Blog

I was recently speaking with a woman who wanted to turn her wisdom into a book, but wasn't completely sure how to convey her ideas. Maybe you've been in that position, too: you have knowledge, wisdom, and experiences that could change people's lives, but you aren't sure how to organize and share them in such a way that the people who need them will be drawn to them, absorb them, and easily understand and implement them. In this blog post, I'm going to share four quick, simple steps you can use to organize your thoughts into books,... Read More

Sometimes when I watch other business owners describe their product or service, the descriptionleaves me thinking, "Wow... not only does that NOT make me want your product, but it actually makes me feel LESS inclined to explore your offer." Other times, I can see how it might be useful, or why the product is of high quality, but I'm not really convinced that I need it. Why? Often, it's because their marketing failed a simple yet powerful litmus test that determines whether they're speaking about the right things to get their potential... Read More

I was planning to write this on Tuesday, but I decided to share it a bit early, becauseI'm celebrating a new accomplishment: I just published a class on SkillShare, called Low-Cost Marketing for Small Businesses and Freelancers ... and for a limited time, you can get it for FREE. In this 68-minute class, you'll discover how small businesses and freelancers can attract leads while spending little or no money on advertising, and convert them into clients without feeling guilty, pushy or salesy. You can access this class, and thousands of... Read More

If you host webinars, give live presentations, have an "About Me" page on your site, or otherwise share your story with your audience, I have a question for you: Do you share your raw, real story, warts and all? Or do you present a pretty, polished version for fear of making people uncomfortable or making yourself look bad? A few years ago, I met a business owner who faced that conundrum. She'd been abused, had lived on the streets, and had struggled to support herself. Since then, she'd become a six-figure business owner, and she... Read More

Have you ever read an "About Me" page that looked and felt like an entry in an encyclopedia, or listened to a webinar presenter share a backstory that made you wonder why they were telling you all of this? Now, here's a better question: did you read or listen to the whole thing, or did you get bored and click away from the page partway through? Some bios inspire their audiences to contact you, or encourage them to buy your services. Others attempt to show the company's or presenter's credibility, but are too dry or irrelevant to get... Read More

When I receive a proposal for a guest post or evaluate a client's education-based marketing, there's one mistake that will make me say "can't publish, must revise" faster than almost any other. A mistake that wastes your audience's time, and will make you look useless in the eyes of your potential clients. That mistake is saying "learn how to X", "research how to Y", or "figure out how to Z". Why is this type of teaching point so unacceptable? Imagine if you were sitting in math class, and your teacher said, "Now figure out how... Read More

If you're a highly intelligent, educated person, you probably have a special challenge when it comes to making sales. You explain your offering to your client, you tell them what you'll help them do, and you give them a list of the things they'll get... ...but instead of getting as excited as you thought they would, and immediately taking action to purchase a product they obviously need, they go blank-eyed and seem to lose all interest. They might ask you "What does that mean?", give a neutrally polite "that's interesting", or tell... Read More

When you try to raise curiosity in your potential clients, are you actually getting them interested, or just confusing them and turning them off? There's a right way and a wrong way to build curiosity. I recently participated in a #wattpad4 conversation on Twitter , where fiction authors congregate to discuss their craft. While the conversation was focused on fiction books, one of the participants gave a piece of advice that applies very strongly to marketing: "It's crucial that the opening line be CLEAR. Any questions the... Read More

Don't you hate it when you're supposed to write some content for your business, but you just can't figure out what to say in the first few sentences? One of the biggest challenges for a writer is knowing where and how to start. I've noticed this in my capacity both as a marketing copywriter and a novelist - sometimes, the first scene or paragraph is the hardest. This challenge stems partly from the fact that the first sentences are the most important. They're the ones that help your readers to decide whether or not to keep reading,... Read More

Are you selling something your clients know they want? Or are you offering a cure for a disease they don't know they have? A little while ago, I was scrolling through my Twitter feed, and I came across this gem from Calvin and Hobbes: It reminded me of a recent conversation I'd had with one of my clients when I suggested that she change the name of a chapter in her course. Why did I want her to change it? Because her potential clients don't know that they need the mindset she was describing. And if they don't know they need... Read More