Branding & Messaging

It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that the success of your marketing and selling efforts — not to mention much of your speaking and writing efforts — depends on how good you are at changing people’s minds. Except that people don’t like to change their minds. In fact, when challenged, people will often double down on their […]

Here’s something to try… Fill in the following “script” for your idea or message: When I/we speak with: [type of audience] They often want to know: [common question your idea, product, or service answers] So they can: [high-level goal to achieve] When looking for that answer, they often focus on: [current perspective or approach] Rather […]

Whew! I have been BUSY. Actually, scratch that. I don’t like using the word “busy.” It implies what my friend, ah-mazing speaker, and consultant Neen James calls, “unintentional attention.” You know, that thing where you’re doing things just to do them, but not really paying attention to what you’re spending your time on, or why. Busy […]

“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled.” Isn’t that a GREAT line? It was part of the #swipefile, of course, and comes from a (tragically sold out) print by the “Not Real Banksy,” who may actually be the real Banksy. (Thanks to amazing body language expert and all-around good human Mark Bowden for the […]

I’ve been filling your eyeballs with a bunch of information on how to pinpoint your audience based on what questions they’re asking, and I introduced this as-yet-unnamed tool where you could “place” your audience on one of three bases of a metaphorical baseball diamond: At First Base: They’re UNAWARE of both the “real” problem and the […]

If you’re trying to figure out how to make your message really resonate with your audience and drive action, take a minute to do these two things: Write down the “real” problem you solve for your clients, customers, or audiences Brainstorm all the ways they talk about that problem now, even if it’s asking the […]

“How do I find my audience?” There are lots of answers to that, of course. And, since I escaped the agency world and its focus on marketing tactics, I’m not going to give you that kind of answer. Why not? Because all of those research tools, advertising techniques, and inbound strategies don’t work if you’re […]

“Wanting” is a funny thing. It’s important because it’s easy to say “yes” to things we want — and too easy to say “no” to things we don’t. That’s why “wanting” is necessary in your message, because if people don’t hear something, early, that they want or want to know more about… they’ll tune out, […]

The good news? You’ve just created a shiny new positioning statement. You’ve labored over how to frame your target market. You’ve wordsmithed your competitive differentiation. You’ve detailed the how those differences make your product better. Now you’re ready for the market to respond and pay off all that hard work. The bad news? It probably […]