Most Recent Blog Posts
Follow the Yellow Brick Road: How to lead your tribe when you’re a wanderer
(We’re currently profiling each of the five Brand Sirens, one by one. See the full series of Brand Siren Case Studies here. If you don’t know who your Brand Siren is, take the quiz to find out.)
When it comes to Judy’s work with clients, it’s always about the journey, not the destination. (In this way, she’s Edith’s exact opposite.) This means that a Judy’s relationship with her clients is deeply rewarding, and often very personal–she knows even the minute details of what her clients are struggling with.
Just because the journey is rewarding, though, doesn’t mean it’s easy for a Judy. Would-be clients can drag their feet getting started with a Judy because they don’t see the final outcome and are reluctant to commit until they do. This often leads to endless emails and pre-work conversations–if the Judy offers free consultations, she can expect people to ask for more than one before signing on the dotted line.
Also, Judys often add new services and skill-sets as they explore, which means even Judy herself isn’t always entirely sure what she does for her clients (or, she may not be able to communicate it clearly).
All of this tends to leave Judy struggling to charge the rates she deserves because she can feel like her skills aren’t up to par because she has less experience than the other types (because she’s always adding new offerings on the fly).… Keep reading
Snap Your Fingers, Edith: How a Crazy Bus Driver Can Teach You All About Building an Audience Before You Have a Niche
In the imaginary world where your business is a bus, each of the five Brand Sirens types has a different approach to bus-driver-dom. For instance, Audreys tend to have trouble leaving the station (what if someone’s just running late and really needs this bus?) and Katharines tend to leave before the assigned time (what if we miss half the fun out there because we’re lollygaging?).
(Wondering who the heck are Edith, Katharine, and Audrey? They’re three of the five Brand Sirens. Basically, they’re role models for an easier approach to stepping into the spotlight with your business. If you’d like to find out who your role model is, you can take the free quiz.)
Ediths, though, start with the bus station.
See, an Edith tends to rename the bus. She rewrites the routes. And she has a tendency to suddenly pull out of the station while someone’s still getting on (or off) the bus.
In other words, she can be a danger to herself and others! (Hold on, though–since you’re not actually driving a bus, all of this is actually a good thing, handled safely.)
See, Edith has to generate controversy. Even if it’s just a small controversy.… Keep reading
The Five Brand Sirens
Your Brand Siren is all about which classic Hollywood film star (or creative) best embodies your most client-attractive way of being.
After all, each of these five women built an audience of adoring fans by behaving in a specific (and different) way.
What’s great about this approach is that it means by following your role model’s style, you can easily connect with more great clients (instead of connecting with clients you’re not a good fit for).
Each of the styles is described below. To find out which best suits you, take the quiz.
You can also read my other blog posts about the Brand Sirens.
Edith Head
Edith Head was a master at creating transformations. Working with you is magical and your clients often remark (or you’d like them to remark) about how working with you seems effortless, transformational, and mysterious.
When it comes to your website, it’s crucial that you construct an entire, spellbinding experience for visitors. Not for you is the Seeker style of asking lots of questions, or the Ingenue’s style of gentle storytelling. Rather, you wave your magic wand, et voila! your web visitor feels the power of your abilities.
It can be tricky to really embrace who you are because there are so many guides steering you astray.… Keep reading
What my printer ate for dinner
Printers are my life-long enemy (desktop printers). When I’d have a school deadline and tried to print a paper the night before, the printer would start spewing error messages and blinking red lights. (Fortunately, my brother is the “Printer Whisperer” and could always be counted on to rescue me in the morning.)
Nowadays, this means that the gorgeous laser Xerox that cost a pretty penny sits in my office waiting for a visit from my brother (who now lives on the opposite coast) because after three years of persnickety behavior, it decided to make things official and stop working last December. Right in the middle of a big printing job.
Ordinarily, I don’t print much at the office–it’s easier to just send it out, especially given my track record. But, every so often, I get an idea for a project that leaves me babysitting the printer one sheet at a time. Like the current project (a typewritten letter that requires by-hand personalization because when you scan in a typewritten document, you have an image which is tricky to mail merge).
So, when my desktop HP decided to start spitting out gray text instead of black (new cartridge, before you ask), my first thought was that I clearly should have planned better and had a backup of one sort or another.… Keep reading
Enough with the Very Important, Very Unique Thoughts already!
I’ve been browsing blogs for about an hour now, procrastinating on a project, and there’s something we need to talk about. There are certain writers in who use italicized Special Named Phrases very well. Unfortunately, it looks like the style is catching on and resulting in… The Curse of Self-Aggrandizing Douchery.
Here’s the thing: naming stuff is usually senseless. Yes, on the one hand, it neatly delineates Those Who Read Your Stuff from Those Who Don’t. And yes, there’s a lot of talk right now about how having a common vocabulary can help make your people feel like part of your inner circle. And yes, there are many marketers who talk about how important it is to segment your audience into an “In Group” and an “Out Group” so that people will be willing to pay you just so they don’t feel left out.
