luggage. They are currently traveling in Asia.

Isn’t it just a little bit funny that the owner of a site called Married with Luggage is here to talk to you about your personal and business baggage? I thought so, too.

You see, I just accidentally published a book on branding. While my intention was to write a book on personal self-confidence and speaking up, it appears that all those lessons are exactly the same as building a confident brand.

It wasn’t until we reached out to Red Slice for help on solidifying our message and working out our brand schizophrenia that we connected the dots between the book project and the brand. In fact, it wasn’t until we told Maria about the book and what we were doing that we realized we had a problem with brand schizophrenia.

Let’s see if you have the same kind of ‘a-ha!’ moment we did:

  • Can your friends explain in one sentence what your business does?
  • Does your website accurately reflect your message in an instant, or are you expecting people to draw their own conclusions?
    Can a new visitor to your site tell from the home page whether you can help them or not?

In our case, we were holding on to some old baggage with our business. While the evolution of our message and offerings was crystal-clear in our minds, it was a fuzzy picture for a visitor to the site. Even Maria, who
actually named our business four years ago, couldn’t tell exactly what we were doing.

Let me tell you, when your brand strategist cannot figure out your brand, you’re not being clear enough for everyone else.

Accumulating excess baggage

Perhaps your business evolution mirrors ours in some way. We started out in 2008 sharing our goal of long-term travel beginning at 40, and it resonated with overworked and under-lived people our age also wanting to break free from the rat race. As we went through the saving and downsizing process for two years, we attracted an audience of minimalists, savers, and those wanting to downsize. When we started our journey in 2010, travel lovers and early retirees started following our adventures.

We wrote about all of these topics, making one segment of our audience happy at a time.

The longer we traveled, the more we learned about ourselves and human nature, and our business evolved to address those interests with articles, books, and a newsletter. Plenty of personal growth seekers joined our tribe. We were starting to hit our stride in messaging, but we still hadn’t connected it together in a meaningful way for our audience.

It was all in our heads, and we needed to find a way to voice it.

Streamlining your message

We finally asked ourselves what all those people really wanted overall, and the answer was personal growth and meaningful life experiences. All of our topics fell under this goal, but we were doing a poor job of showing how they worked to achieve it. We realized we had to speak to the need of personal growth and achieving meaningful life experiences and not just the various expressions of those needs.

Is this true in your business (or your personal life)? Are you showcasing an overall strategy to resolve an overall need or are you displaying a disjointed collection of “fixes” for your audience? Is your image an accurate portrayal of your current brand promise or an earlier evolution that has long since passed?

As we started working with Maria on our brand evolution and messaging, I saw the distinct parallels between personal confidence and a strong brand:

  • Accepting who you are now and building on your strengths
  • Saying what you want in a clear voice
  • Attracting the right kind of people into your life

While I didn’t start out writing a book about branding, it seems as if the rules of personal confidence and speaking up are good for business, too.

  • Discover exactly what you offer to the kind of people you want to help
  • Clearly state how you can help your target market and what result they can expect
  • Focus only on the people with whom you want to work

There is no confusing it now, and our business revenue and website traffic reflects our renewed focus on our brand and message.

It is true in your personal life and it is true in your business. As I said in my book:

“Speak up. Be proud of who you are, what you know, and what you do. Help other women do the same. When you change your world for the better, you make it better for the rest of us.” 

Now start unpacking those bags. 

Has your brand undergone an evolution and how did you address it in your visual, verbal or experiential branding? What worked and what didn’t? What do you think about brands that evolve? Please share in the Comments.

 

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Words that work: How to sell without sounding like a sleaze

Posted on by Red Slice

Too often, business owners believe that just because they know how to write, that their words will persuade people to pay attention, buy their products or provide word of mouth. But effective copywriting to compel an action or convey a brand takes a special skill. Today, Jared Matthew Kessler, Chief Copy Officer (CCO) at The Kick Ass Copywriter will share some insight as to how to sell by solving problems, not just tooting your horn. He’ll also dish on his process for crafting irresistible website copy, how to pitch without sounding schlocky and the biggest mistakes business owners can avoid if they want a compelling message.

Jared’s mission is to transform key ideas into words that sell and help companies stand out from the noise (not just add to it).

RS: Welcome Jared! How do you balance effective selling “techniques” for your clients without sounding overly cheesy?

JK: You know, we’re all a lot smarter these days. We know when we’re being sold and when we’re being helped. However, there’s this fine line between offering a product or service that you know will help people and slapping someone over the head with it.

