More Than A Few Words

I was so excited to have another chance to talk to Andrea Liebross, a business and life coach who specializes in empowering female entrepreneurs.  This time our conversation revolved around how women owners can think big, manage like a CEO, and achieve success in both their professional and personal lives. Andrea shares insights from her new book, "She Thinks Big: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Guide to Moving Past the Messy Middle and Into the Extraordinary." She outlines four key steps for becoming a big thinker, someone who makes decisions based on their future self and goals. The first step is to consider all your thought options, which means choosing thoughts that lead to positive feelings and desired actions. Next, Andrea emphasizes the importance of targeting the real problem, often rooted in a desire to avoid negative emotions. She encourages embracing uncertainty and ambiguity, recognizing that the future is uncertain and that we can't control every aspect of our journey. Lastly, seeking support is vita

In this podcast interview, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jan Cavelle, a seasoned entrepreneur from the UK with a wealth of experience in running micro and small businesses. She is the author of two books, "Scale for Success" and "Start for Success," aimed at helping aspiring and growing entrepreneurs. She has also contributed an article as a guest author to my new collection of essays. We discussed the common issue of small businesses wasting time and money on marketing. Jan emphasized the importance of skepticism when dealing with marketing offers and recognizing that there are countless get-rich-quick schemes that prey on business owners' fears. She suggested thoroughly researching any potential marketing supplier and not being swayed by fear-based sales tactics. One key takeaway was to measure results accurately to determine the effectiveness of different marketing strategies. Jane's insights are incredibly valuable for small business owners looking to manage their marketing efforts efficiently and a

I know. you think we're living in a visual video world.  Maybe you believe  and you don't need to write anything anymore.  But that just isn't true. No matter what happens in the world of content it starts with words. So I really enjoyed chatting with Erin Lebacqz about the challenges people face when starting to write and tips on effective writing techniques for both informational and emotional impacts. Erin provides valuable advice on initiating writing, combatting "Blank Screen Paralysis," and how to engage readers effectively. She underscores the importance of addressing both the informational and emotional aspects of communication. For conveying information clearly, she suggests using direct and concise language, reducing bureaucratic or formal tone, and using verbs effectively to provide a call to action. This approach ensures that readers can easily understand and engage with the content. She also touches on the use of AI in content creation and the need to balance AI-generated content with a human tou

​When you create your brand you are investing in something that should last for the long haul. The colors, the fonts and your overall style guide should remain fairly consistent over the life of your brand.  However, sometimes your business changes and when it does you might want to consider rebranding. Maybe you want a more mature look, something more representative of. and established company. Or, in my case as I let go of my agency I'm looking to change my branding to create an image that is more about me so I'm going through a rebrand process right now. I'm doing the things you need to do if you're serious about rebranding.  I'm thinking about what I want my brand to represent, what I want people to think and when they see the More than a Few Words logo. The process is about the fonts. the colors and the style.  And, it's not easy, but if it's done right it will be a brand that will last.

In this interview, I was excited to invite Patty Farmer, to join me once again for a quick conversation.  This time we dove into how to integrate marketing and sales activities to benefit your business. It all starts by setting specific and measurable goals for both marketing and sales efforts, establishing benchmarks to track success. Patty explains the importance of reverse engineering goals, starting with the ultimate sales goal and working backward to determine the steps and content needed to engage potential customers. Collecting data and understanding customer behaviors is crucial to tailor marketing and sales strategies effectively. Patty also advises business owners to build a tribe of like-minded businesses serving the same target audience, fostering collaboration and simplicity in reaching potential clients. Finally, in addition to your marketing channel, Patty encourages businesses to build connections with others who cater to the same target audience, working together to achieve mutual success.  I

​The goal of every page on your website is to get visitors to do something. Maybe that's fill out a contact form, pick up the phone to call you, download an e-book, register for an event or sign up for your newsletter. No matter what it is you want customers to do the best way to get them to do that is to have a clear call to action on the page. CTA's come in all shapes and sizes as they're scattered through your website. However, the one on your homepage, that primary CTA needs to be the most important thing you want  visitors to, so be bold with your call to action. Don't be afraid to create something that catches their eye. It's okay to use all caps on a CTA. . I know it feels as if you are shouting at them. But you just spent time, money or other resources to drive traffic to your website. It's okay to shout just a little bit. Use powerful words. Don't just say submit. Give people a reason to take the next step. Don't miss this, learn more  or enroll today. Get started create compelling calls to action an

Why did I invite Lisa McDonald, a certified career coach  to join me for a conversation?  You are not looking for a job, but you are probably looking for employees, And Lisa is probably working with those potential employees, telling them not to apply for a job with your company.  In this lively conversation, we talk about the mistakes employers make starting with job descriptions that don't really reflect the company to interviews that go completely off the rails.  This is one conversation you need to listen to, before you try to hire your next employee. 

