Is your business missing this fundamental ingredient?

People, God love 'em, are great. Yes? You know I love 'em. Unless they run into me with their Wal-Mart shopping carts, then I have only lukewarm feelings.

When people have ideas and stamina and passion and gumption and charisma and heavily-gelled hair, gosh darn it if I don't get thrilled to be a part of making them successful. It's what I do. I give them a voice. I craft their words. And I rarely slip a "gosh darn" in the bunch.

I save the hick slang solely for myself.

In my fury to promote them, I forget an existential need that no business can live without, including mine: self promotion! I promote businesses for a living. Yet I fail miserably at promoting myself.

Who me? Why do you need to know about me? Or what I've been doing? Actually, maybe you do. Maybe you - yeah, I'm looking at you, not literally of course, but go with that uncomfortable thought anyway - need me.

Why? Because, like me, it's time for you to promote yourself.

Here's a mini-story to illustrate my point:

The other day, whilest sitting in the midsteth of a brilliant media client, we hit the subject of self-promotion, namely himself. In half an hour, we had brainstormed for a mutual client and he had shared with me creative ideas tipped in gold.
Oil, that is. Black gold. Texas tea.
When I asked if he shared these ideas through blogging or a newsletter or Facebook posts, he told me a line I hear so very often, "I need to, but when do I have the time?" He went on to explain how his ideas might be stellar (and they are) but communicating them effectively...well, that's a struggle. 
"Ahh," I told him, "if only you knew a great written communicator."

Do I write business copy for his clients? Yes I do! But, just like me, he focuses on them and not on himself. It never occurred to him I could help him, too. That his creative business needed a creative copywriter. That for a fraction of the time it took him, he could farm out the work and get exactly what he wanted without all the strain on his time.

He could focus on what he does best, which makes him money, while I toil away ensnaring new unsuspecting clients for him with words that can weave a spell or a decent bath mat. Partnership in heaven? That might be overselling myself a bit. Let's just say "10,000 feet above sea level" and call it good.

And what does he get? To be promoted! But with style - his. To make a carbon copy of himself, basically, and then upload writing talent into the clone and give the glob a keyboard.

That's not exactly what I am. But I'm close. I'm very, very close.

In a world top heavy with written communication - emails and Facebook statuses and blogs and texts and newsletters and tweets - it's no wonder your typing speed can't keep up.

But I can help.

Quote Them: Why I heart my clients

"Tara Lynn is one of the most creative people I know, which is saying a lot, because I include in that world all the people at NIKE, Inc. I worked with when I was there."

Melinda Gable,
owner of the fabulous jewelry world of BlingBlingBaubles


Melinda has great hair. This I noticed first and cannot be blamed for this. It's thick and curvy and falls like swirling cream in mocha coffee.

Secondly, however, I noticed her frankness. It was refreshing and solid. None of that perfumed chitchat about her. The woman is a gust of passionate air, listing this way or that but always forward. Always toward a more evolved idea, a more grounded foothold, a wealth of sassy angles on productive ideas.

We met at a small table among the coffee smells and window light of Panera Bread. And there is where we brainstormed.

This is what I call my consulting sessions: brainstorms. I believe truly great ideas come from truly great tennis matches. Or playing catch. Or - if you prefer to avoid the sports analogies - hot potato. That's when I sit with you. And we put it all on the table. Everything. All the good, the bad, and the Clint Eastwood references. Then we toss it all back and forth, shaking through all the grit and sand and pebbles until only the gold nuggets remain.

We comb through them hair by hair. Together. And finding those few fine strands, those strongest threads, I help you build an empire. Or at least a really great head of hair. Like Melinda.

Trust me, everyone wants Melinda's hair.

As a business owner or sole proprietor, you have many options in front of you. Bottomless, at times. But what works? Which to try? Or is there an even better option out there? How can you best spend what marketing capital you do have? And what will bring the greatest results?

When every dollar counts, trial and error is simply not an option. You need what works. And then you need it to do just that quickly: work!

I can help you bring down the noise. Simplify and clarify. And, in the end, you'll know exactly where to go, how to get there, and with ideas you never considered.

Your marketing strategy should not only work, it should suit you. It should feel right. Not always comfortable, but always fitted to your personality and your business. It should even be...wait for it...fun.

If you are on the verge of greatness, but with marketing and directional obstacles standing in your way, I can help. Contact me today for a brainstorming session and start tomorrow on a marketing strategy that fits...precisely.