When I take on a project, I ask numerous questions up front. In fact I gather as many marketing materials as I can and, if I need to, I send them a 7-page questionnaire that really helps me understand their brand – and whether or not there’s what I call a “B.S. factor.” So when I come up with a few concepts and start writing and developing them, I come from a conversational standpoint. Meaning, I literally have a conversation in my head between the prospect and the company owner. At any point, if I feel the “B.S. factor” is coming on too strong, I try and verbally pace the situation. Meaning, if it’s too good to be true you can say, “Listen… I know that sounds too good to be true. And honestly a lot of times it is. But…”

In addition to that, once I sense they are “pitching” someone, I just remove what was written and start again.

It should be about stepping inside the mind of your prospect, and getting people excited, without giving something away. So the product or service would be set up as the solution to your prospect’s problem (if that makes sense). That’s where you have to understand every single aspect of your audience before writing any copy.

I often say, “If you talk to everyone, you’re talking to no one.” It’s a conversation. Not a
sales pitch.

RS: So true. It’s about them, not about you! What big mistakes do you see when business owners write their own marketing or sales copy?

JK: There are four mistakes I see over and over:

1. Telling everyone about how great you are. How qualified you are to help someone. And how “life changing” your product or service is, giving everyone the overblown sales pitch of how much you can help someone. You can’t sell anything without rapport. Without trust. So make it about your prospect first. Then you, last.

2. Underestimating the power of your words. I mean this is similar to #1 in that a lot of people misunderstand what “copywriting” means. They think it’s all about making something sound good. And I think, huh? There’s so much work that goes into not just what I do, but what any true Copywriter does. And the reason I say, “true” is that I’ve seen a lot of “writers” tout themselves as Copywriters because of how much money they can make. And that makes me sad.

The main difference is that when you write copy you don’t just make something sound good. It has to be relevant to your audience. Sell a product or service without the greasy sales pitch. Increase your sales. Build your brand. And work.

I think too many people fall in love with an idea, instead of falling in love with a result. Recently, I had a client’s web site I rewrote the copy for and within hours she had people wanting to work with her. I love that! However, there was a TON of work and research behind that. I sent out surveys to send to her clients that really love her. I’ve written pages and pages of copy for each individual web page. Wrote a new tag line that served her brand much better than her web designer tried to pull off. Developed multiple concepts and… more importantly she didn’t change any of my work – which is the main reason I love her so much. 🙂

3. Building a website instead of a brand. I love a great ad campaign! One that’s smart. Effective. And solves their prospects problem in as a few words as possible (that’s 100% original). The best ones are when all the ads align with each other. For instance, take that David Beckham Superbowl ad (I’m sure you remember it ladies). Now it’s nothing to write home about in terms of incredibly original. But my point is, if you looked at the colors in the commercial. The style. The simplicity. It’s exactly the same look and feel as if you went into the store.

What I see of a lot of smaller businesses is that they just have a certain look and feel to their website. A certain look and feel to their business card. A certain look and feel to their actual business. And their brand is just inconsistent across all platforms. From their marketing collateral to their website, it really needs to be cohesive. It has to all click – not just one piece of it.

4. Have you or your web designer write the “copy” yourself, just to try and save a few bucks. What’s unfortunate is that people mistake a great looking website for an effective one. And that’s really two different things. It’s like me saying, “Well I can design your website for you.” I mean, I’ve never done that, nor would I ever! In fact I’m the first one to recommend a professional web designer to someone, because the design should support the copy (or vice versa).

In addition to that, I unfortunately tend to see certain business owners lose more money in lost sales, than trying to hire someone like me to begin with. What’s worse, is that if you’re a new brand, you have to build trust in the beginning. So if you’re looking to hire a Copywriter to “save the day” for your failing business months/years later, it’s unfortunately not going to do much good unless you rebrand yourself. Because once you lose someone’s trust, it’s really, really hard to earn that back. Even then so, it’ll take a lot more time and more money, than hiring a professional Copywriter from the start.

I mean, look at the rebrand JC Penney’s is going through. And how many millions of dollars in advertising are they spending to get you to revisit them after you already experienced them years ago?

It’s the same thing with trying to save any flailing business. Do it right from the beginning, or even if you’re doing it right, keep it consistent and hire a professional. In the short term, it might be more money than you thought. But in the long run, at least you’ll stay in business.

RS: Awesome points. You’ll end us spending more money (and losting more sales) if you don’t get it it right from the start. And it’s an investment in your business, not something you should skimp on.  One reason people cite is that “Another writer won’t sound like me if they write my copy.” How do you approach writing projects when you have your own writing style but need to reflect a client’s brand or voice?

JK: This is a great question! People get caught up in this a lot. They think that since you haven’t written copy for cell phone companies, or for medical sales or _______ that
you’re somehow unqualified – or the owner can do a better job than a professional Copywriter.

For me specifically, it’s similar to how actors research a role. I recently saw an interview with Brad Pitt on taking the role he did for Moneyball. In the interview, he mentioned how few people research roles nowadays. He mentioned how he could pick up certain character traits from spending months with the actual character he portrays. And how important the research process is for any project he takes on.