More than just marketing hype, your brand is about creating an impression of your company in the mind of your prospective customer. It is the basis on which all your other marketing should be built. More than ten years ago, Allison Carter and I discussed how a brand position defines who you are and who you serve.  It isn't marketing copy, but a clear outline of what you want customers to think about when they hear your name. A positioning statement contains the following elements: Description of the target customer Benefits sought by the target customer to solve a specific problem Your unique solution

My friend Michelle McNally, the Executive Vice President of Customer Success for BoxCrush dropped by to talk about the importance of safeguarding digital assets, including passwords and resources. We talked about the key elements  business owners should have control over to ensure the security and accessibility of their online assets. Michelle highlights the common challenges faced by business owners and marketing departments when it comes to managing these assets. She stresses the importance of having access to domain ownership and Google properties, such as Analytics, Search Console, Tag Manager, Google Ads, and Google Business Profile, to create a robust online presence. The conversation also delves into the necessity of having contingency plans and multiple accounts to ensure access in case an individual or agency loses access or control. Michelle emphasizes the need for business owners to be actively involved in maintaining ownership of these assets and not solely relying on agencies. They discuss the in

When asked about their branding style, I often hear business owners say they "want to look like Apple." They admire the clean, sleek design. They imagine their brand will seem modern, authentic, high-tech, hip, cool and smart if they incorporate some of the same style elements into their brand. But it is usually a bad idea. Don't get me wrong, I love Apple's branding for Apple. It just rarely works out for other brands. Why? Business owners won't walk the talk. Apple styling requires lots of white space in your design. The clean, minimal effect is created by using color sparingly and keeping fonts to one or two styles. The Apple brand is stark, and most business owners can't resist the urge to clutter the designs. When faced with their brand in Apple style, they ask for more text, maybe a cute piece of clip art or a stock photo. The result is visually confusing. Not every brand should look like Apple. It's okay if you don't look like Apple. One of the cool things about the world of branding is the diversity o

In this podcast episode of "More than a Few Words," host Lorraine Ball interviews Geoffrey Klein, a story expert, TEDx speaker, and content producer, about creating captivating content. Klein's new book, "The Content Beast," serves as a guide to crafting remarkable content. The conversation revolves around the challenge of making content stand out and the art of storytelling. Klein suggests that a key element of compelling content is understanding and catering to the audience. He introduces the concept of the "eleventh commandment": knowing your audience. Instead of making content solely about oneself or the business, it should be geared towards the audience's needs, interests, and pain points. Klein proposes a simple yet powerful storytelling structure called the "Story Pad," which includes the elements of Pain (beginning), Answer (middle), and Difference (end). By identifying the audience's problems, offering solutions, and illustrating the transformative impact of those solutions, content can resonate more

​I had a wonderfully, thought-provoking conversation with Jon Rogers about a unique strategy for business growth – the idea of buying businesses rather than building them from scratch. Jon shares his insights into how wealth accumulation is often driven by acquiring and merging existing businesses rather than starting from the ground up. He emphasizes that these principles can be applied by anyone, not just the top 1% of wealthy individuals, and explains how the lower 99% can also benefit from this approach. Lorraine is intrigued by this unconventional strategy, and John goes on to discuss the reasons behind the appeal of buying businesses instead of building them. The interview delves into practical steps for those interested in pursuing this strategy. He provides a step-by-step guide on how to get started with business acquisition, including identifying the type of business to buy, how to structure the purchase, and various financing options that make it accessible to those with limited capital. He highligh

Are you clocking in early and burning the midnight oil every single day? As a small business owner you may feel that is required to get ahead, but it doesn't have to be the pattern for your days. It's not when you waltz in, but how well you dance as you hit the floor. The art of time management is an elusive dance, but here are a few simple steps that will help you glide to success. Create a daily to-do list. Instead of drowning in a sea of week-long and month-long chores use this lean list of the musts for the day ahead to help you get things done. Whether you wield the inked charm of old-school notepads or the digital finesse of tools like Insightly or Todoist, the magic lies in breaking the workload into bite-sized chunks. Today's tasks stay in the spotlight; the rest wait their turn. Master the art of the elegant "No." Don’t put stress and pressure on yourself by taking on additional tasks when you know you can’t complete your current workload. You’re setting yourself up for failure. If you have to add a

