Search Results: why this, why you, why now
Brand Names Are The Start Of A Story
filed in Brand Naming, Storytelling
From the moment the blue line appears on the pregnancy test and for the next 35 weeks, the one thing that obsesses most couples day and night while waiting for their new arrival is what they will call her. They compulsively leaf through baby name books, trawl websites and test out sound combinations and meanings. They poll friends, write list upon list, crossing off here, adding there, agonising about the legacy of this one decision. Since time began humans have instinctively understood that a name is the start of a story.
When we name our children we are writing the opening lines of their first chapter. We want to give them names they can grow into. Their names are part of our vision of what we hope they will one day be in the world and researchers have proven that names can have a lasting impact on outcomes for individuals in later life.
Names are not simply designed to identify, they really can take us in one direction or another. And so it goes with brand names, book titles and product names too. Companies know that names can make or break, that they build mystery, can form the basis of a movement or create cult status. That’s why ‘Purple Cow’ is a more compelling title than, ‘Marketing for Today’, and why Innocent was a genius way to begin the story of a juice and smoothie company.
A great name can take you places a good name can’t. A truly great brand name makes room for a new story in people’s hearts and minds and can position a good product beyond it’s utility.
Don’t set out to name a company or a product,
set out to name your vision of what you want to see in the world
Design your brand name to create lofty expectations, to make people believe something, not just notice it, and to signal your difference to the world.
Image by Kai Chan Vong.</a
Compelling
filed in Marketing, Storytelling
The path to success is not simply determined by the ability to have great ideas. The capacity to understand their relevance in the world, to customers, (real people) and to sell that, is what makes a product, service, cause or idea fly.
The MP3 player is one of the best examples of a situation where being first with the idea didn’t matter one jot. Lots of people came selling their tech and spec before Apple launched the iPod. They just didn’t tell a compelling story. People can’t fall in love with 32MB and user interfaces.
But “1000 songs in your pocket.” Now that’s compelling!
The path to success is littered with great ideas poorly marketed
Compelling is empowering people to take action.
“You’ve got to get on the phone and take the money out of your pocket. Don’t go to the pub tonight. PLEASE! Stay in and give us the money. There are people dying NOW! So give me the money.”
Bob Geldof on Live Aid
Compelling is telling people to, love where they live, rather than asking them to buy your flat pack furniture and a red cushion they probably don’t need.
Compelling is Mickey balloons on Main Street at dusk.
And compelling is you amplifying your passion enough to tell people why you’re different and what that difference could mean to them.
Image by Samantha Decker.
Don’t Just Tell Me What It’s Made Of
filed in Storytelling, Strategy
Jo is an amazing designer. She creates hand made scarves, from locally woven fabrics which she designs herself. Her website tells part of the story. Jo writes about the materials used, the time it takes to create the design, source just the right fabric dyes and weave the most exquisite scarves you have ever seen. I read all about her passion for her work, and why it’s important to be unique. I found out that Jo did made beautiful things, but I didn’t know why I should care about them.
Until I met her that is. “You know that you’ve done the right thing by spending that extra little bit on your scarf, when four or five people in the room stop you to admire it.” Jo said. And just like that I understand why I would want one, not simply because it would look great, but because of how I could imagine myself feeling when I wore it.
When Jamie Oliver makes a salad, he talks about the ingredients he’s added to make it taste perfect, but he doesn’t stop there, he paints a picture of you sharing it with family and friends.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHDsB6HOFDc
Don’t just make something wonderful. Make me a hero.
Image by Ashley Rose.
The Best Ideas Don’t Start With Solutions
filed in Strategy
Have you ever wondered why your ‘big ideas’ get stuck in mind map central, never to see the light of day, or don’t end up being as groundbreaking as you hoped? Part of the answer lies in the way you’ve been working on implementing those ideas.
Those moments of genius and excited clarity that you have in the shower, tend to start with a beautiful solution. Your ideas often focus on your brilliance and the unique contribution you can make to the world. This is as it should be, but it’s not where your planning should start.
