Tough Love Talk For Your Business

Warning: I’ve taken a Dr. Laura, Seth Godin and Dr. Phil approach to this post. Be prepared! This is TOUGH LOVE TALK for your business:

Small Biz Spotlight: Linda Coss

Linda Coss is a true professional copywriter. Each time I work with her, I am reminded just how well she understands marketing, which ultimately makes her a HANDS DOWN ABSOLUTE for any small business.

I always – and only – recommend Linda whenever the need for a professional copywriter comes up, and for one reason above all else: She understands the principles of marketing on a psychological level.

You see, writing marketing copy – web sites, brochures, blogs, etc. – is not merely about writing “well.” Many Small Business Owners received relatively good grades in school when it came to English, grammar or punctuation. I should know, I was one of these! Getting good grades at my school in particular was not easy; I attended one of the strictest schools in my time, complete with nuns and rulers that whacked us into paying attention! Writing marketing copy is really more about putting together words and phrases in such a way that not only honors the timeless rules of grammar, but taps the psyche of the reader so as to evoke a positive and immediate response.

Linda sees the bigger picture. She is pragmatic, insightful and incredibly fast (I am always blown away by how quickly she can put together something that is not only well written, but compelling!)

Linda Coss is not merely my HANDS DOWN RECOMMENDATION to small business owners, she is also my personal inspiration. Read about Linda below. And then reach out to her via her web site at www.plumtreemarketing.com. Call her for a brief consultation and consider her for your next marketing project. I have no doubt you will find her to be an ABSOLUTE MUST addition to your Small Business  Success Team!

– Kristine

Tell us about your business, Plumtree Marketing. Why the name “Plumtree,” does it have a special meaning?

Back in 2000 I formed a company in order to self-publish my first book, “What’s to Eat? The Milk-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free Food Allergy Cookbook.” I drew the inspiration for the company name, Plumtree Press, from a plum tree that was growing in my backyard. When I became a freelancer in 2006, I decided to stick with the “Plumtree” name – in spite of the fact that my beloved plum tree had since succumbed to a fungal disease! I incorporated my business as Plumtree Marketing, Inc., and made Plumtree Press a division of the corporation.

What inspired you to start your own business?

I had been working at a small marketing agency, and I had had all I could take of the high stress/high pressure environment. I wanted to gain some control over my workload (after all, as the business owner I’d be the one to decide what promises I’d make to clients regarding when projects would be completed) and balance in my life. I’m a single mom. Although my kids are now both off at college, when I started my business I was still driving carpools, taking my boys to doctors’ appointments, hanging out in the parking lot during guitar lessons, etc.

Besides all that, I’m a real home body at heart! I knew I’d be a lot happier working from home.

Why did you choose writing as your field of focus?

Since my goal was to create a happy and balanced life for myself, doing work that I truly enjoy was my number one priority. I did a lot of soul searching. I realized that although I had done a lot of different things during my many years in the marketing field – including advertising, direct mail, branding, positioning, product management, marketing research, publishing and more – the jobs and projects I had enjoyed the most all involved writing or editing.

Of course, it certainly didn’t hurt that I didn’t appear to have a lot of competition. While there are quite a few marketing consultants and marketing agencies in the area (many of which offer writing services), the number of people focusing exclusively on writing is fairly limited. And, as it turns out, many of those consultants and agencies don’t actually have writers on staff; they hire freelancers like me to do the work!

I would imagine that most small business owners think they can do their own writing, since they know their businesses better than anyone else does. Why do you feel that taking the “do it yourself” approach to copywriting is a bad idea?

Writing a website, sales letter or brochure is a lot different than writing a memo or an essay. You need to be able to write to sell. This means writing text that will connect with your prospects on an emotional level; demonstrate how your product or service is going to solve their problems, improve their lives or meet their needs; and then motivate them to take action. Most people – business owners included – simply do not know how to write to sell. As a professional marketing copywriter, however, this is exactly what I do.

Even writing informative articles, such as for newsletters or blogs, is more difficult than it looks. Regardless of the subject matter, your writing needs to be clear, concise and compelling. Many business owners get bogged down in the details, writing twice as much text as what their readers really care to see.

Many people think they are good writers, and from the “getting an A in English class” standpoint they probably are. Can you give some examples of the differences between how you write sales literature versus how the typical business owner writes sales literature? In other words, what’s the difference between a professional copywriter’s approach and an amateur’s approach?

