Just got off a call with Annie Hart.  She’s so patient with me.  This was a rough week.  So many obligations I had trouble making time for my story.  I did pick it up and read it to myself once the other day and today before my call with Annie, I put it on its feet and read it aloud with some wonderful new performance epiphanies.  My challenge for the weekend is to perform a 10 minute reading at my buddies house in Florida where a bunch of us are getting together. I have to record it, too!

On my call with Annie we discovered a few juicy Read the rest of this entry »

How many times a day do you hear a radio or TV ad with rueful, obvious acknowledgement of the recession? You know, the ones with over-earnest voice-overs that begin something like this: “These days, we’re all cutting back on expenses,” or “Now every dollar has to stretch a little farther”? As true as the message might be, commercials like this continue to amp up the fear factor. The fact is that your customers are nervous about spending money. They’re afraid of becoming one of the tens of thousands who have been losing their jobs every month. If they’ve been laid off, they’re worried that it might be a long time before they see another paycheck.

Where does this put you as a business? Are you caving to the same fear factor of losing money, employees, and customers? Well, snap out of it! The only way to brave a recession is Read the rest of this entry »

What sets your business apart from the competition? Really—think about it. It’s easy to spew out generic answers like “customer service” or “attention to detail,” but don’t you think your competitors are claiming the same things? No, what sets you apart from your competition is the story of your business, the narrative of how it came to be and what it represents in the world.

Look at your website. Does it have an “About Us” page? If not, a heads up: You’re losing potential clients! Because no matter how impressive or professional your website is or how many testimonials it boasts, it could still be just any website, representing just any business. I’m assuming that’s not what you want.

Meanwhile, a page dedicated to sharing the story of your business is Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s face it. Your customers don’t want to hear that deep, echoey radio voice holler at them to get to your car dealership TODAY, TODAY, TODAY! There are better ways to get your message across.

There are authentic ways to get your message across.

What are your business’s core values? Core values are the guiding principles that define what your business represents and hopes to achieve—and thus sets it miles apart from the competition. If you haven’t done it already, sit your overworked butt down and write them out. I don’t care how many other things you have to do. If you don’t have a defined set of core values, you’re doing business on a platform that could cave at any minute. So aim for five core values. Ours at Writers of the Round Table are Read the rest of this entry »

Unless your customers live underground, they are inundated with advertisements from the moment they wake up to the moment they drop gratefully back into bed. There are bold-lettered newspaper ads and unnaturally upbeat TV commercials during morning coffee. Loud-voiced radio announcements on the way to work. GoogleAds when they’re researching a project—even blog banners when they’re sneaking some Perez Hilton! Not to mention the sheaf of junk mail they glance at once before tossing it into the recycling bin at night. All these advertisements are designed to grab your customers’ attention, and to do so each ad screams louder than the last.

Annoying? Hell yes. Effective? Not anymore.

Wake up! Traditional advertising is Read the rest of this entry »