I mean, when you spend that much time researching your client, reading their marketing materials, talking with them over the phone, reviewing their answers to your questions… it’s only natural to pick up someone else’s style. Not only that, a lot of times you even help them discover their own voice, their own brand they didn’t even think they had. What’s more exciting than that?!

 What copywriting or messaging techniques have you found worked (or didn’t work) in your business? Please share your story in the Comments.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

How to build an effective website and look like a million bucks: A chat with Nancy Owyang

Posted on by Red Slice

How can small business owners with shoestring budgets and even less time create a powerful and professional looking visual web presence for their brand? While your website is only one brand facet, it’s an important one. I work with clients on their brand story and messaging but how can they communicate that brand online? Nancy Owyang, Creative Director and Owner of Eye 2 Eye Graphics, is a cherished partner of mine and produces amazing, simple and elegant work. She works with small business owners to make their business memorable through meaningful, strategic, and professional graphic design.

Her mission? To provide small business owners high quality, professional brand identity design that will make them stand out in a crowd and allow them play with the big kids… all at a price they can work into their budget.

I sat down to talk to her about what people are doing wrong with their websites and how small businesses can create big brands.

RS: Nancy, what are three helpful hints you have for folks building a business website from scratch? Or put another way, what are some of the biggest mistakes that make you cringe?

NO: Hmmmm… good question, so besides my obvious 3 hints of:

  • Don’t do it yourself
  • Don’t have your neighbor’s 16 year old nephew do it, and
  • Do find a designer and programmer who work and collaborate together—it’s rare that both a programmer’s mind and a designer’s mind can live in the same body

I’ll dig a little deeper and give you maybe some less obvious hints.

Have a plan. This can be something that a client brings to the project, or we can create it together, but having a plan is important for any project, especially a web site. Web sites have a tendency to grow and evolve, which is one of the beautiful things about them, but this makes having a plan even more important. This is the foundation that will guide us to make decisions about the site to make sure we stay on track and true to the business goals—in essence just because you can do it on the web doesn’t mean you should. A few things to think about for the plan:

  • How the site will be used by current clients and potential clients?
  • Is it a place that users come back to over and over? Or is it mostly just visited when they are considering hiring you?
  • What is the experience that you want to create?
  • Does the client need to be able to easily make updates to the site?

Think ahead. You’d think that this might fall into the obvious hint category, but it’s a
good one to point out. Things to think ahead about include:

  • Timeline. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your web site. Good site design  and development takes time. For a smaller site, expect and plan for at
    least 3 months from idea to launch.
  • How do you plan to edit the site in the future? Many small business owners want to be able to edit their site themselves: this will require the back-end of the site to be built in such a way that you can do this without learning to be a programmer in your spare time. If you’re a larger business, this may be a piece that you hire out, so the site could be built using a different back-end framework.
  • As your business grows, how will your web site change? Will you need a shopping cart? Do you want a built-in blog? Will you want to add a calendar of events? These things and more are things to think about when setting up the site initially.

Work with professionals for all parts of the site. An effective web site is an investment in your business and if planned appropriately will last you for several years with just minor updates to keep it fresh. So with that in mind, not only do you need a great designer and programmer pair, but you will also need a great copywriter to execute the voice of the site. This is important not only because this is your chance to communicate with your clients, and introduce yourself to potential clients, but this is what the search engines see too! Working in your search engine optimized keywords into the copy of the site so it doesn’t seem awkward and contrived can take some finesse. If you want to write the copy yourself, at the very least I recommend having it reviewed and edited by a professional copywriter who has experience writing for the web.

RS: What key factors do you consider when you design and develop a client website?

NO: The main thing that comes to mind is how important it is to put yourself in the seat of your website user. Who are they? Are they potential clients checking you out? Are they current clients? Are they just passing through doing research or gathering ideas? Do they come back over and over again? How do they interact with the site?

Once you know this information it will help you decide what needs to be included in the site, this will also determine how the site is updated, and how often. A site that serves more as a “brochure” site where potential clients come to check you out doesn’t need to be updated as often as a site that has an ongoing interactive relationship with the users. So it’s good to know upfront what site experience you want to build.

RS: In what ways do you see web presence as “the great equalizer” in helping small companies to compete with big brands?

NO: The amazing thing about the web is that every business no matter the size or location is available to people around the globe 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If your site is set up properly with professional design, well-written content, and search optimized
programming, your site can pop right up at the top of the search with the “big
kids on the block”. The potential client never has to know that you are a solo-entrepreneur working in your PJs out of a home office, while you have 2 kids under the age of 5 running around. You decide how big you want to be on the web and make it happen.

This comes with a warning… since the options are potentially never ending it is important to have a plan and a target, and stick to it. Think of it this way—aim for the bull’s eye, but if you get hits on the other part of the board you still get the points!