There are quite a few differences between my work and marketing pieces written by amateurs. I’ll touch on a few of them now.

For starters, amateurs tend to focus on features instead of benefits, and they’ll write completely pointless headlines such as “Welcome to ABC Company!” I focus as much as possible on benefits, putting the benefits front and center in the headlines, subheads and copy. For example, one of my clients rents out reusable “green” moving boxes. The headline that they wrote for one of their website pages was “How It Works.” I changed this to “Welcome to Guilt-Free Moving.” Their headline was utilitarian. Mine was inviting, benefit-oriented and emotional.

Amateurs will write very egocentric text that’s full of “we,” “us,” and “our.” When I write, I try to draw the reader in by focusing on “you” and “your.” Remember, all people care about is “what’s in it for me.” So instead of starting the above-mentioned web page with “We’re the first zero-waste pack and move solution in America made entirely from 100% post consumer trash,” I opened the text with a big benefit. The revised text read, “Want to make packing up for your move cheaper, faster and easier than using cardboard boxes? Check out XYZ Company, the first zero-waste pack and move solution in America!”

A surprisingly big problem that I see with the sales pieces written by amateurs is that they forget to communicate what it is that they’re selling! For example, I once submitted a proposal to a company whose website says they’re “XYZ Media, the ultimate activation company.” Had I won the bid, I would have clarified what in the world that meant.

Amateurs also tend to write text that looks like a novel, with one long paragraph after another. I break up the text with subheads and bullets, making it easy to scan and digest.

What types of things do you write?

My main focus is on writing for print and web. This includes:

• Websites
• Brochures
• Fliers
• Newsletters, e-newsletters
• Direct mail packages, post cards and sales letters
• Trade journal articles
• Press releases
• Print ads
• Email campaigns
• Blogs

Can you tell us a little about Copy Editing?

Copy editing combines high level editing with basic proofreading. When I edit text for my clients, I do a lot more than simply correct the typos, spelling and grammar errors, and punctuation problems. I also edit the text for clarity, check to see that the overall messaging makes sense, think about if the information is presented in the best possible order (and change things around if it’s not), and so forth. In sum, I turn my clients’ “diamonds in the rough” into brightly polished gems.

What sort of challenges do clients typically come to you with?

Start-up companies often come to me when they do not yet have any marketing materials at all. They need help figuring out their messaging and then translating this into a website, brochure and possibly a direct mail campaign. Often they also need help brainstorming and implementing a variety of ways that they can reach their target markets.

Sometimes established businesses come to me because their current website and marketing literature aren’t working for them, and they need help creating targeted and effective marketing materials that will actually get the phones ringing. Other times businesses have the challenge of launching a new product or service, and need my assistance creating or revising marketing pieces to reflect this.

Another common challenge that clients come to me with is the desire to establish a newsletter to stay top-of-mind with customers and prospects, or a blog to help drive traffic to their website. People want to have these things, and although they usually have a lot to say about their topic or field they don’t have the time or desire to write the articles themselves. In these situations I simply conduct brief telephone interviews with my clients and then write the articles for them.

What passions do you infuse your business with? What’s your favorite part of “the job?”

First, I truly enjoy writing and editing. So my favorite part of “the job” is “the work”! That said, one of the things that I really love about what I do is the variety. In an average month I do work for about 20 to 24 different clients, all in different fields. Those projects can range from writing websites, brochures, blog posts and newsletters to editing proposals, writing direct mail packages and press releases, ghost writing trade journal articles, and more. I’m always working with interesting people and learning something new.

What advice would you give to someone who is just starting their business and needs some help communicating their brand’s voice?

Hire a professional! In fact, you may need to hire a team of professionals, especially for your writing and graphic design needs. Just as I don’t recommend that business owners write their own marketing pieces, I also don’t recommend that they try to tackle the design on their own, either. Sure there are companies out there that let you pick a template, choose some colors, and be online with “your own customized website in just minutes.” But do you really want your company’s “24/7 online sales person” to look like it was created with a cheap do-it-yourself template? Probably not.

Linda Coss is a freelance marketing copywriter who helps businesses become more profitable by writing persuasive, targeted and effective messages for their websites, brochures, sales letters, ads, fliers, blogs, newsletters and other marketing materials. Whether you need something written “from scratch” or want a professional to edit what you’ve created, Linda is your on-call marketing writer. For more information, visit her website at www.PlumtreeMarketingInc.com or give her a call at 949-699-2749.