Innovation doesn’t begin with solutions, it starts at the root of problems
Don’t begin with your answers. Start with their problems. Be secure in the knowledge that you have the skills and the talent to provide those solutions. Then go out and ask questions and find the problem to solve.
Image by INPIVIC.
10 Rules For Writing A Compelling ‘About Me’ Page
filed in Marketing, Storytelling, Strategy
Your about page is one of the most visited pages on your website. It’s the place where prospective customers decide if you’re right for them, and your best chance to convert more website visits to enquiries and more enquiries to customers. That’s why your about page copy is the most important sales copy you’ll ever write.
How To Write A Compelling About Page
1. Know who you’re talking to.
Customer insight is your superpower. You are at your most persuasive when you understand your customer’s unmet needs. Your about page copy should reflect that.
2. Don’t just lead with the facts.
Facts alone don’t persuade. People want to hear your story. Make your website a window, not a wall.
3. Share your values.
Tell people who you are and what you believe.
4. Show yourself.
Build trust by adding a professional photo to your bio and about page. People buy from people. Your potential clients want to see the person behind the business.
5. Tell the story of your professional journey.
Share how you got to where you are today. Help your website visitors to understand how you know what you know.
6. Tell people how you can help them.
Be specific, add links to products and services.
7. Demonstrate how you’ve provided solutions for others.
Link to your portfolio, projects or client case studies.
8. Help people to understand the benefits of working with or buying from you.
Add client testimonials and stories about how you work.
9. Add calls to action and a contact link.
Your about page should not only provide information and build trust, but it must also call potential clients to take action.
10. Don’t make it all about you.
Think about why you’re writing your about page in the first place and how you want the reader to feel when she’s done reading it.
*Bonus* Write like you speak.
Sometimes in our attempt to sound professional, we use words that distance us from prospective customers. The goal is to build trust and to stand out by being and sounding like who you are. Avoid the jargon that everyone else uses at all costs!
Get the guide that’s helped hundreds of business owners to write an about page that works.
Go-To Skincare
It’s clear that the company’s founder Zoe has spent time getting to know her audience. Every word on this about page says, ‘I see you’ to the reader.
James Clear
James tells readers exactly what they are going to get, and his home page is one of the best examples of an email sign up embedded in an about page that I’ve seen. He not only tells people what to expect, but he also shows them what to do using great calls to action.
Warby Parker
They know that the about page is the start of a conversation and a huge part of their marketing strategy—it shows.
Michael Hyatt
Michael informs the reader about what they can expect to learn from him and the value he creates for his audience.
He builds trust in several great ways, using photos, information about his professional and personal life, achievements and subscriber numbers.
Shopify
A great example of an about page that communicates purpose builds trust and helps a prospective customer to know what to do next with calls to action.
GoPro
If you’re a camera company what better way to tell your story than to use video.
Your about page is a key part of your marketing strategy. Don’t waste this opportunity to connect with your prospective customers.
Ready to get your about page working for you?
PRICE $37 USD
Image by Looking 4 Poetry
5 Of The Best Brand Stories On The Planet
filed in Storytelling
Yes I know, yet another one of those articles that tells you how to win in business by telling a better brand story, *sigh*. When all you really want to know is how to get lots of people to notice your great idea and then how to make shed loads of money from it.
I’m not going to bore you with the be authentic, consistent, relatable, relevant and let me help create that for you, stuff you’ve heard before. I’m just going to show you how it’s been done by some of the best in the world and give you the three essential ingredients for telling a great brand story.
Three Steps To Telling A Great Brand Story
1. Caring
Start by caring about your customers, the work you do, the products and services you sell and the difference that you can make in the world. Yeah, yeah, sounds obvious to you I know, but it’s not to everyone.
2. Significance
This is where most businesses, startups and their brand stories come unstuck. They forget to ask themselves the most important marketing question in the world. Why will people care about this? You need to work out why your product or service could be important to your customer? Why does she need it? How does it add meaning to her life? To do this you need to know who your target audience is.