Just because the web gives us the platform to compete with the big brands, you need to be honest and ask yourself, is that what you want? Once you have your answer, position your site accordingly using the visuals, the voice, and all the search engine optimization goodies. Your website is your virtual brick and mortar. How big do you want it to appear to the site visitors?

About Nancy:

As the owner of Eye 2 Eye Graphics, LLC, Nancy Owyang is an award-winning designer with strong branding experience. She has aided a variety of clients in rebranding their businesses, including Women Business Owners, SLN Stage + Design, Delane Engineering and many more. Clients praise Nancy’s design sensibilities and her ability to first understand an owner’s mission, and then to translate that complex identity into a graphic representation. Her branding and design solutions are practical and unique, detail-oriented, on time, and on budget. To view a sampling of Nancy’s work please visit her online portfolio.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

What your website says about your brand (and how to make sure it’s telling the right story)

Posted on by Red Slice

Guest post by Seth Leonard who trains and mentors people who want to build dynamic, successful websites. 

Human beings spend their days sizing things up. Think of the last time you looked for a place to eat along a street lined with restaurants.Whether it was the well-positioned outdoor seating of a cafe or the use of neon by a deli, you probably formed almost immediate opinions about where you might want to eat based on these quick observations.

With all of the information surrounding us, we rely on these fast judgments in order to get through the day. Otherwise, we’d be drowning in a sea of data.

There is no vaster sea of data than the internet. So the snap decisions that people make about your website and what you have to offer come fast, and are most likely final.

Today we’re going to look at the key elements of your website that determine what people think of you and your brand, as well as how you can make sure these elements convey exactly what you want.

Let’s dig in. One of the first things someone looks for when they come to your website is…

A Deliberate Design
Just as you judge a book by its cover or a clothing store by what’s featured in the window, your website design is the first thing a visitor sees. It is, therefore, the first thing visitors use to assess your site.

A deliberate design indicates a brand that knows what it’s about.

And a deliberate design does not necessarily mean what some might call a “professional” design. Instead, visitors want to see a look that is in line with your brand and demonstrates that you made a choice in how to present yourself.

Take a look at http://zenhabits.net. I’ve never seen a more simple website design. Yet, for a blog that discusses minimalism, focus, and a lack of clutter, it’s a perfect representation of its brand.

Visitors want to know you made an effort, even if it’s an effort to simplify. They infer that if you put effort into your design, you put similar effort into creating something worth their time.

Tip: Find websites that you like and notice how their design reflects their brand. Whether it’s the straight lines and rounded edges of apple.com (that look exactly like their products) or the vibrant colors here at Red Slice, take note of the choices being made.

Make deliberate choices about your own design.

Evidence of Legitimacy
Have you ever been the first to arrive at a party and wonder if perhaps you should have done something else with your evening? Have you ever been the only one sitting in a restaurant and feared your food would explain why no one else was eating there? That’s because we look for others to validate and legitimize our choices. This helps us make sure we’re not alone in thinking something is a good idea.

Visitors look for evidence of legitimacy from your website, as well. Whether that’s the number of comments your blog posts are getting or glowing testimonials from past clients, they want to make sure they’re not alone. They don’t want to be the only person at the party.

A lonely website implies an unsuccessful brand.

Tip: Demonstrate evidence of your legitimacy. If you’re getting a good number of comments, make sure visitors can see that. If you have a lot of Twitter followers, make sure your “Follow Me” button includes that count.

If you’ve written guest blogs for others, include an “as seen on” section to your sidebar and display the logos of sites you’ve contributed to. If you have testimonials, get those up. If you don’t have testimonials, ask people you’ve worked with if they will write one for you.

Make sure your visitor knows that they’re not the only one at the party.

Uniqueness
There are a lot of websites on the internet. Odds are, a number of people are doing something similar to you. And more than likely, someone coming to your site has seen someone else attempt the same thing you’re doing.

We get bored when we see the same thing over and over again. I’m sure there are differences between a Honda and a Toyota, but as soon as I see a commercial for a sedan driving along the coast, I either flip the channel or head to the kitchen for a snack. I’ve already seen what they’re going to tell me.

Visitors value uniqueness, something new. They want to know that they’ve found something different, something ground-breaking.

Uniqueness is the hallmark of a ground-breaking brand.

Tip: Exhibit something unique about yourself, your style, or your offering. On every page. Whether it’s an attention-grabbing tagline or framing your work in a way that no one else does, make sure you have something that stands out from the crowd. Imagine your visitor is going to tell their friends about your brand. What unique element of the work you do can they share after just ten seconds on your website?

Promise of Value
To overuse my party analogy: when attending one, people want to know that they’re going to gain something out of the evening’s festivities. If you walk into a friend’s house with lovely decorations and a great stereo, but are not convinced that you’re going to walk away having had some good conversation or good food, you’re going to looking for an exit.