Small Biz Spotlight: Liz Weber

I recently went on “the hunt” for a small business owner that was FULLY ON BRAND. I wanted to showcase a success, one that other business owners can learn from. But as I searched through the plethora of unprofessionally designed sites, broken links and inconsistent visuals, I found myself questioning if I was even on the right track! And then I found Liz Weber….

Precision, alignment, strategy and formation. These were the first words that entered my mind when I first met Liz. And from the moment you land on her web site, you too will instantly know that this lady is professional, seasoned and successful. Her brand specifically and clearly communicates these attributes. And Liz has built her success and professional reputation by being fully on brand.

At the launch of her business, Liz did – and to this day continues to do – the one thing that many small business owners unwittingly neglect: She took control of her brand! Everything – and I do mean EVERYTHING – about Liz Weber’s brand is a tightly designed plan. Everyone in her organization is also fully committed to maintaining consistent brand communications. And design continues to play an integral part in her ongoing brand image.

In addition to being a warm, friendly and lovely lady, what I found most attractive about Liz was her complete and total brand commitment. This is one business owner that is fully intent on shooting a solid, straight message. You won’t get any mixed signals from this gal! All of her web sites use the same visual look and feel. A warm and welcoming photo of Liz is conveniently and strategically placed on every page of her web site. Liz does not get caught up in being overly creative and “changing things up” randomly when the mood strikes her. On the contrary, Liz is extremely strategic and maintains consistency, so that there is NO question about who she is, what she does and what she wants to be famous for.

As I’ve often said: “All businesses have a brand. You have no control over that. But you DO have control over how your brand is perceived.” And Liz took control of her brand so that there was no mistaking what she delivers to her clients. Now that’s a strong brand.

Nice work, Liz!

If you are struggling to unify your brand image, reach out to me. I value brand integrity above all else. I make it my personal commitment to create and manage brand design to not only optimize your business for success, but to sustain your business reputation for many years to come.

– Kristine

Tell us about your very unique business! Why did you choose this particular line of work? What does it do for you that no other field can?

My business provides three types of services:

1. Strategic Planning – Guides organizations through the process of developing a focused, clear strategic plan that outlines where they want to take their organization 3, 4, 5+ years from now;
2. Succession Planning – Guides the development of succession programs and plans to identify needed bench strength to support, manage & lead their organizations’ 3, 4, 5+ years from now; and
3. Leadership Training – Develop and provide Leadership Development Training to help build management and leadership skills throughout the management team.

Ironically, this is my dream job. I first heard about “management consulting” when I was taking my capstone class as a senior at the University of Wisconsin. The teacher wasn’t a PhD. He was this thing called a “management consultant” and would share case studies from his clients with us – as he’d apply principles from our text.  It was fascinating – especially when he’d simply tell his clients what the problems were, how to fix them, — and then bill them for his advice! I thought it was a dream job that provided a beautiful way to help companies while maintaining professional independence. From that moment on, I changed my focus from wanting to be an international commodities broker to a consultant. However, I had no experience and no right to offer advice to business owners. So I worked with the U.S. Department of State for 10 years in a great job, ironically learning to coach and counsel managers and leaders. However, I started my company after I attended one of those one-day seminar training programs. I sat in that program calculating how much money that company was making by having all of us attend, and thinking to myself, “I could be teaching this stuff!” So I quit my job and started my company as a basic training company – any topic, anywhere. It’s not a strategy I recommend to others now, but it gave me a lot of practice and helped me learn to research and craft curriculum quickly. Soon, my clients started asking me to help with other projects as a result of the positive feedback they were getting from my training programs and my ability to hone in on core leadership issues they were facing systemically – as an organization.

My business allows me to help managers and leaders in a variety of ways: train; coach; consult; write books, blogs, and other social media outlets; and give speeches and interviews. I’m able to work with really smart people: business owners who have created multi-million dollar businesses from nothing, senior government officials, association executives, boards of directors, managers and leaders from a variety of industries – manufacturing, finance, business services, government, transportation, etc. I’m always learning from my clients. They’re always pushing me to be a bit quicker, smarter, and faster than they are. It’s a great career.

You define yourself as a Leadership Accountability Expert. What does that mean to someone who may not be familiar with your line of work?

My nickname is The Dragon Lady of Leadership Accountability™ which my clients love – because they know by that title, I’ll help them do their jobs as leaders of their organizations more effectively.