Yes, naming stuff occasionally is smart. Having a set of metaphors that communicate what you do makes it easier for you and your clients to talk about what you’re doing together. It even makes writing articles in your newsletter clearer because you have a short hand for those topics that come up a lot.… Keep reading
Got a sec to do me a favor?
Today, I’m asking you to do me a favor. Will you email me and tell me what you need?
I want to make sure that I’m still on track to help your 2010 live up to its fullest potential. See, I’ve got a bunch of irons in the fire:
- We’ve got a new version of the Thrive Your Tribe website that’s *thisclose* to being done if I’d just get busy and put the finishing touches on the writing.
- There’s also this Something New (and really, really different) that’s being introduced (by snail mail) in the next week or two.
- A new office space to organize and decorate.
- A new team member to train.
- A bunch of programs that I have all mapped out (pain-free copywriting, for instance) that I need to actually put on the schedule so you can participate.
I’m officially overwhelmed. As I knew I would be last month when I looked at everything I intended to accomplish this year ;-).
So, anyway, I have a bunch of ideas, a bunch of content, and a bunch of options for what might be next for you and me together. Case studies? More info on how to use your Brand Siren archetype?… Keep reading
Writing with Humanity During Difficult Times
Today I’m re-running an article I wrote just after Hurricane Katrina called Writing with Humanity During Difficult Times.
It’s below.
The reason that I decided to re-run it is because I got a lot of emails from readers wondering what the Haitian earthquake meant when it came to writing their newsletters–did they need to talk about the donation they’d made? If they did, did that look like marketing? If they didn’t, did that mean their readers would assume they were heartless and hadn’t made a donation at all?
And then, you have the folks who move resolutely on with their launches or blogs or newsletters without addressing the devastation at all, and I know for many of *my* readers (because y’all are such a wonderful mix of caring, compassionate types) that feels all wrong.
Personally, here’s what I’m thinking: I’m erring on the side of assuming *everyone* has made at least one donation and that any choice they make to publicize or not is very personally made, not out of a need to boast, but out of a deep desire to feel like they’re doing *something*. And, in a time like this, when giving money surely does not feel like doing near enough, I think a lot of people feel like giving money *and* publicizing that they’ve given money is doing that little bit extra.… Keep reading
How to write less
I resolutely believe more writing makes you a better writer--it's a skill that must be practiced if you intend to communicate clearly and well. And, heck, last year, I wrote a post on how to write 20,000 words in a weekend.
But, when it comes to an individual piece of writing, it's important not to fall too madly in love with your words and be entirely unwilling to give any of them up--or you risk sacrificing clarity for your "flourish."
About a month ago, I became obsessed with finding a very particular tool. I was convinced this new tool would help me cull my writing and write *less* so that I was communicating more. Several broken nails later... I can confirm that yes, my new tool indeed made a huge difference in the quality of what I was writing. I tried it out on a sales letter and what usually would have taken me at least 8 pages to explain was whittled down to three and a half. Happy Holidays!
A few years ago, we started a new tradition around here (at Thrive Your Tribe, I mean). Instead of sending paper holiday cards, we take that money and make a big donation to an awesome charity. I figure you probably get a bunch of cards this month, and besides, I was having a lot of trouble getting them out on time! So, while this means our dear clients, friends, and readers don’t get something in their mailboxes signed by Izzy, this year, it means OxFam is getting a check instead.
This year, when I was writing that check, I was struck by how amazing *you* are. (Yes, I really do mean YOU!) Thank you for being here, reading along with me, even those times when I don’t have a clue what I want to say or how to say it, and also those times when I think I have something Really Important to Say and demand silence before saying something that… is not so important.
Thank you. Happy Holidays! And I can’t wait to see you on January 11, 2010. (I am *loving* typing 2010. You?)
Much love, and appreciation,
Jess… Keep reading
Your multimedia content strategy
Effective websites make good use of multimedia. Video, audio, and presentations all keep your visitors at your site longer, help them be more likely to buy, and make them more likely to share your site with others.
BUT, we’ve all seen what happens when multimedia goes horribly, horribly wrong. Creating multimedia content is way too time consuming to dive in with no strategy. That’s where today’s audio comes in–I’m going to take you straight to the core of where YOU should be focusing your multimedia efforts in an easy-to-follow way. So listen with me. I’d love to hear your thoughts once you’ve enjoyed the audio!
[wpaudio url=”http://www.thriveyourtribe.com/audio/stylemedia.mp3″ text=”Listen to Your Multimedia Strategy” dl=”0″]
(If you haven’t already, take the quiz. And, if you need the script instead, you can download the pdf. Whether you read or listen, make sure to leave your comments here.)… Keep reading