Even if you design an attractive website with evidence of legitimacy, you need to exhibit the value you can provide. People appreciate what they might call a “good” website, but they stay for what they know is a valuable one.

A strong brand is synonymous with what it actually delivers.

Tip: This one is easy. Promote your value, not yourself.

Make sure the brand you develop speaks to the value you provide, not just how cool you are. Make it obvious what your visitors are going to walk away with.

Putting it All Together
Your unique brand will determine how to best put all of these pieces together. But it is critical that you think about all of them as you develop your website. Step into your visitor’s shoes and try to look at your website from their perspective. What do you see? What are your first
impressions?

If you have a hard time doing this, ask others for help. Ask your friends what they see when they look at your website. (Editor caveat: Always wise to get an objective opinion, but take with a grain of salt if they are not your target market!)

And remember that not everyone comes to your website through the homepage. Make sure that the branding efforts you make are apparent on every page of your site. A visitor finding you through a single blog post should pick up on the same strengths of your brand as those that come in the front door.

I almost turned that into another party analogy, but I didn’t.

What do you want your website brand to be? What changes can you make to ensure that it’s obvious to your visitors? Let me know in the Comments.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

How you like me now? A chat with Michelle Tillis Lederman

Posted on by Red Slice

We all say it. We want to work with people we like. But can it really be this easy to conduct business this way? Can we focus on networking with the people we like and with whom we genuinely connect versus just the “right” people? Michelle Tillis Lederman says yes – in fact, it’s better for your work and career in the long run?

Today we dish about likeability, how to be more concise and three red-hot ways to rethink networking.

Michelle is an author, speaker, trainer and communications expert. She’s a firecracker – and she’s also a blogger, animal lover and rescuer (you can see why we bonded), and a mom.

Her new book, The 11 Laws of Likability, is subtitled: Relationship Networking . . . Because People Do Business with People They Like. The book, featuring activities, self-assessment quizzes, and real-life anecdotes from professional and social settings, shows readers how to identify what’s likable in themselves and create honest, authentic interactions that become “wins” for all parties involved.

RS: Welcome Michelle! Your book is called The 11 Laws of Likability. Saving the actual laws for those that buy the book, what does this mean and how can they make your business life (and personal life) better?

MTL: What makes each of us likable is distinct to us, and to some degree it’s in the mind of the beholder. But the basic drivers of likability are the same for most of us.  It is these drivers that I refer to as the Laws of Likability.

In many cases, likability actually trumps competence and many organizations differentiate the average performers from the stars based on their ability to lead, manage, and interact effectively with others. Life is about relationships and it is those relationships that sustain us and generate results.   Likeability is everyone’s business, and people do business with people they like.

RS: One of your blog posts recently was called “Say What You Want to Say And Shut Up.” Loved it. And for all my talk on clarity, I tend to ramble when I think I’m not communicating clearly. How can we be more concise?

MTL: Start with the punchline.  Is that concise enough?  The simplest way to increase both clarity and brevity is to start with your conclusion. Often, we try to get others to follow our train of thought in order for them to agree with our opinion.  If instead we start with the conclusion, it is much easier to follow, and be persuaded by, the explanation that follows.

Another tip, ask.  Ask, “Is that clear?”  or “Would you like me to elaborate?”  Those questions prevent the rambling and allow us to be clear about what is unclear with a follow up question.

RS: What are 3 actionable tips for effective networking?

MTL: Shift the way you think about networking in 3 ways:

  1. From you to the relationship.  It really isn’t about you or what you need. It is about the relationship and adding value to create connection. Don’t network just for need.
  2. From business to anything.  We often start and stop conversations on business topics such as, “what do you do?” There is nothing wrong with that, but often we find the strongest connections come in other areas of our lives. Talk about a broad range of topics.
  3. From now to long term.  Build the relationships that you want to build, not the ones you think you should. The network that you build based on connection is the one that will be there for you when you need it. Don’t network for now, network for life.

About Michelle: Michelle Tillis Lederman, PCC, author of  The 11 Laws of Likability (AMACOM), is the founder of Executive Essentials, a training company that provides communications and leadership programs, as well as executive coaching services.  Michelle believes real relationships lead to real results and specializes in teaching people how to communicate with confidence, clarity, and connection.

PS: Affiliate links for Amazon in effect. Just to let you know.

What one aspect of networking or communication do you take away from this interview? Please share in the Comments.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

How to be your own Juliet with Alexandra Franzen

Posted on by Red Slice

Storytelling and branding (PS, same thing) are all about articulation. The sublime act of phrasing something to evoke just the right reaction at just the right time from just the right people.

No one does this better than today’s Slice of Brilliance guest, writer Alexandra Franzen.