Leadership accountability is a basic concept, but one that many wannabe leaders fail in exemplifying. Leadership accountability in understanding – in your gut – you need to model 24/7 – the behaviors you expect of every person who works with you or who represents your organization. Leadership accountability means you understand your job is more than simply ensuring you ship X number of widgets today or your department surpassed its sales quota for the quarter. Leadership accountability means you did those things – as a given; you also spent a good bit of time ensuring your team members had the tools they needed to do their jobs, you identified what additional skills they need to start developing now so they’re prepared for future requirements, you communicated with them ahead of time on upcoming issues, shared good/bad & ugly information with them, and held THEM accountable to do their jobs and help the organization achieve its goals. You did your job as a well-rounded leader.

What would say is your strongest competitive advantage? How do you set yourself apart from other businesses that offer similar services?

I’ve been a manager. I am a business owner. I’ve supervised people in over 139 countries, I’ve managed multi-million dollar budgets, I’ve hired & fired employees. I know what it feels like to have to DO many of the management tasks I hold my clients accountable to do. I’m also able to speak with them honestly about the realities of the ramifications to them, their employees, clients, etc when they fail to do their jobs as leaders. I’ve got a consulting style to my speeches, training programs, books, etc – I’m constantly trying to educate my clients. I don’t make them feel inferior and dependent upon me to always be there. I want them to get better at what they do.

You obviously are very passionate about your work! What do you most enjoy about it? Where do you derive the greatest satisfaction?

It’s cliché, but it really is nice to know something I’ve said or written has made a positive impact on a person or company. I recently bumped into a woman who had attended a seminar I gave early last year. She told me she thinks about me every morning as she’s driving to work. In  that program, I emphasized the need to BE INTENTIONAL in how your create your “Leadership Brand.” That wasn’t even the main point of that presentation, but it resonated with her and made a positive impact on her and her team.

Also, I have several clients I’ve worked on and off with for years as they attribute my work with them for helping them grow as an organization and management team. It’s a neat feeling knowing I’ve helped them employ hundreds of people, and often add additional employees when others are being laid off.

Is there a specific challenge that many of your clients share? In other words, what common obstacles do your clients come to you with, if any?

The biggest problem most of my clients have is not knowing how to develop skills in their employees and being afraid to hold their employees accountable – and doing these things in positive non-punitive ways.

What kind of Clients do you most enjoy working with? Why?

I work best with organizations led by people who are willing to learn, change, take risks, admit mistakes, and push themselves and their teams to be better. I know that sounds grandiose, but there are people out there like that – though not as many as I wish! Seriously though, I see the greatest success with my client groups that are led by a person or team who admits s/he has made mistakes and is willing to be THE example of how to learn to lead differently. It’s a huge risk for the leader/owner, but the results are phenomenal.

I LOVE that you placed a photo of yourself on your home page! It tells visitors immediately who they are hiring and creates a sense of relationship, so the visitor feels compelled to go deeper into the site and learn more about you personally. Was using your photo on the home page an easy or natural decision? Or did you struggle with it? I ask because many small business owners are apprehensive about using their own “face” as the face of the brand.

Putting my picture on the home page of every one of my websites was a strategic decision. My speaking/author site:  http://Liz-Weber.com was an obvious site to include my picture. My blog was another fairly obvious decision http://wbsllc.com/blog but my company’s consulting/training site took more thought & pushing by my team. For years we had marketed this site as “The Company” site with the specific intention that down the line, I’d sell the training business, etc. However, after many debates with my team, I agreed to put my picture on the home page of this site. We ran the analytics on the site – people were hitting the site because they were looking for me – Liz Weber – not my company. Also, my clients don’t focus on my company name, they want me or the select team member I assign to their project. So putting my picture on the home page – with strategic wording about the services my team can provide- works.

You clearly put a lot of effort into the design of your book, Something Needs To Change Around Here. What was the objective for the design of the book?

The 5 Stages model I outline is one I’ve used and enhanced over the years to guide my clients in understanding why they’re feeling the frustrations they are with their employees, teams, organizations & businesses. From my experience, their frustrations are often of their own making: They are not managing or leading their employees the right way at the right time. This model is not Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership. It’s closer to Michael E. Gerber’s EMyth, but takes the EMyth ideas a bit further and in a different direction. The model is a simple graphic representation to help business owners, managers & other leaders understand how they need to shift their thinking of their own roles & responsibilities to better lead their team members. Simple premise. Not easy for many managers/biz owners to do.