In this podcast interview, I had a chance to chat with Che Brown, about the importance of building a high-performing sales team for entrepreneurs aiming to achieve 7 or 8-figure businesses. Che emphasizes the primary challenge facing entrepreneurs today is often insufficient revenue to realize their visions. He highlights five crucial steps to create a 7-figure sales team. Che's first step is to hire a sales representative who works on a commission basis, emphasizing that this person only gets paid when the entrepreneur gets paid, making it a low-risk investment. The second step involves establishing a sales affiliate team, individuals who promote and sell specific products or services on a commission basis, creating a mutually beneficial relationship. The third step focuses on building a sales ambassador team, consisting of individuals who believe in the entrepreneur's mission and goals, providing unwavering support. Che underscores the significance of using systems over goals, explaining that sales systems

Almost ten years ago, I had a conversation with Juett.  We discussed the fact that people just don’t have the same attention span they used to. You need to get to the point quickly if you want to hold their attention. Surprisingly, our tips on how to keep visitors with short attention spans interested and engaged is as relevant today as it was almost a decade ago. Listen now to learn how to implement writing techniques like lists and engaging headings to capture your audience at a glance and get them to continue reading. And how to make your content visually appealing to bring readers in. Highlights Create content at a glance. Use visual cues to grab your readers and keep them hooked. The title may be all you have to catch someone’s attention so make it count. People like lists. They hope you can solve all their issues in just five easy steps. Guide the reader with headers and subheads.

I started my career in retail as the floor manager. It was my job to attract customers as they walked down the aisle, to pull them into the department and get them to stay.  I would organize the racks of clothing so that they would browse from one to the next and stay in the area as long as possible. Hopefully they would stay until they bought something.  Funny thing, as a web designer that was still my job.  When I I looked at the design of a website I would think about how I was going to pull a reader in and get them to stay. I created plans to connect pages and make offers on individual pages that kept visitors engaged  Is your marketing working?  Look at your bounce rate to see if people are coming and going or hanging out and trying on a few things?  

Deb Schell  joins me for a conversation about building and nurturing communities. Deb emphasizes that in today's information age, communities play a vital role in facilitating learning and implementation of new ideas, connecting people with similar challenges or goals. She also highlights the need for business owners to focus on the people, purpose, and problem-solving within their communities rather than fixating on platforms. Deb suggests building your community by identifying ideal members within your existing network and understanding their challenges and needs. The choice of platform is secondary to the community's concept, structure, and validation. She stresses the importance of creating spaces for members to engage with each other and providing clear guidance and incentives for participation. The conversation also touches on the importance of balancing online and in-person interactions and avoiding overwhelming community members with too many options. Deb Schell's insights and experience in community

I've heard it said that entrepreneurs need three things  - smarts, guts and luck. Your smarts can be street smarts, book smarts or creative smarts. You've got to be able to use your intelligence to navigate decisions rationally and analytically. You must have the guts to go after your big ideas. You need courage to put yourself out there and not worry others would think. You need to be brave enough to try things even if other people think you are crazy. And Luck? Even with smarts and guts sometimes you just need things to fall your way. These elements are all critical, but there is one more thing every entrepreneur needs and that is friends. Everyone loves the image of the solo entrepreneur working in the basement into the wee hours of the morning but great leaders in successful companies surround themselves with friends.  You should too. Good friends serve as your sounding board. They'll let be there to bounce ideas and brainstorm without judgment.  They will help you think through the tough issues and recha

This week I had a chance to chat with Jeanette Stein, a seasoned business coach who specializes in using AI and automation for business growth. She shared insights into how to harness AI while maintaining a personalized touch, overcome SEO concerns, and develop a distinct brand voice. As a writer, I am just a bit nervous about using AI for website copy but Jeanette emphasizes the importance of maintaining a human element while interacting with AI, guiding it with prompts to create tailored content. She suggests starting with prompts like asking AI to generate questions about your business for the homepage. By specifying tone, goals, and desired emotional impact, content can be customized effectively. Stein recommends consistency in prompts for branding purposes, and even uses a cheat sheet acronym called VIBRANT to enhance AI responses' specificity. To address SEO concerns and differentiation, Stein recommends steering clear of copying and pasting AI-generated content. Instead, she advocates for refining AI r

How do you decide which software tools and digital trends deserve attention and resources and which don’t? So how did I answer the question? Simple, our strategy is explore, evaluate and embrace. The first part of the strategy is staying ahead of the curve by reading, reading, reading. There’s no single expert in the field so I have several websites I check on a regular basis. When I find new software tools which pique my curiosity, I switch over to evaluation mode.  I dive into by reading product reviews and searching for discussions on Twitter and LinkedIn. Then we kick the tires for ourselves to see if the product works the way they say it will. Finally, we look at how this addition fits with the rest of the marketing program.  This is where many exciting ideas get sideline because even if a tool looks great, if it doesn’t fit with everything else you’re doing, it’s not a great fit for you. And finally you need to embrace and this is where you have to make a decision to go big or go home and admit the reso