I’m biased, because this “Promotional Wordsmith & Personal Scribe” – her words – helps me with my own brand messaging and has helped my clients. She also delivers the juiciness for heavyweights like Danielle LaPorte and Marie Forleo. Through her writing services she channels entrepreneurial LOVE into unforgettable language—the kind that inspires an immediate “YES.”

I don’t know how this chick replenishes her constant well of innovation but it might have to do with her choosing a different mission or manifesto every year. Her 2012 manifesto is called “DEVOTION.”

Today we dish about self-expression and how she turned her passion into profit.

RS: Alexandra, you have a gift for articulating intent, vibe and mission into powerful copy for clients. When did your love for writing develop, what inspired you to build a business around it?

AF: Hmmm…y’know, even as a kidlet, I was a writerly little thing. My mom quickly noticed that I had a knack for rewriting song lyrics, and pretty soon she started giving me little ‘assignments’. First it was, “Write a song about Great Aunt Mimi, to the tune of ‘Tiny Dancer’.” Later it became, “Write this fundraiser invitation, and make it really hilarious” and eventually “Write a Regency-era novella about your father & I, except he’s a butler in disguise and I’m an impetuous damsel!” Eventually, I had to diversify my client pool.

I wrote all through high school, college & my early ‘real-world’ career, in public broadcasting. Everything from five-minute operettas, to poetry, to one-act plays, to humor columns, to a grant-funded research paper, to snippets of copy for on-air promotional spots. But writing was always a sideline gig, a passion project, a lightly-paid hobby. I never really believed I could make a living – let alone build a business – through my wit & words, alone.

That is, until I quit my job – in the midst of the Recession. And suddenly, making money as a writer was the only option. And a fairly urgent one, at that.

It took me about a year to really hit my stride, as an entrepreneur. I struggled to find the right offerings, the right packages, and of course – the right clients. But once I found my sweet-spot – as a copywriter & promotional strategist for quirky, brilliant & truly visionary ‘preneurs – everything dovetailed together. Suddenly, my eclectic background and ability to duck & dive into numerous voices & styles was a marketable skill. Who woulda thunk it? Well, my mom, probably. She always knows everything about seven years before I do.

RS: They always do. People think of entrepreneurship or “being in business” as very analytical, but it can also be a form for artistic expression. What’s your advice on how to express ourselves through our businesses?

AF: I really believe that building a business is an act of supreme self-expression – what could be more expressive than packaging & presenting your greatest talents for the world to adore? When we hop on Twitter, when we post a blog entry, when we launch a new offering, when we speak or teach or lead a workshop, we’re expressing ourselves…expressing what we love, what we loathe, and what matters to us. And when we see a brand or identity that really strikes a heart-chord, what we’re essentially seeing is someone’s full & unapologetic self-expression. “This is who I am. This is what I do. This is why it matters. You with me, or what?”

RS: What messaging “rules” drive you crazy and how can people unlearn these rules for better impact?

AF: There’s an interview that’s furrowed into my brain, for all time – it’s a conversation with the great prima ballerina Allessandra Ferri from the American Ballet Theater. When Ferri was preparing to play Juliet in Romeo & Juliet, she said – forgive my paraphrasing – “First, I memorize the play. Then, I watch all the films. Then, I listen to the music – again, and again. And then, I forget everything. I must forget everything. Or how will I become my own Juliet?”

Messaging, marketing & positioning your business is a lot like preparing to play Juliet. YES, you should learn all the rules & techniques. YES, you should take all the courses, and invest in the templates. YES, you should work with top consultants, masters & gurus. But at some point, you’ve got to forget…to come back to the beginner’s mind, keeping only the essentials. Or how will you become your own Juliet? How will find your own voice? How will you build your own business – and not a facsimile of someone else’s entrepreneurial performance?

Every great artist, innovator & entrepreneur knows this to be true: the world is waiting for your Juliet…not a microfiche of someone else’s, no matter how marvelous. The world is waiting for you…to decide to be you.

More about Alexandra Franzen:

Promotional wordsmith & personal scribe. Soul stenographer. Strumpet nerd. Recovering socialist. Geriatric raver. Captivated by heart-shaped crystals, Finnish power metal, anything chartreuse, and Leonard Cohen. Fix me a Madagascar vanilla tea latte, and I’ll tell you all my secrets. Except that one.

Check out her website at www.alexandrafranzen.com Love it? Aw, yeah! And guess what? Alexandra’s putting her brilliance on-loan to you with two mini-products on the shelf right now. More on the way.

FIVE SCRIPTS TO FILL YOUR CLIENT DOCKET—
—a lovingly-crafted collection of tried ‘n true e-mail scripts, for baby-preneurs who are just starting out…as well as established solopreneurs who’ve hit a dry patch, or never quite mastered the Art of the Ask.