3. Story
When you know your audience and understand the significance of your product, service or idea, all that’s left to do is to tell the story about how what you do or sell fits into the life of your customers and clients.
What’s great about the brand stories featured below is that they have a unique set of values and they truly understand the audiences they speak to. Take some time to read the stories I’ve linked to on their websites as well as watching the videos.
What are your favourite brand stories? How are you showing people why they should care about your brand?
Image by TB Steve.
20 Ways To Tell A Better Brand Story
filed in Storytelling, Strategy
Customers don’t buy your results, they buy the story about the difference those results will make. So have amazing ideas, make great things but remember to tell unforgettable true stories.
1. Name and claim a new category.
2. Clearly articulate what you do, without being boring.
3. Give people a great back story that explains why you exist on your about page, bio, profiles and in marketing materials.
4. Back up the story by doing great work.
5. Concentrate on speaking to customers with a particular worldview.
6. Paint a picture of the world as it is.
7. Then show your audience the world as it could be.
8. Uncover the essence of a problem and tell the story about how you solve that.
9. Appeal to all the senses. Stories aren’t just written, spoken or directed.
10. Use a variety of media to convey your message, show and tell.
11. Have a singular purpose and make yourself known for that. This doesn’t mean getting stuck in a box. Missions can work across products and industries.
12. Consider what one person says to another to recommend your ‘thing’. Make it easy to share.
13. Speak to your customer’s heart not just their head.
14. Optimise your website for visitors who you care to return, not just traffic that’s passing through.
15. Tell people how and why you are different.
16. Avoid using jargon. Simple language works, write as you would speak.
17. Don’t smooth away all the rough edges, be human and authentic. Honesty travels further than perfection.
18. Be consistent. Everyone in your company must understand your mission and the story you want to tell.
19. Give your customers the opportunity to tell the story and feel a part of it too.
20. Don’t try to be the ‘next blank’. A flawed original is better than a perfect imitation.
Brand storytelling in action
The Virgin Brand Story ~ We hate being ripped off by big expensive airlines and [insert industry here]. More people must feel like us, there must be a better way. Let’s be the better way.
Apple’s Brand Story ~ Technology can be beautiful as well as functional. Everything single interaction with our product must make people fall in love with it.
Chris Guillebeau’s Brand Story ~ Ever thought there must be more to life than this? Don’t want to work for the man? Me neither! This is how I do it, come join me to see how you can too.
The Epipheo Brand Story ~ We don’t create animated videos. We create epiphanies using great animation.
If you want to see a great brand story in action, check out Epipheo’s story in this video.
Image by rytc.
Connection Vs Attention
filed in Entrepreneurship, Storytelling
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. ~ Steve Jobs
Did you meet yourself coming back today, because you are working so hard to get noticed and trying to be picked? How much energy do you put into building your business and communicating the value of your unique gifts? A lot! You’ve got all the online tools and a hundred and one communication channels at your fingertips but something is missing, that’s why you’re not creating enough traction.
What’s missing in your business, on your about page and your marketing is more of you. If you don’t believe me go cover the header and profile picture on your website, then read your about page. Does this sound like you, or could it be describing any one of a hundred people in your industry?
In your quest to be the ‘best’, the perfect, obvious choice for your clients and customers, you’ve rounded the rough edges of your profile. By trying to give them what you think they want you’ve morphed into iStock girl, you look so professional and flawless that your right audience is having a hard time connecting to you. Your people want to trust you, they want to make virtual eye contact with you and understand the intention behind what you do.
To really connect with your potential clients and customers you have to build trust and that happens when you show more of yourself. When you share more of the ‘real you’ in a strategic way, in your bio, on your about page and in profiles your target market finds you! And it’s such a relief to really connect with your audience by just being you. Connection feels so much more fulfilling than attention and when people truly understand your difference great things happen to your bottom line too.
Want to illuminate the best of who you are and what you do?
Today I’m opening registration to a coaching program that will put ‘you’ back into your profile. I usually only do this work with clients 1 on 1, now though to enable me to show more leaders how to become heroes I’m offering an intimate coaching experience for a small group. I’m looking forward to working with the heroines who have already committed via my email list.