This book has been in the works for over one year for a number of reasons:

• I needed to hone the content down to very simple terms and examples to make it more appealing across industries and to a broader market, etc.

• I wanted to work with a publisher who would work with me in designing a book that met several criteria

• It had to be a quick reading Airplane book (i.e., easy for business travelers to read in a 2-3 hour flight)

• It had to easily fit in briefcases, in purses, and be easy to read if you were stuck in the middle seat of an airplane

• It had to be formatted so key points would be readily apparent for both busy execs as well as more content-driven, how-to managers

• It had to be visually appealing to both sexes (over 50% of managers are now women)

• It had to be a bit more sophisticated but designed along the lines of Jeffrey Gittomer’s Little Red book series

• It had to be visually appealing overall so it would stick out and be more likely to be picked up vs a big name author’s in airport book stores

I think we’ve accomplished all of the above!

I went with a publisher locally who really took this project to heart – instead of working with a big name publisher & getting lost in the shuffle of all their other authors. The preliminary reviews are all positive. I talked with a CEO of a company last week who read it. I asked for his feedback on the content, but he said, “No, let’s first talk about the overall design of this book. It’s perfect. The size, the colors, the layout inside, the way you highlighted key points, etc.”

You have several web sites, and the visual brand is consistent throughout, thereby creating a sense on “family resemblance” which I believe attributes to brand recognition. What was your strategy for how you arrived at the total brand look-and-feel?

We’re really focused on brand management. Everything we put out has to make it easy for a client or prospective client know it’s my work, my quality, etc. Looking at least similar on our various sites was a must. Next year, we’ll be updating some of our product icons that have been out for a few years in line with our newer product brand / look.

What’s next on the horizon for WBSLLC? 

Ah great question! There’s always something planned here! My team and I will be getting together in another few weeks to review and update our business strategies – we do this ~ every quarter. I’m happy to say we’ve accomplished just about everything we set out to this past year: More products (2 books – e books & audiobooks, on-line leadership learning program, more diversified client base, stronger – focused social media presence, etc. Next year, we’ll be focusing on more speaking engagements to share the leadership insights from my book, Something Needs to Change Around Here, as well as my leadership book targeted to women: Don’t Let ‘Em Treat You Like A Girl – a Woman’s Guide to Leadership Success. We’ll be moving into video blogs and interviews with experts from various fields – so I learn and my clients will learn more as well! But most importantly, I’ll be paying attention to what leadership issues my clients are anticipating 2, 3, 4+ years from now and determining if there’s a way my company can help meet their leadership challenges.

In the words of one client, “Liz Weber will help you see opportunities you never knew existed.”

A sought-after consultant, speaker, and seminar presenter, Liz is known for her candor, insights, and her ability to make the complexities of leadership “easy.” She creates clarity for her audiences during her results-oriented presentations and training sessions. Participants walk away from her sessions knowing how to implement the ideas she’s shared not just once, but repeatedly to ensure continuous leadership growth and development.

Known as The Dragon Lady of Leadership Accountability™, Liz has been there, done it, and learned from it. As a result, whether she’s speaking to corporate executives or government professionals, Liz’s comments and insights on leadership and leadership accountability ring true.

As the CEO of Weber Business Services, LLC, a management consulting, training, and speaking firm headquartered near Harrisburg, PA, Liz and her team of consultants provide strategic and succession planning, executive coaching, and comprehensive leadership development training.

Liz has supervised business activities in 139 countries and has consulted with organizations in over 20 countries. She has designed and facilitated conferences from Bangkok to Bonn and Tokyo to Tunis. Liz has taught for the Johns Hopkins University’s Graduate School of Continuing Studies, as well as the Georgetown University’s Senior Executive Leadership Program. Liz is also and author of several leadership publications:

• Leading from the Manger’s Corner (2002)
• Don’t Let ‘Em Treat You Like A Girl – A Woman’s Guide to Leadership Success – 1st -3rd Editions (2004, 2006, and Oct 2011)
• Nuts & Bolts on Business – An anthology of success tips and features insights by leading management strategists Dr. Dennis Whaitley and Jim Cathcart (2007)
• Something Needs to Change Around Here -The Five Stages to Leveraging Your Leadership (September 2011)
• Liz’s Manager’s Corner column appears monthly in several trade publications, association newsletters, and internet resource centers for executives.

Liz is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC), holds an MBA in International Business, and serves as a board member and the Strategic Planning Chair for The National Speakers Association.

Liz can be reached through her web site at http://wbsllc.com/