FIVE SCRIPTS TO RAKE IN THE PRAISE—
—a copy ‘n pasteable collection of snappy scripts, for entrepreneurs who want to crank up their credibility with highly-persuasive, love-drenched and 100% TRUE client reviews.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Microsoft grabs the right position

Posted on by Red Slice

Are you a Mac or a PC? The epic battle between Apple and Microsoft rages onward, although these days Apple appears to be kicking butt – at least on the consumer front. It’s hard to believe that the iPhone has only been around a few years, not to mention the even younger iPad.

The Apple brand is a storied case study in what it means to capture imagination and emotion – and create a defined archetype of the “type of person who uses Apple products.” The latest Samsung ads poke fun at the Apple stereotype of hip, young, too-cool-for-school upstarts by mocking their desire to wait hours in line just to have the “right” brand of phone in their pocket. (The best line?, “I could never get a Samsung. I’m creative.” His friend’s snarky reply: “Dude, you’re a barista.”)

While Windows is “still the overwhelming market leader among desktop operating systems” it did slide from 92% share in September 2011 to (gasp) 91% in November 2011. So while concerned, the company is not crying yet. And XBOX continues to dominate the console gaming market. But let’s face it: as an overall company brand, Microsoft and Windows will never “outcool” Apple- at least not anytime soon.

And you know what? I think they are okay with that.

Because they’ve recently been finding a position that can own. One that’s credible. And one Apple is not necessarily going after: families.

You’ve probably seen the TV ads touting “It’s a great time to be a family.” One ad depicts a father running around a grocery store crossing off a shopping list on his Windows Phone, when odd items like coconuts nad candy start to get added to his list. He realizes his giggling sons are at home, updating the list in real-time from their PC. So he types back, “Do your homework” and it pops up on their screen. Another one shows a son struggling to solve long division problems on his computer while his dad grapples with a sales presentation. As the dad takes over the son’s computer to help with his homework, the son instantly turns his dad’s humdrum sales presentation into a rocking extravanza with music, explosion and color. Other ads can be found here.

And on my first trip to a Microsoft retail store, I was pleasantly surprised. At first glance, yes, it mimics the Apple store concept. But then I looked a little closer. The place was packed just before Christmas. Teenagers were playing a Kinect Dance game in the front, busy moms and dads whipped around with strollers. Staffpeople were helping toddlers figure out games on the PCs. I realized that, unlike the Apple store across the street, this place was full of families, not brooding hipsters. And you know what? That’s okay.

Microsoft is showing that you don’t always have to go after the same exact people in order to be successful. This is what is meant by “positioning.” Where does your brand play? Where does it “fit?” Instead of trying to out-Apple Apple, maybe Microsoft is playing to its brand strengths and building off of the success it’s already found with XBOX and Kinect, as well as the great strides it’s taken with Windows 7 and with Windows Phone (which I love, by the way.)

When others zig, maybe it’s the right move to stop trying to catch them and to zag instead. (hint – that’s a tweetable!) Where do you fit? That is what positioning is all about, my lovelies!

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Netflix’s human touch and rebrand – the good, bad and ugly

Posted on by Red Slice

Netflix recently sent their customer base into a tizzy by charging more (and separately) for DVD mailings and streaming movies. As a customer, my husband received this email below from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings that was both good (apologies, human voice) and bad (what’s up with the confusing brand spinoff?). Below, I share my thoughts on the good bad, and ugly of what will surely become a case study for the ages:

First, the email: (annotated: full letter appears on the Netflix blog)

I messed up. I owe you an explanation.

It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. Let me explain what we are doing.

Then it gets to their decision to create a separate brand for the DVD service and the streaming service:

It’s hard to write this after over 10 years of mailing DVDs with pride, but we think it is necessary: In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to “Qwikster”. We chose the name Qwikster because it refers to quick delivery. We will keep the name “Netflix” for streaming.

Qwikster will be the same website and DVD service that everyone is used to. It is just a new name, and DVD members will go to qwikster.com to access their DVD queues and choose movies. One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games. 

(annotated)

Both the Qwikster and Netflix teams will work hard to regain your trust. We know it will not be overnight. Actions speak louder than words. But words help people to understand actions.

So what works?

  1. Human frailty: The CEO speaks plain English and acknowledges his customers’ anger and painand that they may not have handled the price increase announcement well at all
  2. We’re part of the team: By explaining why the company did what it did, he makes you as a customer feel like you are part of the team, the tribe. The tone makes you feel like it’s not something being “done” to you (even though it is) but something we’re in together.
  3. What’s in it for me: The email talks about these changes and how the offerings and services will improve for customers as a result.
  4. Human voice: This reads like a personal letter in a conversational tone, not a formal, stuffy automated business letter. He also talks about his own experiences and feelings. Yes, it may have been written and carefully edited by the marketing and corp comm teams, and yes, it was blasted out to thousands. But the tone is on-brand with Netflix’s very friendly and approachable image.
  5. Part of a larger effort: The email went out, but so did Netflix’s PR blitz, and stories appeared in several media outlets in conjunction with this news

What doesn’t work?