The Hero’s Story program starts on 12th September and runs for three weeks. Registrations close on September 1st.
Image by Torpore.
The Business Plan For The Social Web
filed in Entrepreneurship, Marketing
The business plan for the social web is….. that you just never know ~ Mark Schaefer
I’ve been talking a lot lately about having the courage to bring more of yourself into your work, bio, about pages and your online presence. I’m not talking about the traditional perception that many people have of ‘personal branding’ which is likened to putting lipstick on a pig. I want to encourage you to amplify the very best of what you’ve got, the ‘real’ you.
The bottom line is this, your biggest point of differentiation is the fact that you are different. You’ve got a unique set of experiences, your own voice, perspectives, values and opinions. Talk about stating the obvious! The thing is that I can almost certainly guarantee that you haven’t turned up the volume on your differences enough. And once you start expressing those in your business magical things happen. They did for my guest Mark Schaefer who I was thrilled to have the opportunity to speak a couple of weeks ago (link to the audio of our interview at the bottom of this post).
Mark writes the hugely popular marketing blog Business Grow. He is a marketing and social media expert with more than 28 years of experience under his belt and author of the Tao of Twitter. Mark has successfully grown his business online by having the courage to be himself and tapping into his unique experience, values, personality, and heart. Some of the things we touch on in this interview are:
- Why traditional marketing skills still work online
- How to be successful using social media by following your instincts
- Why your unique perspective is actually your point of differentiation
- The secret to finding your target market ~ it’s not what you think
- Why approaching social media from a sales mindset is a bad idea
Image by Frozen Capybara
20 Quotes To Read Before Starting A Business
I’ve got a confession to make, it’s not pretty so I’m going to just spit it out. I haven’t read any fiction for the past two years. My bookcases are jammed with business, marketing, personal development and some travel books. So I thought it might be fun to put all that inspiration to good use and share some of my favourite nuggets with you.
1. “Stop trying to find the formula that will instantly make your idea into a winner. Instead of being scientists the best marketers are artists. They realise that whatever is being sold is being purchased because it creates and emotional want, not because it fills a simple need.”
—Seth Godin
2. “Business is not about money. It’s about making dreams come true for others and for yourself.”
—Derek Sivers
3. “By building respect and inspiring love business can move the world.”
—Kevin Roberts
4. “The goal of business then should not be to simply sell to anyone who wants what you have, but rather to find people who believe what you believe.”
—Simon Sinek
5. “Given the chance people will buy from people who care.”
—Paco Underhill.
6. “Leaders do stuff that matters.”
—Tom Peters
7. “The most powerful narcotic in the world is the promise of belonging.”
—Kalle Lasn
8. “Don’t use language to sound like someone who knows what they’re talking about; know what you’re talking about and use language to get it said.”
—Mark Tredinnick & Geoff Whyte
9. “One must understand what people are thinking, feeling and believing in order to enchant them.”
—Guy Kawasaki
10. “The greatest competitor you’ll ever come up against is self doubt.”
—John McGrath
11. “Good is the enemy of great.”
—Jim Collins
12. “Values are meaningless without stories to bring them to life and engage us on a personal level.”
—Annette Simmons
13. “Do what you love in the service of people who love what you do.”
—Steve Farber
14. “Too many people never connect with their true talents and therefore don’t know what they are capable of achieving.”
—Ken Robinson
15. “We are still in the position of waking up and having a choice. Do I make the world better today somehow, or do I not bother?”
—Tom Hanks
16. “We relish news of our heroes forgetting that we are extraordinary to somebody too.”
—Helen Hayes
17. “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
—Albert Einstein
18. “The person who knows how will always have a job. But the person who knows why will be his boss.”
—Carl C. Wood
19. “The market for something to believe in is infinite.”
—Hugh MacLeod
20. “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.”
—Richard Branson
What quotes inspire you and your work?
Image by Jacob Earl.