  1. Confusing branding: Really? A whole separate brand  called Qwikster for a company delivering the same product in two separate formats? That’s like a retail store creating a whole separate brand for eCommerce.  Seems to dilute the power of a single brand dedicated to getting you the content you want. And it’s not even remotely linked to Netflix by association. Seems “Qwikflix” is already in use bya  DVD firm already.
  2. Customer inconvenience: Again, really? I now have to have two line items on my credit card statement from two different companies depending on if I ordered a film DVD by mail or streamed it over the internet? That just seems silly. Not like it really inconveniences me per se, but anything clunky like that just makes me feel like it’s a hassle. And it’s how a customer feels that matters, not the reality.
  3. Baring your flaws to the world: As this MSNBC article states, this effort just showed to the world that Netflix has a less than stellar offering when it comes to streaming content. At least before, they were able to hide behind the total content umbrella of Netflix. When I advise clients on messaging, I often advise them to downplay or at least address and reframe their weaknesses  so there is more value for the customer.
  4. Customers are even more unhappy: Read some of the comments at the blog. I’m sure they did not imagine they could piss off customers any more than they have but for the three reasons cited above, they did.

What is your thought about how to handle a price increase and their decision to create a new brand? Do you agree with the decision to break things apart? Anything you learned from the “apology note?” Please share in the Comments.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

Tell me why I should care

Posted on by Red Slice

Dell recently announced they are “taking a cue from the Apple playbook” and launching a new branding campaign that does not talk about technology. From the NASDAQ article:

The campaign, dubbed "More You," is aimed at personalizing technology and marks a break in tradition for a company that got its start by commoditizing computers. Rather than focus on the specifications of products, Dell is hoping the campaign will encourage consumers to think about features and how they can be used.

So many of us who have been in tech marketing have been beating this drum for years. Yes, when you talk to the IT guys, they care about widgets, features, scalability, disaster recovery, processing speed and the like. But when you start talking to line of business executive (or in this case, end consumers), they don’t care about the whiz-bang technology jargon. They want to know how it makes their lives better.

The best analogy I ever heard about this was from a highly-skilled technical analyst who said, “When I get in the shower in the morning, I don’t care about what the pipes are made of, how they move behind the walls, where the valves are in the house, the speed of water flow by the second….I care that when I turn the knob, water comes out and I get clean.”

Love it.

Too often we get enamored with our own story and communicating every single solitary bit of it in the hopes that SOMETHING will stick.  But what sticks the most for people is not the technical info – you will investigate that as you get closer to making your decision or when you are comparing apples and apples – but the vision of what the product or service will do for them.  Once they are hooked, you can dazzle them with your gigabytes per second and whatnot.

Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™

The real scoop on “authenticity” and what it means to your customers

Posted on by Red Slice

Type “authentic branding” into Bing and you’ll pull up 581,000 results. The advice to “be authentic” hits business owners and entrepreneurs more than gray skies hit Seattle from October to May. And, yes, I give this advice to my clients.

But what does being “authentic” really mean?

This term has been bastardized a bit in the intersection between entrepreneurship and personal development. Many coaches and consultants are advising people to “live their passion” and “live an authentic life” and to find careers and businesses that “authentically” play to their strengths. This is all great advice.

But some business owners confuse “authenticity” with “only the stuff I care about.” And that’s not really what we’re talking about from a branding perspective.

Having an authentic brand means that you deliver what you promise. Period. You do what you say, You walk your talk. When I go to Walmart, I don’t expect great service or quality fashion. I expect what they promise: low prices. That is authenticity. It has more to do with company values, service quality, product line and image. It means that if you advertise your brand as hip, sexy and cool, then your products, your company – heck, maybe even your people – need to walk that talk. It means if you are going to tout “Customer Service is our #1 Priority” that you authentically take care of your customers, go above and beyond, and empower your call center employees to do whatever it takes to solve their problems quickly and painlessly. It means that if you claim to be cheap and disposable, that you ARE cheap and disposable, because that what people want from you if you are promising that.

It means don’t write brand checks your business can’t cash, to use a phrase I love.

Too often I hear the battle cry of “authenticity” used to defend an unprofitable business. “But I’m following my passion, I’m doing what I want to do.” Great. But if customers don’t care about that – or are not willing to pay for it – you don’t have a business: you have a hobby.

Having an authentic brand means starting with the values and practices you believe in and delivering on that promise to customers – but it only matters if your target customers care and respond.  Personal preference is great and should be your foundation. After all, it’s your business – you should do what you like. But if you’re not making any money, you need to evolve or adapt to still play to your strengths but in a way that offers value for which customers are willing to pay.